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03.12.2024 - City Council MinutesCity of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 CALL TO ORDER The City Council met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in the Clermont City Council Chambers. Mayor Murry called the meeting to order at 6:30pm with the following Council Members present: Council Members Gonzalez, Myers and Pines. Other City officials present were City Manager Bulthuis, City Attorney Mantzaris, and City Clerk Howe. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Minister Sharon Keyes gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. PRESENTATION Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 176 President Sam Guttman presented Police Chief Broadway with the Leadership Award. PUBLIC COMMENTS Vincent Niemiec, Regency Hills — Provided an update on his meeting with Lake County regarding the traffic light. He spoke on Lake County paying Lennar to pave a road and that they are working on getting a crossing guard at Hancock and Hartwood Marsh Rd. Shay Miller, 779 W. Osceola Street — expressed concern regarding traffic on 81 and Osceola Street during downtown events. Samii Yakovetic, 4480 Powderhorn Place Drive — commented on discussing issues with Council. AGENDA CHANGES City Manager Bulthuis informed the Council of the following agenda changes: Item No. 6 — Variance Request 2490 Holly Berry Circle City Manager Bulthuis informed the Council this is a request to table the item to May 14, 2024. Council Member Pines moved to table item 6. Variance Reauest. 2490 Hollv Berry Circle to Mav 14. 2024: seconded by Council Member Mvers. Passed unanimously_ 4-0 with all members present voicin ave. Item No. 7 - Variance Request, Teamont Boba City Manager Bulthuis informed the Council this is a request to table the item to March 26, 2024. Council Member Pines moved to table item 7. Variance Reauest. Teamont Boba to March 26.2024: seconded by Council Member Mv_ ers. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicin ave. REPORTS CITY MANAGER REPORT City Manager Bulthuis — • City Council workshop is March 19 at 6:30pm. • Qualifying closed for the Special Election on March 8. Two candidate's qualified, Tod Howard and Otis Taylor Jr. The Special Election will be held on May 14, 2024. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 • Provided a list of events happening this weekend around Clermont. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT City Attorney Mantzaris — • Will provide a summary at the workshop next week on the legislative session. CITY COUNCIL REPORT Council Member Pines — No report. Council Member Gonzalez — No report. Council Member Myers — • Attended the Fire Department awards ceremony. • Spoke on Women's History Month. Mayor Murry — • Recognized Multiple Sclerosis month. • Expressed appreciation for Women's History Month. • Encouraged attendance at recognition ceremonies. • Special Election in May, encouraged a good turnout at the election for Seat 2. • Thanked Minister Keyes for stepping in at the last minute to do the invocation. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Murry advised the next item on the agenda for consideration was the Consent Agenda and requested anyone wishing to have any item pulled for discussion to please come forward at this time. Item No. 1 — Meeting Minutes Item No. 2 — Piggyback Contract Fire Dept. Consider approval of the February 20, 2024, Workshop and February 27, 2024, Council Meeting minutes. Consider piggyback approval of the Volusia County term contract with Florida PPE Services, LLC to provide cleaning, repair, and inspection of PPE Bunker Gear equipment. Item No. 3 — Equipment Lease Agreement Consider approval of a sole source agreement Fire Dept. from Industrial Scientific to acquire an air and gas monitor equipment lease program in the total budgeted amount of $115,024.80. Council Member Gonzalez moved to aunrove Consent Ae_ enda Items 1-3 as presented: seconded by Council Member Pines. Passed unanimouslv 4-0 with all members present voicing ave. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 UNFINISHED BUSINESS Item No. 4 — Board Appointments City Manager Bulthuis stated that he will address items 4 and 5 together. There are two options for a city has to manage code enforcement cases. You can have a Code Enforcement Board, which the city currently has or a Special Magistrate. The issue the city is facing with the Code Enforcement Board is participation, the last meeting was in September 2023. Staff approached Council with the idea of returning to a Special Magistrate, Council's direction was to move forward with the Ordinance for Special Magistrate as well as advertising for volunteers for the Code Enforcement Board to see if we can fill the vacant seats. City staff started advertising for the vacancies in February and have received applications. There are five seats that need to be filled and based on the applications that were received prior to the agenda being posted, staffs recommendation would be to appoint the following: Seat 2 — Francis Falcone, Seat 3 — Linda Camps, Seat 4 — reappoint Domingo Fomoles, Seat 5 — Maria Gulati, Seat 6 — Nilsa Whitehead and Seat 7 — Bill Kilburn. Staff received an additional application yesterday from Mr. Chuck Forth. The decision on how to proceed is up to the City Council. If Council moves forward with filling those positons, then staff would recommend voting no