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03-03-2020 P & Z MinutesCITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING March 3, 2020 The meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission was called to order on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. by Chairman, Herb Smith. Members present were: Herb Smith, David Colby, Max Krzyminski, Tim Murry, Joe Gustafson, Jane McAllister and Ebo Entsuah. Also present for City staff was City Attorney, Daniel Mantzaris, Esq., Development Services Director Curt Henschel, Planning Manager John Kruse and Senior Planner Regina McGruder. REPORTS FROM THE COMMISSION: Chairman Smith mentioned that he has been a member of the Clermont Chamber of Commerce for thirty years. Chairman Smith opened the floor to the Board for a motion to nominate the Chairman of the Commission. Commissioner Colby made a motion to nominate Herb Smith to continue in the role of Chairman, seconded by Commissioner Gustafson. All voted in favor. Motion made by Commissioner Colby to nominate Commissioner Entsuah as Vice Chairman, seconded by Commissioner Gustafson. All voted in favor, unanimously electing Chairman and Vice Chairman to serve on the Commission. REPORT FROM THE CITY: Planning Manager, Kruse reported that Item No. 1 has been withdrawn by the Applicant, but it appears on the Agenda tonight because it was advertised. NEW BUSINESS ITEM 1 - Resolution No. 2020-04R - Milholland Auto Repair CUP - WITHDRAWN REQUEST: Consider Conditional Use Permit to allow for an auto repair business in the C2 General Commercial zoning district for property located at 1320 US Highway 27. March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 1 ITEM #2 - Ordinance 2020-15 - Elyksian Hotel PUD REQUEST: Consider a PUD Ordinance for a 50-Room hotel on 1.07+/- acres at the southwest comer of 81 Street and W. Osceola Street Planning Manager Kruse presented the staff report. The owner, Elyksian Hotels Clermont, LLC, is requesting a rezoning from Central Business District (CBD) to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for the construction of a 50-room boutique hotel with additional meeting space, a rooftop amenity for its guests, and ground floor parking for the project. The site is located southwest of the intersection of W. Osceola Street and 8th Street. The property consists of the current Epic Bike location and the adjacent vacant parcel to the west. The proposed hotel will be built adjacent and connected to the existing Epic Bike building and will share ingress/egress and off hours parking with the existing Epic Bike business. The entire project is approximately 1.07 +/- acres. The applicant is requesting PUD zoning to allow for flexibility in site design via certain waivers to the Land Development Code. The Development Plan shows the proposed hotel to have a square footage of approximately 68,000 square feet with a maximum height of 80 feet. The structure will consist of parking on the ground floor, five stories of hotel rooms and meeting space above the parking and a roof top amenity on top. The height is measured from the ground floor parking entrance of the structure on W. Osceola Street to the top of the highest point of the structure on the rooftop amenity, which would be the elevator shaft. This is 20 feet higher than the maximum finished height allowed in the CBD, which is 55 feet. For comparison, City Hall is currently at 53 feet in height. The proposed 68,000 square foot hotel with the existing Epic Cycle building of 8,500 square feet has an approximate overall total of 76,500 square feet within the project boundary. The maximum permitted Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in the Central Business District is 3.0. The project will develop at approximately 1.66+/- FAR, which is less than the maximum. The building setbacks in the CBD allows buildings to be constructed up to the property line with a zero setback. The proposed hotel is seeking to build up to the property line, which includes the Porte-Cochere. The maximum impervious surface ratio (ISR) of the project is 96%. Under Section 122-245 (1), the CBD allows projects up to 100% if the stormwater retention can be satisfied. The March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 2 development will connect into the City's Victory Pointe Master Stormwater System for the drainage and retention requirements. The overall parking demand for the project is calculated to be 76 parking spaces. This is one space per hotel room and one space per 333 square feet of retail space from the Epic Bike shop. The applicant is proposing 54 parking spaces, with 22 spaces within the covered ground floor parking area of the hotel and 32 within the Epic Bike shop parking lot. The applicant was seeking a public -private partnership to develop 22 on -street parking spaces using a portion of the City' right-of-way along W. Osceola Street, however, recent changes by the Applicant have removed this request. To