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11-07-2001 Regular Meeting• • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 The meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission was called to order Wednesday, November 7, 2001, at 7:00 P.M. by Acting Chairman Richard Tegen. Members present were Richard Tegen, Gene Crossley, Joseph T. Bonjorn, David Pape and John Carlson. John Atwater, Dave Lange and Sy Holtzman were absent. Frank Caputo was recently elected to the City Council and will no longer serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Also in attendance were Barry Brown, Director of Planning, Robert Guthrie, City Attorney and Jane McAllister, Planning Technician II. Since both the Chairman and Vice Chairman were not present the Commission decided to appoint Richard Tegen as Acting Chairman. MINUTES of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held October 2, 2001 were approved as written. 1. REQUEST FOR CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT APPLICANT: Don M. Casto Organization OWNER: Lucas Clermont Limited Partnership REQUEST: To amend an existing Conditional Use Permit to allow for an increase in the area of commercial space to be constructed on the site by 4,780 square feet. The additional square footage will allow for the construction of a Home Depot store. GENERAL LOCATION: This property is located at the northwest corner of S.R. 50 and Citrus Tower Blvd. EXISTING LAND USE: Clermont Town Center, shopping center where the Kash `n Karry is located. FUTURE LAND USE DISTRICT: The subject property is in the Undeveloped District - 5 (UD-5) land use district and the requested use is allowable. FUTURE LAND USE CLASSIFICATION: The subject property is classified as Commercial. The requested use is allowed in the Commercial land use classification. EXISTING ZONING: C-2 General Commercial. SIZE OF PARCEL: The shopping center site is +/- 30 acres. • • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 Page - 2 - Planning Director, Barry Brown, introduced this request by saying that the applicant is proposing to construct a Home Depot store as the western anchor tenant of the Clermont Town Center. The additional 4,780 square feet will allow Home Depot to build the store they believe will best serve the Clermont area. The addition of the home improvement store will complete the original vision for the shopping center. The proposed use is appropriately located and the existing roadway has the proper land use designations and zoning, therefore, staff recommends approval and would like to highlight the following conditions of the proposed amendment: Section 2, Item 1, the 237,111 square feet of commercial development includes out parcel uses. Section 2, Item 5, addresses "go dark" language that was included before it was known that Home Depot would not be a tenant, but would own the property. Section 3, Item 4, calls for the installation of a signal at S.R. 50 and Oakley Seaver Drive prior to the issuance of the certificate of occupancy, this will be subject to D.O.T. approval. Section 3, Item 9, the parking spaces located in the northwest corner of the site will be designated employee parking for the entire shopping center. Richard Tegen asked if the employee parking would take away from the total number of parking spaces for the shopping center. Gene Crossley said that employee parking is typically included in the total required parking spaces. Barry Brown said the purpose for the designated parking spaces for employees is to free up spaces in the front of the store for customers but that they are included in the total required spaces. Section 5, Item 7, Slopes of the water retention areas shall be irrigated and contain trees. Section 6, Item 7, a minimum of 60% of the required canopy trees for parking areas shall be live oaks. Section 7, Item (b), calls for an eight foot wide unobstructed pedestrian walkway. Section 7, Outdoor display, Item 1, Outdoor displays on a daily or seasonal basis will be allowed but outdoor storage will not be allowed. • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 Page - 3 - Section 7, Miscellaneous, Item 1, Cart corrals or returns shall be provided in parking lots. Item 2, Mobile storage systems shall be prohibited. Section 8, Variances 1. A variance for a single retail establishment to be 129,788 square feet in size as opposed to the code which limits retail establishments to 100,000 square feet. 2. A variance to allow up to 13 continuous parking spaces without a landscape island as opposed to the code which allows for a maximum of 10 continuous parking spaces without a landscape island. 3. A variance to allow for the provision of approximately 629 spaces rather than the 649 parking spaces required by code. Barry Brown made a correction in the figures stating that there would be 637 spaces not 629. 4. To allow for two freestanding pylon signs along S.R. 50 rather than the one allowed for by code. Barry Brown pointed out that variance number 4 would not allow additional square footage for signs along S.R. 50, but rather the ability to have two signs, rather than just one. Barry Brown then handed out an updated traffic study and water consumption estimate supplied by the applicant. He also pointed out that a home improvement center will generate less traffic than if the entire project was a shopping center. Brett Hutchens, of Casto Southeast, 401 N. Cattleman Road, Sarasota, FL 34232, was sworn in. Mr. Hutchens stated that the plan before the Commission today is very similar to the original plan for the shopping center. Mr. Hutchens offered to answer any questions the Commission or the public might have. He commented in reference to the parking spaces, that the Home Depot at Hiawassee does approximately twice the amount of business as is