on the Special Magistrate ordinance. Council Member Myers asked if Council could hear from all of the applicants that were present. Mayor Murry asked the applicants to come forward and introduce themselves. The following spoke requesting appointment to the Code Enforcement Board: Francis Falcone stated that she wants to be more involved in the community. Bill Kilburn stated that he is looking for a way to participate in the community. Linda Camps stated that she wants to be more involved in the community. Charles Forth stated that he has experience in Code Enforcement and will be fair in every case. Council Member Pines stated that the issue with Code Enforcement Board is having members who attend the meeting and there are two applicants that are not in attendance tonight. Mayor Murry stated that he has known Ms. Whitehead and she has been faithful in serving previously and feels she would attend meetings. Council Member Myers said that the board needs someone with experience to lead the group. She believes that the people who are in attendance tonight should be appointed to the board. City Manager Bulthuis recommended to appoint the applicants to the following seats. Seat 2 — Francis Falcone, Seat 3 — Linda Camps, Seat 4 — reappoint Domingo Fornoles, Seat 5 — Nilsa Whitehead, term to start on April 1, Seat 6 — Charles Forth and Seat 7 — Bill Kilburn. Council Member Mvers moved to accent the board appointments as presented by City Manager Bulthuis: seconded bv_ Council Member Pines. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicing ave. City Manager Bulthuis stated that the Code Enforcement Board meets this Monday at 6pm and training will be at 5:30pm. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 Item No. 5— Ordinance No. 2024-016, Special Magistrate Final AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA, AMENDING ARTICLE V, "CODE ENFORCEMENT", DMSION 1, "GENERALLY", SECTION 141 "INTENT OF ARTICLE" AND SECTION 1-42 "ALTERNATE CODE ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM AND DIVISION 2 "CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD"; SECTION 2-187, "ALTERNATE CODE ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM" AND AMENDING DIVISION II, CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD", SECTION 1-75, "CREATED; JURISDICTION; POWERS AND DUTIES; ENFORCEMENT BY COURTS", SECTION 1-76, "COMPOSITION; APPOINTMENT" AND SECTION 1-77, "COUNSEL NAMED" PROVIDING FOR THE CREATION AND APPOINTMENT OF A CODE ENFORCEMENT SPECIAL MAGISTRATE; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY, CODIFICATION, THE ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION OF SCRIVENERS ERROR, PUBLICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The ordinance has been withdrawn. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 6 — This item was addressed earlier in the meeting and tabled to the May 14, 2024 meeting. Item No. 7 — This item was addressed earlier in the meeting and tabled to the March 26, 2024 meeting. Item No. 8 — Variance Request, Vacant Lot Adjacent to 190 Crystal Lake Dr. Development Services Planner Kruse presented the variance request. The applicant is requesting to allow for a vacant lot east of 190 Crystal Lake Drive to remain in a natural Florida Xeriscape condition without mowing or maintaining the lot. The applicant has owned the vacant lot since 2004. This variance application is a result of a pending code enforcement case. The current condition on the site consists of vegetation exceeding 18 inches. Section 18-53 (1) of the Land Development Code states: "Weeds. Any weeds such as broom grass, jimson, burdock, ragweed, sandspur or other similar weeds; or any other vegetation, including grass, other than trees, ornamental bushes, flowers or other ornamental plants with a height exceeding 18 inches." The applicant has indicated that it is necessary to continue to maintain the area of native plant species without mowing the land since it would destroy a fragile ecosystem that protects and feeds a number of other species and would harm the plant seed heads that are vital for continued growth. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow the vegetation to grow without mowing to protect the vibrancy of the certified Wildlife Habitat by the Florida Wildlife Federation. Staff has reviewed the applicant's request and no substantial documentation has been provided to indicate the benefit of approving this variance other than the Certified Wildlife Habitat certificate. The lot is located within a single family zoning area, and the variance request is out of character with other properties in the area. A review of similar variance requests within the past 10 years has not yielded any requests of this nature. The Certified Wildlife Habitat certificate appears to be a self -checked analysis with a minimal fee for certification. The Land Development Code, Section 101-246, requires a positive finding on the five review criteria for granting a variance. Staff has reviewed the application and supporting documents and finds the applicant meets one of the five criteria for a positive finding to support the variance request. Staff received 2 emails in support of the request. Staff recommended denial of the variance request. 