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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.22.2025 - City Council MeetingCity of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 CALL TO ORDER The City Council met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 5:30pm in the Clermont City Council Chambers. Mayor Murry called the meeting to order at 5:30pm with the following Council Members present: Council Members Strange, Myers and Petersen. Other City officials present were Interim City Manager Van Wagner, City Attorney Waugh, and City Clerk Howe. Absent - Council Member Howard INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Bishop Everett Gates of One in Christ Ministries gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. PROCLAMATIONS A proclamation for Water Conservation month was read and presented to Jordan Sharpe, Water Conservation Coordinator. PRESTENTATIONS Water Conservation Coordinator Jordan Sharpe presented the awards for the 2025 Drop Saver Poster contest. Mr. Sharpe introduced first, second and third place winners of the four divisions of the contest. The first place winner in division four also won first place overall in the City of Clermont and first place in her division in the State of Florida. PUBLIC COMMENTS John Tidona, 3611 Briar Run Drive — spoke about the Community Planning Act and the Department of Transportation. Otis Taylor, 3686 Caledesi Road— requested updates on the City Manager and Chief of Police positions. Bryan Bain, 245 Nautica Mile Drive — requested updates on the City Manager position and finding a search firm. Spoke about the Wellness Way Municipal Service Taxing Unit meeting with County being on the same night as the Clermont Council Meeting. Paula Hoisington, 564 E. Desoto Street — requested update on the search firm for a City Manager. Spoke about the Police Department engaging in a contract with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Parks and Recreation Director Forman — informed Council about an opportunity to apply for federal funding for the Meet Us in the Middle project. The funding would be between $1 million and $3 million with a 20 percent city match. Looking for consensus from council and a letter of support to move forward. The consensus from Council was to move forward. Mayor Murry stated that he does not like the reports at the end of the agenda. The Mayor uses his report to answer questions that were asked during public comment. Mayor Murry requested Interim City Manager Van Wagner to look into traffic studies when a development is coming in. The Wellness Way Municipal Service Taxing Unit meeting scheduled between Lake County and the Wellness Way Home Owners Associations; the City of Clermont was not involved in the scheduling. 1 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 Mayor Murry inquired about any contracts with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. City Attorney Waugh stated that the Police Chief has the authority to sign a contract without it coming before Council. Former Police Chief Broadway entered into a contract prior to him leaving. Council Member Strange stated that she prefers the reports at the end of the meeting. She suggested setting aside time after public comment to answer questions, then having the reports as more of a workshop for Council to discuss and work through ideas. Requested to be informed of any contracts with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Interim Police Chief Graczyk informed Council that the Police Department entered into the 287G Program, at this time that entails abiding by all the statutory regulations in place. The department will not take part in any task force activity. As of now, the department only needs to identify six personnel to attend Immigration and Customs Enforcement training to assist if Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs them. Mayor Murry stated that there were nine proposals from search firms to review. Three of the Council Members have completed the paperwork. The item will be on the May 13 agenda for Council to discuss. He spoke about the opening for Chief of Police and conveyed his opinion that Interim Police Chief Graczyk should be made permanent. Council Member Strange stated that hiring decisions are up to the Interim City Manager, she stated the Police Chief position should be posted and see what candidates apply. Council Member Myers stated that she feels Interim Police Chief Graczyk should be permanent, there are concerns that officers will leave if the city does not promote from within. Council Member Petersen stated he is in agreement regarding Interim Police Chief Graczyk, he would be a great asset to the City of Clermont. 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 — Surplus Request Item No. 3 — Proposal Award Holiday Decorations Consider approval of the April 8, 2025 Council Meeting minutes. Consider declaring end -of -life inventory as surplus from the Police, Building Services, and Information Technology Departments and providing disposal per the Procurement Policy. Consider awarding RFP and executing a Term Contract with We Hang Christmas Lights FL to provide Christmas holiday decoration rental services. