Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ 08-19-1989 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD MEETING HELD ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1989 err The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Ocoee. PRESENT: Chairman Swickerath; Vice Chairman Linebarier, Board member Switzer, Board member Weeks, Director of Planning Behrens, Associate Planner Claman, and Deputy Clerk Resnik. ABSENT: Board members Bond, Sims, and Shiver and Alternate Board members Carroll and Breeze. Director of Planning Behrens said the meeting was called to review the Housing Element and get any comments the Board may have. Associate Planner Claman announced that she had placed each Board member on one of the subcommittees for reviewing the Comprehensive Plan elements. She said she had taken each Board member's preferences into consideration. The following is the list of subcommittees and the Board member on each one: Future Land Use Harold Switzer Gary Carroll Housing Pat Bond fir. Capital Improvements Mickey Shiver Intergovernmental Relations Michael Sims Recreation and Open Space Jim Swickerath Transportation Jerry Weeks REVIEW OF INTERIM HOUSING ELEMENT Vice Chairman Linebarier said he questioned a lot of the census data but realized there was really nothing the City could do since it was the data that staff was supposed to use. Chairman Swickerath said he was not sure that all the information in the interim report was really necessary. He said a more concise report could be just as good and that more did not necessarily mean better. He specifically said a lot of the figures could be placed in an appendix rather than in the text of the report. Chairman Swickerath recommended that the last paragraph on Page 2 be ommitted. Associate Planner Claman said she had reviewed the Housing Element with Administrative Assistant Resnik and that they Page 2 N "" Special Session Planning and Zoning Board Meeting August 19, 1989 had also determined that the last paragraph on Page 2 should be deleted. She explained that some of the text had come from another document and that there were some transitional problems because of this. Vice Chairman Linebarier referenced the last paragraph on Page 15 and said he felt that many of the mobile homes in the City are substandard and not for low and moderate income groups such as the paragraph stated but rather for unemployed or very low income people. He said the streets, drainage, and sewer facilities in at least one of these mobile home parks were very substandard. Chairman Swickerath said although the mobile homes were not what the Board may envision as adequate housing, they provided a needed resource and without them many people would be out on the streets without a place to call home. Associate Planner Claman said the problem with calling housing "substandard" was that the state defined it as housing that had rotting roofs and floors and no indoor plumbing. She said with the windshield survey that she conducted, she did not feel that any of the mobile homes were bad enough to fall into this category. She said if an internal inspection was conducted of each home, it would probably result in some of them being classified as "substandard ". Chairman Swickerath said he would classify something as "substandard" if it was considered uninhabitable, structure -wise or otherwise. He said the mobile homes provided a needed resource but that they should be addressed in the housing document as something that the City should work on improving so that the people may have more decent housing. Vice Chairman Linebarier said with the exception of the Lakeshore Drive trailer park, all others should be discussed in the document as needing improvements before they could be classified as adequate housing for low and moderate income groups as the document now stated. Chairman Swickerath said it should also be noted that all homes need to be brought into compliance with City Codes before they can be deemed an adequate resource. Chairman Swickerath said that there was an error on Page 7 in the first paragraph. He said the third line referenced a 6.6 percent occupancy rate but that it should probably be a 6.6 percent vacancy rate or a 93.4 percent occupancy rate. Page 3 yir Special Session Planning and Zoning Board Meeting August 19, 1989 Board member Weeks asked about the title of Table 4 at the bottom of Page 7, specifically what the term "Tenure" meant. He said to him that would have to do with how long someone had lived somewhere but that the table did not seem to be addressing that. Associate Planner Claman said that the title was taken from another document and she was not sure if it really belonged there. She said she would look at the other document again. Chairman Swickerath asked how many residential units the City currently had and Associate Planner Claman said she thought it was probably about 4,192. Vice Chairman Linebarier said he did not agree with the median purchase costs listed on Page 8. He said he could not imagine that in 1980, homes in Ocoee were selling for more than homes in the SMSA area on the average. Chairman Swickerath said the SMSA included Clarcona and Apopka and that there were some parts of those cities that had such run down housing that Ocoee may have had a higher average. Chairman Swickerath said they did not have much choice than to go with this data. Chairman Swickerath referred to Page 10, the last paragraph, and said he would rather see what percentage of homes in Ocoee lacked complete kitchens and plumbing rather than the percentage in the SMSA. Chairman Swickerath asked who determined what "overcrowded" was on Page 11, the first paragraph. Associate Planner Claman said the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency provided the definition. Chairman Swickerath asked how the agency determined the number of rooms, especially when some homes now had "great rooms" that served as combination living room, dining