07-20-2000CITY OF EDGEWATER
CITIZENS LAND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE
REGULAR MEETING
JULY 20, 2000
7:00 P.M.
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Card called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in
the Community Center.
ROLL CALL
Members present were: Chairman Pat Card, Ferd Heeb, J. Michael
McKay, Dan Holland, Mike Aloise, Dan Sylvester, David Ross, Burt
Madewell, Robert Blum, Paul Jenkins, Andy Anderson, Dan Loeffler,
Elizabeth Donahue, Ed Bailot, Richard Jones, Ray Jarrett. Don
Sanders was absent. Terri Madewell and Bill Schroeder resigned.
Also present were City Manager Kenneth Hooper, Planning Director
Lynne Plaskett, Building Official Dennis Fischer, and Deputy City
Clerk Lisa Bloomer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Due to the minutes just being received, Chairman Card suggested
waiving the requirement for the approval of minutes this evening.
If the Committee agreed, they would discuss the minutes at the
next meeting. Mr. Jenkins moved for approval, second by Mr.
Aloise. The motion CARRIED 16 -0.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Chairman Card asked to limit public comment to five minutes and
asked that no one from the Committee inquire or make a rebuttal
to any statements made by anybody who would like to speak. He
would like to give anybody, who has a desire to speak and make
public comment, an opportunity to do so without being
intimidated. The Committee was all in agreement.
Dee Anderson, 1730 Pine Tree Drive, expressed concern about
whether or not the new code include vans, S.U.V.s and trucks
parked on the City right -of -way. She is asking because they live
in area where a lot of homes are built on 80 feet lots and they
have vans, S.U.V.'s and trucks parked on the City right -of -way.
It gets to a point where the street becomes narrow and children
are running in and out of parked vehicles. She was wondering if
anybody knows if there is going to be anything in the new code.
She knows there isn't anything in the old code. Chairman Card
asked Ms. Plaskett to respond if she knows. Ms. Plaskett stated
yes, the current code just passed minus the things in this
4 committee. There is provisions in the Code not to allow the
storage of parking of commercial vehicles in any City, County, or
State rights -of -way or drainage easements. Ms. Anderson stated
she is talking about vans, S.U.V.s and trucks that are not
commercial vehicles. Ms. Plaskett stated this pertains to any
vehicle.
STAFF COMMENTS AND REPORTS
Chairman Card reminded the Committee not to forget to file their
financial disclosure forms with the Supervisor of Elections.
Ms. Donahue asked if the source of income includes the spouse or
only yourself. Ms. Plaskett informed her it has directions. Mr.
Jenkins stated it says it does not include your spouse.
Chairman Card informed the Committee they are in a larger area
this evening and asked the members to speak up. It will help if
they need to refer to tapes.
Chairman Card stated they had asked staff to comment on why the
revisions of these sections were necessary at this time. He
asked Ms. Plaskett to make any comments.
Ms. Plaskett presented background information. The City has a
Comprehensive Plan which is a guide to growth within a city that
the State legislature put into effect in 1987. Each municipality
is required to have a Comp Plan. As a result of plan, once it
was reviewed by the State and comments were given back to each
municipality, they were given a certain amount of time to develop
land development regulations, which were supposed to address
everything addressed in the Comp Plan. Everything from housing,
to traffic control to signage. The new Land Development Code is
a result of the legislation upon us. In 1998, we hired a
planning consultant to help us develop a Land Development Code
that incorporated the Zoning Ordinance, the Code of Ordinances
and the Comp Plan. The consultant provided a draft document.
Many draft documents came out of the initial consultant.
Documents were given to all of the department heads on several
occasions as well as private citizens, engineers, architects, the
School Board, environmental service people, recreational people,
zoning boards, and Volusia County. Just a host of different
organizations and groups and any citizen that wanted a copy.
They asked that they review the entire document and bring back
any comments. This document the Council adopted was the final
product of all of those meetings. They held many public
hearings. This started with previous Council, who was adamant
about making Edgewater a nice place to live and an aesthetically
pleasing place to live. As a result, these issues came out of a
majority vote based on the comments they received. Everything
passed except the items they are dealing with tonight. They have
to come to some sort of an agreement as to what they can do to
make it acceptable to the majority of the people in Edgewater.
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July 20, 2000
Chairman Card stated as he remembers their only limitation was to
people in a period of public comment.
Mr. Ross stated he hasn't read in total detail all of the
documentation but he has read a lot of it starting in 1998 going
forward through 1999 and 2000. He found it very interesting
going back to January, February, and April of 1999. He referred
to portion of the third edition dated April 28, 1999 about
watercraft, R.V.'s, trailers, campers, and equipment in Article
III of the proposed draft. Mr. Ross stated in having read more
than one of these documents it basically said that boats and
R.V.'s. somewhere between 24 and 26 feet, could be kept in the
front yard. He further read if it is over 26 foot it has to be
kept in the side or rear yard and then it says however if you
can't park it in the rear or side yard, you will be excused from
this strict enforcement. After initiation of this rewrite, boats
R.V.'s and trailers were not going to be prohibited. He asked
why, when, and who came up with the 6' height restriction. Ms.
