Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-12-2000 MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING HELD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2000 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairman Landefeld at 7:30 p.m. A moment of silent meditation was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. A quorum was declared present. PRESENT: Vice Chairman Landefeld, Members Golden, Matthys, McKey, Miller, Rhodus (arrived 8:02 p.m.) and West. Also present were Planning Director Wagner, Principal Planner Lewis, Senior Planner McGinnis, Capital Projects /Transportation Planner Friel, City Manager Shapiro, City Attorney Rosenthal, and Deputy City Clerk Green. Mayor Vandergrift was also present. ABSENT: Chairman Bond (ill) and Member Christoefl (business conflict). CONSENT *oar The consent agenda consisted of approval of Item A: A. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting held on Tuesday, August 8, 2000. Member Golden, seconded by Member West, moved to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion carried 6 - 0. (Member Rhodus had not yet arrived.) NEW BUSINESS AT & T COMMUNICATIONS TOWER PUBLIC HEARING SPECIAL EXCEPTION CASE No. 1- 6SE -99 Senior Planner McGinnis presented the Staff Report for the Special Exception application to permit AT &T Wireless Services to locate a 150 foot telecommunication tower and related facilities at 835 Marshall Farms Road. The applicant is proposing to lease a .13 acre section of the southeast corner of the subject property located north of SR 50 and east of Marshall Farms Road. The Special Exception request is to permit a monopole communication tower with a maximum of 24 flush mounted dual polarized antennas. The tower design will permit up to three additional service providers. Ms. McGinnis said the proposed communication tower complies with requirements of ''�•r Section 5 -19 of the Land Development Code (LDC) with two exceptions for which the Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting September 12, 2000 applicant is requesting waivers. The first waiver is from Section 5 -19 (H) 7 - Osprey/Eagle Nesting. The nesting platform requirement is not necessary as flush mounted dual polarized antennas are not suitable for osprey /eagle nest habitats. The second waiver is from Section 5 -19 (H) 8 - Security Barrier. The requirement that a security barrier surround all facilities and be located on or within five feet of the property boundary or leasehold is not feasible because a drainage ditch traverses the leasehold. By moving the fence to the top of the bank of the ditch, all the facilities will be enclosed and Public Works will be able to maintain the ditch. Ms. McGinnis said on September 6, 2000, the Development Review Committee (DRC) met to consider the application and unanimously recommended approval with two conditions: (1) No new overhead power lines; and (2) The color of the tower should be a medium tone gray. The two conditions of approval have been addressed on the plans date stamped received by the City September 7, 2000. Ms. McGinnis said staff is recommending that the P & Z recommend approval of the Special Exception for AT & T Wireless Services, Case No. 1- 6SE -99, to permit the following: • the installation of a 150 -foot monopole communication tower and related facilities; • a maximum of 24 flush mounted dual polarized antennas; • a waiver from Section 5 -19 (H) 7 of the Land Development Code; and • a waiver from Section 5 -19 (H) 8 of the Land Development Code. Member McKey asked if there were any possibility that the raptors /ospreys would try to use this as a nesting site. Ms. McGinnis explained that the tower would not provide the diameter or the space between the pole and antenna for them to have an adequate nest. Member Matthys asked to what extent was collocation looked into with the other three surrounding towers. Ms. McGinnis said the other three towers do not meet the applicant's service area. This tower will eliminate the need for additional towers since they can accommodate three extra carriers. The public hearing was opened. Responding to questions by Member West, Claudine Vipperman, representing AT & T, said this specific site will accommodate approximately a two mile radius. She said they have no other towers in the City and plan no additional towers at this time in Ocoee. Elias (Lee) Chotas, of Dean, Mead, Egerton, Bloodworth, Capouano & Bozarth, P.A., Orlando, attorney for AT &T, complimented staff for the way they had worked with them. Stow 2 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting September 12, 2000 Noting the City's requirement that the pole be painted a medium tone gray, he said painting would increase maintenance costs. He said the pole would be galvanized steel, about the same color, and would not require painting. He said many jurisdictions believe the poles should not be painted. Member Matthys asked why painting the pole that color was a condition. Mr. Wagner said the ordinance requires the poles to be painted white or gray, but Staff, having seen some white ones, prefer a gray color to blend with the sky. In further discussion it was determined that the ordinance specifies "monopole shall have