CITY OF OKEECHOBEE PLANNING BOARD AND BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT RD CITY HALL, 55 SE 3 AVENUE, ROOM 200, OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA 34974 SUMMARY OF BOARD ACTION FOR JANUARY 15, 2015 PAGE 1 OF 8 I. CALL TO ORDER - Chairperson. Regular Meeting, January 15, 2015, 6:00 p.m. II. CHAIRPERSON, MEMBER AND STAFF ATTENDANCE - Secretary. Chairperson Dawn Hoover Vice Chairperson (vacant position) Board Member Phil Baughman Board Member Karyne Brass Board Member John Creasman Board Member Mac Jonassaint Board Member Doug McCoy Board Member Les McCreary Alternate Board Member Elbert Batton Alternate Board Member Bobby Keefe Board Attorney John R. Cook City Planning Consultant Bill Brisson, Senior Planner Board Secretary Patty Burnette Chairperson Hoover called the January 15, 2015, regular meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Board Secretary Burnette called the roll: Position vacant III. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON. A. 1. Open the floor to receive nominations for a Chairperson to serve a two year term. 2. Close the floor for nominations. 3. a) Motion to appoint one of the nominees to serve as Chairperson. b) Discussion. The floor was opened to receive nominations for Chairperson. Member McCreary nominated Dawn Hoover to continue to serve as Chairperson. No other nominations were offered. The floor was closed for nominations. Member McCreary moved to appoint nominee, Dawn Hoover to serve as Chairperson for a two year term, beginning January 15, 2015; seconded by Member McCoy. There was no discussion on this item.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 2 OF 8 III. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON CONTINUED. A. 3. c) Vote on motion to appoint a Chairperson. B. 1. Open the floor to receive nominations for a Vice Chairperson to serve a two year term. 2. Close the floor for nominations. 3. a) Motion to appoint one of the nominees to serve as Vice Chairperson. b) Discussion. c) Vote on motion to appoint a Vice Chairperson. IV. MINUTES - Secretary. A. Motion to dispense with the reading and approve the Summary of Planning Board/Board of Adjustment and Appeals Action for the November 20, 2014, regular meeting. V. - Chairperson. A. Requests for the addition, deferral or withdrawal of items on today s agenda. VI. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING - Chairperson. VOTE HOOVER - YEA BAUGHMAN - YEA BRASS - YEA CREASMAN - YEA JONASSAINT - YEA MCCOY - YEA MCCREARY - YEA BATTON - N/A KEEFE - N/A MOTION CARRIED. The floor was opened to receive nominations for Vice Chairperson. Member Brass nominated Doug McCoy to serve as Vice Chairperson. No other nominations were offered. The floor was closed for nominations. Member Brass moved to appoint nominee Doug McCoy to serve as Vice Chairperson for a two year term, beginning January 15, 2015; seconded by Member McCreary. There was no discussion on this item. VOTE HOOVER - YEA BAUGHMAN - YEA BRASS - YEA CREASMAN - YEA JONASSAINT - YEA MCCOY - YEA MCCREARY - YEA BATTON - N/A KEEFE - N/A MOTION CARRIED. Member Brass moved to dispense with the reading and approve the Summary of Board Action for the regular meeting of November 20, 2014; seconded by Member McCoy. There was no discussion on this item. VOTE HOOVER - YEA BAUGHMAN - YEA BRASS - YEA CREASMAN - YEA JONASSAINT - YEA MCCOY - YEA MCCREARY - YEA BATTON - N/A KEEFE - N/A MOTION CARRIED. Chairperson Hoover asked whether there were any requests for the addition, deferral or withdrawal of items on today s agenda. There being none the agenda stands as published. CHAIRPERSON HOOVER OPENED THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:03 P.M.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 3 OF 8 VI. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED. A. Consider LDR Text Amendment Application No. 15-001-TA modifying existing and/or adding new definitions; amend CLT and CHV Permitted and Special Exception Uses (Sections 90-252, 90-253, and 90-282); and Special Exception requirements for Pet Grooming (Exhibit 1). 1. Hear from Planning Staff. Land Development Regulation (LDR) Text Amendment Application No. 15-001-TA was initiated by the City to review, consider, and discuss a recommendation to the City Council to modify existing and/or adding new definitions; amend CLT and CHV Permitted and Special Exception Uses (Sections 90-252, 90-253, and 90-282); and Special Exception requirements for Pet Grooming. Chairperson Hoover yielded the floor to City Planning Consultant Brisson, who offered his congratulations to the Chair and Vice Chair on their appointments, as well as welcoming the new Board Members. He reviewed the Memorandum dated January 8, 2015, by explaining over the past couple years a variety of issues have arisen, most recently interest in opening a pet grooming business and expanding an existing taxidermy business. Both of these issues required establishing definitions, recognizing the zoning districts in which they would be allowed, and, in the instance of pet grooming, establishing supplemental regulations. Also included are other changes to existing definitions or the addition of needed new definitions. Language to be deleted is identified in strikeout format and new language is