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 Item No. 4 — Variance Request Consider a request for a side yard setback of 5 Chestnut Street feet instead of 7.5 feet. Item No. 5 — Variance Request Consider a request to allow an in -ground pool 354 W. Lakeshore Drive and spa to extend forward of the front building line. Council Member Strange moved to approve Consent Agenda Items 1-5: seconded by Council Member Myers. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicing aye. Mayor Murry noted that Council Member Howard was absent. AGENDA CHANGES Interim City Manager Van Wagner informed the Council of the following agenda changes: Item No. 6 — Variance Request, Bloxom Avenue Subdivision Interim City Manager Van Wagner informed the Council that this item has been withdrawn. Item No. 7 — Ordinance No. 2025-012, SSCPA Final Interim City Manager Van Wagner informed the Council that this item will not be heard due to denial at introduction. Item No. 8 — Ordinance No. 2025-013, Rezone Final Interim City Manager Van Wagner informed the Council that this item will not be heard due to denial at introduction. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Item No. 6 - This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. Item No. 7 - This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. Item No. 8 - This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 9 — Resolution No. 2025-010R, Sprouts Farmers Market CUP A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, GRANTING A REQUEST FOR A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (2025-0IOR) TO ALLOW FOR OUTDOOR DISPLAY OF MERCHANDISE FOR THE SPROUTS FARMERS MARKET, PHASE 3 COMMERCIAL — LOT 14, ALONG WITH SPECIAL CONDITIONS: (1) ADDITIONAL WALL SIGNAGE UP TO 550 SQUARE FEET ON THE PRIMARY FRONTAGE WALL AND 155 SQUARE FEET ON THE SECONDARY SIGNAGE; AND (2) AN OFF -SITE MONUMENT SIGN WITH THE DIMENSIONS OF 20 FEET HIGH AND 18 FEET WIDE AND A COPY AREA OF 203 SQUARE FEET PER SIDE; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION OF SCRIVENERS ERROR, PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 City Clerk Howe read the title aloud. Development Services Planner Kruse presented the item. The applicant, Franklin Land Associates, LLC is requesting amendments to a Conditional Use Permit for an existing Planned Unit Development, known as the Shoppes at Hammock Ridge Crossing. The development is located south and southwest of the Hammock Ridge Road and US Highway 27 intersection. The existing businesses within this Planned Unit Development are Chick-fil-A and 7 Brew Coffee; along with current construction sites of Stay bridge Suites hotel, a micro hospital and a daycare. The development was originally approved in 2005 under Resolution 1442 and is currently governed by Resolution 1532. The applicant is requesting three changes to Resolution 1532. The first one is an amendment to an existing condition. Sprouts Farmers Market is being proposed on Lot 14 within the development. As part of their business plan, the store displays merchandise outside of their building. Section 8, Item 1 within the Resolution under Outdoor display states "Outdoor display of merchandise is prohibited." The applicant would like to add language to this item to state an exception is allowed on Lot 14 within the development. This would allow Sprouts to display merchandise outdoors. Staff is not opposed to this request and would support this change with the stipulation that outdoor display of merchandise shall be limited along the front of the Sprouts building. The second amendment is for special consideration of front wall signage on the Sprouts building. The applicant is requesting additional secondary wall signage along with an increase of overall square footage of wall signage on the front of the building. A total of six wall signs are being proposed on the Sprouts building with five on the front and one on the rear. The rear wall sign facing Hammock Ridge Road appears to meet the sign code and does not need special consideration. The five wall signs on the front consists of a primary sign and four secondary signs. The total square footage requested for the front is 546 square feet, in which the primary sign will be 268 square feet. The allowable square footage is 200 square feet per City Code. In comparison to previously approved wall signage variance requests, in 2019; Target was approved for up to 525 square feet of wall signage with a maximum of five wall signs. Recently this year, the new Dick's Sporting Goods building was approved for wall signage up to 446 square feet. The applicant has indicated due to the placement of the lot in the interior of the development and the elevation change of approximately 28 feet up from US Highway 27, the visibility from the major arterial roadway is challenging, along with having buildings between Sprouts and US Highway 27 that impede visibility. Staff understands the challenges of the elevation change and interior lot location for visibility, and would support this request. The final requested amendment is for the installation of a multi -tenant monument sign with Sprouts listed as the anchor tenant. The applicant is requesting the ability to construct the monument sign on Lot 9, which is owned and controlled by the developer. The development has been platted with no consideration of a common parcel for a multi -tenant sign along US Highway 27. Therefore, the sign would be considered as an off -site sign. The applicant is requesting this sign to be 20 feet in height and 18 feet in width with a maximum copy area of 203 feet per face. The