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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-18-91 SS \..,.. MINUTES OF THE JOINT WORKSHOP OF THE CITY COKKISSION AND THE PLANNING AND ZONING COKKISSION HELD ON TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1991 CALL TO ORDER: 5:40 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Johnson; City Commissioners Foster and Woodson; Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Sims; Planning and Zoning Commission members Swickerath, Weeks, Switzer, Linebarier, and Bond; City Manager Shapiro; City Attorney Paul Rosenthal; Administrative Services Director Beamer, Director of Planning Behrens, Consultant Jim LaRue, Consultant York Phillips, Ken Hooper of Professional Engineering Consultants, City Clerk Grafton, and Deputy Clerk Resnik. ABSENT: Mayor Dabbs and City Commissioner Vern Combs; Planning and Zoning Commission Vice Chairman Shiver; and Planning and Zoning Commission alternate members Carroll and Rhodus. '-" Mayor Pro Tem Johnson asked for a roll call of both the City Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission. Those in attendance included City commissioners Foster and Woodson and Planning and Zoning Commission members Linebarier, Switzer, Bond, Weeks, Swickerath, and Sims. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson then turned the meeting over to Administrative Services Director Beamer who explained that the workshop had been called in order for staff and the various consultants who have been working on the Comprehensive Plan, to bring the Boards up to date on the status of the Plan and to get input as to how to proceed on certain issues. Administrative Services Director Beamer explained that the "ORC" Report contained the Objections, Recommendations, and Comments from the State on the City's Comprehensive Plan that was submitted to the State for review back in December. Director of Planning Behrens reminded both Boards that the City had several hearings last fall and formally approved the Comprehensive Plan and forwarded it to the state on December 28. Director Behrens said the City received a 57-page report (ORC Report) back from the State and that staff and the consultants were now in the process of reviewing that report and formulating responses. He said the City will again have to hold hearings and formally adopt the Comp Plan with changes before it is resubmitted to the state. ~ \. Page 2 Joint Workshop (City Commission/Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 Administrative Services Director Beamer said staff and the consultants wanted to hear from both the City Commission and the Local Planning Agency (Planning and Zoning Commission) to get a consensus on several issues before they meet with the State to make sure they are headed in the right direction insofar as answering the concerns addressed in the report. Director Beamer said the City will then go through hearings again and adopt the Plan and then the state will either find it in compliance or not in compliance. City Attorney Rosenthal explained that this was a Workshop and not a pUblic hearing. He said the City Commission would hold a public hearing to formally vote on changes to the Plan in the near future and that this meeting was to get a general consensus from the City Commission and Local Planning Agency. Director of Planning Behrens said staff felt that the State's response (ORC Report) was mild and that the City should not have any major problems complying with what was in the ORC Report. Administrative Services Director Beamer said staff and the ~ consultants had outlined the major areas of concern for the Boards to review. She said none of the proposed responses would change the direction of the Plan but that they would add some wording. Director Beamer said staff wanted to make sure they were following in the direction that the City Commission and Local Planning Agency wanted. Administrative Services Director Beamer said one of the State's comments was that the City did not integrate funding with the needs expressed in the Capi tal Improvements Element. She said in response to the funding comments, the city has updated the Police Impact Fee and is currently working on updating the Fire, Recreation, and Road Impact Fees. She said a stormwater utility fee would also be charged beginning in October and that staff would be presenting this to the City Commission for a proposed October implementation. Director Beamer also said the City was looking towards developing an Interim Services Fee to be charged to property owners before the improved land is actually taxed. She said with all these items in place the State should feel confident that Ocoee's Plan is financially feasible. Administrative Services Director Beamer said the City had also contracted with Professional Engineering Services to provide a computer generated Land Use Map rather than hand-coloring a map as staff has had to do in the past. She said this way copies of the ~ map could be generated as needed and it more clearly delineated the \.... Page 3 Joint Workshop (City Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 land uses. Director Beamer said this way too, the map could be printed out so that overlays would show not only future land use, but existing land use, water and sewer lines, and so on. Administrative Services Director Beamer said there were only a few changes made to the Future Land Use Map that was submitted to the State back in December versus the one that was being shown to the Boards tonight. She said the property at the northeast corner of Bluford Avenue and Silver Star Road was changed from a residential to a commercial designation since it now was the site of a convenience store. Director Beamer said the new map also shows wetlands areas since this was something the State had