satisfy the parking shortfall, a remote parking agreement will be required. The Applicant is in discussions with the City and other property owners on different off-street parking options. Section 98-17 of the Land Development Code allows off -site parking options when in the Central Business District. One of the key elements of the Downtown -Waterfront Master Plan is to maximize the number of people who live, work and visit downtown. The establishment of the proposed project is consistent with that concept and would provide lodging for visitors in the downtown area. The project will be required to comply with the Land Development Regulations for the Central Business District, except for the originally planned three waivers (now down to two with the Applicant's removal of on -street parking), and Architectural Design Standards. The requested waivers to the code consist of. 1.Overall height exceeding 55 feet up to a final height of 80 feet and the use of trash compactors to reduce the number of dumpsters for the project. Staff has reviewed the application as submitted and finds the proposed use is compatible with the surrounding areas, is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and a key component in the vision of the Downtown -Waterfront Master Plan. The proposed development meets the provisions of Section 122-315, Review Criteria for a PUD. Therefore, staff recommends approval of Ordinance No. 2020-15. Chairman Smith turned it over to the Applicant/Representative to present their request. Alex Stringfellow, of 2735 Woodside Avenue, Winter Park, FL spoke on behalf of the Applicant/Developer, who also owns Epic Cycles on Osceola Street in the March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 3 Downtown area. Mr. Stringfellow stated that he was born in Clermont and was a resident here for seventeen years. He stated that he has reviewed the City of Clermont's Master Plan in detail and one of the key components of a great master plan is looking at exemplary cities and similar cities in size and scale across the state and nationally, similar to what the City of Clermont did. in reviewing uses, parks, infrastructure, etc. using Tavares, Winter Park and Mount Dora as examples, one of the consistent uses you'll find that makes a vibrant Downtown and draws people to the area is a hotel use. He stated that this project is a Key West type resort which will help to bring a different type of user to the Downtown and makes it sustainable, something which currently doesn't exist in Clermont. He showed examples of similar types of hotels in Celebration and Mount Dora which served as inspiration for this project. He spoke about a piece of property across the street for which there is an RFP now that the City would like to have developed, plus other businesses in the area which add to the vibrancy of the downtown. He presented the Owner/Developer Mr. Roman Gonzalez to speak further on the project. Mr. Gonzalez stated that he also owns Epic Cycles, has been in Clermont since 2007 and purchased the subject property in 2014 because he saw the potential and wanted to be involved in the development of the Downtown area. Most of his current customers are international consisting of attorneys, doctors and business owners who want to come and take advantage of Clermont as a biking area due to the terrain and they are looking for a product which is not easily found, hence the main reason to seek to develop this project to fill that void. Most of the clients generally stay in the Disney area because Clermont doesn't offer the type of accommodations that will satisfy their needs. In order to keep it manageable, the hotel will consist of 50 rooms, each will be a suite of 650 square feet suite with a kitchenette to add a level of character. To eliminate a parking issue, parking will be under the building at street level and they will provide valet parking. There will be amenities to take advantage of the waterfront, among them a roof top deck, yoga area and more healthy vegan style food to cater to the market. These clients typically ask for recommendations for a place to stay, as they are generally looking for a higher quality venue which currently doesn't exist in Clermont. They generally stay for a week, don't like to drive and are mostly shuttled from the airport and secure transportation locally once they arrive. They are long term clients of average between six to ten years and no marketing is done, it's primarily by word of mouth. These clients find the weather and terrain of Clermont very appealing and is complemented by the bike trail and coast to coast for added interest. He believes that this will be an iconic building for the Downtown area March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 4 located by the waterfront. He stated he'll be available for any further questions and turned it over to Alex Stringfellow for further discussion. Alex Stringfellow added that while the building is higher than normal, it