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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ 07-23-1990 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 23, 1990 CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. by Vice Chairman Linebarier. PRESENT: Chairman Sims (arrived at 7:25 p.m.); Vice Chairman Linebarier; Commission members Weeks, Swickerath, Switzer, and Bond; and Alternate Commission member Carroll. ABSENT: Commission member Shiver and Alternate Commission member Rhodus. DISCUSSION /RECOMMENDATION ON COMMERCIAL PROPERTY AT "FOUR CORNERS" OF SILVER STAR ROAD AND CLARK ROAD INTERSECTION Vice Chairman Linebarier asked the developers to introduce themselves. Louis Geys and George Yanovitch (Wescar, Inc.), Grover Voss, Bill Riske (Silver Ark Ltd.), and Dave Outlaw (Zom Companies) were all in attendance as well as interested citizens and other property owners located near the intersection. Director of Planning Behrens pointed out the maps from the City of Oviedo's master plan for its new "town center" and indicated that Oviedo had similar growth patterns and that the City of Ocoee may be able to get some ideas from Oviedo's master plan. Director Behrens said staff was looking for the developers to give ideas on the design guidelines, etc. that they would be willing to go along with as a group. Chairman Sims asked each of the developers to speak: Louis Geys said he felt that in order for a plan to be successful, it would need to include more than just the four corners of the intersection of Silver Star and Clark Roads. He said he would like to see the plan include property on down Silver Star Road and also on Clark Road, especially towards Highway 50. Mr. Geys said he had some concerns because a lot of land holders are not developers so the land holder does not know how or what to put together for the future developers and is afraid to tie the property up in such a way that a prospective developer would no longer be interested in the property or that it might somehow decrease the value of the property. Mr. Geys said also that it would be more difficult without large landholders to put all the necessary pieces of property together and to get a lot of smaller property owners to all agree on one master plan. He did agree, however, that it was a good idea for the City to at least implement Page 2 i Special Session Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting July 23, 1990 some general guidelines for an overall plan without getting too bogged down in details. Mr. Geys said one important element of a design guideline would be to blend in residential development with commercial development with some good landscaping guidelines. Grover Voss showed the Planning and Zoning Commission a preliminary plan he had for his property located on Silver Star Road, on the northeast corner of the intersection. The plan incorporated both Grover Voss' property and the property managed by Bill Riske. Grover Voss said the City needed to consider giving tenants of these commercial developments more flexibility insofar as size of buildings, placement of buildings, curb cuts, etc. were concerned and reminded the Planning and Zoning Commission that Mr. Kulash said that smaller entrances and more of them could actually be a positive feature of a shopping center development. Vice Chairman Linebarier said personally that he wanted to limit the curb cuts on both Silver Star and Clark Roads in order to ease the amount of traffic congestion. %b Chairman Sims asked if reduced parking requirements was an attractive option for developers. Commission member Swickerath said most tenants want spaces so that it really is not an attractive option for developers. Bill Riske asked how much control the City would have on the posted speed limits for Clark and Silver Star Roads. It was explained that Silver Star Road was a state road currently posted at between 45 -50 miles per hour and that Clark Road is a City road and City Engineer Shira said it would be designed for 45 miles per hour and posted 40 miles per hour. As development occurs, staff said the speeds on both roads would be reduced. Bill Riske asked if the City would require landscape buffers on commercial development in order to hide the storefronts from the traffic since this was a known way to keep traffic at a higher level of speed. He said this would hurt developers since smaller tenants rely on being able to be seen from the street. Commission member Swickerath said it really depends on the tenant and if done right, landscape buffers can be effective for both storeowners and keeping traffic moving. Bill Riske said in order to make commercial developments successful at this location, the City needed to work to make sure that they contained things other than just grocery stores and drycleaners. He said there had to be a reason for people to want to travel to Page 3 Special Session Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting July 23, 1990 a location like this and he hoped that the City would want to locate its new municipal facilities there as well as encourage other government offices to locate there. Louis Geys said that everyone needed to realize that you can not necessarily change the habits of Americans just by good planning and good design. He used the example of Europeans versus Americans and how they live and shop and stressed that Americans are used to being able to drive to whatever they need to do rather than parking and walking. Mr. Geys also said a big problem will be that each developer will be working with an anchor tenant which will have some say in how that property is developed. He said these anchors will require a certain amount of visibility and other requirements before they will sign a contract. Bill Riske suggested that staff meet with representatives of major anchors (Publix, Winn Dixie, Goodings, etc.) in order to find out what they require so that staff can incorporate this into any guidelines it comes up with. Director of Planning Behrens asked how many anchors this intersection could handle and Bill Riske said with the amount of residential developed currently, only one anchor could be supported but that ultimately, two anchors could be supported once all the residential development is built out. Grover Voss explained that