Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. you

Good evening. I call to order the August 4th meeting of the Claremont Planning and Zoning Commission. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Commissioner Tedona.

Present.

Commissioner May. Here. Commissioner Ntua. Here. Commissioner Nemec. Present. Commissioner Colby. Here. And Commissioners Hoisington and Kramer will be out.

Please stand as you are able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

You may be seated. Thank you. I'd like to remind everyone to have your microphones turned on when you are speaking tonight. If you are speaking from the lectern, the microphone should already be on. Please speak clearly so those in the audience can hear you as well as the people online. And as a reminder, this is being recorded and broadcast on the city's YouTube channel, which is at City of Claremont. Commissioners, you should have received the minutes from the July 7th planning and zoning meeting. If there are no additions, corrections, I will entertain a motion and a second for approval.

I'll make a motion to approve the minutes.

I'll second it.

A motion and a second. All in favor?

Aye.

And the chair votes aye. Before we move into unfinished and new businesses, I just wanted to remind commissioners to report any disclosures regarding any of tonight's agenda items. Please report which agenda item. If there's any subject material that you have talked to somebody about, please disclose that. Any ex parte communication, written or verbal, commission or investigation site visits or expert opinions received. So please be sure to do that. We'll now move into Commissioner Reports. I'll start with Commissioner Todono. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Can you pass that down? Good evening, everyone. So I wanted to start my report by paying a little homage to a General Gordon R. Sullivan. He is a former U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 1991 to 1995. He was a staunch believer in deliberate, proactive, and strategic planning. He also coined the phrase and wrote a national bestseller by the title of Hope is Not a Method. So the first thing that I usually bring to a meeting is the Florida Highway Safety Crash Dashboard. So in 2025, there were 5,484 crashes. I particularly highlight bicycle crashes and fatalities. In 2025 for Lake County, there were 97 bicycle crashes and six bicycle fatalities. In 2026, so far, crashes are pretty much in half. Bicycle crashes are almost one third, but we've got four bicycle fatalities. I'm not a master at statistics or numbers, but to me, we've got half the amount of crashes and almost the same amount of bicycle deaths, which I think may either represent that there are too many cars on the road, or perhaps maybe our bicyclists might be getting a little careless. My wife and I attend church in Mount Verde. We take 50 to 455, go up past those two circles, and then go through the circles to the left. When you go up 455, there is the South Lake Trail, and the only thing that identifies it as a bicycle crossing is a yellow blinking light. So a bicyclist has to go across the trail, across the street, up a path, And then can follow that path. They can choose to follow that path. I can't tell you how many times I enter both of those traffic circles with bicyclists on my right side or on the way home. They're in the middle of the street cutting across traffic to get back onto the South Lake Trail to go into Lake Apopka. So that's just me in a nutshell. I'm not too sure who winds up getting to be or hope we could get to be more careful, either the bikers or the drivers. In front of my fellow commissioners is an article from the Clermont Sun, nice little local paper. And the headline says, Lake County projects $77 million revenue loss under the proposed tax amendment, where that tax amendment, loosely speaking, basically either reduces or eliminates our real estate taxes. According to the Claremont Statistical Information, city of Claremont, claremontfl.gov, In 2000, the census said that there were 4,368 homes. In 2010, that jumped up to 12,730 homes. It was estimated for 2017 to be 14,167 homes. And if you do a little math, which I was actually pretty good with in grammar school, we're at somewhere around 19,000 homes 2026. What's your point, John? So my point is, and I've hammered this to death, I think if some thinking was done when Clermont and Lake County started to explode, and they started looking into impact fees, mobility fees, different kinds of sureties against developers, or working with developers to maybe say, we're going to approve your property, but you kinda gotta upgrade a park, uh... they would be humor me tens of millions of dollars sitting in an account interest-bearing accounts from the year two thousand that might have not have been the answer to this but certainly losing seventy seven million dollars means our infrastructure is going to take a huge impact which is money we already don't have And it just would have been nice instead of hoping for the best from 20 from the year 2000 that we would have done something strategic and actually planned for this and made sure we had funds available. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner May.

Thank you. First of all, I wanted to congratulate David Colby in regards to the hobnob That was very well put together. It was a lot of people. I had a chance to speak to a lot of the candidates, and I think it was a great opportunity for the city to be able to speak to the different candidates. So congratulations on a well done. event this year. Also, I wanted to say that I attended the P&Z workshop that was done here. It was among the commissioners as well as DPZ. They wanted to get our input on the downtown action plan, so that was a nice gathering. And I also wanted to just congratulate any of the new businesses that are coming to Claremont, and thank you for choosing our city. It's nice to see some new restaurants and retail coming into our city. So I appreciate that. And then I also, coming back from a long vacation, well, a long time away, came up to this beautiful mural that I don't know if anybody's seen in downtown, but it's just incredible. It's created by Mylin Creatives, downtown Claremont. It's right outside. City Hall and you can see it. It's just a beautiful thing. So I just wanted to make sure that people stop by in downtown and take a look and take a picture. But other than that, that's my report. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Insula. Thank you, Chair. No report at this time. Commissioner Nemec.

Yes. Thank you, Chairman. Most people in the audience know me. For those that don't, my name is Commissioner Nemec. I'm also an advocate. for the safety and the roads of claremont you might say but i'm more focused on south lake of claremont uh it's been brought to my attention about school is opening up so please do drive careful number one Number two, I fought very hard to get on board with the county and the school level to get a crossing guard on Hartwood Marsh and Hancock. And I don't know if anybody knows from South Claremont, Hancock's going to be opening soon. But that's not the problem I have. The problem I have is Windy Hill, the school itself, they're letting out their students. very around four o'clock the crossing guard that i got uh that i received from the county and the school board unfortunately is not there so these poor youngsters all right have no crossing guard so for any parents that are listening to the video at home or anybody in the audience if you want to help me it's very simple just go to the county level write a nice email myself i'll be at the county commission meeting next meeting they have and i'll be bringing this to their attention and hopefully they'll expedite this before school opens uh besides that the hobnog was uh Very impressive. There was a lot of good candidates there, had a lot of good discussion. And it's election year, people. So please, a lot of men and women died for the right for you to vote. So please make sure you register to vote. This is your town. Let's preserve it. Let's keep it Claymont safe. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Nemec. And for my comments, I want to thank my fellow commissioners for attending the event and the kind words. But the Chamber of Commerce, the organization I work for, we can only do that with partnership with the city. So I want to thank the city council and the city manager for making space available and having a forum where people can come out and meet the candidates. Thanks to all that supported that. All right, we will move into new business. We will hear from the city on each agenda item. We'll then hear from the applicant. We will open it up for public hearing. And then there will be discussion and action by the commission. So we will start with agenda item number one.

Good evening, Planning and Zoning Commissioners and guests, Nick Enzalz, Development Services. This is agenda item number one, Elite Veterinary Specialist Conditional Use Permit. The applicant, Elite Veterinary Specialist, is requesting a conditional use permit to allow a veterinary clinic to operate within the M1 Industrial Zoning District. The subject property is located at 235 Hatteras Avenue, Suite 100, within an approximately .78 acre parcel. The subject property is located within an established industrial office area and is surrounded by a compatible uses typical of M1 zoning. If we can just look here at the map, I outline in this is in yellow the subject parcel off of Hatteras and Citrus Tower Boulevard and a zoomed in portion of Hatteras Avenue.

This is the existing building and that is the subject parcel.

