Brevard County, Florida 32903
November 4, 2003 5:30 PM Indialantic Town Hall
MINUTES NO. 04-01
MINUTES OF A ZONING AND PLANNING BOARD MEETING HELD IN THE INDIALANTIC TOWN HALL ON NOVEMBER 4, 2003.
Present:
John MacNeill, Vice Chairman
Rick Bertel, Member
Randall Greer, Member
Nancee J. Hay, 1st Alternate
Keith Mauter, 2nd Alternate
Ed Washburn, Town Planner
Christopher Chinault, Town Manager
Barbara Brownlie, Secretary
Absent: Tom Kleving, Chairman
Michael Melhado, Member
1. CALL TO ORDER AT 5:30 PM
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2. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MEETING MINUTES
A. Minutes No. 03-11– Regular Meeting – September 23, 2003
Ms. Hay moved to approve Minutes 03-11. Mr. Mauter seconded.
Mr. Mauter emphasized Mr. MacNeill’s request for additional information on the zoning changes concerning mixed usage in the minutes and felt not enough information was provided to make any decision.
Mr. MacNeill clarified that this would be addressed later.
Motion to approve Minutes 03-11 carried unanimously.
3. APPLICATIONS
4. REPORTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. Review of Ordinance 04-01 amending Sec.17-106.4(6)(f) relating to transient signs for consistency with the Comprehensive Plan
In response to a question from Mr. Mauter, Mr. Washburn clarified that 50 square feet is a maximum measurement.
Mr. MacNeill provided background information from the Council meeting.
Mr. Mauter moved to find Ordinance 04-01 consistent with the Comprehensive Plan Policy1.1, Objective 1, Future Land Use Element. Ms. Hay seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
B. Review of Code Sec. 17-126(3)(r)– Dwellings as prohibited use - requested by Djon Pepaj
Djon Pepaj, 1001 S Riverside Dr, presented an overview of his plan for property on 5th Ave adding mixed use which he felt would benefit the community by making it a more desirable place to live and bringing “life” to the main street.
Mr. MacNeill noted that the building code revision in 1972 included “dwelling” as a prohibited use in the C and C-1district.
Mr. Mauter stated that the idea is an excellent one to evaluate and suggested an impact study to determine the effect on the Comprehensive Plan.
A memo from the Town Planner indicated that allowing mixed use in the commercial zones would require an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan and that the state requires that plans not be amended to increase density and intensity.
Mr. Washburn reported on other communities submitting similar amendments that were rejected by the state.
Mr. Washburn advised that the coastal high hazard area is now extended to the entire barrier island and that the state factors in density for hurricane evacuation.
In order to stack residential units on top of commercial units, Mr. Washburn explained the density calculations would have to be reduced by the area needed for the commercial use including parking, setbacks, etc.
Mr. Washburn stated that the only way to get an amendment approved would be to figure out how to reduce the density in existing areas in order to increase it in others. He pointed out that Indialantic is essentially built out and has no areas from which to “capture” a bank of units.
Mr. Washburn also pointed out that the mixed use must be available for the entire zoning district as the state calculations are figured on the maximum. He also pointed out that increasing density in one zoning district would mean reducing it in another to the possible detriment of those property owners.
Mr. Washburn agreed that Mr. Pepaj has a good concept, but the approval process would not be easy.
Ms. Hay expressed concerns with parking and increased police and fire protection.
Mr. Washburn clarified that a Comp Plan amendment must be approved by the State before the Code can be changed by the Town.
The Board discussed the work, time and money that would have to be invested to start the process.
Mr Washburn reported that Indian Harbour Beach is in the process of submitting a similar request to the State and suggested we might want to wait and see how that turns out.
In response to a question from Mr. Greer, Mr. Washburn threw out a ballpark cost figure and stated that the benefit to the Town would be increased land values in that district.
The following members of the public addressed the issue:
Marlene Shelley, 218 Miami Ave.
Karen Turja, 303 Melbourne Ave.
Mike Corcoran, 423 5th Ave.
Bob Barkis, Melb. Bch. and owner of shop on 5th Ave
Richard Hoeper, 306 5th Ave.
Todd Deratany, 440 Oakland Ave.
Dick Hunter, 225 Melbourne Ave.
The Board discussed various ways to proceed.
The Town Manager advised that, if the Board determined the idea was worth pursuing, they needed to request that Mr. Washburn develop a preliminary time frame and a cost estimate.
Mr. Mauter supported Mr. Hunter’s idea of putting the concept to a public referendum.
Mr. Washburn outlined the process for amending the Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Bertel commented that there were obvious issues such as parking to be overcome but that conditions were different when the Comp Plan was approved and perhaps it should be challenged. He saw the need for more information before any monies were spent.
The Board requested information on the tax revenue for residential and commercial properties.
It was the consensus of the Board to continue the discussion next month and request that Mr. Washburn come back next month with a time line and cost estimate.
C. Amending Code to require residential site plans be reviewed by the Zoning & Planning Board – requested by John B MacNeill
Mr. MacNeill requested that this item be tabled to the next meeting.
5. REPORT FROM BUILDING OFFICIAL
6. REPORT FROM TOWN PLANNER
Mr. Washburn had no report.
7. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 PM.
_______________________________
John B MacNeill, Vice Chairman
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Barbara Brownlie, Secretary