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05-11-1999 CRA Meeting C) CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING May 11, 1999 A Community Redevelopment Agency meeting of the City of Clermont was held Tuesday, May 11, 1999 at Jenkins Auditonum at 691 Montrose Street and was called to order at 6:45 p.m. with the following Members in attendance: Mayor Turville, Council Member Biddle, Council Member Brown, Council Member Lamb, Council Member Wolfe, Gordon Hallgren and Elaine Hyatt Barton, Also present was City Manager Saunders, Principal Planner Brown and Deputy City Clerk Whitlock. Mayor Turville requested that City Manager Saunders give a small paragraph on each of the items listed on the agenda so that everyone could be better prepared to discuss the issues at the meeting and City Manager Saunders agreed to do that. Downtown Clermont Partnership The Downtown Partnership's President, Rose Biddle stated that the goal of the Downtown Partnership is enhance the image of downtown Clermont and`promote the district so that people throughout South Lake County recognize and appreciate our historic small town charm. Ms. Biddle stated that in order to bring new business downtown as well as retain the anchor businesses already here, the Downtown Partnership would like to encourage the Post Office to stay downtown or at least keep a retail branch downtown. The Downtown Partnership will be writing a letter and doing a Petition from the merchants of the downtown area to send to the Post Master. The Downtown Partnership requested the support of the CRA and requested that they also direct a letter to the Post Master. The Downtown Partnership provided packets to each CRA member revealing information on how important post offices are to maintaining a "main street community". Gordon Hallgren reviewed highlights of the packet information provided to the CRA members and pointed out that National Trust For Historic Preservation strongly recommends and supports keeping Post Offices in the downtown area. C) CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING May 141999 Page 2 Ms. Biddle then stated that the Board of Directors of the Downtown Partnership have agreed to apply for a Flonda Main Street Program. She stated that this is a huge endeavor and the Downtown Partnership will request support from the community, the businesses and from our local government, both financially voluntarily, to make this effort a success. The partnership will be approaching the CRA Board and the City Council for a commitment of financial resources for the next five years. Ms. Biddle then requested that City Manager Saunders schedule a workshop with the City Council to discuss the Main Street program. Ms. Biddle will also be making the same request to the CRA Board. A discussion was held regarding both of the items brought forward by Ms. Biddle. Mayor Turville stated that the City has done everything to encourage the Post Office to stay downtown and it was agreed that while our Post Office needs more room, there would be a significant financial impact on the downtown area. It was suggested that we lobby for the Post Office to continue to at least have a branch retail location in downtown Clermont and that Mr. Montgomery, the Postmaster, be asked to participate. It was agreed that the Post Office issue would be put at the top of the next CRA agenda and Mr. Montgomery would be invited to participate in the discussion. Mayor Turville then confirmed that Ms. Biddle would make sure the CRA Board had the Main Street information and Ms. Biddle announced a Main Street workshop on June 16, 1999, involving the public. Historic Preservation Ordinance Council Member Biddle shared the model of the State's Historic Preservation Ordinance, along with models of several other Florida Cities' Historic Preservation. Jim Grant, President of the Histoncal Society, stated that we had an opportunity, through the Main Street program's resources in Tallahassee, to make this project go in Clermont and the Historical Society will assist in any way they can. n 0 CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING May 11, 1999 Page 3 Mayor Turville stated that the action of the CRA would be to recommend that the City County adopt a Historic Preservation Ordinance and the staff could have one drawn up for consideration. A discussion was held and Council Member Lamb and City Manager Saunders advised that at the same time the Ordinance is being drafted, our Comprehensive Plan should be reviewed to make sure it is compatible and when the Council amends the LDRs later this year it should also be compatible. • Mr. Grant added that the Historical Society's architect, Nick Jones, has received two bids for the relocation of the Townsend House. Because of the urgency to relocate the flbuilding, the Historical Society Board would request that the City Council advance the money to the Society and the Society would repay the City. The house needs to be relocated by the end of June. Mayor Turville suggested that Mr. Grant talk with City Manager Saunders and research whether it is possible for the City to make a loan. A motion was made by Council Member Biddle, seconded by Council Member Wolfe, and carried unanimously that the CRA direct the City Council to direct the staff to draft a Historic Preservation Ordinance. Junkyard Clarification Council Member Biddle stated that at 738 Eighth Street there is a building full of junk, with vines growing into the roof, and in an effort to revitalize the downtown area he inquired whether the definition of"junkyard" in our Code of Ordinances seems to fit the situation of this building. A discussion was held on whether we may we take action against this building based on this definition. Mayor Turville stated that in the past he had heard a legal opinion, that it is difficult to try to undo someone's property based on what we believe to be their tidiness. It really must be a public safety situation. City Manager Saunders stated that many times the City has gotten the legal opinion that you have to look at the intent of an ordinance and the intent of this ordinance is not for buildings. There are other ways to deal with the situation through the community, such as through our land development regulations, or I ' C) _ I CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING May 11, 1999 Page 4 adopting community appearance standards and that might be the way to handle that type of situation. It was agreed that the City will draft a letter to the building owner and try to find out what their intent is and explain that the CRA exists and is attempting to clean up downtown. Results of Streetscape (7) Council Member Biddle related that Jim Green from Green Consulting Group gave a slide presentation and approximately 25 or 30 people attended. Jim is making some changes to the Base Mapping based on the input from the group and the next step is to now look at our town and decide what we like and do not like. On June 16, 1999, they will begin to identify what problems we have. City Manager Saunders will furnish a copy of the streetscapes provided by the volunteer architects. Loading/Unloading Zone The merchants downtown are seeking a loading/unloading zone for their deliveries as many businesses have no rear entrance. Chief Story sent a letter to the Downtown Partnership requesting that they address this issue. Council Member Biddle stated that he will meet with City Manager Saunders to see what may be done to create a loading/unloading zone in the downtown area. It was discussed and agreed that CRA meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m. before the first City Council meeting of the month. Mayor Turville stated that it is obvious we will be discussing and taking action on many issue relating to the CRA, such as code enforcement, etc. He suggested that we figure out a way to notify all of those people in the CRA District of these issues as these people will be under a different level of government than the rest of the community. It is decided that a letter would go to those in the CRA District notifying them that the meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m. on the 1st r CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING May 11, 1999 Page 5 Tuesday of each month. City Manager Saunders said he would look into getting an article in newspapers and would plan a mail-out. The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. MY a or Harold S. Turvi�Jr. Attest: a ' A J. -ph . Va t7ile, City Clerk r