room, family room. Associate Planner Claman said that was a good question but the only criteria she was aware of was that each room in the house counted as one room. Vice Chairman Linebarier asked Associate Planner Claman to explain the household income at the bottom of Page 11. Associate Planner Claman said, for example, that for a 7 person household, the household could not earn more than $21,200 in order to qualify for the program. Vice Chairman Linebarier asked what subsidies were involved for builders who may build housing of this type but Associate Planner Claman was not sure. Vice Chairman Linebarier said if a builder can not be subsidized, he will not build that type of housing. He wondered how the City would get builders to ttir Page 4 Special Session Planning and Zoning Board Meeting August 19, 1989 build housing of this nature and asked if the City could provide incentives such as discounts on water and sewer connections or not making them pay impact fees. Chairman Swickerath said he was unsure about the incentives but that growth had to pay for itself. He said he did not know why a builder would build this type of housing when other builders nearby were getting $100,000 - $300,000 per home. Board member Weeks asked about bond money. Chairman Swickerath said with impact fees as high as they are, he was not sure that bond money would be incentive enough. Vice Chairman Linebarier suggested that the City look into establishing a housing authority. He said Winter Garden had one and that possibly such an agency could look for grants or other ways to provide incentives to builders. Vice Chairman Linebarier said one of the reasons why people do not want low income housing built near where they live is because of the design of the housing and not necessarily the people who live in it. Chairman Swickerath disagreed and said that may be that is the case with not wanting moderate income people near where they live but with the low and very low income people - people who have no jobs and may be on welfare - he feels that people do not want these type of people around. Associate Planner Claman said that other housing is also needed for people who fall in between the moderate income group and the people who can afford the new $100,000 homes being built. She said zero lot line and cluster housing will have to be studied by the City very closely because it could provide homes to people who make $25- 30,000 a year. Vice Chairman Linebarier asked what staff's recommendation was to accomplish Objective 4 on Page 36. Associate Planner Claman said the objectives would be studied in detail by the subcommittee for this element and she was hopeful that they would come up with recommendations to accomplish each of these objectives. Chairman Swickerath asked how the subcommittee would determine how much of this housing to attempt to create and Associate Planner Claman said the subcommittee would have to look at population projections for the coming years and what income groups would be moving to this area and then determine how many of these people would need low income housing. Chairman Swickerath asked how they fir' Page 5 low Special Session Planning and Zoning Board Meeting August 19, 1989 would determine to what extent the City should provide people with housing - people on welfare, migrant workers, etc. - or how many units the City should provide for these people. Associate Planner Claman said the 1980 data would be the basis for determining the numbers. Director of Planning Behrens said the problem with using the 1980 census data is that the situation has changed so radically. Board member Weeks said he believed that low income housing was not something that was built, but rather housing that is already in place that becomes unattractive or unwanted because of the deterioration of it. Chairman Swickerath said the "trickle down" affect was not a humane answer as far as he was concerned. Board member Weeks said people who live in low income housing do not own their homes, they rent them. He said what happens is someone buys a house at a very inexpensive price because it is run down, then it is improved only as far as what is absolutely necessary, and then it is rented out. This way, Board member Weeks said, the house is paid off in a relatively short period of time because it was inexpensive to begin with and there were little or no improvements made to it. Chairman Swickerath disagreed with Board member Weeks because he said those were inhumane circumstances to live under but Board member Weeks said he had seen many of the new housing projects that Chairman Swickerath was in favor of that had turned into not only inhumane housing but drug centers. Chairman Linebarier said given the relatively small population of Ocoee, he felt the City would not have to provide too many homes of this nature. He suggested that the objectives refer to establishing a housing authority to study such issues before the Comprehensive Plan is filed with the state. Chairman Swickerath asked if the Board needed to make a formal motion on the Housing Element and Associate Planner Claman said it could wait until next meeting if they wanted to see if the other Board members had any comments. Director of Planning Behrens said the September meeting may be a lengthy one and suggested they vote today. Vice Chairman Linebarier suggested that the housing authority that would be established would be the one charged with carrying out this element. There being a quorum of four regular members, Vice Chairman Linebarier moved that the Planning and Zoning Board as the Local Page 6 Special Session Planning and Zoning Board Meeting August 19, 1989 Planning Agency approve the Interim Housing Element to transmit to the City Commission to forward to the state with the provision that the City establish a local housing authority, Board member Switzer seconded, and approval was unanimous. AJOURNMENT: 4:30 p.m. k. . HAI' SWICKERATH • ATTEST: D TY CLERK RESNIK