will not detract from the area. City Hall is 98 feet tall and this building will not be taller than that conforming to the "Philadelphia Rule" that states that no building shall be taller than City Hall. He stated that he has signed letters from various businesses located in the area who are in favor of the project. He showed some photographs of the proposed elevations of the building and the skyline and explained that there are no negative impacts. Walking by, the structure is not visibly distracting, and he believes that people eventually do not notice the height as an issue. Chairman Smith turned it over to the audience. Jason Stringfellow, of 1455 W. Lakeshore Drive, Clermont, FL commented on the height of the building and added that looking at the alignment of the hotel building, it gives virtually unobstructed view of Lilly's on the Lake across the street and it blends in well with the surrounding area. Mr. Nick Jarvis, of 781 W. Osceola Street, Clermont stated that he's the closest neighbor of Epic Cycles and has enjoyed having them as they're good neighbors. He objects mainly to the height of the building as he believes 80 feet exceeds what he considers an acceptable height. He's concerned about how it will impact the looks of the whole area and is interested in hearing from the City's Park and Recreation Department and City Council as to their thoughts on how the additional people will affect the use of the waterfront which is used and enjoyed by area residents. He has mixed feelings about a hotel of that size, he thinks it's a spectacular area and would not want anything to degrade it or that would negatively impact the area's residents. Chairman Smith turned it back over to the Board. Commissioner Entsuah stated that he has met with the Applicant and asked the City for clarification on the off -site parking issue, since the Applicant has pulled out of the off -site parking, if they enter into a private -public partnership regarding the off -site parking, can they come back to the Council for approval? Planning Manager Kruse confirmed that under the CBD Section the Code it addresses remote parking encumbrance for parking not on the same site, it has to be duly executed and signed by the City Attorney and recorded in the public records, but it doesn't state that they have to come back to the Council. It's already built into the March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 5 Code for the CBD for off -site remote parking. Commissioner Entsuah asked for further clarification. City Attorney Mantzaris stated that the Applicant is working with the City and other businesses in the area to have off -site parking. There are some opportunities but those details have not yet been finalized. Commissioner Entsuah added that he thinks it's a good project, and he has no further concerns or questions. Commissioner Murry stated that he has met with the Applicant as well as Councilwoman Travis and his concern initially was with the parking and thinks that issue can be resolved with procuring off -site parking plus at the new parking area just built on the other side of the burr. He was also concerned about the height but noted that there's another building on Hooks Street which also exceeds the height requirement, but because of the elevation it does not look like that. He thinks it's a great project, there's a big need for more hotels in Clermont as there aren't sufficient hotels to accommodate visitors. He thinks it'll be a great addition and believes it will help the other businesses in the Downtown area by creating more traffic to assist with growth and he can support the project. Commissioner Colby stated that he has met with the Applicant and thinks it's a solid project and will look great. He stated that to have visitors with high disposal income will be a good thing for the Downtown area. He asked Mr. Stringfellow to confirm because when he looks at the Epic Cycles building it seems that the base is higher. What is the difference in height (but not 80 feet above the base of Epic)? Mr. Stringfellow confirmed that the lot is significantly lower and the building slopes in the back where there is an oak tree which is over 70 feet above Osceola. The ground floor parking will be below the finished grade of the Epic Cycle building so the second floor will be at the same grade as Epic Cycles. Commissioner McAllister apologized for being tardy explaining that she had a garage door issue. She stated that her main concern was the parking. She wants to make sure that before this project can proceed, there has to be an instrument in place for off -site parking. She stated that it looks like a beautiful project that is will be useful in Clermont and that it's a pretty ambitious project for the small space. She asked about food service. Alex Stringfellow stated that he'll defer the question of the food to Mr. Gonzalez but clarified that there is a condition of the PUD already included that an off -site parking is required