Item #04 Highpoint Church - Special Exception
AGENDA ITEM STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: March 4,2008
Item # 4-
Contact Name:
Contact Number:
~,,1.
Michael Rumer
407 -905-3100/1018
Reviewed By:
Department Director:
City Manager:
Subject: HighPoint Church - Special Exception
Project # 04-07 -SE-012
Commission District 3 - Rusty Johnson
ISSUE:
Should the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners approve a Special Exception for HighPoint Church on a 1.8
acre site located in the C-2 (Community Commercial) zoning district?
BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
The proposed HighPoint Church is located on the north side of Ocoee Commerce Parkway; at the northeast
corner of the intersection of Ocoee Commerce Parkway and Central Commerce Lane. The subject property is
approximately 1.8 acres in size, zoned C-2 (Community Commercial), and is the site of the former Haynes
Brothers Furniture Store. The applicant is not proposing any exterior improvements to the building or site. The
proposed sanctuary will seat 362. The table below references the future land uses, zoning classifications and
existing land uses of the surrounding parcels:
Direction Future Land Use Zonina Classification Existing Use
North N/A N/A HWY 50 (Colonial Drive) a 4-lane
Divided Hiahwav I Lake Bennet
East Commercial Community Commercial C-2 Doctor's Office
South Commercial Community Commercial C-2 Vacant
West Commercial Community Commercial C-2 Commercial Retail
The property was purchased by Every Nation Church of Orlando Inc., in January 2008.
DISCUSSION:
The Land Development Code defines a Special Exception as a use that would not be appropriate without
restrictions throughout the zoning division or district. However, if controlled as to number, area, location or relation
to the neighborhood, would promote the public health, safety, welfare, morals, order, comfort, convenience,
appearance, prosperity or general welfare, such uses would be appropriate.
In accordance with Section 4-8.B. of the Land Development Code, the proposed use shall be granted by the City
Commission only upon finding that:
1) The proposed use would not violate the land uses, densities, or other directives of the adopted
Comprehensive Plan or of this code.
2) The proposed uses and structures would be compatible with the uses, structures and activities on adjacent
and nearby lands.
3) The proposed uses and structures would not violate the health, safety, welfare, and/or convenience of
those residing, working or owning land in the vicinity of the proposed use or structure and is not anticipated
to:
. Exceed the applicable density or bulk regulations except as specifically authorized, nor shall the use or
structure result in overcrowding of land or buildings
. Impair pedestrian or vehicular movement in adjoining streets so as to violate adopted level of service
standards
. Create a fire hazard
. Result in noise, odor, glare, vibration, or other similar characteristic which is detectable at the property line
and which exceeds the level which will result from permitted uses
. Prevent an adjoining landowner from the legal use of his property pursuant to the Land Development Code
. Violate a requirement of limitation of any applicable state or federal law or regulation
. Not result in the inadequacy or inability of any public facility or service to meet adopted standards
As shown in the surrounding land use/zoning table above, the adjoining land uses are commercial. Also, the
Church is not proposing to establish a school or child care facility beyond what is used for typical church
services. Based on this, the use is anticipated to be compatible with the surrounding uses in the proposed
location.
Staff has also considered the fact that a church use is moving into a commercial corridor and could potentially
prohibit or prevent an adjoining landowner from the existing legal use of their property such as serving
alcoholic beverages. The City Code currently has the following requirements for selling alcohol:
ARTICLE II Sale of Beverages S 38-5. Locational requirements - states that any place of business in which
alcoholic beverages or intoxicating beverages are sold, or consumed or otherwise furnished at retail to the
public by the glass or drink and any place of business which is a located in a freestanding store at which
alcoholic beverages or intoxicating beverages are sold for off-site consumption (i.e., a "package liquor store")
shall open directly and immediately upon the street, and no such place of business shall be less than 1,000
feet from an established church or school, which distance shall be measured by following the shortest route of
ordinary pedestrian travel along the public thoroughfare from the main entrance of said place of business to the
main entrance of the church.
However, 38-5.1. Exemptions to locational requirements - states that the provisions of S 38-5 shall not apply
to:
(1) Any restaurant equipped to serve full-course meals at tables and deriving at least 51 % of its gross
revenue from the sale of food and nonalcoholic beverages;
(2) Any bona fide hotel, motel or motor court which derives at least 51 % of its gross revenues from the rental
of hotel or motel rooms and which is licensed as a public lodging establishment by the State of Florida Division
of Hotels and Restaurants;
(3) Bowling establishments having 12 or more lanes and all necessary equipment to operate them; and
2
(4) Any bona fide movie theater with 5 or more screens
Based on these requirements, a package liquor store could be prohibited within 1000 feet without a waiver to
this code.