Plaskett stated she couldn't answer that because there has been
so many revisions by so many people.
Mr. Heeb stated when you go through this document and look at the
historical drafting of this document and especially when the City
got into the public hearings with Florida Shores Property Owners
Association, etc., you will find that very few boat, R.V., camper
or whatever owners, attended those meetings. The people that
attended were people that had real concerns about some of the
problems that those owners of that type property created in their
community. If you read through this and watch as they move
through the process. the rules relative to these types of
property get more stringent. It's not until they have the
Council forum that everyone woke up and says they just outlawed
boats, R.V.s, etc. The concern that he has relative to the
Committee is that there are a lot of citizens in Edgewater who
are unhappy with a lot of their neighbors who keep boats and
R.V.'s in their yard. He feels they are going to find that they
are not unhappy with the responsible property owner. What they
are unhappy with is the irresponsible property owner. He feels
once this movement starts, they are going to find that every city
has approached this problem and solved it by putting more and
more restrictions on people that own boats and R.V.s. One of the
things he was going to recommend is that they don't worry about
bringing in experts. He feels they are going to find that to a T
they have solved it by placing really stringent restrictions. He
would like to see this Committee solve the problem for everyone.
If they can't solve the problem, Council will solve it and then
it will be out of their hands. He feels they have to do this
orderly and do it in a straight line. He suggested they divide
this issue into five areas. He feels they should separate boats
and boat trailers, recreational vehicles, restoration of cars,
canopies and business vehicles. He would like to see them take
one at a time, and as a full committee go through and resolve
that issue.
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Land Dev. Code Review Cmt
July 20, 2000
Mr. Heeb feels they need to figure out the solution and draft it
and move on. He does not want to divide the Committee into
subcommittees. He has received comments from people that this
committee is a farce. The only people represented, in their
minds, are those that own boats and R.V.s. and that there are not
enough who don't. If they don't do their job, everyone will be
unhappy.
Ms. Plaskett stated in addition, the consultant was also asked to
look at other counties and other cities and try to come up with a
model type ordinance. He went outside the county looking for
codes that would be appropriate for Edgewater. Mr. Ross asked if
the Code that was presented to Council was the recommendation of
this consultant. Ms. Plaskett explained the consultant was hired
to come up with the first drafts. Mr. Ross asked his date of
tenure and when it ended. He is trying to relate who said what,
when and why. Ms. Plaskett stated in 1999. She didn't know the
exact date but would provide it. Mr. Ross would like to know the
recommendations in detail. Ms. Plaskett stated the draft
ordinance was presented to the Planning & Zoning Board and to the
previous Council. It wasn't a recommendation to adopt it because
there was still additional work that needed to be done. She
agreed to get that information for him.
Mr. Jenkins stated going through chronological sequence and the
meetings with the homeowners associations he noticed, mostly Mr.
Anderson spoke and there was a letter from Dee. The major things
there were not so much the boats and R.V.s but the parking in the
front yards or parking in the rights -of -way. It wasn't the boat
itself being in the yard. Ms. Plaskett stated they to take into
consideration, when went to public they talked about the entire
Land Development Code. They didn't target any specific area.
They tried to present the whole code but in a way where they
weren't there for two or three days. They went through the
topics and opened it up for discussion. Mr. Fischer and Ms.
Kinney- Johnson addressed their concerns. Everybody, depending on
where they live, has different areas of concern. Mr. Jenkins
stated most of it seemed to be aimed at front yard parking and
right -of -way parking. Ms. Plaskett stated there were discussions
about all of it. Mr. Jenkins feels there was a little bit of a
perception that had to so with something about taking boats out
of the driveway. Mr. Ross asked everyone to look in the 2/24/99
comments, the opinions from the Florida Shores Property Owners
Association. These people weren't there complaining about boats
and R.V.s. Chairman Card stated this was a letter from the
representative of the Florida Shores Homeowners Association to
the people who had the open meetings. This is included in their
materials.
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Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Ms. Donahue doesn't think it is just boats and R.V.s, she also
thinks it is the size of the vehicles that is upsetting people.
Some of them are so large they can't put them on the side of the
house or bring them into the back yard. The only place is on the
driveway. In some instances they are on driveways and out so far
that you have to walk in street to get around them. She also
spoke about kids on bicycles. Chairman Card stated that is
against the law now. Mr. Jarrett feels the issue homeowners
don't consider is the driveway doesn't all belong to them. It is
up to the proposed sidewalk property line. Their vehicle may
intrude beyond that and they all assume if they are in the
driveway, they are within the guidelines.