a flat white or gray finish color." Mr. Wagner said the Board can give community opinion so if they have a recommendation that the galvanized is acceptable, that can be made a part of their recommendation. Member Matthys suggested striking the requirement for gray paint as long as the condition is added that it has to be the galvanized gray color steel. Mr. Wagner said the monopoles are usually galvanized, but that provision may have been included to cover towers that are not galvanized. Vi Mr. Chotas suggested the requirement could be gray paint or galvanized steel. Ms. Vipperman said all the poles are galvanized but they vary in color and finish (from shiny to dull) depending on the manufacturer. She said the City can request a specific tone or finish. Ms. Janet Rohe, 821 Marshall Farms Road, the owner of the adjacent property, asked if the apparatuses that will be on the cell tower are known to cause any RF interference. Mr. Chotas responded for the record, "Based on the certification of an RF Engineer, we are sure that this particular tower is not going to be interfering and that particular letter is in your file certified so you can sue on it if we are wrong." The public hearing was closed. Member McKey, seconded by Member Matthys, moved that Planning and Zoning ommission rec . mmend a s . royal of the AT: T Wireless Services A s . lication for S s ecial Exce'tion , Case No. 1- 6SE -99, as date stamped received by the City on August 1 2000, as had been recommended by Staff, with the condition that the tower be a galvanized pole in medium tone gray. Motion carried 6 -0. (Member Rhodus had not yet arrived.) look' 3 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting September 12, 2000 FLORIDA AUTO AUCTION OF ORLANDO PUBLIC HEARING PRELIMINARY /FINAL SITE PLAN PROJECT NUMBER LS -00 -008 City Manager Shapiro presented the background for the project. He said this project is unusual in that it has existed for almost two decades and has grown immensely to be one of the largest auto auctions in the world. Many months ago the City Commission had suggested that the City should seek a master plan of the site prior to any permanent further growth. City Staff and the Auto Auction have worked diligently to provide not only what will eventually be a Master Plan but also the Preliminary/Final Site Plan of the entire site. The Auto Auction recognized that there were significant impacts to the transportation concurrency of our community and the biggest concurrency issue for the City was a four -lane section of Maguire Road from Mercantile Court to Story Road. In a meeting with City Commission on September 7, the Auto Auction offered to contribute $2,800,000.00 for the cost of widening Maguire Road with $2,200,000.00 to be reimbursed over a period of eight years. The sum of $600,000.00 will not be reimbursable and no road impact fee credits will be provided. In addition, the Auto Auction will donate right -of -way along Marshall Farms Road and Story Road for future ',,., expansion of those roads. He said a great number of big businesses and smaller family businesses could not exist in the area without the Auto Auction. The main issues for the City are traffic ways, drainage, buffering and financial assistance with transportation concurrency and the Auto Auction has addressed all of them. He said the City Attorney and the Planning Director will address a number of issues in the Plans. Planning Director Wagner presented the Staff Report summarizing the project. He pointed out that the Plans given to Planning and Zoning members are 90% complete, providing the actual lay out but lacking some engineering details, administrative matters and notes. He said the Plans submitted to City Commission will include all of the items that are in the Staff Report. He said the Auto Auction has purchased additional property and they intend to pave it and provide more parking area. He said they intend to fill in the ditch that goes through their property and install dual 60 inch pipes. He said they intend to close the existing drive way on Marshall Farms Road near SR 50 and also the northerly entrance on Marshall Farms Road. He said the new Plan will include one access point and turn-lane improvements on Marshall Farms Road as well as the two existing access points on Story Road and SR 50. In Phase 3 the Story Road entrance will be relocated to match up with the existing Roper Drive. Part of the project will be to dedicate 40 feet of the right -of way along Story Road, 20 feet along a section of Maguire and 40 feet along Marshall Farms Road for eventual widening. They also will put in a ten foot landscaping strip along the entire perimeter of the site and it will be landscaped, generally consistent 4 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting September 12, 2000 with Ocoee's updated Land Development Code (LDC). A traffic analysis reflecting the traffic impacts of the current Auto Auction operations and the additional impact of the proposed improvements showed impacts on most of the roads and intersections immediately adjoining the site. In order to mitigate the traffic impacts of the proposed development, it was decided that the most effective off -site road improvements would