05-12-1994 MINUTES OF THE LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY
SPECIAL MEETING
Nov HELD THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1994
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Switzer at 7:35 p.m. followed by a moment of
silent meditation and the pledge of allegiance.
The determination of a quorum was made.
PRESENT: Chairman Switzer, Members Jones, Landefeld, Miller, Rhodus, Swickerath,
Alternates Draia and McKey. Also present were Planning Director Wagner, City
Attorney Rosenthal, Administrative Services Director Beamer and Deputy City
Clerk Green.
ABSENT: Vice- Chairman Bond.
NEW BUSINESS
LAKE LOTTA MALL, Case No. CPA 1 -9 -93, Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment
LAKE LOTTA CENTER, Case No. CPA 2 -9 -93, Proposed Comprehensive Plan
Amendment
Now Chairman Switzer said that while the Lake Lotta Mall and Lake Lotta Center are two separate
items, the two projects are so closely interconnected that they will be discussed simultaneously.
He asked citizens who address the Commission to specify if they refer to the mall, the center,
or both of them. He explained that, following presentations by Planning Director Wagner, a
spokesman for the developers of the mall, and a representative for the developers of the Center,
he would open the public hearing for comment from citizens.
Planning Director Russ Wagner explained the purpose and scope of the meeting. Two separate
comprehensive plan amendment applications are proposed, one for Lake Lotta Mall and one for
Lake Lotta Center. Both projects entail changes to our land use plan and that is the purpose
of the comprehensive plan amendments. The Lake Lotta Mall project is located at the northeast
quadrant of the intersection of Clarke Road and S.R. 50. The applicant for the mall proposes
to change 118.1 acres on the Future Land Use Map from High Density Residential (60.4) ac.),
Medium Density Residential (37.3 ac.), and Low Density Residential (20.4 ac) to Commercial.
The Lake Lotta Center project is located on the west side of Clarke Road north of the
intersection of Clarke Road and S.R. 50. The applicant for the center proposes to change 35
acres on the Future Land Use Map from High Density Residential (20 ac.) and Low Density
Residential (15 ac.) to Commercial. Both projects have received conditional DRI approval from
the East Central Florida Regional Planning Commission. As part of the required review and
approval process for a Development of Regional Impact (DRI), a concurrent Comprehensive
Plan Amendment (CPA) must be submitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs
(DCA) when any Future Land Use Map changes are required to accommodate the project.
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Planning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting
May 12, 1994
The transmittal of the proposed amendments to DCA does not confer approval of the Land Use
Map change by the City. A second Public Hearing (probably in August or September) to
consider actual adoption of the amendments is only scheduled after an Objections,
Recommendations and Comment Report (ORC) is received back from DCA. Mr. Wagner
stressed that this discussion has to do with land use changes only. Ultimately PUD rezonings,
site plan reviews, and subdivision plan reviews will be undertaken for both projects. There will
be plenty of opportunity for discussion on all local planning issues before any final approvals
are considered. Amendments provided to members are the actual applications and information
that will go to DCA. The documents were prepared by each of the developer's consultants and
are sufficient for transmittal of the applications to DCA. The DRC (Development Review
Committee) met on April 29, 1994 and recommends that both comprehensive plan amendments
be transmitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for their review.
Mr. Jim Grant, of Homart Development Company, the developers of Lake Lotta Mall
project, introduced Mr. Jack Oliaro and Ms. Mary Ludwig, also with Homart, and local team
members Mr. Bill Kercher, Mr. Tim Jackson, of Glatting, Jackson and Mr. Hal Kantor,
Attorney. Mr. Grant said that Homart, a Chicago based company, has participated in over one
hundred regional shopping centers nationwide and ranks in the top three of the largest mall
developers in the country. Mr. Grant and Mr. Oliaro are based in Homart's Atlanta office
which handles all the mall development in the southeast. The Lake Lotta Mall team represents
not only Homart but also a number of major department store clients. The retailers, as well as
`o Homart, are very enthusiastic about the opportunity in Ocoee to serve the West Orange market
and are very interested in opening the Lake Lotta Mall in the fall of 1996. To achieve that goal
they must begin site work on the project this fall. Site plan discussions with City staff have
begun. Site plans and architectural renderings and conceptual drawings of the mall should be
available for informational purposes by the August- September hearings.