Mr. Fischer presented a history of what happened. He was
involved in January of 1999, when he was given the Code
Enforcement Department under his duties and responsibilities. He
spoke about a goal setting session held by the Council where they
brain stormed. They covered a lot of topics. Out of that came
some ideas about what they can do to benefit the area. They set
up a program at the Florida Shores Homeowners Association where
he made a presentation about property values. At the same time
they were going through the consultant who was working on the
complete Land Development Code. He took a section of it and
worked on the areas that were going to be his responsibility. He
feels if they are going to have a code they need something that
is understandable, easily enforceable, and easily understood by
all. That was the goal he set. He asked himself what would he
expect the community to look like. The first thing is curb
appeal, what does it look like from the street. He came up with
the idea of imposing some kind of outlook on a community where
they could drive down the streets, they are pleasing to the eye
and not very restrictive but with some restrictions so those
places look uniform and appealing. He spoke about the front door
to front door approach. He tried to pay attention to the areas
that caught his eye when he made revisions to the Code and sent
them in for approval. He spoke about his comments he drafted
from the original he got from the consultant where he made
revisions that are understandable and easily enforceable. The
current Code the way it is written has provisions to allow you if
you can't park on side or rear to park in front. The excuses
they were receiving were frivolous. The exemption was they
allowed a lot of boats under the old Code to be allowed in the
front of the house, even though the Code said you couldn't put
them there. If he had boat and it was neat and it was a size
that could be kept on the driveway, it should be able to be there
in that condition. That is when they started looking at the
footage rules. From the front door to the property line is
thirty feet. They used 26 feet as an average length. That is
what they installed in the first draft. It could be on the
driveway or parallel to the driveway. They had feedback that 26
feet was too big. One of revisions drops it to 24 feet, which
would be an average overall. In April, the revision was still at
26 feet.
Page -5-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. Fischer went on to explain there was some controversy
regarding R.V.s. and visitors. There is a 36 hour maximum law.
A lot of feedback came in from people that said they needed more
time than that. In the April through July edition, that rule
changed to seven days and exemption telling you you can't be
hooked up was removed. The April edition called for 24 feet in
the front or parallel to driveway. If it was exceeding 24 feet,
it could be kept in the rear or on the side. If you couldn't get
it in the side or rear, you had to take it to a storage yard .
July 15 edition. From there, the final draft edition he
proposed was in November 10, 1999 for change. Additional
language was added to where they got present Code at. Chairman
Card asked if they know where the 6' fence came from. City
Manager Hooper stated there is a requirement of an existing, you
can only limit a 6' high fence in the front yard right now.
Chairman Card asked when this was introduced as a requirement of
a boat or R.V.s height. City Manager Hooper explained the fence
was to make it screened so couldn't see it. Chairman Card asked
where did that come from. City Manager Hooper stated after
public input it came to him to put it together in final format.
Chairman Card asked City Manager Hooper if he added the language
regarding the 6' fence and limiting the vehicle to only those
that could not be seen behind an opaque 6' fence. City Manager
Hooper stated that is a correct, fair statement. Chairman Card
asked where the input was from that led him to believe that would
be an appropriate thing to put in here. City Manager Hooper
explained probably nothing more than the fact that they are
trying to screen it Chairman Card stated at that point, until he
introduced it, there had been nothing about screening that had
been brought forward in any of the public meetings. Mr. Fischer
commented on what he did. It was compiled with the final being
drafted by the City Attorney secretary. Mr. McKay stated
Chairman Card already asked the questions he was going to ask.
Mr. Jenkins stated since that issue about the 24' -26' thing in
front yard, he knows there are properties that have a less than
30 foot setback. There are also properties that have a more than
30 feet setback. Most driveways are usually at one side of the
house or the other. He presented a scenario if someone has a 30
or 35 footer that he couldn't get in his back yard but he could
back the extra footage alongside the house parallel to the
driveway and still stay out of the front right of way, he asked
if there was a problem why they couldn't write it that they
couldn't extend into the right -of -way over the property line.
Mr. Fischer stated the bottom line is, the overall look was to
drive down road and on have your eyes taken off wheel for some
unusual vision as you are passing down street. That unusual
vision would be something out of the ordinary, such as a big
motor home blocking the vision. The property line is the line of
demarkation and it should not be crossed. It should stay on your
property.
Page -6-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. Fischer further explained the older part of town has a 20
foot setback. He feels 99 out of 100 homes here have at least a
25 foot setback, most of them have 30. If you take a 24 foot
boat and put motor on back and tongue on front, you've got 30
foot. You would have to keep the prop in the garage, to keep it
on property. On a trailer, it will be equal to or greater than
gutter height.