so that this way we don't have to execute that agreement before March 3, 2020 PW Meeting Minutes Page - 6 approval of the use but they are required to get a parking agreement so that will be going with the vote tonight. She asked if it will be all valet parking and Mr. Stringfellow confirmed yes. Mr. Gonzalez explained that the food service will be upstairs in the lounge, which will be open to the public. There will be a dress code to maintain the quality of the project and a cover charge for drinks, etc. in order to prevent people from just going up to the roof deck to look around. It will also be available for bookings for event space. She asked about parking for the employees. Mr. Gonzalez said he planned to use the public parking lot next door which will be used for the employees. They don't want the guests to worry about parking, so the parking will be strictly valet parking. Chairman Smith stated he has met with the owner and was very impressed with him. He likes the fact that this is not just someone who has come into Clermont wanting to make some money. He has an established, successful business and is here supporting the community and he likes that. Commissioner Gustafson thanked the Applicant for the presentation and thinks it was very straightforward and has the concerns of the Clermont community as a priority. He stated that he already got two of his concerns addressed, i.e., parking and employee parking. He stated that he has met with the Applicant and was a bit confused about the amenities. He asked for a clearer definition of the rooftop amenities. Mr. Gonzalez explained that it's a large space and the way it's designed will allow movement of the furniture so the residents can do yoga, similar to the recovery area at Epic. Amenities would be geared to the athletes and the waterfront used for swimming. He mentioned that there are trees downtown that are almost 100 feet tall and once the building goes up among the trees, it would not look obviously tall as the trees and vegetation hides it. Their intention is not to ruin that. Commissioner Gustafson mentioned that the history of the 55 feet height limit was established in 2007 but that it was geared to firefighting capabilities of certain heights, materials and construction. Things have changed now as it relates to fire retardant materials, fire sprinklers, etc., so he doesn't think the height is now an issue. The City needs these upper-class facilities and he's in agreement with supporting the project. March 3, 2020 P&2 Meeting Minutes Page - 7 Commissioner Krzyminski mentioned that he has also met with the Applicant and most of his questions have been answered. His primary concern was the parking and asked if there's any way to fit more parking on site. Whenever there are events downtown, the parking spaces get filled up pretty quickly and one has to drive around in circles looking for parking. He asked for clarification of the process for finding additional off -site parking. Alex Stringfellow explained that the shortfall of parking is approximately 26 spaces, plus or minus. The owner is dedicated to finding more parking for his valet drivers because he realizes that they make money by placing as many cars as they can away from the structure. The main strategy in the near term is to get an agreement to solidify that number of parking spots in one of the existing public lots, some of which are under agreement with the City and some are private. Some meet the threshold of being within a quarter mile radius and the Applicant is amenable and committed to getting more spaces in Downtown. Lilly's was permitted with off -site parking and certainly, this project will have parking on site. Commissioner Krzyminski asked about the rooftop amenities, if it will be a bar or restaurant and lounge. Mr. Gonzalez explained that there will be drinks and high -quality food, similar to what is offered at the Epic Cafe as people love it and are excited that this is offered in Clermont. The rooftop amenity will appeal to people from Winter Park and Windermere. There is a similar project in Daytona and it rules the skyline, which is nicer looking than air conditioner units. He believes there is ample parking. Commissioner Gustafson asked about the suites and the number of occupants, as to the size of the restaurant. Mr. Gonzalez stated there will be approximately one hundred seats with open, ample spaces to accommodate everyone so people don't feel cramped. Chairman Smith brought it back to the Board and entertained a motion. A motion was made by Commissioner Krzyminski to approve Ordinance 2020-15, seconded by Commissioner Colby. Vote passed unanimously 6-0, with everyone voting in favor. March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page - 8 City of Clermont Minutes Planning & Zoning Commission March 3, 2020 With no further comments, Chairman Smith adjourned the meeting at 7:20 P.M. ATTEST: Joh . Kruse, Planning Manager March 3, 2020 P&Z Meeting Minutes Page 9