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10-21-1981 Public Hearing & Regular u u CITY OF EDGEWATER ZONING AND PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING and REGULAR MEETING October .21, 1981 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Earl Wallace called the Meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ln the Community Center. ROLL CALL Present: Members Wallace, Kroman, McKillop, Wheeler, Troian, Hetu,and Bennington. Excused, Winter. Absent, Nolan. Also present City Clerk Nancy Blazi. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. WheelelJ motioned to approve ,the minutes of Oct. 7, 1981, seconded by Mr. Hetu. Upon roll call motioned CARRIED 7-0. PUBLIO HEARING Mr. Wallace called the Public Hearing to order. The Public Hearing was to consider an application to rezone Lots 656,657,658,659.,722,723,724,and 725 of Block 24 and Lots 660,661,662,663,726,727,728, and 729 of Block 25 of Florida Shores from their present R-lB Single Family Residential classification to B-2 Neighborhood Business District. Mrs. Ruth Olton, 202 Azalea Dr., requested that the audience be made more familiar with the actual location of the area to be rezoned. Mr. Wallace pointed out the area on the map, he also added that this was practically the first time that the Board had had such a large audience attend a Public Hearing and he told the audience that the Board's intent was to have the citizens of Edgewater involved in the controlled growth of the City. Mr. Wallace requested that the section concerning this rezoning request,which was presented at the last meeting, be read aloud by the secretary. Dr. Neal Spiering has requested a rezoning of the area for the purpose of building a medical office. The Board had also received a letter from the Magnuson Corp. requesting that in conjunction with the requested rezoning, the Board also consider rezoning the property in adjacent Block 24 and 25 since it would be contiguous to the present B-2 District. A motion was made and passed to set a Public Hearing for the purpose of discussing this rezoning application and to also form a committee to obtain opinions regarding rezoning this area west to Hwy. 95. The motion passed 6-2 at the meeting of October 7, 1981. Mr. James Mackey, S. Riverside Dr., told the Board he believed this would be spot zoning. Mr. Dana Armstrong, Cheeta Dr., told the Board that the subject of commercializing property along Indian River Blvd., has been discussed many times and that most of the property is retained by one owner. No lots in Florida Shores front on Indian River Blvd., they all f~6nt..east and west. The State has plans to widen Indian River Blvd. Mr. Frank Opal, Florida Shores, told the Board that the address for the property should be India Palm Dr., not Indian River Blvd. He also mentioned the rezoning of all of Indian River Blvd., and asked if an application had been made for rezoning the property in question. , , u o Mr. Wallace said that an application had been made and a fee paid for the rezoning request. He added that the Board had established a specific procedure for rezoning, site plan applications, etc. There is no charge for a sketch plan review. Mr. Bill Phinney, Wildwood, told the Board he believed that rezoning the area along Indian River Blvd. would create strip zoning similar to u.s. 1. Mr. Hetu motioned to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Mr. Wheeler. The meeting was closed. ACTION 0N' 'PUBLIC HEARING Mr. Wallace asked for comments from the Board members. Mr. Hetu said he felt this would be an excellent area for a doctor's office. Mr. Wheeler had no comment at this time. Mr. McKillop spoke about the deed restrictions, the plan for a highway in the future which should be taken into consideration and he would like to review some of these items before the Board proceeded. Mr. Wallace said that he had spoken the Police Chief concerning _ possible futur~ plans for Indian River Blvd. If the area is planned without access to Indian River Blvd. by using the secondary road~~for access it' should not: present a detrimental problem. Mr. Troian said that there had been a negative resonse to this rezoning and it behooves the Board to acquiesce to the public. He also asked why the committee did not report their fact findings at this time. Mr. Wallace said that the committee was formed to report on the possible zoning from Juniper west which does not include this specific application for rezoning. Mr. Bennington said that due to the negative input the Board may want to consider this application along with the rest of the area. Mr. Kroman spoke about the growth of Edgewater and the lack of a respectable R~opping area. It is necessary to take a longer view of the future of this city and to carefully consider the total problems of the city in order to determine what may be bestn0t just for the present residents but for those who will be living here in the years to corne. Mr. Wallace spoke about the question of spot zoning and said that the area in question was contiguous to present B-2 zoning and is in line with the zoning for the area. He asked for a motion either to approve or deny the request for rezoning of the area in