Mr. Jenkins stated a boat over length could be kept from the
house to property line and then put the extra length on the side
parallel to driveway. Mr. Fischer stated this is what makes code
enforcement so hard. Mr. Jenkins feels they should give people
both options who can't get around to the back yard or the side
yard. Mr. Fischer explained it is up to the Code Enforcement
officer to say someone is in violation. Those type of gray
incidents may be acceptable in some instances.
Mr. Jenkins feels boats and motor homes should have the same
limits. If you use the property line and the total length and
say either it's in the driveway and clears the property line or
on the side of driveway and still clears property line, the guy
who can't put it all the way back along the side could still get
it as far back as the guy with the 24' boat or motor home. Mr.
Fischer explained there will be an appeal process when they get
into those gray areas. Mr. Jenkins feels it is not gray if you
say the property line.
Chairman Card is concerned with getting too far on this. He
feels they should get into the specifics a little bit later. Mr.
Holland spoke about uniform and curb appeal. He feels it is way
too late to get Edgewater uniform. There is no such thing as
architectural continuity in Edgewater. He feels Code Enforcement
is used so much and if it was used as much as it should on
derelict properties and over run properties, they will be looking
at taking on more tasks for Code Enforcement when they can't
keep up with ones already existing. Mr. Fischer explained it is
not architectural, nothing was directed at any building. He has
taught Code Enforcement officers in the past to drive down the
street and see what catches their eye and to make a mental note.
He further spoke about the Code Enforcement process. He spoke
about Code Enforcement being used as a club for people to beat
their neighbor with. Mr. Holland asked how many Code Enforcement
officers the City has full time. Mr. Fischer stated right now
they have two. City Manager Hooper explained they now have a
support secretary. Two will be out on the street that will be
alternating hours. There will also be weekend coverage on
Saturday.
Mr. Heeb asked Mr. Fischer what types of calls they get relative
to boats, R.V.'s, and canopies in Code Enforcement. Mr. Fischer
explained they were getting basically size complaints and parking
in the rights -of -way.
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Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. Heeb asked what in the new Code will help clean up derelict
boats and what are the penalties that allow you to cause
something to happen. Mr. Fischer explained it has to have a
valid sticker and be in operable condition. It has to be a
physical observation by the person on the site. Just because it
has a sticker on it, doesn't make it legal.
City Manager Hooper stated most of what they did is, junk doesn't
have sticker. Someone may have good intentions to fix a boat
within the next year. Chances are they haven't bought a sticker
for it. Mr. Heeb stated he is talking about you have to get rid
of that boat or else what. Mr. Fischer stated he would take an
overall look at. He suggested taking it out of public eye. Mr.
Heeb stated this is my house, my property, you aren't going to
tell me to get rid of my boat.
Mr. Fischer presented scenario of what he would do. City Manager
Hooper stated Code Enforcement can fine up to $250 per day. Mr.
Heeb stated he is trying to find out when you have bad situation,
what is the penalty imposed to make a person abide by the Code.
Mr. Fischer explained at first it is a friendly approach. As
long as there is conversation between two parties, usually things
will progress slowly. If conversation ceases or work ceases,
there is no progress. Then they shift from the friendly part of
Code Enforcement to the unfriendly part.
City Manager Hooper explained
There has been a fine of $250
at making graduated fines for
explained Titusville went thr
instead of using a lien, they
pay a fine to get it out. He
what they have been doing lately.
normal number but they are looking
a lot of these smaller amounts. He
Dugh and created an ordinance where
will use towing. People have to
is currently looking into this.
Mr. Aloise asked how the codes are enforced. Is it by complaint
only or onsite as Code Enforcement Officer sees it. Mr. Fischer
stated in the real world it's both. You should have observations
and phone calls. When Code Enforcement actions become retalitory
towards a neighbor, you get more phone calls. Some cities go to
the extreme and say they want a signed complaint because people
wanting to know who turned them in. A few years ago in Edgewater
you had to come in and sign a complaint against violator before
they would act. Years later the Code Enforcement Officer could
ride down the street and see it and they would receive a summons
to the next Code Board meeting. City Manager Hooper explained it
is about 50/50. They have two officers now. They are trying now
to make response to the complaints and actual patrols. He
doesn't know if they are at 50/50 but they are headed towards
there. Number of complaints issued coming from the patrols
verses what calls in and complains.
Page -8-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. McKay spoke about a Code Enforcement issue he has experienced
in Edgewater. It went from friendly to white paper with him in
five minutes. The issue was junked and abandoned vehicle and
what constituted this was a license tag. He proposed to get the
City out of that gray area. He felt city in untenable position
to require him to have a license tag on the car and he argued his
point effectively to the Code Board. They ruled in his favor.