Elite Veterinary Specialist is proposing a specialty veterinary clinic that will provide advanced medical and surgical care beyond general veterinary services with a specific focus on ophthalmology. The clinic will operate entirely within the building and will be limited to small animals only, consisting of canine and feline species. No large animals such as horses, cows, swine, or other livestock will be permitted. The clinic will offer appointments and surgical procedures but will not provide boarding of animals. The clinic's hours of operation will be six days a week, Monday through Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and Saturday from 8.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Should the clinic wish to provide a designated outdoor area for animal relief or exercise, the area must include a weigh station managed by the clinic with animals monitored, leashed, and not left unattended. Based on the clinic's specialization, operating parameters, and proposed conditions, staff finds a veterinary clinic to be appropriate for the location and consistent with the intent of the district. When evaluating a request for conditional use permit, the Land Development Code Section 101-212 requires specific development standards that are required to be met. Staff has reviewed the application as submitted in accordance with the development standards criteria and finds the proposed use can meet the general criteria for granting a conditional use permit. The proposed use will not be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the surrounding community. Staff recommends approval of conditional use permit with the conditions contained in resolution number 2026-026R. And that concludes staff's presentation.

At this time, we would like to hear from the applicant.

Good evening, commissioners and chair. I'm Angie Langley with Langley Consulting Group, representing the applicant who is here, the owner of the business. And he did such a great job with the presentation that there's really not much for me to add, but we're happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you very much. Please stand by for questions.

Perfect.

All right. At this time, I will open it up for public comment. Last call for a public comment until we bring it up to the commission. All right, we will bring it to the commissioners and I will start to my far left and we will work our way down starting with you, Commissioner Todono.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just one question. It does say advanced medical and surgical beyond general veterinary services, but the vet wouldn't turn down an animal coming in and needing something, correct?

I am going to ask Gerald, who's the owner, to answer that question. That has not come up in any of our conversations, but good question.

Yeah, just curious.

Hi, good evening. My name is Gerald Swingervargas and I own Elite Veterinary Specialists. We have multiple locations in South Florida. Because we're advanced veterinary medicine, we specialize only in ophthalmology. If there's any emergency that arises, we normally refer back to an emergency hospital nearby that we have convenience with them because we don't do any

But you already have that relationship set up. So if I come in with my dog who's not sleeping well, you could refer me to someone.

Correct. Okay. Thank you.

I have no further questions.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner May.

Good evening. I'm going to be asking you a question. I'll stay right here. So stay right there. Yeah. So I understand that it is an advanced medical surgical care for ophthalmology and it's by appointment only. Correct. There is no walk-ins. Correct.

There will be walk-ins if there is availability, but most of our clients are referred by other veterinarians around the area. I mean, usually people have issues with their pets, they go to their general doctor and then they'll refer them back to us.

And so usually what they do is they drop off the pet and then wait?

If they come in, they either drop off the vet for surgery, I mean the pet for surgery, or they waive to be evaluated. But most of the time, they get an evaluation first, and then we suggest surgery or not.

So you usually have about one or two patients?

A day?

Yeah. Well, just during that specific time.

We see about maybe two patients per hour. Two patients per hour.

Okay.

And we have a board certified ophthalmologist resident as well.

Perfect. So usually about 10, maybe 10 cases a day? A day. A day. Okay. And just asking because of. because of parking. So it seems like you have adequate parking there. Yes. So in regards to recovery, will the pets, the animals be able to relieve themselves outside? I mean, how does that happen afterwards?

We don't say any overnight pets. So they usually go back with their owners during the day. If they need to go outside, we will have a designated area fenced in to be able to take them out.

OK, perfect. And have you identified an area at this location?

there is a door right behind the building that has actually grass area.

So right.

Can you show us on the, um, over here. Okay. So, oh, sorry. It's confusing. This is the, that's the front. Which one is the front of the building here? So it's literally right here. Right there. Okay.

Okay. Perfect. Um, I think that's it for me in regards to questions for you. So you answered the questions that I had. So I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Okay, perfect.

Thank you, Commissioner Insula.

Thank you, Chair. So this is essentially the same thing. I want to say it's very similar to what we approved. I want to say two meetings back, I believe. And I know that former building was Health and Wellness Center itself. So I don't have any questions. I think it's a good fit for the area. So thank you.

Commissioner nimick yes, I have a question for the applicant. You said you'll be walking the animals. Where exactly will you be walking through the parking lot.

No there is a grassy area right behind the building with the rear door exactly right there.

It looks like this kennel say that's according to this looks like it's section North. Is that one large area.

What was the question again, I'm sorry.

Okay, do you have the conceptional plan that was submitted to us. See on your top left of the building you see those little lines going down one. You see that so is that going to be one large area was that going to be separated like kennels.

No, we don't have any kennels at all.

I didn't ask that question, sir. I asked if there's going to be sections. That's what I asked. No. So it's going to be one large area. One large area. And you're going to be walking those animals just in that section. How many staff do we have?

Yes. Probably it's going to be about five.

You're only going to have one shift?

One shift, yes.

No further questions. Thank you, Commissioner. I did want to disclose, I did speak with Angie Langley. She did call me earlier today just to let me know that she would be here today. We spoke briefly about this. I really don't have any questions or concerns. This does seem to be a perfect spot for this to go and given the nature of that neighborhood and what's around there. So I don't have any questions for you. So I will bring it back to the commission. If there's any, another question, Commissioner May?

Yes, thank you. Just one question to the staff. So under, just looking at the code, because I have to understand the code, under section 125.337, which is under M1, M1, CUP, So it's not the allowed, but it's on the CUP side. It says vet clinics or kennels provided that all animal services and confinement areas, including runs are an AC and sound. attuned at buildings that's not part of the conditions is that something that you guys are requiring.

Well under that section we put in in the in the conditional use permit in the resolution that there will be no boarding.

So that's only for boarding I just wanted to get clarification, thank you very much that's all I need.

Okay, any other question commissioner, you know, I just I'm I'm sorry I'm a stickler for that what what are those lines. In your walking area. on the conceptional plan. It's your building, isn't it?

They don't own the building. So they'll be leasing a portion of it. And this is an older survey. So as we go through site review, we'll get more details of what's in the rear of the building of where they'll be putting that fence.

I understand it. So how old is this conceptional plan up?

This is not a conceptual plan. This is a survey of an existing.

How old is this survey?

It says 2009, it was signed.

2009, and we're in 2026.

It's avenue, and known as West End Plaza, is located at the southwest corner of West Mineola and 8th Street. The existing 7,400 square foot building would remain and be incorporated into the site design and layout. The request is supported by a settlement agreement between the City and the property owner, identified as Contract 2025-009A, which retroactively amends a comprehensive plan to allow for the bonus density up to 40 units per acre when a project qualifies under a community benefit agreement. The settlement agreement also exempts the development from minimum parking requirements. The proposed 16 units result in a residential density of 25.2 units per acre, which exceeds the base density of 25 units per acre threshold and therefore requires a cumulative benefit agreement. The applicant has identified three public benefits as part of their density bonus request. One, public access to the courtyard managed and controlled by the trust. Two, public art installations. And three, a sidewalk connection to enhance the pedestrian access. This is a elevation of the buildings, two of the buildings that's off of 8th Street. This is a view of the courtyard that is being proposed. Here we can see this is the corner of Miniola and 8th. And then lastly, this would be the view off of Miniola Street. The conceptual site plan also includes a covered gallery supported by structural beams extending up to 10 feet into the public right-of-way along both the north and east side of the project. Due to this structural encroachment, the applicant is required to obtain a right-of-way utilization permit for approval. Staff finds the requested CUP is consistent with the intent of the Central Business District, supports mixed-use urban infill, and aligns with the City's comprehensive plan by encouraging redevelopment and increased residential density in the downtown core. When evaluating a request for a Conditional Use Permit, the Land Development Code Section 101-212 requires specific development standards that are required to be met. Staff has reviewed the application as submitted in accordance with the development standards criteria and finds a proposed use can meet the general criteria for granting conditional use permit. The proposed use will not be detrimental to health, safety, and welfare of the surrounding community. Staff recommends approval of conditional use permit resolution number 2026-025R. That concludes staff's presentation. Thank you.