question. Mr. Kroman requested that a report be made by the committee on the question of B-2 areas. There was no objection from other board members. \\ \ Mr. McKillop said that the committee tried to decide if business was going to be along Indian River Blvd. what type of business would be best suited for this area. The committee felt that specially permitted uses could be allowed in this area and it could have a special zoning classification, if, in fact, this is what the people wanted. For instance, gasoline stations, pool rooms, motor tune ups, etc. should not be allowed in this area. The area could allow such businesses as beauty shops, bakeries, and similar types of businesses that would serve the neighborhood. The area should have at least a 60' front setbacks off the boulevard and a buffer zone in the back of sufficient density to screen the business area from the residential area. All entrances would be from a side street. The area in front along the boulevard should be a grass area so that it would not Zoning/Planning Bd. Meeting 10/21/81 ' - 2 - (J (J look like the business district along u.s. 1. We had talked at the last meeting about going around door to door in Florida Shores to get public opinion but the task was too involved for the few members of the committee to undertake. Therefore, the committee waited to discuss their suggestions with the entire board and to get more input. Mr. Kroman called for a point of order. The previous minutes stated that the committee was a fact finding mission to contact people concerning the rezoning the area from Rlb to B-2. The report from Mr. McKillop suggests that they may have gone way beyond that original concept and acted more like a sub-committee of the Zoning and Planning Board formed to come up with zoning recommendations. Mr. Wallace said that the committee was formed to get the facts on the possible rezoning of Indian River Blvd. He believed that Mr. McKillop's report is in order. Mr. Hetu motioned to grant Dr.. Spiering IS r: request to rezone the area named in the application and discussed at the Public Hearing, seconded by Mr. Bennington. Mr. Troian questioned whether or not this was spot zoning. Mr. Wallace said that this was adjacent to an established business area. Mr. Troian said that he certainly believes we should have more professional people living in Edgewater but unfortunately our legal advisor is not here this evening and it is still debatable that this could be spot zoning. Mr. Kroman asked if the subcommittee had been able to contact any people in the area concerning the rezoning of this property. Mr. Wallace said that the committee was unablel,to contact adjacent property owners. Mr. McKillop said that since he began working with the subcommittee on this subject of rezoning he has been able to appreciate the problem as a whole better and there is a need for further study in this area. He is not ready to change a block until they have the response of the whole area as far as public opinion is concerned. He would like the deed restrictions reviewed and the spot zoning issu~ resolved. Upon roll call the motion to grant rezoning DID NOT CARRY by a vote of 4-3. Mr. Troian, Mr. Wheeler, Mr. McKillop and Mr. Kroman voted NO. Mr. Hetu, Mr. Bennington and Mr. Wallace voted YES. Mr. Wallace requested a letter be sent to Dr. Spiering advising him of the board's action. Mr. McKillop said that it should be mentioned in the letter that the board is presently working on a recommendation for a more restrictive zoning area for neighborhood business where the doctor's office would certainly fit in and the board will get the public input and work on this as expediously as possible so that this application is not dead. \ Mr. Kroman said that he is personally in favor of having Indian River someday become a first class shopping area, not a commercial area. There has been some objection to this because of traffic, but when the boulevard is opened and the bridge built there will be a lot of traffic that has Zoning Planning Bd. 1-/21/81 - 3 - nothing to do with bu~ness in the area. The bO~ needs to provide more public education on the wisdom of a first class shopping area. He did not vote no because he is opposed to Indian River being used for a shopping area but because he felt more input on this was needed. COMMUNICATION The board considered a letter from Mrs. Alice Murphy concerning the zoning of property she owns in Florida Shores. Originally, she was led to believe the zoning was multi-family but subsequently found out that it was zoned for single families. The adjacent area has been zoned for commercial use and this makes the property far less valuable as single family lots. She requested that the board consider rezoning the length of India Palm Drive from the lake south to 22nd St. from R-2B to R-4. Mrs. Murphy's property is located in this area. Mrs. Murphy spoke to the board concerning this problem. She told the board that the area along India Palm from 22nd St. south was already zoned R-4 and she did not understand why this zoning stopped at 22nd St. It was the consensus of the board that Mrs. Murphy had some valid reasons for requesting this rezoning. Mr. Wallace noted the