4 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 The applicant, Ms. Venderberg stated her family has lived in the area for 26 years. They purchased the lot adjacent to their home in 2004 and has allowed the vegetation to grow for 20 years. The area has become a natural wildlife habitat. Mayor Murry opened the public hearing. Claudia Sietz, 623 Crystal Lake Dr. — lives next to the applicant and is in favor of the variance. Mayor Murry closed the public hearing. Council Member Gonzalez asked how long the violation has been in place. Development Services Planner Kruse noted it has been cited for a couple months. The code violation is for the grass that is over 18 inches, not the trees. City Manager Bulthuis asked if there are any special plantings in that area. Development Services Planner Kruse stated he is not aware of any and there has been no substantial documentation submitted to document that. Ms. Venderberg said they have allowed the lot grow naturally, they have put in milk weed, lemongrass and wildflowers to allow it to be what is intended to be. There has never been development on the land. She stated that she was confused, she is here for a variance request, not code enforcement. City Attorney Mantzaris explained that there is a code that prohibits growth above 18 inches, the variance request is a variance to the code. Mayor Murry stated that he is concerned that letting it grow creates a space for rodents and snakes. Council Member Pines said the city has codes for residential properties. The undergrowth is the issue, not the trees. Council Member Pines moved to denv Item No. 8. Variance Reauest Vacant Lot adiacent to 190 Crystal Lake Dr.: seconded by Council Member Mvers. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicine ave. Item No. 9 — Variance Request, 301 Chestnut Street Development Service Director Henschel presented the variance request. The subject property is located at 301 Chestnut Street. This variance application is a result of a pending code enforcement case for a shed placed without a permit. The applicant is requesting to allow for a rear yard setback less than the 25 feet minimum requirement for the placement of a 12' x 24' storage shed. The Land Development Code requires storage buildings greater than 150 square feet to meet the rear yard setback of the primary structure. This is a duplex with a 25 foot rear setback. The existing shed is 288 square feet and has a current setback of 4 feet from the property line. The location of the shed may be considered intrusive and out of character with other sheds in the neighborhood. The Land Development Code, Section 101-246, requires a positive finding on the five review criteria for granting a variance. Staff has reviewed the application and supporting documents and finds the applicant does not meet positive findings for the provisions of the requirements. Therefore, staff recommends denial of the requested variance to the Clermont Land Development Code. The applicant, Roy Barton was present and stated that their property has a Florida room with a two foot hangover which does not leave much room to place a shed to meet the setback without it being up against the Florida room. He stated that he is recently retired, downsized and there is not much storage in the duplex. 5 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 The shed is surrounded by a six foot wooden fence and requested Council approval. Mayor Murry opened the public hearing. Vincent Niemiec, Regency Hills - asked how long the shed has been on the property and if there is a statute of limitations. City Attorney Mantzaris stated that there is no statute of limitations on unpermitted structures if the structure required a building permit at the time is was built. Once it is discovered by the city, it does not matter how long it has been in place. Mr. Barton stated that the shed has only been there a few months. City Manager Bulthuis asked Mr. Barton if he knew he had to get a building permit. Mr. Barton stated that he tried to get a building permit after the shed was placed. Mayor Murry closed the public hearing. Mayor Murry asked staff about sheds that are up against the property line on some properties. Development Services Director Henschel explained that the city does allow sheds that are 150 square feet or less to be placed 30 inches from the rear property line. One a shed exceeds 150 square inches or 9 feet, they have to meet the setbacks of the primary structure. City Attorney Mantzaris spoke about an awning that was shown on the shed in one of the pictures, that part would need a permit regardless of the size of the shed. Council Member Gonzalez moved to denv Item No. 9. Variance Reauest 301 Chestnut Street; seconded by Council Member Mvers. Passed 3-1 with Council Member Pines owosine. Item No.10— Ordinance No. 2024-017, 151 W. State Road 501ntro AN ORDINANCE UNDER THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT REFERRED TO IN CHAPTER 122 OF ORDINANCE NO. 289-C, CODE OF ORDINANCES; REZONING THE REAL PROPERTIES DESCRIBED HEREIN AS SHOWN BELOW; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION OF SCRIVENERS ERROR, RECORDING, PUBLICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Clerk Howe read the title aloud. Council Member Pines moved to introduce Ordinance No. 2024-017. 151 W. State Road 50: seconded by Council Member Mvers. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicing ave. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING March 12, 2024 ADJOURN: With no further comments, this meeting adjourned at 8:OOpm. APPROVED: Tim Murry,�M. ATTEST: �, 4m- Tracy Ackroy�fici v e, M M C City Clerk