WAIVER REQUEST:
The applicant has requested one waiver from the requirements of the Land Development Code. The waiver that is
being requested is to Section 6.4. G of the Land Development Code. This section of the Land Development Code
requires one parking space for every four (4) seats, or one parking space for every thirty (30) square feet in the
largest assembly area, whichever is greater.
The proposed church contains 362 seats and would be the largest area of assembly consisting of 4,562 sq. ft.
The required amount of parking spaces based on the number of seats is 91. The required number of parking
spaces based on the size of the assembly area is 153. Staff has historically made churches comply with the per
seat equation. The existing site contains 72 parking spaces and will not be able to accommodate the 91 parking
spaces that are required under the per seat equation.
The church currently has 70:t members and will not exceed the available parking on the site at the present time.
The church anticipates growth and has obtained a letter from a neighboring business (State Farm) that will provide
an additional 20 parking spaces for the Church's service.
At the February 12, 2008, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, extensive consideration from members of
the Planning Commission was given to the parking issue. The applicant, Senior Pastor Keith Tower stated they
are a two year old congregation and they currently meet at the Orange County Bar Association. The congregation
currently has 70+ members and the facility they have right now only has 35 parking spaces. They will be coming
to this location with about 70 members and they currently have adequate parking spaces. Pastor Keith Tower did
get a letter from his friend at the State Farm building that would allow them to use their 20 spaces should they
need them. He further stated, they have no intention of parking in the street and will add a second service if
needed. Chairman Milton West inquired if they have looked into purchasing the land in the nearby field (to the
south). Mr. Tower stated it is his understanding that the land is owned by FDOT to be a retention pond when they
widen Hwy 50.
The City Attorney has requested that the applicant provide a document with more teeth such as a legally recorded
parking agreement. To date, the Land Development Code does not provide any guidelines for using a cross
parking agreement between separate properties.
DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
The Development Review Committee (DRC) met on January 31, 2008 and reviewed the Special Exception
application and Site Plan. Based on the above analysis and subsequent discussions. The DRC recommended
approval of the Special Exception request. with the following conditions:
a. This Special Exception shall expire twelve (12) months from the date of approval by the City Commission
unless a building permit is obtained prior to such date, such permit being for the construction of the
proposed use authorized by the Special Exception. Further, upon issuance of the building permit, the
Applicant (or its agent) shall diligently proceed in good faith to complete construction in accordance with
the terms hereof. Failure of the Applicant (or its agent) to proceed as aforesaid shall provide a basis for
revocation of the Special Exception by the City Commission.
b. Approval of this Special Exception does not authorize commencement of development. Prior to
issuance of a building permit, it will be necessary to obtain site plan approval pursuant to the provisions
of Article IV of the Ocoee Land Development Code. Further, compliance with all other applicable
3
provisions of the Ocoee Land Development Code shall be required.
c. The Applicant shall make a good faith effort to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for the use authorized
by the Special Exception within 90 of issuance of the building permit.
d. Should the use authorized by this Special Exception be terminated or substantially modified or expanded
in a manner inconsistent with the conditions of approval for the Special Exception, then said Special
Exception may be revoked by the City Commission at its sole discretion.
e. The Special Exception for use as a church shall be applicable only to the proposed Highpoint Church
shown on this Site Plan for Special Exception and is not transferable to any other operator prior to
issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
f. This Special Exception is limited to a church use for Sunday services only, which use shall include
Sunday school and childcare during Sunday services only. Except as provided in this Condition of
Approval, no church, school or childcare uses shall be permitted on the property.
g. Prior to the issuance of any Certificate(s) of Occupancy for the project by the City, the Applicant shall be
required to provide landscaping on the site consistent with the requirements set forth on Sheet LA-1 of
that certain Final Site Plan for Haynes Brothers Furniture Store, as approved by the City on September
29, 2000 (the "Approved Plan"). The landscape requirements set forth on Sheet LA-1 of the Approved
Plan are incorporated herein by reference and shall be considered a part of this Site Plan for Special
Exception in the same manner as if such requirements were set forth fully herein.
h. Any exterior building modification may require an amendment to the Special Exception and City Staff
should be consulted to determine if the proposed modification is major or minor.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
The proposed Special Exception of the HighPoint Church was reviewed at a Public Hearing by the Planning and
Zoning Commission on February 12, 2008. The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 8-1 to recommend approval
of the Special Exception subject to incorporating the Special Exception Conditions of Approval, excluding condition
"F" and adding a condition that the parking issue can be revisited at such time that overflow parking becomes an
issue.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Based on the recommendations of the DRC and Planning & Zoning Commission, staff recommends that
Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners approve the Highpoint Church Special Exception subject to approval of
the parking waiver and incorporating the Special Exception Conditions of Approval.