There are a lot of derelict vehicles around the City. It seems
as though nothing is ever done but enforcement was right there on
his two Corvettes. He thinks the unequal enforcement issue comes
into play with regard to signed complaints verses anonymous. He
asked what CC means. He was informed concerned citizen. Mr.
McKay thought it meant chronic complainer. He has put together
pages together to try to alleviate that situation. He feels the
Code Enforcement Officer on the property should know what is or
what isn't fair. They have an opportunity to articulate
ordinances that are fair to the citizens of Edgewater as well as
giving Code Enforcement provision for the teeth they need to
clean this city up.
Mr. Anderson asked what kind of fence the 6' fence would be.
City Manager Hooper explained at the time it was opaque so you
couldn't see through it. It was supposed to be something to
screen an R.V. or boat.
Mr. Bailot asked City Manager Hooper when he suggested the 6'
fence, was he saying let's do away with motor homes, big boats,
and trailers. You can't hide anything behind a 6' fence. City
Manager Hooper stated his personal view is if you are going to
have a residence, there is a size limit that he thinks ought to
be on that house that you can bring home a boat of a certain size
and certain height. Anything more than 6' high shouldn't be
there. It was getting to the point of looking at all the rules.
The rules were coming down to the fact of having control and
there being a cut off. Mr. Bailot stated it made reference
somewhere it could be up to 35 feet but then they say it will be
behind a fence. He doesn't know of anything that is 35 feet that
you can hide behind a 6' fence. Why is stipulation in there?
Chairman Card stated City Manager Hooper's intent was to do away
with them. Mr. Loeffler disagrees with the 6' high. He feels if
you can put a boat behind a house should go behind, if it can go
on the side, put it on side. If all else falls, it should be
able to sit in the driveway as long as it is not in the right -of-
way or easement.
Chairman Card stated they are 8:02 p.m. They still have to hear
from City Manager Hooper and then they will move into a period of
Old Business.
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Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
City Manager Hooper feels Mr. Fischer defined the problem
clearly. Ms. Plaskett did same thing. They hired a consultant
who looked into what surrounding cities and counties had. City
Manager Hooper's role was to make one consistent code. City
Manager Hooper stated they heard from the citizens. When they
took this on the road they got a lot of feedback. Compromise is
what we are looking for. He doesn't agree with the front yard
scenario.
Mr. Bailot feels the reason they didn't get a lot of feedback was
because nobody knew exactly what was going on. City Manager
Hooper stated they had a fair amount of turnout. Chairman Card
asked how many people in Florida Shores are members of the
association. He was informed there are 120 but only 24 showed up
at the meeting. Chairman Card then asked how many people live in
Florida Shores. Ms. Anderson stated there are 150 members of the
Florida Shores Homeowners Association. City Manager Hooper
stated approximately 6,000 people live in Florida Shores.
Chairman Card stated they have to keep in mind that the Florida
Shores Homeowners Association came forward to speak for 6,000
people with a membership of 150 with only 24 in attendance.
Mr. Aloise asked how the information about the meetings sent out
to the residents. City Manager Hooper stated they called the
homeowners association. Ms. Plaskett stated it was in paper twice
in the Observer and News Journal. City Manager Hooper stated
usually they put it in the Shorelines, the City newsletter.
Mr. Bailot asked if today's meeting was in the newspaper. Mr.
Holland feels there are a lot of retirement communities or
planned communities in Edgewater, that have when you go in you
become a member of their association. Mr. Holland spoke about
Florida Shores not being that restrictive and there really not
being a need for a homeowner's association. Mr. Jenkins read a
letter he received from a gentleman out of town. They feels the
restrictions are too extreme. They travel from North Carolina to
Florida by motor home. He is concerned that he was not aware of
the changes until a neighbor read it in a newspaper and informed
him of it. The gentleman's name was Charles Edwin Annas. City
Manager Hooper asked Mr. Jenkins to give a copy to Deputy City
Clerk Bloomer. Ms. Plaskett went to make a copy.
Chairman Card asked City Manager Hooper if he had a chance to
talk to the Council in regarding to guidance of this Committee.
City Manager Hooper stated it would be coming directly back to
City Council first. Chairman Card stated so their authority is
to make recommendations directly to the City Council.
Chairman Card asked if there was anything else and if he got any
numbers. City Manager Hooper stated he is going to get the
number of registrations for motor vehicles. Ms. Goins has asked
for it.
Page -10-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Chairman Card stated then they will know what the size is of this
problem. He asked if they would be getting all the ifnormation
in regard to the size of boats and registered trailers, R.V.
trailers, and motor homes that are residents and registered in
this City. They will still not know how many are like the
individual from North Carolina.