projected for the Clermont store, and has only 262 front field parking spaces, where the Clermont store will have 469. He said there would be enough parking to accommodate shoppers at the new Home Depot. • • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 Page-4- Mr. Hutchens also addressed the "go dark" issue and said that Home Depot will own the real estate it will be built on, and is far less likely to leave it empty than a leasee would be. In reference to a parking space comparison provided by the applicant, John Carlson brought up the point that there are less proposed parking spaces at the Clermont Home Depot than at the average Home Depot. Mr. Hutchens said the Clermont store is also 10,000 square feet smaller than the average Home Depot store. He also mentioned that Kash `n Karry has offered to forego approximately 8,000 square feet of expansion space in order to accommodate the Home Depot, and that Kash `n Karry thinks that Home Depot would make a good neighbor and benefit everyone in the shopping center. Mr. Hutchens noted that there were some changes to the water consumption figures in the letter from Pecht Evans Engineering, Inc. Gene Crossley asked why the water consumption figures were changed and why the Kendall site was chosen as an example. Douglas Kirby, of Greenberg Farrow Architecture Engineering Development, 1755 The Exchange, Atlanta, GA 30339, and Mark Sneed, 480 N. Orlando Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789, were sworn in to answer questions if necessary. Mr. Sneed explained that the Kendall site for Home Depot was used as an example for water consumption because it is similar in size to the proposed Clermont store. The original figures were incorrect and the figures should be lower. Barry Brown said that if you use the water consumption numbers for the Home Depot, they use less water than would be used if the space was straight retail. Mr. Hutchens stated that the water consumption for Home Depot would be less than it would be for a user that they are already allowed to have. Barry Brown said that the main user might be the garden center, and that it might be a good idea to ask for an irrigation well for the garden center. • • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 Page-5- In reference to the variance request to allow 13 spaces rather than 10 without a landscape island, Mr. Hutchens stated that it was necessary because the landscape ordinance has changed since the project started and that impacts the number of parking spaces they are able to provide. David Pape asked if there was a projection for the estimated sales at the Clermont store, and expressed pleasure that the additional tax revenue generated by the Clermont store would stay in Lake County. Mr. Hutchens said the projected sales would be a question to ask Home Depot, not the developer. Mr. Pape asked how many jobs the store would bring into the area and what the average wage would be. Mr. Douglas Kirby said there would be between 60 and 110 full time employees and that the average wage would be more than about $8.00 per hour. Richard Tegen asked if anyone from the public would like to speak. Dave Outlaw, 3830 Fallcrest Circle, Clermont, FL was sworn in, and noted that the traffic report said that peak p.m. traffic imposes no additional traffic flow in the area. He asked if there was a calculation done on the a.m. traffic impact since the Cracker Barrel would cause more morning traffic and most contractors do their buying from Home Depot in the morning as well. Barry Brown explained that in doing a traffic study you pick the peak hours so that you get the worst case scenario. Jim Purvis, 4206 Hammersmith Dr., Clermont, FL., was sworn in and expressed concern that the employees might not use the designated employee parking lot and might take up spaces in the front parking lot. He wanted to know how this was going to be enforced. Barry Brown suggested that language might be included in the Conditional Use Permit stating that if employees do not use the designated parking area it would become a Code Enforcement issue. Mr. Purvis also pointed out that "go dark" language could not be enforced if the occupant owns the building. Barry Brown said that was a matter for the City Attorney to address. • • CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 7, 2001 Page-6- Elaine Tharp, 2322 Twickingham Ct., Clermont, FL was sworn in. Ms. Tharp stated that she has worked in shopping centers where employees were required to park in a designated area and if they parked elsewhere were asked to move their vehicles. Frances Bemonte, 1401 W S.R. 50 Unit #90, Clermont, FL., was sworn in and stated that Home Depot will use less water than if the area was developed as residential. Katherine Hawbake, 10686 Lake Hill Dr., Clermont, FL was sworn in and said it was unfair to compare the Hiawassee store with the proposed Clermont Home Depot as far as parking is concerned. She is in favor of having the Home Depot store at this location. Richard Tegen asked if anyone else wished to speak. There was no one. Barry Brown stated that the site plan shows 117 spaces but that there will actually be 106 spaces because the current plan does not show landscaping per code. Richard Tegen asked if all the parking spaces were 10 X 20 feet except for the employee parking spaces, which are 9 X 20 feet. Barry Brown replied that only the employee spaces in the back are 9 X 20. David Pape made a motion to approve the request with the modifications. Joseph T. Boniorn seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous for approval. Richard Tegen asked if there were any non-agenda items anyone wished to discuss. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned. ' hard Tege ,Actin C airman ATTEST: ~ ' /`~c ~ '~ e C. McAllis r -Planning Technician II