Land Development Code limits this type of monument sign to 15 feet in height and 10 feet in width with a maximum copy area of 120 square feet per face. 4 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 In reviewing the application, staff noticed the proposed monument sign within the Sprouts parcel, Lot 14, exceeds the City's Land Development requirements in height and copy area. The plan indicates an overall height of eight feet; in which the City's code is limited to six feet with a limitation of 32 square feet of copy area per face. The copy area per face is estimated to be 48 square feet. These requests may be considered within reason due to the unique nature of the elevation changes in this development and the lot configuration, Staff is not opposed to approving this amendment. Staff has reviewed the requested amendments for the Shoppes at Hammock Ridge Crossings development in conformance of Section 101-212 of the Land Development Code. The outdoor display of merchandise, if done appropriately in an organized and maintained manner, does not appear to cause undue noise, order, traffic and other nuisances and dangers to abutting property owners. The request of the larger multi -tenant monument sign on Lot 9 would be beneficial to not only Sprouts, but the other minor tenants as well to direct traffic flow in and out of the development. This may assist drivers to safely locate and navigate to the site. The increased wall signage request is similar in nature to other buildings on internal lots that sit back from arterial roadways, such as Dick's Sporting Goods and Target. The primary front wall sign of 268 square feet would be viewed from US Highway 27 while the secondary wall signage would be seen from the private internal drive. Staff has no evidence that approving these amendments would be detrimental to the health, safety or general welfare of persons residing or working in the vicinity. Therefore, staff recommends approval of Resolution 2025- 010R. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 5-2 with the condition that the language "only under the canopy area" be incorporated into Section 8 of Outdoor display. Scott Cole, GPT Realty, was present on behalf of the applicant. Mayor Murry opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Murry closed the public hearing. Council Member Myers questioned if the sign will interfere with residents in the nearby apartment complex and if the sign will be illuminated. Development Services Planner Kruse stated that the sign will not interfere and the illuminated sign will not extend across the property boundary. Council spoke about updating the sign code as there are more requests coming before them. Mr. Cole stated there will be an illuminated sign seen on Hammock Ridge. He informed Council that the signage they are requesting is the typical size of signs on all of their stores. Council member Myers spoke about the request from the Planning and Zoning Commission to keep any outdoor displays under the canopy area. Mr. Cole said they are amenable to that condition. Council Member Strange moved to approve Item No. 9 as presented with modifications per Planning and Zoning, seconded by Council Member Petersen. Passed unanimously 4- 0 with all members present voicing awe. 5 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 Item No. 10 — Lien Reduction Request Development Services Director Henschel presented the lien reduction request. This request is for a Lien Reduction on a vacant parcel located at 1000 West Montrose Street, cross street from loth Street. It is approximately .43 acres and is owned by Libre Real Estate, LLC. The applicant and manager of the LLC, Carlos Perales, is requesting a reduction in order to sell the property for a future development. The parcel is a zoned Planned Unit Development with a future land use of Downtown Mixed Use. The case started in April 2024 for property maintenance and was presented to the code board in July 2024. The property was in violation for 282 days and, due to non-compliance, a lien was created in October 2024. Fines accrued at $150 daily for a total of 170 days before coming into compliance. The total amount owed is $25,500. The applicant is requesting to reduce the amount to $2,550, which is 10 percent of the amount owed. Earlier this year, the applicant contacted code enforcement and said he was out of the country for the time it was non -compliant. Soon after, the property was mowed and has been maintained ever since. The property is still in compliance and the owner is requesting the reduction to sell the land for development. The applicant is proposing a lien payout of $2,550, which is 10 percent, of the $25,550 owed. Joanna Nunez was present on behalf of the applicant. She is the new Real Estate agent and stated that all notifications were sent to the previous agent. She is requesting approval to reduce the lien. Mayor Murry opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Murry closed the public hearing. Council Member Myers inquired if staff was okay with the reduction of the fine. Development Services Director Henschel stated that the violation was taken to the Code Enforcement Board and staff feels the amount will cover all administrative costs associated with the violation. Council Member Myers moved to approve Item No. 10. Lien Reduction to be reduced to $2,550 paid within 30 days or the lien reverts back to original amount; seconded by Council Member Petersen. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicing aye. Item No. 11— Ordinance No. 2025-015, Vacate ROW Intro AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, CLOSING AND PERMANENTLY ABANDONING A 30 FEET BY 30 FEET PORTION OF HIGHLAND RANCH BOULEVARD, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT OF HIGHLAND RANCH THE CANYONS PHASE 6, RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 74, PAGES 49-57, PUBLIC RECORDS OF LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS BELOW; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION OF SCRIVENERS ERROR, RECORDING, PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE. City Clerk Howe read the title aloud. 6 City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 Mayor Murry opened public hearing. Matt Smith, Center Lake Properties - available for any questions. Mayor Murry closed the public hearing. Council Member Strange moved to introduce Item No. 11, Vacate ROW, seconded by Council Member Petersen. Passed unanimously 4-0 with all members present voicing aye. REPORTS CITY MANAGER REPORT Interim City Manager Van Wagner — The May 20 workshop has been canceled and the budget presentation will take place at the May 13 Council Meeting. Request for Council to change the July 22 meeting to July 29 to approve the tentative millage rate. Mayor Murry said that he submitted that request. He will be attending conference with Lake Apopka Natural Gas the week of July 21. Council discussed moving the meeting or having the regular meeting on July 22 and a special meeting on July 29. The consensus was to move the July 22 meeting to July 29. • First Friday Food Trucks will be May 2 in downtown. • Introduced the new Deputy City Manager, Dan Matthys. Deputy City Manager Matthys introduced himself and stated that he appreciates the opportunity. • Reports were moved to the end of the agenda to streamline the meetings. • The RFP for a search firm for the City Manager will be on the May 13 agenda. Mayor Murry said that he likes to answer questions from public comment during his report. Discussion ensued on answering questions after public comment versus moving reports on the agenda to address the comments. Councils consensus was to keep reports at the end of the agenda. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT City Attorney Waugh — • Council needs to vote to move the July 22 meeting to July 29. The item will be on the May 13 agenda for a vote. • The city has received multiple claims in the last two weeks. There is another foreclosure action. • Finance will have a budget amendment on the May 13 agenda to move funds to reimburse the Fire Impact fee funds. • Tomorrow will be the closing on the Chestnut Street purchase. CITY COUNCIL REPORT Council Member Myers — No report. City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 Council Member Petersen — Will be attending the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials II through the Florida League of Cities. • Will be attending the Town Hall meeting at Kings Ridge. Mayor Murry mentioned that the state would have the answers to questions regarding roads/traffic. Council Member Strange — • The local football club has four pro soccer teams. • Attended the Sports ETA Summit in Oklahoma. • Tourism events in Lake County are targeted at summer events which are May through October. The County is looking for events. • There is a current legislative action to make changes to tourist development tax. • There was previous discussion to do an audit of the city. Would like to consider the state's offer to have work done to help us as we head into the budget cycle. Mayor Murry — • Spoke about the opposition letters Council requested City Attorney Waugh draft. City Attorney Waugh inquired on which representatives they need to be sent. Mayor Murry stated that the letters should go to the city's representatives as well as the representatives of the sub committees dealing with the specific bills. City Attorney Waugh spoke about a major change to the Community Redevelopment Agency bill. There is no longer a proposal to terminate Community Redevelopment Agency's. • The Lake Apopka conference is at the expense of Lake Apopka; not the city. • Extended an invite to Council to attend the Lake County Florida League of Cities meetings. • Lake County Florida League of Cities needs an alternate member from Council; Council Member Petersen expressed interest and the item will be on the next agenda for Council to vote on. • Attending a Florida League of Mayors meeting in Sanford on Thursday night. Workshops are held throughout the state every couple of months. • Attended Earth Day on Saturday and over 300 piles of trash were picked up. • Mayors luncheon will be at Amore on the first Tuesday in May. Interim City Manager Van Wagner informed Council that Council Member Petersen expressed interest in being the designated representative to serve as the liaison to the Lake County Rowing Association Board. The item will be on the next agenda for Council to vote on. Council discussed tourism within the city and inviting other cities to ours for regional meetings. W City of Clermont MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING April 22, 2025 ADJOURN: With no further comments, this meeting adjourned at 7:29 pm. ATTEST: Tracy Ackroyd Howe, MMC City Clerk 9 APPROVED: I-- �Wvvw Tim Murry, Mayor