At this time, we would like to hear from the applicant.

Hello, I am Patrick Bianchi. I'll give you 821 West Mineola Avenue. I am the applicant for this project. Mr. Gonzales did an excellent job presenting it. I will defer to any questions. I'll answer anything that you might have. I will say that, yes, we are looking to do the density bonus. However, we are not looking to maximize that density. So it actually allows up to 40 units per acre. We're only doing 25 So it's not like we're going in with the bare minimum or asking for the maximum. It's a happy medium in between. And we think it's going to increase the walkability and vibrancy of our downtown. So thank you.

All right. Thank you very much. All right. At this time, we will open it up for public comment. Please come. We can line up at the microphone.

All right, Anna Sinclair, 575 West Mineola. Thank you very much. Hope you're having a lovely day. To begin with, I want to preface this by saying that I support this development and nothing that I say should be construed as me being in opposition. I just have some questions to the applicant. And also, we should take some things into consideration for these types of development to work well. and the first one would be um this will be constructed on the existing parking it is a corner lot in a downtown area very close to the trail in the lakes the type of resident that this is going to attract the type of tenant is going to be active people who are very comfortable walking biking ubering ordering their groceries from instacart so my first question to the applicant is is there a dedicated bike parking for Sorry, it's kind of weird.

Yeah, why don't you, we will take all the comments. Oh, thank you. Sorry, suggestion, bike parking to the... After all comments are made, then we'll let Mr. Bianchi address.

Suggestion to the applicant that you can ask, bike parking for residents. I lived in a building very much like this, except it did have an elevator, but it broke all the time. And I'm telling you, having to haul your bike upstairs is kind of difficult. So that will be the first thing. Also, this is not under the purview of the Planning and Zoning Commission or the applicant itself, but I would say that we need to start managing our curb. You are very dedicated residents here.

I'm sorry, say that word again. The curb, sorry, the side.

I'm talking about loading zones, for example, because unfortunately downtown in the morning, we get a lot of delivery trucks that blocks traffic. We need spaces for ride share, for deliveries. If we want to grow up, these are things that we need to start managing and you can start advocating for. Regarding parking specifically, something that the city could consider would be charging for overnight parking, because again, there's no parking here. There's free parking on the street. you kind of want to disincentivize that. We need strategies for employee parking. We need sufficient disabled parking. If anybody wants to know more about parking strategies, actually, I have this wonderful book that I can lend you. I would be happy to share. Going back to this specific development, I would like to know if this is dark sky compliant. I know we don't have a dark sky ordinance, but it would be wonderful if this were dark sky compliant. I would like to know if the landscape is going to be done with Florida natives. Also, beautiful masonry building. I love it. I would love to see more vines. Moving on to quality of life, what I saw on the application was that the front doors open into the apartment to maximize the space. It would be nice if they opened out, also for safety reasons. In regards to living in apartments, one of the things that can make or break your experience is insulation. So if the applicant could go over that. And lastly, aesthetics. I'm a sucker for this type of aesthetic, I'm not gonna lie. I would just like to see color on those buildings. Light colors and whites are very common here, but again, this is very close to the art walk, so it would be nice to see more color. And that's all the comments that I have. I'm sorry for taking so long. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Can I ask you a question, or should I call it? I can't, right? Because we can, we come back to our comments. Go ahead, sir.

My name is Jeff Davis. Our family lives at 847 West Mineola Avenue. And we have been dealing with a garbage issue with an existing building that maybe this gentleman owns. And nowhere on this plan talks about waste management. We're really concerned with that. And it's not only this building, but I think the city as a whole has a problem with waste management. And I have sent several pictures to the to the council here, and I don't know who shared these pictures with you. Now, I've showed these pictures, and for several years, it does not get cleaned up. There's rodents, and if the garbage continues like that, and you're gonna have extra residents there, we're gonna have a big, big problem.

Okay, just to be clear, we are not the city council. We are a recommending board that recommends things to the council.

Recommend that they look at my emails and take care of the trash. THAT'S ALL.

THANK YOU, SIR. SIR, SORRY, ONE QUICK QUESTION. WHAT ADDRESS WERE YOU AT?

847 WEST MINNEOLA. OKAY. THANK YOU.

AND MR. NEMEK, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE PREVIOUS SPEAKER?

YEAH.

MS. ANNA, I BELIEVE, I'M JUST CURIOUS, YOU BROUGHT UP COLORS. WHAT COLORS WOULD YOU SUGGEST? I mean, you know, saying I like different colors is nice to say, but what colors do you have in mind that would fit the aesthetic view?

I don't have a specific color. I'm sorry. I interrupted.

What colors would you have in mind that would adhere to the downtown area?

I would ask the architect to come up with suggestions, just saying that this is southern coastal. White color is very common there, but you also see some light colors. I would like to see more color simply because it gets really, really bright here in the summer, and a white building is difficult to look at.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your opinions.

Thank you. Do we have any more public comment? All right. Mr. Bianchi, would you like to respond to some of those comments?

Yes, I would. Thank you. All right, with respect to the trash, the city has entered into an agreement with few property owners, myself included, which has a designated area in which trash will be collected. In this particular lot and case, it'll be right behind the building, the existing building, if we could put the site plan up. So in this corner here, the city, if you notice, there's a bunch of fence currently there. They're going to be constructing a communal trash site, which I believe they're going to go with dumpsters at first, but eventually it may be compaction. So that is where the entire half block and area will be able to utilize that and it will be built accordingly. So that that takes care of the trash issue with respect to. Common ways, um, as it relates to parking as the staff report alluded. As part of the settlement agreement, this particular project is exempt from parking, but it doesn't alleviate what would some have questions like, like missing Claire. And I do believe that there has to be an effort, and there is an effort currently as to what kind of solutions we can solve with respect to parking. Obviously, everybody knows about the garage, right? But there are other solutions like rideshare that Ms. Sinclair brought up. There are other solutions like designated delivery areas like Downtown Winter Garden has. There's other solutions like two hour parking verse having parking passes. Um, and that's what I would consider for this particular location. Keep in mind that these units are one bedroom, so it is not designed to have. huge families and things like two, three bedrooms and stuff like that. They're one unit, one bedroom per unit. So you're going to see a lot of transient. You're going to see a lot of people who might work at a local business on the bottom floor or around the downtown that just want a place to be able to walk and bike. We do have bike rack location, which is going to be in this bottom area here, we're gonna put bike racks, but I also want to harp on the extension and the walkability factor. I actually brought, if we could put this up. Yeah. So you can see where part of the community benefit and what was discussed is leaving that 10 foot strip, which currently is a water utility easement on the south side of the project. here. I could have paid about $100,000 to have it relocated, removed, and actually occupied it as square footage. We opted to not do that for a number of reasons, but the most pressing reason is the fact that we really have to harp on the walkability factor of downtown and being able to get from 7th to 8th over to West easily, right? So you have kind of this North, South, East, West access, which everybody knows the art district and the art walk with the intent of going to the lake. Well, this actually creates a unique opportunity to be able to connect from 7th all the way to not only my project, but further on down. So we're reserving that space. South the most southern parcel to be able to have that future connection point, which goes all the way behind the post office to West Avenue. So. that's part of that community benefit um that we're we're leaving so um with respect to how doors are swinging and things like that i mean that's going to come down to architectural design design pressure florida building code all the things that go with that that'll be more in the architectural phase of the project so two of the other comments um do you have anything to say on the dark sky or the the florida native landscape Yeah, so I mean, some people would crown me the king of Florida native landscape. I mean, as you know, I'm the president of Claremont Main Street. We did a huge Florida native initiative in downtown. We're going to keep that going. I literally converted my entire house to Florida native as well. So I do have butterfly gardens and will be constant of Florida native butterflies, things like that, where families will be able to enjoy whether it's eating, shopping or just hanging out in what I would consider a micro park.