underlined. For ease of reference, proposed definitions have been grouped such that related definitions are addressed at the same time in this memorandum. Adult gaming centers. While the State Legislature has passed legislation clarifying that certain types of adult gaming centers are no longer allowed by virtue of their having been declared illegal gambling establishments, and the proliferation of such establishments seems unlikely, it may be prudent to initiate provisions in the LDRs that will mitigate unwanted impacts. Adult gaming center means an establishment that provides consoles, seating or stations for an individual to participate in video gaming, internet gaming, or other forms of games of chance where the individual is charged for the use of the video console or computer game or station and prizes are awarded in any form. This definition specifically excludes games of skill and entertainment as are typically found in video and entertainment arcades catering primarily to minors. Convenience store and convenience store with gas pumps. There are no definitions for the above uses and they are needed to differentiate between the classic auto service station and a convenience store with gas pumps. Although they still exist, we seldom see new versions of what many of us grew up to know as the auto service station as it is presently defined in the LDRs. Rather, new establishments selling gasoline and diesel fuels now almost invariably take the form of motor fuel pumps (gas and diesel) associated with a convenience store. Convenience store means a retail establishment offering for sale prepackaged food products, beverages, household items, newspapers and magazines, sandwiches and other freshly prepared foods for consumption off the premises. Convenience store with fuel pumps means a convenience store providing gasoline and/or diesel fuel pumps for the fueling of automotive vehicles, and which may also stock within the principal structure and offer for sale prepackaged motor oil and other small prepackaged automotive-related accessories.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 4 OF 8 VI. PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED. A. 1. Hear from Planning Staff for Application No. 15-001-TA continued. Indoor auction house. While outdoor auctions are regulated under Section 90-667 of the LDRs, the City has no provision regarding an indoor auction house as an allowable use. An indoor auction house can be a very intensive use, attracting greater numbers of persons than are normally associated with a similarly sized conventional retail use. The following definition is proposed for an indoor auction house. Auction house (indoor), means place where objects of art, furniture, and other goods are offered for sale to persons who bid on the object in competition with each other. This definition does not include outdoor or open-air auctions where vehicles, farm and construction equipment and the like are auctioned. Mechanical and repair services, pet grooming, and taxidermist. City Staff has, on occasion, needed to make decisions regarding the permissibility of specific businesses for which there are no clear definitions or indications as to what use category the business belongs. In the case of mechanical and repair services, portions of the current definition are inappropriate. The following are recommendations for modifying or adding the following definitions to Section 66-1 and, in the case of pet grooming and taxidermist, regulatory provisions are also proposed. Services, mechanical and repair means establishments including machinery servicing and repair, or service garage, motor vehicle paint and/or body shop, motor vehicle or trailer rental, veterinarian, printer, auction house, salvage yard, and similar service uses. Pet grooming means an establishment providing for the hygienic care and cleaning of a domestic pet, usually dogs, cats, and sometimes birds, and includes the preparation or enhancement of a pet's physical appearance for "showing" or other types of competition. Pet grooming is proposed as a permitted use in Sections. 90-252 and 90-282 (the CLT and CHV Districts, respectively) and new supplementary regulations for pet grooming are proposed to be added as follows: Sec. 90-704. Pet grooming. Pet grooming requirements shall be as follows:(1) Lot and structure requirements shall be as by the district in which the use is located. (2) Additional requirements shall be as by the district in which the use is located. (3) Special conditions and limitations. a. No pets shall be kept on the premises overnight. b. Pets shall at all times be kept within the principal building. Taxidermist means an establishment wherein the act of reproducing a life-like threedimensional representation of an animal for permanent display is undertaken. In some cases, the actual skin (including the fur, feathers or scales) of the specimen is preserved and mounted over an artificial body. In other cases, the specimen is reproduced completely with man-made materials. Taxidermist establishment is proposed as a Special Exception use in Sec. 90-253 (CLT District) and a Permitted use in Sec. 90-292 (the CHV District). Motel and Recovery/sober home. There is one motel in town that has been used as a recovery center for persons after treatment as an alcohol or drug rehabilitation center. Apparently, it was decided that because a recovery center provides only transient accommodations without cooking facilities in individual rooms, that it qualifies as a motel according to the current definition. We believe this is not the intent of the definition of a motel and have proposed the following definitions to clarify that motels and recovery centers/sober homes are not the same.