ATTACHMENTS:
Location Map
FLU Map
Zoning Map
Aerial Map
Interior Building Plan
Special Exception Site Plan date stamped January 31, 2008
Parking agreement letter from State Farm Building Dated January 30, 2008
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The vacant building paid an estimated $30,355 in taxes for 2007.
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TYPE OF ITEM: (please mark with an "x')
X Public Hearing
_ Ordinance First Reading
_ Ordinance Second Reading
Resolution
X Commission Approval
Discussion & Direction
For Clerk's Deat Use:
_____ Consent Agenda
Public Hearing
_____ Regular Agenda
_ Original Document/Contract Attached for Execution by City Clerk
_ Original Document/Contract Held by Department for Execution
Reviewed by City Attorney
Reviewed by Finance Dept.
Reviewed by ( )
5
X N/A
X N/A
N/A
HIGHPOINT CHURCH SPECIAL EXCEPTION
LOCATION MAP
LAKE BENNET
LONIAL
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GARY MERIDETH, Agent
Auto - Life - Health - Home and Business
-'. ~ . .----
10710 West Colonial Drive Ocoee, Florida 34761
Phone: 407-877-9361
January 30, 2008
~ (E (c IE ~ \Y7 IE W
JAN 3 1 2008
CITY OF OCOEE
To HighPoint Church,
I am pleased to team through our conversations that you are planning to move
your congregation to the former Haynes Brothers Furniture Store at 476
Ocoee Commerce Parkway. As a neighboring business (State Farm) and as the
owner of a building in the Ocoee Commerce area (10710 W. CoLonial), pLease
know that I look forward to having you as neighbors. I believe a church of your
caliber wiLL add real value to our community.
The building that I own has 26 parking spots. OnLy one of our businesses is
open on Sundays. The other businesses in our building are closed on Sundays.
As your congregation grows, you have my permission to use up to 20 of our
parking spots for your Sunday assembly. Should you assembLe on speciaL
occasions other than Sunday, you may use our 26 parking spots if my tenants
are not open for business.
Welcome to the neighborhood. I am sure you will find Ocoee a pleasant pLace
to assemble your church. And I look forward to the value that you will add to
our community.
~regar~
Gary rideth
State arm
Copy of Public Hearing Advertisement
Date Published
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Advertisement
HIGHPOINT CHURCH
SPECIAL EXCEI'TION
4-07-SE"'2
NonCE IS HEREBY GIVEN. pur-
suant to Section 4-8 A. (2).
Ocaee Land Development
Code. thai an Tuesday. FEB-
RUARY 2llOI; 7:11 p..... or
as soan r as pradl-
i8~iNLhf pu.:m"~,~
a PUILI G at the
Ocaee City ammisslan'
Chambers. 150 North Lake-I
share Drive, Ocaee. Flori-
da. to consider a request for
S~eciar Exception far a
~c'i,'j;~ ~~'4i6h'b~=~~~
merce Parkway. The POrcel
1.0. Number Is 29-22-28-6143-
00-020.
The complete case file. in-
cluc!ing a complete leval de-
sCriPt/an try metes and
bounds. may be Inspected
at the OcaeeCammunlty
Development Department.
bsg~~7=~a~I~~~s~::'::ril~~e
hours of 8: 00 a.m. and 5: 00
p.m.. Monday ,through Fri-
~~~. 6t=tP:~~~ln~O~d~~~:
,ng Commission may con-
~t~~~ ~~~e:u~~~c t=:nNs W
deems necessary. Any In-
terested party shall be ad-
~.~srPI~a:s t::t a~a:e~onW~~~
t,an of these or continued
~~~~~e':rDJ~~Y~gS~~~ 'l:'eg~:
'"9S and that no further no-
tices revarding these mat.
ters will be published. Inter-
ested POrtles may appear at
the public hearings and be
heard with respect to the
proPOSed Special Exception
far th~ property. Any per-
'son. Vo(lshlng to appeal ony
~~~lf~O~e~f~ge ~Hrl~:Jh~
record of the proceedings
and ,for this purpose may
need to ensure that a verba.
r~,;s ~:~~eo~~~~h %~~~~
the testimony and evidence
upon which the appeal is
posed. Persons with dlsabil-
,ties needing assistance to
~~~~~~~ ~~o~lll c~~t~~~
~~~(sitrn C~~~";;~c~~fet~:
meeting at (407) 905-3105.
Beth Eikenberry.
City Clerk
OLS613627 1131108