There's a method to your madness, Chairman. Yes, number one question. How does this benefit downtown Claremont or the city of Claremont?

Oh, how long do you have? So I got all night. Let's talk about the business side of it. I mean, from a we don't really fit moving forward. So that's the business side, the big initiative. I think this kind of encapsulates what the comprehensive plan is going to be in the future and kind of what all of our charrette discussions and everything that have been happening over the months and months and months. I think this this encapsulate that as well as a form based perspective. walkability, bikeability, that economics of trying to get everybody to be able to connect to each other as opposed to just an isolated project on certain blocks, I think is also important. So as you see this project, you'll see that there's openings and what we call accesses on 8th Street, on Mineola, being able to connect that community benefit, as I alluded to, from the 7th, from the 8th to eventually West. I mean, there's so many reasons why this is a benefit.

Good answer. You made a comment before. I'm just a little... Actually, let me write a question down to ask you. You made a comment on the property that's there right now. It was cheap, quick, and easy. Okay. I fell in love with this project. I really did. I like the aesthetic view of it. I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but... I mean, the lumberyard apartments, that's going to be an eyesore downtown. All right. It's going to bring a city, a major city look into the downtown area. When I opened my packet, when I received it, I couldn't believe it. I said, finally, somebody with common sense that's going to actually create and build something that will benefit the aesthetic view of Claremont. Now, somebody brought up the colors and all that. That's a touchy situation because she might like black. I might like white. Okay, so that's basically you and the citizens of Claremont. You'll be working with them. That's my question, correct?

Yeah. Well, there's definitely nothing cheap, quick, or easy about this project. Any urban, new urbanism infill project is difficult. Obviously, as you may know, I don't have anything to do with the lumber yard. I appreciate your sentiments about the project. We do think it adds. I think we can hold to our record that we've never done a bait and switch project. As you might know, mantra street market, which is a food hall in town that we bought in two thousand and eighteen is something that we came forward on similarly. You know, you see the school of rock project and so on all things that we've done in downtown. We've never never took the easy road. Um, I think. quite honestly, the opposite. I think this, if you look at the history of all the projects we've done, we love being the pioneer. I think this does that with the design standards. I think if we support the design standards like you see here, I think that we have to put our money where our mouth is and perform and do it. So no, there's no quick, cheap and easy out for us. This is what you will see.

Great. Great answer. As the gentleman came up before, you know, I'm a stickler for waste. All right. You're talking about 16 apartments, even though let's say man and wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend, whatever. And they're going to accumulate a lot of garbage. All right. So could you be more specific on, you know, I believe you said you're first going to start out with a dumpster and then you're going to go. Could you explain that more detail to myself, the board and the public?

So currently right now, the code is where there's. think of it like a residential roll can, if you will, and the city has a fee schedule associated with how many, let's say one roll can leave. One, it's not aesthetically pleasing to have a ton of roll cans in downtown. And two, that there needs to be some sort of communal and frequency of pickup, more commercialized than residential can. So they do the compaction, it's even better, right? Because it's compacting it down. So they have went to other cities that do similar things and they felt that this was the best for it but that is the location right there but that is the location right there near this project great uh where the garbage the waste would be what is to the west or what is directly on the side of them are you saying like here in this area yep I believe it's the gentleman's home that came up here. There's a house that is there. I believe they live in the back. I think there's an ADU on the property. I don't think the front of the place is habitable, but the back certainly is. And so I think they're just in the renovation process of possibly making that their home.

Okay. I think I'm pretty much wrapped up. I... I do have to disclose, I did talk to Mr. Bianchi about this prior to this meeting. I did have the opportunity to speak with Planning and Zoning on all the projects. I don't have to say that every project comes up today. I declined to meet with them. That was my choice. I do just want to commend you one more thing on who came up with the idea of balconies. I love it. I mean, think about it. I mean, you go down to the lumberyard, it looks like New York City skyscrapers. This is bringing the South back to Claremont. I love it.

Well, I think that in any concept or design, even when we events that are going to happen. And, and so I think this project would be, it would be a detriment to this project if it didn't have it on all of the sides, um, facing courtyard facing looks really good at this point.

Uh, only two very quick questions. Um, and one actually is more so for staff. Um, just to remind me, city hall is 53 feet high, correct?

Yeah, it's right under 55.

Okay, that's all I needed from you, Nick. Back for Mr. Bianchi. Remind me, because I'm trying to double check and look in through here. How high is this project?

Yeah, we are not above the threshold, which is 55 feet. We are under that. Okay, great. Our largest portion of it is going to be um, that point on the corner, um, which I think is seated at 48 feet or something like that. But we're under the 55 foot threshold. Perfect. Perfect.

Um, and then I guess just the only other thing I really have is, um, obviously your neighbor to the West at eight 47 is somewhat concerned about trash. And I know he's talked to, um, the city manager a little bit, but just, you know, continue to be a good neighbor. And if you have any issues, try to do what you can to make sure you can alleviate them. Be great. And then finally, this is more so not necessarily due to this project, but more so I guess to the west of it as well. For the West End, is there going to be any future consideration on? I don't want to say buffing it, but you know, I guess, essentially tying it into what you have here? At West End Plaza, the current existing building? Yeah.

Yeah. Do you have the interior looking from Ace? I do, if you don't.

Got it. Yeah.

So, yes, we absolutely connected if you go to the site now, you'll see that we had pulled a permit to put in the storefronts in their perspective locations. So this allows those tenants in the existing building to interact and be a part of that courtyard. so that's what you'll see and then that whole facade which was once a mural now it's primed and painted white will be a mural again to what that mural would be we don't know this is an interpretation of what it could be perfect perfect okay yeah no this is great I mean from a even from a community benefit agreement perspective you know the city always loves it when applicants can work together and provide something in return other than just

bringing more development to the city. So this is great. Planning looks amazing and zoning looks well thought out. So great job. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner May.

thank you um i just wanted to let everybody know that i just had a brief conversation um didn't have my packet so really wasn't a lot of conversation on this but i did speak with with patrick earlier last week um so anyways i do have a lot of questions okay first of all um thank you for putting together such a great package for us to visualize what you're planning to do on this on this site it's exciting just wanted to say that um but i do have some questions that um were brought up that added to some of the stuff that i'm going to be asking you so first thing is this a for sale or for rent product your apartments the 16. it's all for rent it is for rent yeah okay perfection and then So the type of tenants that you're going to be marketing to, I guess, is mostly people that work in downtown, kind of have the lifestyle that Ms. Sinclair was saying, kind of the outdoorsy professionals. I guess that's what you're looking for.

We believe that is the target for sure. Absolutely.

Do you have any rents pricing now in regards to what you're looking at?