include the right -of -way dedications for Story Road, Maguire Road and Marshall Farms Road, turn lane improvements on Marshall Farms Road, and a contribution to the cost of widening Maguire Road. Due to the extent of these agreed upon traffic mitigation requirements, a Development Agreement has been prepared which provides the details of how and when each of the mitigation requirements will be satisfied. He said Mr. Shapiro had explained the provisions related to Maguire Road and Mr. Rosenthal would discuss the Development Agreement attached to the Plan. He said, beyond that, the Master Plan calls out for general changes that might occur to the Plan over time. He said the consultants and the owner are present to answer questions. Member McKey asked if Staff was for or against the waivers. Mr. Wagner said Staff has determined that all of the proposed waivers (as modified during the DRC meeting) are acceptable for this site. Responding to questions by Member McKey about the waiver changing the 25 foot minimum setback to 10 feet, Mr. Wagner explained that all the surrounding roads would have the 10 foot landscaped strip and the landscaping would be comparable to that which would have been in a 15 foot buffer. Mr. Rosenthal said there is a waiver on the new submittal which the DRC recommended providing for 75% of the landscaping which would normally be placed in a 15 foot buffer. City Attorney Rosenthal pointed out that this is an existing development seeking an expansion but the City is requiring landscape improvement that relate to the entire development. Member Matthys asked if this was being looked at as an expansion of a non - conforming use. Mr. Rosenthal said it is being considered as a permitted use. He explained that the "Motor Vehicle Wholesale" category had been omitted from the Land Development Code due to an oversight and it would be added in an amending ordinance to come before Planning and Zoning Commission in their next meeting. Member McKey asked about the waiver for lighting and Mr. Wagner said that any lighting that is visible from offsite will be shielded and directed downward on the perimeter of the site. 5 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting September 12, 2000 Member McKey asked if the waiver reducing the minimum width of drive aisles in the parking lot from 22 feet to 20 feet is agreeable with the Fire Department. Mr. Wagner said they have no problem with it. City Attorney Rosenthal spoke concerning a proposed ordinance and the Development Agreement. He said Ocoee's Comprehensive Plan prohibits development in the 100 year flood plain. He said a portion of the Auto Auction's ditch is in the 100 year flood plain though it is surrounded by concrete. A technical reading of the City's LDC in conjunction with the Comprehensive Plan would provide that the ditch could only be used as a ditch because it is in the 100 year flood plain. He said that clearly was not what the Planning and Zoning and City Commissions were trying to accomplish with that Comprehensive Plan provision. As an interim fix of the Comprehensive Plan until it can be addressed on a City -wide basis, some of the problems can be addressed by LDC amendments dealing with the definition of development. At the direction of the City Commission Mr. Rosenthal said he has prepared an ordinance amending the LDC to add "Wholesale Motor Vehicle" as a category and to exempt from the definition of development the piping, filling or crossing of existing manmade ditches or canals. He said the exemption would allow the Auction Now to put the pipe in the canal and fill over the canal. This is an area where City regulations would have been more stringent than those of St. John's River Water Management District. They will have to comply with all of the SJRWMD drainage issues. He said his recommendation to City Commission will be to let everything go with the legal ability to fill the canal and put the pipe in the ditches to be subject to the follow up amendment to the LDC. The Development Agreement provides that if the City Commission does not approve the Code amendment, the Auto Auction can get out of all their commitments to the City. The City Commission indicated at the Special Meeting on September 7 that they supported going forward with this and directed Staff to do so. Mr. Rosenthal said the Development Agreement provided to Planning and Zoning Commission members is a working draft and will be subject to further revisions before it goes to City Commission. Essentially, it obligates the Auction to provide the right of way to the City for future expansions of roads that are impacted by the Auto Auction. All of that is at no cost to the City and without any road impact fee credits. This is very significant in terms of the ability of the City at future dates to address area wide transportation needs around the area of the Auto Auction. Mr. Rosenthal said completion of the four - laning of the extension of Maguire Road was a $2.8 M project for which the City does not have funding The Auto Auction at the meeting with City Commission last Thursday had agreed that they would be the pioneer 6 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting `err, September 12, 2000 to provide the