R-66-065•
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RESOLUTIONS N _° 10 3
No. 65
WHEREAS, AFTER A PUBLIC AND PUBLISHED HEARING HELD ON DECEMBER 10,
1965, THE ZONING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CLER.TM40NT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA,
RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL OF SAID CITY THAT THE ZONING MAP ADOPTED BY THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, AND APPROVED BY ITS MAYOR, ON DECEMBER
7, 1954, BE AMENDED SO AS TO CHANGE THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY FROM
R-I-A RESIDENTIAL ZONING TO A R-2 RESIDENTIAL ZONE:
Begin on South Boundary of iviinnehaha Avenue
and the West Boundary of Drew Avenue; Run South
295 feet; West 131.89 Feet; North 100 Feet;
West to East Boundary of Knapp Street (now known
as East Avenue); North 195 feet; East 355 feet
to point of beginning;
all in the City of Clermont, Lake County, Florida; and
WHEREAS, on February 8, 1966, after public and published notice, the
said Council held a Public Hearing on the recommendations of the Zoning
Commission whereupon the following facts and conditions were found and
determined to exist:
(A) That use of the land described has, since prior to
1925, been for a club house or hotel building, and is widely known
in the area as the "Lake Highlands Hotel", and that such uses
have continued from the date of its construction until the
present time, and that said use of the property herein described
existed prior to the adoption of any zoning ordinance by the
City of Clermont, Florida;
(B) That on December 7, 1954, the City Council of the City
of Clermont, Florida, Pursuant to a comprehensive Zoning plan,
adopted a zoning ordinance and map in which the hereinabove land
was included in a residential zone designated as R-1-A, and
said ordinance further provided that: "Any lawful use or structure
existing at the time of enactment or subsequent amendment to
this chapter which is not in conformity with the provisions,
may be continued...". (Limitations on continuing of non-conforming
uses are set forth in Section 26-5 of the Clermont Code, but are
not applicable to the matter before us.);
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(C) That the customer demand for the use of said property
as a hotel has begun to decline in recent years, and it is a matter
of general knowledge that the demand of the property for use as
a hotel has greatly diminished and that said hotel property had
slowly, but progressively, begun to deteriorate and failed to
make a return to its owners sufficient to keep it in proper main-
tenance and repair, and until recently, existed in a run-down
condition and could not be operated at a profit to its owners;
(D) Since the purchase of the property by the present owners,
the operation of the Lake Highlands Hotel as a Retirement Hotel
has begun to make possible improvements to the old building, but
has also created a situation in its operation in which the residents
of the home, as they grow older, needed nursing facilities, and
that a portion of said building has operated for the past five
years under a State and City License as a nursing facility and
has filled a definite need in this community in providing such
care and facilities; that the operation of said hotel, or any part
thereof, as a nursing facility, is not permitted in residential
zones designated R-1-A, but is permitted under ordinance in
Residential Zones, designated R-2; that the use of said property
as a hotel is a permitted use under the residential zone designated
under our Zoning Ordinance as R-2, and that an amendment to our
existing ordinance permitting the property herein described to
be designated R-2 would not vary the use of said land substantially
from its present use;
(E) That said property is not suitable for residential use
as it now exists;
(F) That the amendment of our ordinance so as to designate the
herein described property as R-2 would permit the construction of
new and modern facilities to provide nursing facilities to our
senior citizens and would improve the appearance of the property
and would not impose a substantial new burden upon adjoining
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RESOLUTIONS N °_ 10 5
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property owners, and will likely enhance the value of neighborhood
properties;
(G) That there is a definite need in our community for a re-
tirement home with nursing facilities, providing intensive care as
well as intermediate care, and that the present location is ideally
suited for providing such care;
(H) That failure to rezone this property to R-2 would in all
likelihood cause the property to revert to its former use and its
former condition and appearance, and thus subtract from the value of
the neighborhood properties;
(I) That retirement hotels and nursing homes for our elderly
citizens have taken their place in the American community as institu-
tions comparable to churches, schools, hospitals and municipal build-
ings as a social need;
(J) That the City Council of the City of Clermont desires to
provide our elderly citizens with retirement and nursing facilities
should they become infirm or incapacitated and require professional
care, and that such facility be provided in an attractive residential
area in which many of such elderly citizens have been accustomed;
(K) That a rezoning of said property to R-2 is in the best
interest of the health, safety and general welfare of this community
and is the best foreseeable use of said property, and is not incon-
sistent with the comprehensive zoning ordinance as presently existing,
or in violation of its spirit;
and based upon said findings, the City Council of the City of Clermont has
decided to accept and adopt the recommendations of the Clermont Zoning
Commission; therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY,
FLORIDA:
That said Council accepts the recommendations of the Zoning Commission
of the City of Clermont to amend the zoning ordinance and map of said City
adopted December 7, 1954, so that the above described property be removed
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from a R-1-A residential zone classification and placed in a R-2 residential
zone classification.
That an ordinance be prepared for passage putting into immediate
effect the recommendations of said commission, now accepted and approved
by this Council.
DATED; February 15, 1966.
ADOPTED by the Council at. an adjourned meeting held on February 15,
1966.