requested. Lastly, Director Beamer said some of the more major intersections within the City, including the intersection of Clark and Silver Star Roads, would be highlighted to show that the City would be adopting a new policy whereby intensity of uses would be considered. Director of Planning Behrens then read the proposed wording for that new policy which said that the Land Development Regulations shall include standards to regulate the uses of property where there would be an increased automobile flow as a resul t. Director Behrens said this would include such uses as ~ gasoline stations, convenience stores with gasoline sales, fast food establishments with drive-through facilities, and so on. He said the regulations would include specific provisions for the number of these types of facilities allowed at such an intersection as well as buffering requirements and limitations on access points. Director Behrens said staff had developed this policy in an effort to prevent all four corners of an intersection from being developed with gasoline stations or fast food establishments where the traffic problems created would be overwhelming. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson asked what would happen to the southeast corner which is currently in the County. Director of Planning Behrens said it is currently zoned for mUlti-family in the County so that would not allow for any of the uses that he was alluding to. City Attorney Rosenthal said that the property owner would most likely have to annex into the City to be able to get services (utilities, etc.) and then the City would be able to have the control to enforce the policy. Administrative Services Director Beamer said that all other changes to the map were done to clarify boundaries. She said that the map represents future land use projected for the next 20 years. ~ Administrative Services Director Beamer talked about the Traffic Circulation Element first. She said the main problem was that the State has Ocoee classified as an "urban" versus an "urbanized" area. Director of Planning Behrens said the difference between an '-' Page 4 Joint Workshop (City Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 \.. "urbanized" area (the Orlando area, for example) and an "urban" area is that the state mandates different Level of Service criteria. In this case, a Level of Service "D" can be used by the Orlando area for roads but Ocoee, being an "urban" area, has to use a Level of Service "C". Director Behrens said the City is in the process of trying to rectify this but that the process to change the designation takes about six (6) months to one year. Director Behrens said the City is making application for the change in designation to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. Planning and Zoning Commission member Linebarier asked why the City would want to get a designation that would allow for a lower Level of Service. Director of Planning Behrens said with a Level of Service "0" the City would not have to be so concerned with having to go to a moratorium since State Road 50 is already at a Level of Service "C" and may reach a Level "D" even without the City doing any additional building along the roadway since the designation takes into extent the impact that other communities' growth has on the roadway as well. Director Behrens said with the Level of Service "D", the City has a better chance to approve some growth along that roadway and not have to suffer the consequences of having to go to a moratorium because of the impact that the growth of nearby communities has on the roadway going through Ocoee. Ken Hooper of Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) also said the City would be in a position to get more funding from the state with the "urbanized" designation. He said the City could use the money to do needed intersection improvements, access roads, etc. Mr. Hooper said the reason it would be favorable for the City to go to a Level of Service "0" is because that is truly what it should be for Ocoee but neither the State nor the County has ever gone through the process to change the designation. He said a lower Level of Service would also make the State look for more alternative routes for the traffic which would benefit the City. Lastly, Mr. Hooper said it would solve the problem of the City not having to go to a moratorium right away. Administrative Services Director Beamer said the City will be both meeting the "urban" standards in filing the Comprehensive Plan with the State and applying for the "urbanized" classification. She said the City has two years to get reclassified without having to worry about moratoriums, etc. She also reminded the Boards that Level of Service "D" had been submitted originally. Administrative Services Director Beamer then asked Consultant Jim LaRue to discuss the issue of Buffer Zones. Mr. LaRue said buffers were required to protect residential areas that were adjacent to non-residential areas. The State commented that Ocoee's Comp Plan ~ ~ Page 5 Joint Workshop (City Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 did not address buffers specifically enough. Mr. LaRue said the City in response had devised buffers according to the intensity of use next to the residential in question. He said the City already has some buffers spelled out in the Land Development Regulations (PUD ordinance, subdivision ordinance) but devised these additional buffers to satisfy the state requirements. Administrative Services Director Beamer said the final area she wanted to cover was Infrastructure. Director Beamer said many of the comments from the state pointed out that the Plan had some inconsistencies that were technical in nature. '-' Ken Hooper said that the first area, Drainage, was the most difficult to set the Level of Service for. Mr. Hooper