standard procedure that should be followed in this matter for submitting a rezoning application for board review and discussion. Mr. Kroman made a motion that Mrs. Murphy should apply for rezoning, seconded by Mr. Bennington. Upon roll call the motion CARRIED 7-0. Mr. Wallace called a five minute recess. Meeting called back to order. SITE PLAN REVIEW SP-98 Sketch Plan Magnuson Corporation Shopping Center Mr. Donald Testa, representating the Magnuson Corporation, presented a sketch plan for a shopping Center in a B-5 area & R1B area adjacent to U.S. 1 and Alamanda. Mr. Wallace informed the board that at this time the main consideration should be how this plan conforms to the Comprehensive Plan. There was some question concerning parking. Mr. Wallace said that this matter would be up to the developer to decide which direction they need to go in for example possible rezoning request for part of the area. Mr. Testa told the board that the shopping center would be built in phases, in approximately three to five years. Mr. Kroman motioned to approve the sketch plan as a concept for the shopping center with possible modifications to meet specifications for the zoning area, seconded by Mr. Wheeler. City Attorney arrived at this time. Upon roll call the motion to approve CARRIED 7-0. OLD BUSINESS The report from the committee had been given during the discussion on the Public Hearing. Zoning/Planning Bd. 10/21/81 - 4 - o o Mr. MCKillop said that the three member committee was not able to directly contact the residents in the area. This project would take a larger number of people. He believes that as many board members as possible should become involved in getting input and evaluating opinion in regards to the suggested rezoning of Indian River. Blvd. Mr. Bennington suggested a well advertised public hearing concerning the rezoning. He added that it would be almost impossible to contact each individual in the area. There was a discussion about having board members go out and inspect the ) areas in question. The City Attorney stated that since they were discussing this at an open meeting and that the board members would not be taking any . action it would be permissable for them to inspect the areas as a group. A majority of the members present felt they could get together on the following Saturday (10/24). Mr. Kroman aga~n brought up the question of whether or not the factfinding subcommittee had o;erstepped their assigned task by presenting their suggestions for the type of zoning they believed should be in this area rather than finding out the public's opinion on rezoning the area. Mr. MCKillop explained that the committee realized it could not perform the task of contacting individuals lnd reported this fact back to the board, members along with some suggestions and recommendations. They believe there is a real need for doctors and dentists in the area as well as some neighborhood oriented businesses. A different method of getting public opinion should be established. The board also decided to hold a Workshop on October 28, 1981 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss suggestions and recommendations for the rezoning of Indian River Blvd. Mr. McKillop said that if there is a majority opinion on the need for more professional and neighborhood orientated businesses then action on this should be started soon while there are only about 8 houses from the railroad to the city limits. If we wait too many years and then decide we want more business in the area it may be too late and the area may be built up residentially. He also asked the City Attorney if he would give a report on the deed restrictions in Florida Shores at the next meeting and also the working definition of spot zoning. The board members need this information. Mr. Henderson said that he had recent information on zoning and the comprehensive plan from the Florida Bar Assoc. He will get copies to all the members. He summarized on specific paragraph that appeared:~to be relevant to the present discussion. "Regarding the obligation, we must be consistent with our comprehensive plan. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that consistency was the hobgoblin of little minds. The Florida Legislature has declared it to be the law. As such, a consistency mandate is intended to form a link ,between comprehensive plan and regulation of land development. zoning/Planning 10/21/81 - 5 - o o The term insures that planning preceed regulation by ~ontrolling the plan's implementation as well as amendment. The law regarding the consistency mandate is just beginning to develop, currently unrecognized by lawmakers and jurists alike, this clause is perhaps the most important development in the area of land use control since the advent of Euclidean zoning. Whether it succeeds in improving the quality of planning and therefore the quality of life in Florida remains to be seen. This is the challenge before us regarding the comprehensive plan." This board is trying to do this on a case by case basis. NEW BUSINESS None Mr. Kroman motioned to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Hetu. Meeting was adjourned. Minutes submitted by: Nancy Blazi Zoning/Planning 10/21/81 - 6 -