No. No. We don't right now because of cost of construction, obviously ebbs and flows. Of course, we are, the engineering team, assuming that this gets approved, not only here, but at council, will kind of give me the idea as to what materials we can use, whether that be cold form steel, tilt wall, whatever it is. And at that time, we would be able to assimilate how we can charge for rents. We don't have any... We'll be comparable to where everybody else is at.

Yeah, and I think adding the courtyard and the balconies will add on to that. So those were great ideas in regards to the benefits. Sure. Do you have, I know this is separate to the existing building, but do you have plans in the future to add on to your existing building that we're looking at here, the one-story West End Plaza that we know of?

We had thought, before this was even realized, we had thought about, you know, just using the existing building, going up with it and so on. The reason why you don't see it now is, one, because of the density bonus, right? So that whole community benefit thing, there's calculations that go into that. stacking all of that on one lot is not necessarily conducive to the best project. And so as we're looking at it and we're, you know, we're kind of analyzing what the focus really is going to be. The focus for this is if you're on Mineola and eighth is going to be that corner building, right? So that's the trophy, if you will, of the project. And then similarly inside it's, it's the courtyard, it's the, the, the mural. So yeah, Could we? We couldn't now because we'd have to come back before commission to get that approved. But we just don't think it's probably the best use for this project and the output and the outcome that we want to see here.

So you're going to keep that as a... kind of like a, it's not really a food hall. I mean, you have a separated, but in regards to what you're planning on the first floor, I understand that you're going to be doing retail and restaurants, but based on what we have here, first level building floor plans, you know, in blue commercial space, I don't know if you want to bring that up. So in blue, I see, you know, there's everything separated by the square feet, the 1398, 1440. Are you looking at splitting those into two sections as one going to be one restaurant? Is one going to be retail? I mean, is this going to be all split up into various, I guess it's going to be depending on what the tenant wants? Is that?

Yeah, I think everything's on the table to the extent that we could put a firewall in between two uses. Yeah, we could do that. I see where we could do that. I will tell you that as, you know, as a landowner in downtown already, I mean, we have a waiting list of people begging to get in. I downtown Claremont is special and it's highly sought after. So I ultimately don't know what the mixture of uses will be for this site, but we could absolutely split it if it needed. And what that really does is it also makes it a little bit more affordable for the small business. If they can sustain themselves in an 800 square foot space, then we're gonna do it. I'm not gonna force them into a 1500 square foot space and make them pay. to be in a space that they really only need 800. And I do that with every single one of our tenants as we analyze what they want to do and where they want to do it.

So on the ones that you may have restaurants, because you did list restaurants as a possibility, will you have outdoor seating on some of them? Is that the reason why you're doing the galley? Well, the galley, I think you're doing it because of the balconies, but is there going to be some outdoor seating as part of this project?

Yeah, so I don't know if you can see it quite on there, but you'll notice that the buildings are offset. Well, I'll tell you that the buildings are offset five feet from the property line. So the reason why we did that is because we feel that there is value add to have outdoor seating. I don't know if you can zoom in. Is that legible there? So you can see where it is. Mm-hmm. It's set off five feet. And then also the downtown does have a code, which is like a cafe-style permit where you're allowed to utilize the sidewalk in any portion thereof as long as you leave for wheelchair accessibility. I believe it's four feet. So we have that room, if you will, to play with, but yes. really the arcade style buildings, which is the overhang that you see with the pillars. I mean, that's cover that shade, that's all the things. And then you have the courtyard, right? So you have all the outdoor seating. And the renderings you'll see there next to the raised bed gardens.

So the retail is going to also open up to the courtyard in the back? Absolutely. Oh, it is. Okay. That's great. I guess going back to I think what was brought up dedicated pipe parking. I know bike storage is a plus in that. I see that a lot in some of the buildings that my developers, you know, build. A lot of it is also in, you know, they like to have them interiors because of the weather. I know you stated that you might do, well, you will be doing bike racks, but is there any possibility? I'm not, I know it's not a condition, but you know, sometimes having a bike designated area that's kind of covered, you know, could be a suggestion. It's just because of the weather. I mean, you saw how it rained and So I know you said that there might be some bike racks. I know you have bike racks now at Westland by the coffee shop, but I wasn't sure.

Yeah, they're like temporary. Yeah, yeah. We definitely will have bike racks to the extent they're covered. I think there needs to be a more global push in the entire downtown with having it. I mean, we have the trail literally running through our downtown. So it only makes sense, right? You know, across the street, right? There's the bathrooms across the street.

that area should i mean be realized for that cover uh bike cover so it could be something more communal for the city i think it should be a community-wide initiative to have that place throughout the entire downtown and then uh i think the other question that was brought up which i think you had answered was the loading zones in regards to because i see a lot of it in winter gardens as well um the big trucks, especially if you're going to have a restaurant, you know, the big, whatever those big trucks, you know, the trucks, where do you think that is going to happen?

Yeah.

I mean, we have, I see that, you know, there's, there's sideways parking, I guess on eighth and then kind of diagonal parking. Do you have an idea of a designated area for, you know, the truck loading, you know, for the food as well as, You know, loading zones for people. I mean, you know, we have to consider the handicaps, you know, people. And so I don't know if you have any ideas of that since that was brought up. So. I know you had talked about a communal area.

Yeah. So what I'll say to the delivery aspect of it, like restaurants, it's currently a free-for-all in downtown. So they drive up 8th Street. They pull onto Montrose. They go on Mineola. Mineola has the largest right-of-way in your downtown. in my downtown too. And so if you look at north of the boundary of the property, you'll see that ginormous apron that goes into the parking lot. So that actually won't be needed. So I think in partnership with the city and really Public Works and kind of an overall comprehensive plan for deliveries, because I agree with you, there has to be designated deliveries. I would personally, Patrick Hatt, not any other Hatt, think that big trucks and semis shouldn't park on Montrose at all. I think we have to have back alleys and utilizations and otherwise where if you see even in Winter Garden, they have designated parking spots where the semi will pull in and then they just octopus out and bring the various deliveries to whatever they're delivering to. So I think there needs to be more of a comprehensive plan. I think this project kind of forces that issue a little bit. I think we have the issue now with all the restaurants and businesses that we have, but I think this definitely brings it back in the forefront. And a underutilized right-of-way in this current section north of this parcel could be adding more parking, dropping loading zones. I don't know what that looks like, but that'd be a conversation for Public Works and that team.

Well, I see the city manager, so I'm happy he's here and he's listening. So these are good conversations. I'm trying to think of anything else. So there's no elevators in this building. It's all walk-ups. Correct. All walk-ups, yes. Perfect. And then I understand that you are exempt based on the settlement agreement. I wasn't sure, and I'll wait for the attorney when he gets here. Wasn't sure if that is, since he's here, Christian. I understand that there's a settlement agreement which basically exempts him from minimum parking requirements for the entire project. So should that, should that exemption or should that language also be included under section two as a condition basically saying, because it talks about the benefits that he's providing in the agreement, but it doesn't say anything about exemption. Should we add that language as well in the resolution itself or does the

mean settlement agreement itself just takes care of it it does I mean there's it's it binds us it binds them I'm all for memorializing things if that's what y'all deem appropriate I thought I guess it was talked about in the staff report yeah I thought it was in the whereas yeah it was in the staff report but it's not in the

Last sentence here where it says an overall development would be exempt from the minimum parking requirement. Got it. Yeah. From the settlement agreement. And I think that is sufficient.

