05-15-2018 Council Workshop City of Clermont
MINUTES
COUNCIL WORKSHOP
May 15,2018
The Clermont City Council met at a workshop on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in the Council Chambers at City
Hall. Mayor Ash called the workshop to order at 6:30pm with the following Council Members present:
Council Members Brishke, Travis, Goodgame, and Bates. Other City officials present were: City
Manager Gray and City Clerk Ackroyd Howe.
Buildine/Fire Inspection Fees
City Manager Gray stated in November 2016 the Council reviewed the City's building and fire fees and
implemented a new fee schedule, however, there were a few discrepancies with the fee schedule. Upon
Council's request, staff performed another comparison of fees among other cities. Fire Chief Bishop and
Senior Fire Inspector Pierce were present from the Fire Department.
Finance Director Van Zile and Economic Development Director Schmidt presented proposed building
services and fire inspection service fee adjustments. Seven fees were identified that the City is currently
charging which need to be adjusted. The fees are being changed so the same fees between building fees
and fire inspection fees will match.
City Manager Gray noted the revisions to the fee schedules will be placed on the June 12, 2018 City
Council Meeting agenda for consideration.
Utility Billing
City Manager Gray stated the City has the ability to put the City's utilities in different billing cycles.
Finance Director Van Zile stated staff has been working on different billing cycles for the last nine
months. Starting in August,the City plans to bill customers in four cycles based on their service address.
Having one billing cycle creates a bottleneck from the standpoint of payment processing and
disconnections. Each customer will still be billed once a month, but the time of month their due date
falls on will depend on the location of their service address. Each billing cycle will have their own set of
key dates such as when the customer receives their regular bill, the due date of the regular bill, second
notices and disconnections. By changing to multiple billing cycles, all customers will have additional
time to pay their utility bills before late fees are applied. Notices informing all customers of the new
billing cycles and their effective dates will be placed in the June and July's utility bills as well as posted
on the City's website.
Parking
City Manager Gray stated a lot of the large shopping centers have huge parking lots which are hardly
being used. Staff has done a lot of research and came up with a proposal for the Council to consider.
Economic Development Director Schmidt stated the existing parking code has not been updated since
1980. There is 661 acres of commercial parking within the City which radiates heat causing stormwater
issues and is a lost tax base. Stakeholders stated increased conflicts exist in parking lots between
pedestrians and motorists, some attributed to distracted driving and lack of dedicated pedestrian
connections in parking lots. There are also new trends in retail and restaurants with more people
ordering online. To acquire the density needed for the Downtown Master Plan, there needs to be a
shared parking area off site from the stores.
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City of Clermont
MINUTES
COUNCIL WORKSHOP
May 15,2018
Economic Director Schmidt presented the responses received from stakeholder analysis.
Recommendations from the benchmarking analysis performed by staff and the consultant was to provide
new classifications within the parking code, changes to downtown code and reduction in parking
minimums in classifications. Economic Director Schmidt reviewed key recommendations of adding a
Fast Casual restaurant classification, reduce retail parking requirement to 1:333, change restaurant
requirements to seat area vs. square feet of floor area, incorporate the Central Business District parking
code into the parking code instead of in two separate locations,require pedestrian connections, allow the
City Manager or designee to reduce parking space if developer is interested in adding more accessible
handicap parking. Staff met with a committee of local stakeholders for their input.
Development Services Director Henschel discussed giving the option to developers to remove wheel
stops and allow the curbing of the parking lot to act as the wheel stop. City Manager Gray stated the
variance will return to Council for a full public hearing. Mayor Ash requested staff bring back the part
of the Master Plan developed for increasing the parking in the downtown area when this parking
variance comes before Council.
Other
City Manager Gray commented on receiving a lot of feedback regarding the amount of auto shops and
dealerships which are restricted along Highway 50 and US 27.
Economic Development Director Schmidt stated East State Road 50 corridor is the eastern gateway into
the City and is characterized by the hills and scenery. Poor interconnectivity between existing sites
along the corridor reduces pedestrian movements. The overlay will help prevent the over-concentration
and duplication of land uses. The overlay is broken up into two development zones: frontage zone,
which is the first 400 feet north and the first 400 feet south of the right-of-way line of State Road 50,
and the core zone. Economic Development Director Schmidt reviewed prohibited uses within the
Frontage Zone and the Core Zone as well as the design for the overlay properties.
Development Services Director Henschel stated the overlay would minimize parking in front of the
buildings and require parking to be located behind the stores.
Attorney Jimmy Crawford expressed concern with existing businesses not being able to rebuild.
Economic Development Director Schmidt stated the overlay would prohibit signage on canopies of
businesses as well as require two rows of shrubbery within the landscape buffer. Stakeholders have
requested increasing density along Hooks Street. Staff spoke to City of Orlando who is offering bonuses
for affordable housing to potential developers.
Mr. Lee Shirah stated he is willing to work with the City on affordable housing.
Council Member Travis suggested the area directly across from Woodwinds for an affordable housing
site.
With no further discussion,the workshop was adjourned at 7:59pm.
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