He showed slides of Homart's three most recent mall projects in the Southeast:
1. Columbiana Center, 10 miles north of Columbia, South Carolina, built in 1990.
2. Northpoint Mall, 18 miles north of downtown Atlanta in Alpharetta, opened 1993.
3. Pembroke Lakes Mall, 10 miles west of Ft. Lauderdale, built in 1992.
Mr. Bill Kercher, of Glatting, Jackson, presented a conceptual outline of the mall. He said the
first phase would be 1.1 million square feet and the second phase 300,000 square feet. After
several meetings with staff and with homeowners, plans had been altered to move 250,000
square feet from the first phase to the second phase. He asked board members to consider
recommending that the applications for the amendments to the comprehensive plan be transmitted
to Tallahassee.
Mr. Tim Jackson, also of Glatting, Jackson, summarized the transportation issues. He said the
site is very well served by the regional transportation network. The East -West Expressway,
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Planning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting
May 12, 1994
Clarke Road, and Highway 50 provide a strong regional network to handle traffic to and from
the site while still allowing a local network like Good Homes Road to function for local
residents. How to deal with traffic congestion as this project and other development takes place
is a central issue. After working with the Regional Planning Council and the staffs of DOT,
Orange County and the City, they had reduced their original proposal for the first phase by
25%. All those agencies agree that this roadway network will operate at an acceptable level of
service through phase I of the development. Any further development in the area after the
completion of the first phase would depend on the results of a transportation study.
Tom Cloud, an attorney with Gray, Harris and Robinson, representing the Lake Lotta Center
project, introduced Mr. Neil Frazee and Mr. Jim Sellen, of Miller - Sellen Associates, Inc. and
Mr. Barry Goodman, the owner of the property. He stressed that the sole issue before the board
tonight was whether or not to recommend to the City Commission the transmittal of their
proposed comprehensive plan amendment to the DCA. They had downsized their project.
Residential development is planned for their first phase and any commercial development will
be constructed in their second phase. The high density residential development originally
planned west of Clarke Road has been changed to single family. The changes have been made
in response to comments from the citizens in the area as well as City staff and City
Commissioners. Commercial square footage has been reduced by 50% to 275,000 square feet.
This will result in a 17,000+ reduction in average daily trips generated by the center. They
have agreed to assign approximately 17,000 of their vested trips to the mall. They are retaining
vested trips for only their residential. For the commercial phase they will be subject to
concurrency. They are making right -of -way dedications to the City on Clarke Road and White
Road without impact fee credits. In response to many requests, they have deleted access from
Good Homes Road to their part of the project.
Mr. Neil Frazee„ of Miller - Sellen, pointed out the substantial changes to which Mr. Cloud had
referred, such as the relocation of high density residential from the north, reduction in multi-
family units from 360 to 200, and the replacement of multi- family units with single family units.
Single family residential lots of 75 x 110 ft are planned adjacent to the Hammocks Subdivision,
other lots will be 70 x 110 ft. and lots east of Clarke Road will be 50 x 110 ft. He presented
a conceptual plan for what could be developed on the property for illustrative purposes only.
PUBLIC HEARING - LAKE LOTTA MALL /LAKE LOTTA CENTER
Chairman Switzer opened the public hearing.
Bruce Hossfield, P. O. Box 2975, Orlando, spoke as a representative of the Sierra Club. He
is not opposed to the mall but objects to widening of roads due to concern about environmental
issues. He wants the developers to discourage auto traffic and encourage mass transit.
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Planning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting
May 12, 1994
Jim Golden, 1022 Featherstone Circle, questioned Mr. Jackson about traffic issues. Mr.
Jackson responded that the staffs from the Regional Planning Council, Orange County, and
DOT had reached the conclusion that the road network would be adequate for the traffic until
1997 and that the expected level of service on Highway 50 by 1997 would be just above
minimum operating LOS. Mr. Jackson said the paving of the area of the mall would cause
more habitat destruction than would the widening of Highway 50.
Chairman Switzer closed the public hearing.
Member Swickerath asked Mr. Wagner about the small piece of property east of Clarke Road
and west of the mall which remains a pocket of high density housing in an area of commercial
land use. Mr. Wagner said the parcel is not a part of this project and the owner would have
been contacted along with the other property owners within 300 feet.