Chairman Card thank staff for the good background they got
tonight. They now know where things came from, who and how it
was brought forward and the reason. That gives them some idea to
work from this point forward.
OLD BUSINESS
Attendance question to be brought to vote: 'Will attendance be
considered as a prerequisite for voting on final
recommendations ?'
Chairman Card asked if there any objections to the question as it
stands. Mr. Jenkins stated they need a percentage figure.
Chairman Card asked to pass this first and then amend it. Or
amend it now with some percentage. Mr. Ross made a motion that
any member who does not attend a minimum of 70% of the meetings
will not be permitted to vote on final draft as they present to
City Council, second Mr. Holland. Mr. Anderson asked how many
meetings they are going to have. He suggested getting a number
and take from there. Mr. Ross stated they don't know how long it
will take to do this. Mr. Anderson asked if this will wind up in
December. City Manager Hooper stated they are looking at 12 to
15 meetings.
Chairman Card spoke about the hours they have already put into
this. The level of the expertise of the people that are here
tonight is probably worth 35 to 50 per hour in the business
world. They must come out of this with a result. He would like
to think they can do this in 200 hours rather than 400 hours.
The motion CARRIED 16 -0.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Ross - Land use attorney presentation and question
Mr. Ross stated he contacted an attorney who specializes in land
use. With two or three thoughts in mind, one wanting to be sure
that they were proceeding in the right direction and doing things
correctly, two being sure that if this Committee did not convince
the City Council to provide relief as the code is written. If he
is forced to move R.V. off property, he will pursue legal action
against the City. If that fails, he will sell his property and
move. He is here because of the ability of being able to keep
his R.V. on his property in the rear yard.
Page -11-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. Ross stated in having investigated this further with Mark
Hall, 124 Faulkner Street, New Smyrna Beach, he felt comfortable
that he could represent Committee. His feeling is this Committee
is not in need of his advice. He feels the Committee is quite
capable of reaching a decision. He doesn't see a need to engage
this man at this point. His rates are $175 per hour. He is not
recommending they talk to him. He also has a $500 retainer. He
doesn't feel they need this at this point.
Mr. Sylvester - Arrive at a decision for the full or split group
to study separate questions of the three sections of the Land
Development Code to be reviewed.
Chairman Card stated they can start with a motion. It would move
things along. Mr. Sylvester moved to make decisions as a group,
second Mr. Jenkins.
Mr. Ross agreed with Mr. Heeb that they should do this item by
item rather than trying to intermix them. He thinks there needs
to be consideration given to combining Sections 21.34.04 and
21.34.05 with regard to abandoned and inoperable vehicles and
restoration. He feels they can better serve the needs of this
community if they incorporate those two sections together.
The motion CARRIED 16 -0.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Mr. Heeb - Old and new code review
Mr. Ross feels they need to put a limit on what they are saying.
Chairman Card requested that they attempt to limit the discussion
and questions to three minutes or less.
Mr. Heeb stated most of the discussion relative to the old and
new has occurred. He feels they should decide how they are going
to break areas down. He suggested breaking it into five areas,
boats and trailers, R.V.'s and campers, restoration of vehicles,
business vehicles and canopies. He would like to see the
Committee sit down and say how are they going to deal with boats
and trailers in Edgewater. Someone on a corner lot has a
different set of problems. He recommended they divide their
tasks into those five areas and proceed starting with boats and
move forward. Mr. Jenkins feels they should have keep boats and
R.V.'s together because if they decide something for boats, they
will also have to for R.V.'s as well. Mr. Heeb stated he doesn't
own a camper or boat or anything. It seems there are some issues
relative to problems in the neighborhood that are different for
boats than R.V.'s. He feels they need to address all the
problems. Mr. Jenkins feels even though you have different
problems, some problems are the same. He feels you can't lock
yourself into one without considering the other one at the time.
Page -12-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Chairman Card feels they need to address it and come to some
conclusion, not necessarily vote on it and at some point look at
as whole. Mr. Aloise spoke about some people have R.V.s and some
have boats with canopies over them. He suggested overlapping
them with two different categories. Mr. Heeb feels canopies are
a separate issue. The point of the matter is to get direction
they need to get all of them focused on one thing. In order for
them to move forward, they have to focus. Focus on boats and
trailer and get most of problems resolved. Then focus on R.V.'s
and campers and so on.
Mr. Aloise feels they should work out the small details later.
Mr. Heeb would like to get everyone to focus on one thing so they
don't lose sense of direction. He thinks the group will be
surprised at how quickly they get together and solve the problem
as long as they stay focused. Mr. Jarrett suggested starting
with the easier topics first to learn process and everyone get
involved. He suggested using a process of elimination for the
harder topics.