entire $2.8 M to allow this project to happen now. It is necessary for the project to happen now for their project expansion to be concurrent. They have agreed to provide the funding, $600,000.00 of which will be non - reimbursable. As other properties which are being benefited by the improvement, and which also would not otherwise meet concurrency absent the improvement, come in, the City will use the cash generated by those projects to repay the pioneering forward payment made by the Auto Auction. The Agreement provides for an outside balloon date of eight years with no interest carried to the City on the $2.2 M. City Manager Shapiro pointed out that this was basically not a loan but a front end payment of the entire amount to make the project happen with the funding to be repaid by growth. Member McKey suggested the following: • Acceleration and deceleration lanes need to be considered. (Mr. Wagner said the trucks will enter on SR 50.) • If the Auto Auction acquires the Orange County Services Center it should be brought up to current LDC. (Mr. Shapiro said the County Commission has not decided if it will be sold. If it should be acquired, any remodeling would have to follow the Code at that time.) • Asked about encouraging vertical growth/parking garages. (Mr. Shapiro explained that parking garages in this instance could cause more safety concerns.) • Expressed concern about water collection on the site. (Mr. Shapiro said we trying to make the outside more pleasing to the rest of us and have the inside effective for their type of operation.) City Attorney Rosenthal pointed out that the increased paved area increases the stormwater management fees the City collects. He said the Development Agreement provides for a drainage improvement that is needed but is not caused by the Auto Auction. It will be included as part of this project utilizing part of the first year's revenue. Mr. Shapiro said the estimated revenue increase for the paving they will be adding is $60,000.00 per year. Member Matthys asked what is the acreage of the new land that is being acquired, what is the overall percentage of impervious and how many average daily trips (ADT) are shown in the study. 7 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Now September 12, 2000 Jim Hall, Canin Associates, Orlando, said the addition is 60 to 70 acres on the northeast corner. He said they propose to pave about 50 acres of it. He said they have a total of 253 acres in Ocoee and Winter Garden, with 179 in Ocoee. He said the overall percentage of impervious is about 90 %, and there are 12,000 ADT for the entire development, or 45 trips per acre. Mr. Hall said the public areas where the dealers and the public enter from SR 50 will meet all of Ocoee's Code standards with landscaping and a standard parking lot including 24 foot drive aisles. He said the drive aisles in the storage area that has no public access will be reduced to the 20 feet. Member Golden asked when the applicant considered development in the flood plain area that does not meet Code, if they had looked at other alternatives or considered changing the flood plain map. Mr. Hall said changing the flood plain map is a painful experience to go though and they only recently realized that the ditch is in the 100 year flood plain. He said the two 60 inch pipes would provide compensating storage so there would be no flood hazard. He said SJRWMD is comfortable there is going to be no flood hazard. *ow Mr. Shapiro said it had been the intent of the Comprehensive Plan to address natural areas not manmade ditches. He said the ditch was only wet when it rains. Member Golden said he agreed they needed to use the LDC for preservation of natural areas, but that even manmade ditches can become natural areas fairly quickly. He expressed concern about changing the Code and setting precedent. Kurt Ardaman, attorney for the Auction, said the portion of the ditch on the Auction's property is manmade. He said they had not had the opportunity to consider other alternatives. He said the Auction must have maneuverability on both sides of the ditch. He said Mr. Golden's concern as to the natural water bodies would be relevant, but on the Auction property it is a manmade body. Mr. Rosenthal said under all circumstances all applicants anywhere in the City have to meet all of the requirements of the SJRWMD. He said the discussion is about to what extent Ocoee's regulations are tougher than what the SJRWMD will approve. Mr. Shapiro said the Comprehensive Plan will be reviewed next year and Staff expects to get tougher in some areas, but this is not one of them. The concern in this case is it is somewhat degraded as a manmade area. If it was a natural ditch, Staff would have had a problem. '�. 