said the City does not currently have a Master Drainage Plan to work from and therefore, can not establish Levels of Service at this time. He said the staff recommends adopting the State standard until the City can complete the stormwater study; then in six months to a year from now the City will be able to adopt more specific Levels of Service. Mr. Hooper said by adopting the State standards, the City can at least satisfy the comment made by the State. Mr. Hooper then addressed the issue of septic tanks. He said the State said the City should try to regulate septic tanks to keep them away from any wetland areas and water bodies and make sure they are not installed below the 100 year flood elevation. Mr. Hooper said the city also would use the State standards for this issue as set by the Health Department to satisfy the State's comments. He said by using the State standards, it takes the burden off of the City and places it on the State. Consultant York Phillips then discussed the Open Space and Recreation issues. Mr. Phillips said the State has said there needs to be a minimum of five (5) percent of open space in each development. He said this is a relatively low figure and that many of the City's current regulations far surpass this requirement but that staff and the consultants did not want to put a larger figure in the Comp Plan, especially considering it would address not only subdivisions but also small commercial projects. Mr. Phillips also said staff recommended that in the definition of "Open Space", the City take out the sentence that said it did not include space on the individual lots. He said it is easier to be more specific or enact more stringent requirements in the Land Development Regulations than to try to incorporate everything in ~ the Comp Plan. \. \w '-" Page 6 Joint Workshop (City commission and Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 Administrative Services Director Beamer said there was one last item, Right-of-Way Requirements, that staff felt could be lowered to 130 feet rather than the 150 feet. She said if the City needed to negotiate on the lower figure, it could go from there but that staff and the consultants felt that 130 feet would be more than adequate for anything the City would require. Administrative Services Director Beamer asked if either the City Commissioners or the Local Planning Agency members had any questions, comments, or concerns on any of the issues they had heard about tonight. Planning and Zoning Commission member Swickerath asked if the right-of-way figures included building setbacks and staff and the consultants said they do not. Commission member Swickerath asked how they anticipated handling a si tuation where the City would need to widen a roadway and the widening would result in needing more right-of-way and therefore reducing existing front yards along that roadway. He wanted to know how the ci ty' s response to the right-of-way issue would address this particular problem. City Attorney Rosenthal said the current City Code addresses roadway widths. Ken Hooper said the standards for the various classifications of roadways will stay pretty much the same as they are now. Administrative Services Director Beamer said the level of specificity in the Comp Plan should really only be the minimum that the State requires and that it is easier to elaborate on these minimums in the Land Development Regulations than having to do Comp Plan Amendments which can only be done two times a year. City Commissioner Woodson said he noticed that a lot of the Plan's timeframes had changed from five (5) years to one (1) year for implementation and he wanted to make sure the City was not overextending itself. Director of Planning Behrens said that the timeframes were all to satisfy State requirements and that these timeframes would not cause the city any problems. Administrative Services Director Beamer said staff was looking for direction from both Boards as to whether they should proceed along the lines as they have recommended tonight or whether the Boards would like to make any changes to these recommendations. City Attorney Rosenthal reminded the Boards that because this was a Workshop, no formal action could be taken. He suggested that the Board members speak up if they had a problem with any of the issues and recommendations discussed tonight and if not, then staff could proceed with the recommendations that they had outlined. Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Sims asked what other cities' Comp Plans included as far as buffer zones were concerned and Jim LaRue said that most municipalities have been going with '-' Page 7 Joint Workshop (City Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission) June 18, 1991 the minimums set by the State. He said the Department of Community Affairs had seen this used a lot and for that reason it was a safe way of ensuring compliance or at least a point from which to start with when the City meets with the state to discuss this issue. Planning and Zoning Commission member Linebarier questioned the five (5) percent Open Space standard as a minimum from which the City would negotiate with the State if it had to. When asked for an opinion on this issue, all of the Planning and Zoning members with the exception of Mr. Linebarier said they would recommend the 5 percent as a starting point from which to negotiate if need be with the State. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson and Commission members Foster and Woodson also agreed with staff's recommendation of 5 percent. Planning and Zoning Commission member Linebarier said he was worried it would be reduced in later years if allowed to start out at that figure. There being no further comments on any of the items discussed, the meeting was adjourned. ~ ADJOURNMENT: 7: 10 p.m. ATTEST: ~ ~