Mr. Bailot suggested sitting down and writing ordinance between
now and next meeting. Then they might get an idea of where they
are going. He suggested writing one for each subject how they
would want to see it written. Chairman Card stated they could,
revert to a period in new business and make a decision if they
feel they are to that point this evening. He suggested laying
something out if they felt the majority of the people would go
along with it the way Mr. Heeb laid it out. They could revert to
a period in New Business and ask him to restate it in the form of
motion and then vote on it. Mr. McKay thinks they should do
that. He likes Mr. Jarrett's idea to start with the easier
issues first. Mr. Jenkins feels the canopies will be the worst
issue because of tie downs. This will be more complicated than
boats and campers. Mr. Fischer stated they are all going to be
tough.
Mr. Fischer referred the Committee to Page 1392 of old code. It
covers Section 18.3 and Section 18.4. He suggested they apply
this to everything they see to determine if something is a
violation or not. Mr. Jones spoke about starting out with what
they are going to do and they end up discussing how they are
going to do it. They are discussing old and new code review. He
feels they need to take input and massage it into a new document
altogether. Chairman Card asked Mr. Heeb to respond. Mr. Heeb
doesn't suggest using the old code as a guide. They need to come
up with a solution. What kind of code do they want to deal with
these issues? Mr. Jones suggested a brainstorming session.
Chairman Card thinks they have a consensus
this point. Mr. Ross doesn't disagree wit
he feels they need to go around the table.
decide how to do this next week. He feels
to set procedures on how they are going to
agreed with Mr. Ross.
Page -13-
for a majority vote at
h Mr. Heeb's ideas but
He suggested they
they don't have time
do this. Mr. Anderson
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Chairman Card asked for a straw vote. All those in favor of
moving to a period of new business. There were none. He asked
for a straw vote of all those in favor of going one person around
the room for ideas and then making proposal. All in favor.
Mr. Heeb stated he has said his peace. Mr. Sylvester stated he
thinks Mr. Heeb is describing a structure to keep them in focus
with a step by step procedure to let them solve each of the
problems. He feels they should outline the problems and take one
step at a time.
Mr. Madewell concurred. He also feels they need to take each
item one at a time. He doesn't feel any of them are going to be
easy. Mr. Blum agreed with Mr. Heeb. He also feels they should
discuss one topic at a time. Mr. Jenkins also agreed but feels
they need to keep in mind they will have to merge some of the
overlapping issues, even restoration and refer to the boats as
well as the cars. He feels they should take them in the order
they exist. Mr. Anderson stated some of them may want to address
the whole problem together instead of breaking up into individual
issues. Mr. Aloise concurred with a one -on -one basis. Mr.
Holland stated everyone has their own personal interest. He has
been looking into buying storage units. He is in favor of Mr.
Heeb's proposal. Mr. McKay stated he was ready to vote ten
minutes ago. Mr. Jones agreed with Mr. Heeb. Mr. Jarrett also
feels they should be broken down individually and he feels there
are some easy issues. Mr. Bailot was ready to vote. Ms. Donahue
stated they are here for the City, not for their own individual
ideas. Feels one thing at a time. Mr. Loeffler one problem at a
time. Mr. Ross agreed with Mr. Heeb that they should talk about
the items individually. He is concerned there are many inter -
lapping issues between various sections. If they are going to
talk about what they are going to do with a junked car or a
junked boat or a 33 foot motor home or 26 foot boat, they need to
be sure what they are saying about individual items doesn't get
locked out from consideration when they get to these other
sections. He feels canopies have a great impact on a lot of
things beside someone covering up junk. He also feels the issues
are separate but they are not separate. He feels they could
combine junk and restoration in one.
Mr. Heeb made a motion to divide the issues into five areas:
boats and boat trailers, R.V.'s, motor homes, campers, etc, junk
cars and restoration vehicles, business vehicles on residential
property, and canopies, second by Mr. Aloise who included they
address the items one at a time. Mr. Heeb included at the end
they will come back and take look at the total package to make
sure it is consistent. Mr. Ross stated when they vote on these
items, he wants it understood that they are not voting this is
what they think the Code should read. This is a recommendation
that they take it to a Code format in the format as given to them
by City Council to follow. They are not rewriting the Code in
five separate items.
Page -14-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
City Manager Hooper commercial vehicles in residential areas is
not one of areas they took out of the Code. Mr. Heeb amended his
motion to include four areas. Mr. Ross asked where trailers fit
into the scenario. Mr. Heeb feels they should include utility
trailers with boat trailers. Mr. Ross disagreed. Mr. Heeb had
no problem making it a separate item. He amended his motion to
make the fourth item, instead of business vehicles, make it
utility trailers and other trailers, second by Mr. Aloise. Mr.
Ross explained they are trailers not otherwise covered by the
Code.
Mr. Madewell stated as they take each individual item, they will
do what they need to do but at the end go back and apply it with
the one to four. Chairman Card stated that was part of Mr.