Okay. Yeah. And then the community benefits, that's already in, I understand that you're going to be doing the, the, the the courtyard open to the public uh but it's under the trust and it will be controlled by you all um artwork where is that artwork is that going to be in the courtyard is that going to be all over is it going to be in certain sections of the buildings yeah so it's definitely no secret that i i uh

I love art, you know, our, if you look at the side of yummy's, there's a mural there. There was a mural on the Western Plaza building, but the locations that art could be installed other than freestanding sculptures. Is the facade here as well as. So we actually own the building to the south. So this as well, that area, which is currently the comic controllers side. So those are two locations that could be designated for art. There will be art.

this project right it's just you're gonna include it just doesn't they don't mandate what you have to do you're just gonna do it yeah so perfect and we don't have to put that in the resolution as well because it's part of the community benefit agreement so I see that perfect I think and then you're not required to have a traffic study or school concurrency because of the agreement as well correct

I believe that to be true. I will say that in 2024, the city did have a traffic study done. I did bring it. Essentially, it included this lot. And it kind of realized the surplus of parking in downtown as a whole and what it would do if this... parcel were developed so if you were to take that number that they dedicated in that study minus this there's still a surplus um they also did include the friday night food truck we don't have food trucks on friday night so that you know obviously makes it better in any developer's favor in that regard um so yeah perfect okay i think um you already talked about dark sky um florida natives i understand what you've done already through main street great job on that

So I can understand that you'll probably be bringing the Florida natives as well. Not sure about the open outdoors. That's I guess that's a building code, which, you know, and I think, oh, there was a question on. I have to remember, I had it in my head.

We can come back to you if you want.

And yes, please. Thank you very much. All right, thank you.

Commissioner Todono.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of things. So for me, this project is the epitome of hope that I talked about earlier. In the first sentence, it says 12 or more dwelling units, but then in the second paragraph, it says 16 residential dwelling units. So the Brooklyn in me says that if somebody comes with the right amount of cash, it's a two-bedroom apartment, not a one-bedroom apartment. We're hoping, there's no guarantee, that everybody who lives here is walkable or is going to take a bicycle. We're hoping that people from downtown live here to work and walk in downtown, that a guy from Brooklyn doesn't come down and live here and work in Orlando. We're hoping that with the one bedroom, it's one person in that bed, not two people or three people that have two or three cars. We're hoping that the residential and commercial garbage is gonna be walked maybe the equivalent of a half a block, three quarters of a block around the corner and be placed there and not generate more garbage. There's no traffic study. So in spite of your settlement agreement, which I can't overrule or anything, I just think this is amazing. All you have to do is look at page 39, the picture at the bottom. And this is without talking about loading and unloading when the restaurants show up or my mega store shows up in there where I take over the whole first floor. But if you look at the bottom of page 39, we don't know what day, what time of the day that picture was taken. But there's only five free parking spots. And what we're going to do is... We're gonna do approximately two to four stores per building, which is... a total of eight to 16 stores, eight to 16 employees, maybe two shoppers per store, which is gonna give us about 32 cars that we're hoping don't show up to this building to come to work and to shop, in addition to the 16 residential cars we're hoping don't come and live here. So on any given day, If hope despairs us, there's going to be 50 cars around that block. So I really don't have a question. It's more like it would have made more sense to me if there was a parking garage on the first floor with your apartments on the second and third so that this way parking is contained, not contained on a street, not like growing up in Brooklyn where I got to park five blocks away just to walk to my house. So I really don't have any questions for the developer, but this is kind of the reason why I don't talk to developers. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

do you have any I do yeah absolutely so this is the parking study I will give this as part of the record that was done by the city on July 24th it doesn't fit I don't know maybe zoom out a little bit What you will see right there, perfect. What you will see is Miniola A Street is identified in there where it fully developed that it's a change in supply of 18 cars. I don't make the ITE manual. I think it's somewhat silly. I think everybody should read the book. I was killed by a traffic engineer. And so, but with respect to the supply and the overall supply of downtown, and I will include that the additional possibilities of the right away usage on miniola as identified with where the current vehicular curb cut is. I think this dramatically increases. Now, as far as a garage, a garage wouldn't fit on this property. This property is far too small. These buildings may have the perception to be extremely large, but 1400 and change square feet for commercial on one floor is actually quite small. So to the extent that we have 16 uses on the retail floor. I don't see it. I don't think it mathematically makes sense, nor do I think that the usage makes sense. Well, Mr.

Chair, I'm not calling for a parking garage, number one. Number two, on the design, there are four doors per side, per building. So four times four is 16.

Yeah, but you have to have two means of egress. Okay, so that's still eight. Correct. So it could be eight is the highest use really of the first floor. But you have to have two means of egress.

Now, with respect to the upstairs, I did bring, I don't know if you had in your packet, but I did bring kind of what that layout looks like. If you want to zoom out a little bit.

So as you see, I mean, the unit size is small. I don't see any way drawing a two bedroom or a three bedroom unit unless it took the entire floor. So either way, it's still meeting that single bedroom threshold. Now if there's three people that sleep in the bed, I mean, you know, have fun.

Then shouldn't that number say 16 and not 12 or more dwelling units?

Well, it's per floor. So two units per floor. So one building will have four units times 416.

then why does it say 12 or more dwelling units? Why doesn't it say 16 units?

So the 12 or more dwelling units per acre is actually the density calculation that the city uses in their code. So if you take the 0.68, if you will, and then you amplify over the 12 units, that's where you would get, oh, I can only build seven. That's where the community benefit agreement comes in that actually allows anybody in the central business district up to 40 units per acre. So the density that we're asking for now is 25.2. So it's just over half the allowable on the density bonus.

Okay. Any, are you good? All right. Any other questions?

I'll let you go and

Okay, I just have I, my questions have been have been answered. I just my two observations are one, you know, this is this is a beautiful project. I just think this is amazing. And I was able to visit some other communities with the city staff last December and look at areas that people want to be in and just what it does for the community. So I applaud you for this and, and also, you know, your quality projects that you have done. I'm not worried about you running out of money. I think you folks have done a really great job and you've only done quality. My only recommendation, I don't know that you guys have ever done anything quick and easy. I would maybe say that what you had done was temporary, but I don't think you guys have ever really done anything quick and easy. You did it really on a temporary basis, but congrats on it. Great. And I will disclose that we've never talked about this ever. So I see you everywhere, but we've never talked about this. Surprisingly, yeah. Thank you. You have something else?

Yes, I do, Commissioner. All right. I'm sorry. I'm back on this sanitation with the waste.

Okay.

Okay. On the west side of the building, if you could put that diagram back up there. Staff, please. There you go. If you could zoom in just on the left side of the building, please.

I'm going to use the bigger one. That's fine.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bianchi. All right. Now, here you go. That a boy. That a boy. We're looking at 15 feet is your utility. I mean, you're Eastman, right? Yeah, thank you. I thought it was me.

Well, yeah, that's just the surface section that you see the lines.

Okay, and we're, I'm sorry, you didn't finish. You're limited access. That is where the dumpsters or the garbage are going.

Correct.

Are we planning to build a wall there?

there or is that gonna interfere with the garbage pickup to satisfy the surrounding neighbors so i'm not trying to make you spend money sir i'm finished no no so so i actually donated the land for free to the city um that section and what they're doing is they're reconfiguring that section so that you're pulling on miniola And my understanding, and that would be more of a city question, is that it will be entirely enclosed, right? Like a dumpster enclosure. Because there's certain fire ratings with combustible materials and things, especially so close to either property, right? So yeah, I think that answers your question. They're reconfiguring that area for dumpster usage.

Okay, that perfectly answered my question.

It will be the exclusive use for dumpsters.