8 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Nomw September 12, 2000 Mr. Golden said he thought the applicant should have worked to change the map instead of the City changing the Code for the applicant. Mr. Shapiro said he did not think it could have been done within the next year. Member Matthys asked if a copy of the 100 year flood plain map was available. It was not. Member Golden asked if the pond that is accepting most of that water in the eastern portion of the property is adequate to quickly percolate that water to reduce the flooding. Mr. Hall said it met SJRWMD standards. Claude Cassagnol, engineer for the Auction, said the expanded area should hold a 100 year storm and slowly release the discharges from their site through a small orifice. He said they would be reducing the amount of flow from the expanded area. Member West said he thought it would be good to change the Code for matters such as this. He said he thought this was a good project and that everyone had worked very hard on it. Recess: 8:52 p.m. - 9:03 p.m. The public hearing was opened. Ms. Janet Rohe, 821 Marshall Farms Road, asked about the anticipated traffic patterns for the overall site plan. Mr. Hall said the traffic patterns will be very similar to what they are today. Dealers and the transports will enter from SR 50 on the southwest portion of the site. In the future all the transports will be directed through the project over to the southeastern portion of the site with the new exit onto Marshall Farms. The entrance /exit will remain off of Story for some employees and for moving some of the car inventory in Winter Garden down Story and back to Winter Garden. Ms. Rohe asked with the moving of the entrance or exit of Marshall Farms more toward the middle of Marshall Farms, if he expected the traffic pattern to continue to flow toward SR 50 or to go north on Marshall Farms Road to Maguire. Mr. Hall said most of the transports go to SR 50 and in order to return to the turnpike. Addressing some of the comments, Mr. Hall said the Auction will be donating five acres of right -of -way valued at about $1 M, giving $600,000.00 to the City for the Maguire Road improvement, and providing the $2.2 M with no interest. He said the Auction is °." 9 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting view September 12, 2000 only asking for about a 2,000 increase in trips per day. He said they will relocate driveways for better traffic safety and realign the Story Road entrance with Roper Drive. He said a new facility will be constructed but it will be wholly within the site. In the light of those concessions, they are asking for some waivers. He said the wooden fence detail is the existing fence around the pasture and landscaping will screen it in the future. He said if they do purchase the Orange County Services Building, it would probably be razed or used for Auction offices and brought up to today's standards. As to parking garages, there are safety issues and substantial cost issues as surface parking lots cost $1500 per space and parking garages cost $6,000 per space. He said they are trying to be good neighbors on transportation issues and will plant the edge of the property very heavily to screen it. The public hearing was closed. Member Rhodus, seconded by Vice Chairman Landefeld, moved that Planning and Zoning Commission recommend approval of Pro'ect No. LS -00 -008 the Preliminary/Final Site Plan for the Florida Auto Auction of Orlando, as date stamped received by the City on September 8, 2000, as recommended by Staff, subject to 1) including all the revisions discussed during the DRC meeting, and 2) a..roval and 'troy execution of a development agreement addressing transportation and other issues, and further subject to the condition that the proposed piping of the portion of the ditch/canal located in the 100 year flood plain is conditioned upon City Commission adoption of an amendment to the Land Development Code exempting such piping from the definition of "development." Motion carried 6 -1, with Member Golden voting "No." OLD BUSINESS None. OTHER BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN LAKEFRONT MASTER PLAN PROCESS Planning Director Wagner said the City is beginning the Master Plan for the Municipal Complex and the lakefront as well as the expansion of all the civic buildings and the types of uses that could occur over the next ten or twenty years. The City will be sending out surveys to citizens to determine the interests of the community as to the types of facilities to be placed along the lake. The next step after the survey will be a Design Charette to be held in the evening or on Saturday to allow citizens to participate in the 10 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting +fir, September 12, 2000 design process. Then all the ideas will be condensed and options presented. The next step would be to actually develop the Master Plan. Mr. Wagner directed attention to the Planning Department's latest Work in Progress Report and said Planning and Zoning Commission may need to meet twice a month for the next few months. Mr. Wagner said the additional Senior Planner had been hired as authorized by the Commission. He said Joanna Dyson comes to us from Orange County and has about 15 years of experience. Mayor Vandergrift reported that he had met today with the Orange County School Board and gave an overview of the discussion about the challenges the Board is facing. ADJOURNMENT Member West, seconded by Member Miller moved to adjourn. M n otio carried unanimously. low The meeting was adjourned at 9:31 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: M Green, Deputy City Clerk ou L. . •feld V ce Chairman p �' `raw 11