Bill Riske and Director Behrens were talking about grocery stores but that there were other anchors that could be successful along with those grocery stores such as clothing stores, Walmart, building supply stores, etc.. Director of Planning Behrens asked why the developers were talking K -Mart and Walmart and why not more upscale stores. He said he thought the City needed to dictate where and what goes and not the other way around. He asked the developers how the City holds out for the Ivey's and the Rutland's and not let a K -Mart in. Bill Riske said the residential would need to be very upscale for an anchor like that to think it could be successful. Commission member Swickerath said it was important for the City to ensure that what went into these commercial developments were what was needed in order to keep from having vacant storefronts. Bill Riske said the best way to ensure that they remained full was to locate government offices there. Grover Voss pointed out that Oviedo's new town center did include the City Hall and a post office. %111110 Page 4 %r.► Special Session Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting July 23, 1990 Commission member Swickerath said that PEC's numbers for traffic counts on Clark and Silver Star Roads showed that these would be more heavily travelled in the future than Highway 50 is experiencing now. He said because of this, things like decorative pavement and crosswalks would really not be feasible. Louis Geys said the City needed to develop an overall landscaping plan for Silver Star and Clark Roads that would tie together both the residential and commercial developments so it will not appear choppy. He recommended that the City not require walls. Director of Planning Behrens said he did not feel that the City or the developers needed to be at the mercy of the anchor tenants. He suggested that the City hire a professional planning consultant for the $10,000 - $15,000 to provide some broadbrush concepts. He added that the longer the City delayed doing so, the less chance it had to influence the development in the area. Vice Chairman Linebarier said he thought the developers would give more specifics than they had as far as their ideas and the parameters that they would be willing to work within. %Ire John Bateman, former City Commissioner, said that this intersection would not become the new "town center" because of traffic problems. He said that Clark Road, once improved, will hopefully help ease the traffic congestion but that it was the only north -south arterial and that to do so, the City would have to limit the number of curb cuts and focus on moving traffic rather than creating a shopping haven for people to congregate at. Commission member Switzer asked if any of the developers were considering office space rather than commercial development. Grover Voss said he would first try to attract an anchor tenant but that if he was unsuccessful, he would turn to offices. He said he thought that as the residential development grew, commercial would be the most feasible. Mr. Bateman said he thought that multi- family and office development would be much better for this intersection than commercial development. RECESS: 8:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: 8:45 P.M. Louis Geys said he thought the best way to handle the planning of the intersection was to put together a committee comprised of members of the development community, the Planning and Zoning Commission, staff, and the City Commission. He said he felt it was important to plan for the whole area and not just the four corners Page 5 Special Session Planning and Zoning Commission July 23, 1990 of the intersection of Clark and Silver Star. Mr. Geys said practically speaking the planning needed to be on Clark Road from Highway 50 to A.D. Mims Road and that what happened at the intersection of Clark Road and Highway 50 was very important to the success of other development. Commission member Weeks asked what was currently planned for that area and Director Behrens said that he had had discussions with Bill Goodman and that it would probably be about seven (7) years before any consideration would be given for a sizeable mall for that area. Chairman Sims asked City Engineer Shira about the traffic projections for the intersection of Clark and Silver Star Roads and asked if decorative pavement and a "Park Avenue" atmosphere were realistic and City Engineer Shira said not for long because of the traffic slated to be handled by the intersection in the future. Chairman Sims said he wanted to clear up any misconception that this intersection could be planned as a Park Avenue or a pedestrian -type mall. He did, however, suggest that the Planning and Zoning Commission may want to recommend to the City Commission that a committee be formed in order to plan the intersection in any event. He said he did not know how the City would want to handle ,, the cost of a planning consultant but that he thought it was as much in the City's interest as it was in the developers' best interests. Commission member Swickerath made a motion to recommend to the City Commission that a committee be established to determine a plan for development along Clark Road, and more specifically at the intersection of Clark and Silver Star Roads, and that the City Commission explore the possibility of hiring a professional planning consultant to work with this committee to come up with specific development criteria. He included in his motion that the Planning and Zoning Commission would leave it up to the City Commission regarding who would actually comprise this committee although he would hope that it would include City staff, at least one Planning and Zoning Commission member, and developers. Commission member Switzer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Director of Planning Behrens asked if someone from the Planning and Zoning Commission would be in attendance at the City Commission meeting to present this recommendation formally and Chairman Sims said he would be there. Chairman Sims said he would put together a written report for the City Commission packet. Sire ADJOURNMENT: 9 p.m. Page %Iftw. Special Session Planning and Zoning Commission July 23, 1990 )0 , i i, ' ' CHAP • SIMS ATTEST: rkvb 'I i 4 . 'EPUTY CLERK RESNIK