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has been withdrawn by the Applicant, but it appears on the Agenda tonight because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WITHDRAWN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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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