Right. Okay, real quick. So for the record, all these tenants will be taking their garbage and waste walking out of their building, three stories down, walking across the shaded area, not across, going around the shaded area because that building's still going to be existing and they're going to be responsible for throwing out their own garbage.

Absolutely. It's no different than like a rural house where you have to haul your trash can all the way over to the end of your 1500 linear foot road. It's very substantially similar in that I do believe that the city is going to provide black like dumpster wheel things where you can throw in your trash and wheel it. That's my understanding that they'll disseminate that to all of the businesses. Yeah, exactly. You know, but yes, it will be that simple.

Okay, no further questions. All right, Commissioner May, did you formulate another question?

No, actually, he brought up the question that I was going to bring up, which was the tenants and the retail and the restaurants, they're going to be throwing their trash basically to that dumpster. So who is going to be managing the apartments? Is it property? You're going to be a property manager? Are you going to have a third party property management company?

taking care of the apartments yeah we will fully manage all of our assets you know i'm a licensed real estate broker i have all the softwares that that help that we have 112 tenants now um so yes we we are going to manage that ourselves the city code also overlays what that looks like too um you know to the extent that they throw trash out their balcony and say somebody else's problem we can't do that right i mean i'm being facetious but It's really that simple where these restaurants at the end of the day, they're going to go and they're going to put their their their waste there in that area. That'll be a designated area by the city for trash.

Got it. Enclosed with the wall so that this poor gentleman doesn't have to deal with that. So, you know, I've seen cases, you know, dealing with my apartment developers where they have those. containers with the wheels so i was just wondering because sometimes property management will take care of it um you know they leave their yeah you know they leave their trash outside in the basket and then the property manager comes in but those are larger so i was just unsure so it's I would like to see, hopefully, that come about to make that. I can't see that. But other than that, I like your project. Thank you. Beautiful. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Any more questions from the commission? All right. I will entertain a motion at this point.

I'll set a motion for approval for Resolution 2026-2025R, West End Plaza Conditional Use Permit.

Do we have a second? I'll second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Nay. Chair votes aye. That passes four to one. All right, we will move on to item three and four will be presented together.

Oh, good. Love that.

Good evening, planning and zoning commissioners and guests, John Cruz, Development Services. This is agenda item three and four, which is the Louisa Grand small-scale comp plan amendment and rezoning. On the display outlined in yellow is the property that we'll be focusing on. And again, this is a zoom in, 27, and this is an entrance into the subdivision. The city, as the applicant, is requesting a small-scale comprehensive plan amendment or rezoning of the subject property as a follow-up to the staff-initiated annexation request. The parcel has been platted, developed, and is receiving wastewater services from the city. Central Water is provided by Sunshine Water Services. The property, approximately 30 acres, consists of the Louisa Grand subdivision with a total lot count of 75 single-family homes. The subdivision has been built out and is completed. On October 28, 2025, the City Council approved the annexation of the subject property with the understanding that a small-scale comprehensive plan amendment or rezoning at a future date and time would occur to designate the property with the applicable future land use and zoning designations. Staff is proceeding to complete the process at this time. So the first thing we'll discuss is the future land use. The subject property is currently designated with Lake County urban low density future land use category. The current density under the Lake County designation allowed four dwelling units to one net acre with the final plot approved at 2.45 dwelling units per acre. The compatible future land use designated on the city at the existing density would be the low density residential which allows for three dwelling units per one acre. And again on the top, this is currently in Lake County urban low and then it will go low density residential in the city. The majority of the surrounding properties have been developed and consist of single family residential developments on the west and south sides of the subject parcel. While the north side contains a mobile home park with similar residential uses, and the east side is currently undeveloped. The change in the future land use to the city's low-density residential does not propose a conflict between existing uses and land uses within the area. The proposed future land use is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and its goals, objectives, and policies. Staff recommends approval of Ordinance 2026-19. Now we'll focus on the rezoning.

Again, this is the parcel.

The property is currently designated with Lake County as a planned unit development district and is governed under Ordinance 2015-3. In order to encapsulate the current entitlements, city staff is proposing to rezone the property to planned unit development. And again, this is the parcel with the city zoning, proposed zoning and planned unit development. The transfer of the Lake County PUD ordinance into the city's PUD ordinance is like for like with small adjustments made for code references. The change in the zoning district to the city's plan unit development district does not propose a conflict between the existing uses and land uses within the area. The proposed zoning district is compatible with adjoining properties required by the city's comprehensive plan. Staff recommends approval of the rezoning ordinance 2026-20. That concludes staff's presentation.

All right, thank you very much. And we will open it up for public hearing at this point. Would anyone like to speak on this subject? All right, anyone? All right, hearing none, I will bring it up to the commission for comment. We will start with you, Commissioner Insua.

Thank you, Chair. I don't have any burning questions on this project.

Okay, thank you. Do you have any questions? Comment? I'm going to you, sir.

You are confusing me. You realize that, right?

Trying to keep you in your toes, Vinny. Yeah, you ain't kidding.

I apologize out there to the audience. No, I don't have any questions at this time, Chairman.

Didn't want Mr. Ensuin never to be first. Commissioner May.

Nope. Lake County, low density, four units to one acre, which is what it is now. Final plat was 2.4 units. Is that what you were saying, John?

That is correct.

Okay. And then so we're going to the city of Claremont for three units to the acre. So that would be, if that was a vacant site, it would be three times 30, which would be 90. But you're saying that they're completely developed outright.

They're developed. It's platted. There's homes out there. But to address your question earlier, it would be a lowering of approximately 30 dwelling units overall if it was still in the county to the city.

Yeah, I was just wondering because I still see some vacant land there. So I was just wondering what that was.

The vacant land is stormwater retention ponds. So they won't be developed anytime that we're aware of.

Yeah, I have no issues. I guess the homeowners are happy to be part of the city. So I'm assuming. So that's it for me.

Commissioner Todono.

No questions, Mr. Chair.

All right. I will entertain a motion.

Mm-hmm.

I'll set a motion for approval on ordinance 2026-2020 for approval.

Oh, it's 19. Oh, 19. Yeah. We're going to do them separately.

Oh, I'm totally sorry. Why don't we try that again? Oh, you got good jokes today.

I like to set... A motion for approval on ordinance 2026-2029. Am I, am I, am I, am I? Sorry, I got confused. It's not easy doing that. Ordinance for approval 2026-019.

Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Chair votes aye. That's unanimous. Do we have a motion for the next item?

I will. Oh, wait. Does his motion still carry?

Yes. That was unanimous on the first item. Item three passed unanimously. I'm looking for a motion for item number four.

Gotcha, sorry, sorry. I was just double checking. I have a motion for, I will make a motion to approve ordinance 2026-020. I'll second it.

We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Chair votes aye. That is also unanimous. All right, item number five.