Heeb's motion. He amended his motion and made it a part of his
amended motion. Mr. Jenkins feels they could also consider what
he calls major and minor by size. Chairman Card stated as part
of their discussion they have agreed to look at it that way.
There was no further discussion. The motion CARRIED 16 -0.
Mr. Jenkins - Staff presented specific problems that were brought
up to the Council and Staff that will affect the decisions and
recommendations. Review specific comments from previous meetings
with the public conduction by the staff.
Mr. Jenkins stated this has been taken care of but he would like
to bring up another issue with regard to their schedule.
Chairman Card asked him to do that under setting the next agenda.
Mr. McKay - Questions of restoration concerns
Mr. McKay stated he couldn't bring up his item due to time
restraints tonight. Chairman Card based on the fact they have
now laid this out to when they will be going through these one at
a time. He asked Mr. McKay if he would prefer to discuss this at
this the start of next meeting so he will be able to give them
any background they might need. Mr. McKay stated he would bring
it up when they discuss it.
Set next agenda and administrative items that remain
Mr. Jenkins talked about Committee's meeting schedule. He has a
problem with the last Thursday of the month. He proposed that
instead of meeting in two weeks again, they meet on August 10 th .
Chairman Card asked if that puts them on the Thursday of
Thanksgiving. Chairman Card asked for a consensus to do this.
Mr. Ross stated he has no problem. Chairman Card asked if there
were other concerns in regard to this. Mr. Sylvester would like
to see a date breakdown. Mr. Jenkins listed the meeting as being
August 10 August 24 September 7 th & 21 October 5 th & 19 th '
November 2 " November 16 November 30 December 14 This took
care of the Thanksgiving problem.
Page -15-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. McKay stated August 24 he won't be here as long as they are
not discussing restoration.
It was the consensus of the Committee to change their schedule.
Mr. Bailot feels they should start at the top of the list made by
Mr. Heeb and that could be their agenda each week. Chairman Card
stated one of the questions they need to discuss early is do they
want to put this in The ShoreLines. The bottom line is they have
to sell this to the Council. Mr. Ross feels they should suggest
the City newspapers issue the dates and an invitation for the
public to attend.
Chairman Card agreed. His concern was they have been asked by
the Council to inquire with regards to the ShoreLines, in a
questionnaire. They have to make a decision as to whether they
are going to do that. He feels they should put this on the next
agenda. Mr. Jenkins stated he thought they agreed at the last
meeting it was going to go into The ShoreLines for public input.
He is not sure they were pushing for the questionnaire. Mr. Ross
one at last meeting that said don't waste tie doing it. Mr.
Jenkins his only concern would be that they are going to have
survey, and to keep it fair they have to have a way to know
people aren't duplicating responses. Chairman Card feels the
signature is best way to do that.
Chairman Card asked for a straw vote to put this in The
ShoreLines. No one was in favor of this. He wants to make sure
s they are publicizing this in such a way that they get all of the
input.
Mr. Anderson feels it is a good idea to get the questionnaire
out. He would feel better if he knew there wouldn't be any
monkey business, such as people filling out two questionnaires.
City Manager Hooper suggested they are on track with the five
areas. He feels the Committee should go through and discuss what
they really want to do . That will be in time for the next
ShoreLines. He suggested they do a short synopsis and hold a
public meeting and let them come in and address the Committee.
Mr. Jenkins feels a reason not to do the survey is because people
will be responding and not have the information to respond
properly. They will end up with a lot of lost time trying to
figure out what to ask and what the responses mean. Mr. Madewell
feels they have enough to talk about. Mr. Anderson asked how
educated you would have to be to fill one of those out. Mr.
Jenkins feels they have to know the issues. City Manager Hooper
spoke about there being a problem in writing it.
Chairman Card asked the Committee for a formal yeah or nay on the
basis of will this group send a survey in The ShoreLines.
Page -16-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000
Mr. Ross made a motion to not send the survey in The ShoreLines.
He suggested they follow City Manager Hooper's suggestion and
when they come to a point of consensus about major items that
they do issue in The ShoreLines an invitation for the public to
appear, hear the presentation and ask for comments at that time,
second Mr. Bailot. The motion CARRIED 16 -0.
Chairman Card informed the Committee they would be discussing
boats and trailers on the next agenda. Mr. Heeb would like to
assign some homework. Mr. Bailot made a recommendation that
everyone study the material and come back with a recommended
proposal. He would like to get everybody's ideas on floor.
Maybe they can come up with a solution in one meeting. Chairman
Card feels that is a good idea. He asked the Committee to please
do that.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Ross moved to
adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.
Minutes submitted by:
Lisa Bloomer
Page -17-
Land Dev. Code Review Cmt.
July 20, 2000