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 5 OF 8 VI. PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED. A. 1. Hear from Planning Staff for Application No. 15-001-TA continued. Motel means an establishment containing sleeping accommodations for transient guests, which has individual entrances from the outside to serve each room, generally with no provisions made for cooking in individual rooms, and which may have a restaurant and indoor recreation as accessory uses. Recovery centers/sober homes are not motels. Recovery center/sober home means a facility, used by addicts recovering from substance abuse, which serves as an interim environment between rehab and a return to their former lives. These facilities provide a safe and supportive place in which people can live while they are in recovery and are primarily meant to provide housing for people who have just come out of rehab (or recovery centers) and need a place to live that is structured and supporting for those in recovery. A recovery center/sober home is not a group home because it is not licensed by a state or federal agency. Separate alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers from the general category of Group homes. The City has, in the past, recognized alcohol and drug rehabilitation/detox centers as falling within the general category of group homes. However, this specific form of a group home has different characteristics and impacts than other group homes or rehabilitation centers. Therefore, we suggest modifying the definition of Group home to specifically exclude alcohol and drug rehabilitation/detox centers and to add a new definition for alcohol and drug rehabilitation/detox center, to read as follows: Group home means a building designed or used as permanent or temporary living quarters for six or more unrelated persons in which individual cooking facilities are not provided. Included in such designation, but not limited to, are such facilities as residential facilities and comprehensive transitional education programs under Florida Statute. Chapter 393; domestic violence centers under Florida Statute Chapter 415; community residential homes in excess of six persons under Florida Statute Chapter 419; and such similar facilities as authorized by law, and for which licensing is first required by law, and for which licensing is first required by the state department of children and families and/or the agency for health care administration, or other state or federal agency. This definition specifically excludes alcohol and drug rehabilitation/detox centers. Alcohol and drug rehabilitation center/detox center means a facility providing an active rehabilitation treatment program run throughout the day, where the residents receive intensive individual and group counseling for their substance abuse. Residents typically stay for one to six months. Storefront church. Ordinance 1070 adopted on January 18, 2011, allows storefront churches. Under the current definition, a storefront church is a house of worship located in a unit in a multi-use commercial building or commercial shopping center. The intent is to provide an alternative for a very small house of worship that would not need the much greater land area required for more conventional churches. It was expected that the storefront church would occupy only one of the units in a multi-use building. In order to ensure that this intent is clear, we think it prudent to define a storefront church more specifically to read as follows: Storefront church, means a house of worship located in a one and only one unit in a multi-use commercial building or a commercial shopping center containing at least three individual units.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 6 OF 8 VI. PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED. A. 1. Hear from Planning Staff for Application No. 15-001-TA continued. Temporary uses and structures. As now written, the regulations are unclear as to the difference between temporary structures and temporary uses and therefore it is recommended to add the following new definitions to Section 66-1. Structure, temporary, means a structure that is erected without any foundation or footings and is removed when the designated time period, activity, or use for which the temporary structure was erected has ceased. Use, temporary, means an outdoor use or activity which is permitted only for a limited time such as promotional events, tent sales, charity events, craft or art fairs, car shows, or other similar uses. Temporary uses are subject to specific regulations and permitting procedures. Temporary portable storage container, means a self-contained storage unit designed to be delivered to a site by a separate vehicle where it is removed from the vehicle and left at the site. Once on the site, it is used as temporary, short-term storage shelter. It may also be loaded with material and then transported by separate vehicle. 