Chairman Switzer reopened the public hearing for comments from a citizen who had been
inadvertently overlooked.
Harold F. Ehrbar, 9090 Floribunda Drive, Orlando, as a resident of near -by Rosehill, asked
that plans for the mall include an attractive exterior, beautiful landscaping, and privacy
protection for adjacent residents.
Ir o ' The public hearing was closed.
Member Landefeld asked Mr. Jackson if the traffic study to be done after Phase I is completed
would be likely to result in road changes and traffic congestion. Mr. Jackson responded that
the conditions of approval prevent proceeding with Phase II unless any required road
improvements needed to accommodate Phase II are made. If improvements should be needed,
they would need to be funded before proceeding.
Chairman Switzer asked if D.O.T has gone along with this proposal, and Mr. Jackson said
that D.O.T. has supported the conditions that were recommended to the City by the regional
planning council.
Member Miller asked about the stormwater management elements in the plan amendments. The
design standard for the mall was a 25 year, 24 hour storm event and for the center, a 100 year
storm event. Jim Sellen said he did not know why there was a difference between the two, but
they will have to meet both the water management district requirements and the City's
requirements. Member Swickerath asked if the center is in a closed drainage basin and the
mall in an open system which drains elsewhere. Barry Goodman, 890 SR 434, Altamonte
Springs, owner of the property, said they haven't yet done engineering for stormwater, but they
will do whatever is proper.
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Planning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting
May 12, 1994
slimy
Chairman Switzer asked Attorney Rosenthal if they can approve or disapprove now. Mr.
Rosenthal said if stormwater management rises to a level of concern it would come back in a
comment from the DCA, and could be revised in August or September when additional
information is available.
Member Swickerath asked Attorney Rosenthal if all the board is being asked to do tonight is
to forward the applications on to the Department of Community Affairs and in doing so we are
not accepting any of the stormwater statements here and not necessarily recommending that the
City agree with the Department of Transportation or the Central Florida Regional Planning
Council's position on traffic. All we are saying is that the materials are in order and it should
be forwarded and the process continued. If we do recommend that it go forward, we're doing
it without agreeing to that we have seen here tonight.
Attorney Rosenthal responded that the board is not approving tonight any changes to the
comprehensive plan, only transmitting it. The board has the prerogative to modify what is
transmitted to DCA for review, but if the applications appear to be sufficient, you recommend
them to the City Commission, the City Commission transmits them to DCA, DCA gives
comments and the applications come back to you again with the comments from DCA for you
to make a recommendation to the City Commission on whether or not the City Commission
should then approve the comprehensive plan amendments.
%ow Alternate Member McKey asked Mr. Jackson about the 17,000 trip reduction. Mr. Jackson
said that reduction came from a change in the proposed land use. Mr. Cloud explained that by
reducing the commercial area by half, the center would generate 17,000 less trips.
Attorney Rosenthal said the Lake Lotta PUD has received vested rights under the Ocoee Land
Development Code and is exempt from concurrency with respect to the comprehensive plan.
Without any compliance with concurrency, they could proceed with road impact of
approximately 21,000 trips. In discussions with the City staff, there were concerns about the
mall in Phase I and what would be happening with vested trips to assure that there would not
be an unanticipated road impact. To address those concerns the developers agreed essentially
to use up all their vested trips between the two projects in Phase I, so there won't be any
unanticipated road impacts from the vested trips. The total amount of trips that are impacting
the road is not as great by the combined project. They are using up the vested trips in Phase
I when they could have gone forward without complying with concurrency.
Member Swickerath seconded by Member Miller, moved to recommend to the City
Commission that the proposed comprehensive plan amendment for Lake Lotta Mall, Case No.
1 -9 -93 be transmitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for their review and
comment. Motion carried 6 -0.
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Planning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting
May 12, 1994
Member Landefeld, seconded by Member Jones, moved to recommend to the City
Commission that the proposed comprehensive plan amendment for the Lake Lotta Center, Case
No. 2 -9 -93 be transmitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for their review and
comment. Motion carried 6 -0.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
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arold Switzer, hairman
ATTEST:
Ma 4JAL 'an Green, Deputy City Clerk
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