Good evening again, John Cruz, Development Services. This is agenda item five, administrative adjustments, land development code amendment. At the direction of the city manager's office, staff is proposing an amendment to the land development code in order to establish procedures for administrative adjustments within the city limits. Section 101-104 of the Land Development Code currently governs the granting of variances and includes provisions for administrative variances. However, these only apply to minor deviations associated with already approved developments. The code also provides limited minor variances in specific situations, such as landscaping adjustments or accommodations for historic structures. Despite these existing tools, the code does not offer a broader mechanism for minor dimensional or development standard modifications that do not warrant a full variance review. The proposed amendment repeals and amends Section 101-104 to establish a new administrative adjustment process, authorizing staff, particularly the Development Services Director, to review and approve minor deviations from certain development standards through a clear, consistent, and streamlined procedure. By establishing administrative adjustments, applicants will have a more efficient path for resolving small site-specific issues without requiring a full public hearing before the City Council. This improves customer service while ensuring all modifications remain consistent with the intent of the Land Development Code. This type of procedure is used in other municipalities such as Seminole County, City of Maitland, and Miami-Dade County, and is occurring in many more jurisdictions. The ordinance establishes criteria, submittal requirements, and parameters for allowable administrative adjustments, ensuring that the flexibility provided remains predictable, fair, and consistent. Adjustments would be limited in scale and may only be approved where they do not create adverse impacts, do not substantially alter the character of development, and are in harmony with the intent of city regulations. Six review standards are incorporated into the process in which all six must be satisfied with substantial evidence. Failure to meet any one of these standards will result in a decision of denial. And for some examples, to illustrate how the proposed administrative adjustment framework would operate, for example, a rear yard setback, the standard's 25 feet. And in the table here on the display is... some of the the potential uh administrative uh adjustments would work in the mac and and the maximum um sorry about that in the maximum so for a rear yard setback if it's 25 feet a 25 administrative adjustment could reduce the rear required rear yard setback by 6.25 feet so therefore it would be a rear yard setback at 18.75 Another one would be the side yard setback, say 7.5 feet. A 25% administrative adjustment could reduce the required side yard setback by 1.875 feet. So the adjusted side yard setback would be 5.625 feet. And finally, the final example is the maximum retaining wall height, which is standard 6 feet. A 35% administrative adjustment could increase allowable height by 2.1 feet, so the adjusted retaining wall height is 8.1 feet. These examples demonstrate practical flexibility for applicants while maintaining reasonable limits and ensuring that modifications remain consistent with the development patterns and safety standards of the city. The proposed amendment is consistent with the city's ongoing effort to strengthen and modernize the land development code by providing a clear and efficient method for addressing minor dimensional challenges challenges without requiring formal variance proceedings. This administrative adjustment process enhances flexibility for applicants while preserving staff oversight and maintaining adherence to established planning principles. Staff recommends approval of Ordinance 2026-029 that includes staff's presentation.

All right, thank you very much. I'll open up for public comment. Seeing no more public in the room, we will close public comment, and we will bring it back to the commission, and we will go in a straight line this time. We will start with Commissioner Tedona and work our way back. She doesn't like to be first. Okay, we're going to start with, we're going to start, I don't want to confuse anybody, Vanna. We're just going to go in a straight line. Commissioner Tedona.

No questions, sir.

All right, Commissioner May.

I have questions. I text all this stuff. John, define a small site. So a small site would be anything like a single family, a duplex, who is?

This would be generally reserved for single family lots. It's not for a housing developer to come in with 150 lots and say, hey, I want all my rear yard setbacks reduced. No, this is more on a site-by-site, case-by-case basis. Okay.

Thank you. And then who is the development service director? Is that you, Kurt?

That would be Kurt Henschel.

Wow. So you have another title, Kurt. So I just wanted to find out who that person was. Is that five titles now, Kurt? Private road gated entry. I just had a question. What is requesting me?

Okay, our current code now requires an applicant to come before city council to request private road gated entry. However, historically from a staff's position is if they want a gate, or private road and take care of all the maintenance. We're definitely supportive of that. City council has been supportive of that. So really this is just more of them asking for it. We document it. And if it meets the city's requirements right away with, and so on and so forth, then that would be something that development services director could approve.

Perfect. And then I've been through an administrative adjustment process. back in the day when I had to do something with my house at a city, the requirement at that city on in regards to adjoining neighbors was defined a little bit better than what it is here. So I know we're saying adjoining neighbors and we always want to make sure that the neighbors, you know, But I think that we should define the neighbors, you know, as the contiguous property owners. Usually that's what the cities do. I don't know if you want to add that, but contiguous property owners as well as neighbors across the street, because I think a lot of people would, you know, be affected by that. Because this one just says adjoining neighbors. So I know that there's... somebody that could be like 50 feet away or 70 feet. I don't know, but just a little bit better definition on that. But other than that, and I believe you have to have unanimous consent as well on the neighbors. So I'm not, I don't see anything here that says you have to have unanimous consent or support. Is that something that you guys are not looking at versus the other cities? Because I know Miami-Dade County does and I know Maitland does.

Well, that's something that we would want the letters of support from the adjoining neighbors. And if you have a neighbor, particularly in the previous application, we talked about the trash.

Yeah.

If he says no and everybody else says yes, then you're trying to split the difference on that. So we would have to just review it on a case-by-case basis.

Okay. I think that's fair. Good answer. Yeah, I think that's fair. And other than that, I have no other questions. So thank you. You're welcome.

Commissioner Insula.

I just want to say thank you guys for whipping this up and making the change. I think it's been needed for a bit.

Commissioner.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do regret not meeting with you yesterday, John, because when I looked to Solver, I said, oh... And by the time I found out, you already went home. So I'm going to ask a tedious question. So this is for the new projects being built. So everybody else would be grandfathered in to the old rules for the record?

For the record, no. If it's stuff already built and if they wanted to. Okay. do something in the rear, like a rear shed, that potentially would be placement because an existing tree, then they could go through the administrative adjustment. So it's for every property owner that has the ability to come through the process.

Right. Because I've been at several council meetings where we granted the setbacks to be less than what they are, even according to this. And I sit in an audience, I couldn't believe the approvals that they were getting. So they would be grandfathered in because they're not doing nothing to modify their approval.

So I'm just trying to understand you. I'm sorry. If they already received the variance. Yes. That's already been done.

That's his fault.

He's confusing me too. All right. You confused me. You just used the double negative, though. I'm really confused now.

It's okay.

Not doing nothing.

I was doing something. How's that sound? All right, David. I'm just a little curious about this retaining wall height. I'm sorry, John. This is my specular. Could you explain to me, perfect example, 67 feet of a retaining wall. That's A little bit, I would say 10 feet higher than this building or nine feet higher than this building.

So to explain these numbers here, it seems like the requests for retaining wall height are two common heights over the six foot. One is the eight foot. So if you look at the 35%, that gets you to the eight foot. And then the other one is the 10 foot. which is the 67%. However, if you notice, in order to get the 67% to request that, it has to be inward facing, which means the wall is facing inside the project, and the topography changes. We came up with a 50 foot of fall within the site. So that's the parameter that would have to be looked at in order for that percentage to be granted.

It was a typo.

On our end?

No, it just didn't say percentage. I thought it said foot.

Okay.

Okay, you understand on the other page on the table. It says 35, it says 67. Okay. Because all I had was deja vu of hooks, the apartments on hooks. And that's when I said 67 feet. But that's a percentage.

We can add the percent in there.

Yeah, please. So we don't confuse the city council anymore than they are. I'm sorry, council. Did I amuse you over there?

I'm not on the city council.

Oh, you're never confused.

To the contrary.

All right. Commissioner, are you done?

Oh, you're back to me? Yes. Yes.

I just want to make sure you were finished. All right. And I have no questions. So I will entertain a motion.

I will submit a motion to approve ordinance 2026-029. Do we have a second? Second.

I'll second.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Chair votes aye. It is unanimous. All right. Having no more business, we have a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

All right. That's why people, when Bain was chairman, people were falling asleep in the meeting seat.

It was. That's why those people ain't here no more. When they showed up.

All right. I had fun with you, David. Listen, I got you solid. I got to give you a call about the comments. All right.

Please do.

I'm around.

I know.

I'm around. I definitely should have met with them. I'm slowing down because I'm much older than Ginny Mae.

Come on, sweets. We're out of here. Okay? All right. Thank you. Adios.

Thank you.