2. Hear from the City Staff. 3. Public comments or questions from those in attendance, or submitted to the Board Secretary. 4. Disclosure of Ex-Parte Communications by the Board. The Board Members asked various questions and requested changes to two definitions. Regarding Convenience store with fuel pumps means a convenience store providing gasoline and/or diesel fuel pumps for the fueling of automotive vehicles, and which may also stock within the principal structure and offer for sale prepackaged motor oil and other small prepackaged automotive-related accessories. They requested it be changed to Convenience store with fuel pumps means a convenience store providing motor vehicle fuels and which may also stock within the principal structure and offer for sale prepackaged motor oil and other small prepackaged automotive-related accessories. Storefront church, means a house of worship located in a one and only one unit in a multi-use commercial building or a commercial shopping center containing at least three individual units. They requested it be changed to Storefront church, means a very small house of worship located in a one and only one unit in a multi-use commercial building or a commercial shopping center containing at least three individual units. Chairperson Hoover asked whether there were any comments or questions from those in attendance. There were none offered. Chairperson Hoover asked Board Members to disclose for the record whether they had spoken to the applicant or anyone else regarding the application, or visited the site. There were none.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 7 OF 8 VI. PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED. A. 5. a) Consideration of a recommendation to the City Council to approve or deny application. b) Board discussion. c) Vote on motion. A motion and second was offered by Members McCoy and McCreary to recommend the City Council approve LDR Text Amendment Application No. 15-001-TA, as presented in the Planner s Memorandum dated January 8, 2015 with corrections to two definitions to read as follows; Convenience store with fuel pumps means a convenience store providing motor vehicle fuels and which may also stock within the principal structure and offer for sale prepackaged motor oil and other small prepackaged automotive-related accessories and Storefront church, means a very small house of worship located in a one and only one unit in a multi-use commercial building or a commercial shopping center containing at least three individual units. Chairperson Hoover asked whether there was any further discussion. There was none. VOTE HOOVER - YEA BAUGHMAN - YEA BRASS - YEA CREASMAN - YEA JONASSAINT - YEA MCCOY - YEA MCCREARY - YEA BATTON - N/A KEEFE - N/A MOTION CARRIED. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING - Chairperson. CHAIRPERSON HOOVER CLOSED THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:54 P.M. VII. NEW BUSINESS. A. Discuss proposed amendments to the City s Land Development Regulations - Chairperson 1. Discuss potential Historic Preservation Regulations with Planning Staff (Exhibit 2). Chairperson Hoover yielded the floor to City Planning Consultant Brisson who explained this item was for the Board Members to discuss and offer their ideas, concerns, and questions. A copy of the City of Sebring s Historic Preservation Ordinance was provided as a guide. This Ordinance is basically standard for most places. Discussion ensued and various points were brought to the table. Some key points from a planning approach were, who would be the governing body for the review process, should the provisions be created for individual properties or whether there should be a historic district established, whether public or private buildings would be included, provisions for demolitions, how to address areas of concern, what safeguards to establish, and procedures for designation for the registry. Planner suggested the Board Members submit their thoughts in writing to the Board Secretary to forward to him, and then he would prepare a memo that captured their thoughts to be discussed at a future meeting. Board agreed to do so. No further action was taken on this matter.
JANUARY 15, 2015 - PLANNING BOARD - PAGE 8 OF 8 VII. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED. A. 2. Consider any other proposed LDR amendments. Chairperson Hoover asked whether there were any additional requests for amendments to the City s Land Development Regulations. There were none. VIII. ADJOURNMENT - Chairperson. There being no further items on the agenda, Chairperson Hoover adjourned the meeting at 7:29 p.m. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE AND BE ADVISED that if any person desires to appeal any decision made by the Planning Board/Board of Adjustment and Appeals with respect to any matter considered at this proceeding, such interested person will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose may need to ensure a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. General Services media are for the sole purpose of backup for official records. ATTEST: Dawn T. Hoover, Chairperson Patty M. Burnette, Secretary