Community Economic Development Advisory Board - Regular Meeting

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to go ahead and adjourn our meeting. And this is the Community Economic Development Advisory Board for the city of Northport. Today is Tuesday, December 16. And we would like to begin our meeting with a roll call, starting at the end with the young lady at

the end.

For Michael. Alright. Mike Glendy, present.

Julie Lacour.

Ursula Eisenhower.

John Perkins. Terry Cheney.

Sean Burrows.

Lacey Holland.

And we will now say we pledge 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.

Thank you. Is there any public comments? No. Excellent. And if you've had a chance to review the minutes from the November 18 meeting, is there any corrections, changes need to be made?

Can we have a motion to approve the minutes? Make a motion to approve them. And a second?

I'll second. I'll second.

Okay. And all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay.

Excellent. And two, new business. New business possible actions regarding recommendations to the city commission on adopting ordinance number two zero two six dash zero four, amending the unified land development code section 2.2 or 3.24 standards district use standards. It's a whole lot of nothing, But we will talk about it in the future. Okay? Who has that topic to discuss?

Good morning. Lori Barnes, Deputy Director of Development Services. In April, staff brought before you a topic of conversation regarding the hours of operation and business city And I that's that's consider extending the hours of operation for those businesses in our CT and corridor zoning districts. Subsequently, staff presented two times to the city commission, and they directed staff to proceed with an ordinance to eliminate those hours of operations restrictions and business activity restrictions. Because the CDEV recommendation was to modify the hours of operation, we wanted to receive your recommendation on the elimination of those restrictions in this proposed ordinance.

Eliminating the business restrictions removes barriers for prospective businesses that want to locate in these zoning districts, provides for businesses located in close proximity to residential districts, reducing the impact on our transportation corridors. And the current restrictions, quite frankly, are inconsistent with our comprehensive plan, our economic development element, and our strategic plan. Moreover, there is an attorney general opinion in your packet that outlines, the constitutionality issues with restricting business activity and hours of operations. So approval of this ordinance will actually protect the city from potential liability in regard to constitutionality of regulations. So in your staff summary, there are two options for you.

One is to support a recommendation of approval to the city commission for this ordinance. And one is to deny, recommend that they deny this ordinance. So we're looking for your motion according to the staff summary. Staff is recommending that CDAP does approve or recommend the city commission approve this ordinance. So we're happy to answer any questions that you may have. And we're looking forward to your recommendation.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Conversation.

I have a question. Refresh my memory. This was all started because of Price Boulevard, right? Wasn't that it that Sort of, kind of, but not really. Not the only one. But I think that was the discussion we had last year Yes. About Price Boulevard and ability for those businesses to move in there.

Yes.

And I I I think, personally, I agree that we should lift the restrictions because it's always been a commercial slash residential area. And if you built a home there and don't like it, well, yeah, I should have thought about that when we moved in as far as I'm concerned. And that's, that's just my opinion.

Ms. Lacourt, to respond to the question and for the information for the balance of the board, this business activity restriction hours of operation was imposed by the city commission in August 2024 with the new unified land development code and the new zoning map. Now, these CT and corridor zoning districts are not limited to Price Boulevard. There are several collector and arterial roads that were previously zoned residential, which are now under those CT and corridor districts. Moreover, in 2015, when the city had some neighborhood commercial districts on certain properties along these corridors, they had adopted the same restriction for no business operations or deliveries during the hours of 10PM to 5AM.

The results of those restrictions from 2015 to 2024 was that the city saw one new business developed in those neighborhood commercial zoning districts. The hours of operation and activity restrictions were simply too burdensome for businesses to want to locate in those districts. And then finally, we do have a noise ordinance that does provide protections to properties who may have existing residential uses in the area to ensure compatibility and protection of their quality of life.

Right. To add to my comment, yes, I do agree that 03:00 in the morning having a loud truck delivering in back of me, I would be upset by that, too. I mean, don't like my neighbors playing loud music after eleven And I had one neighbor who did until somebody complained about them and they stopped. But they just weren't even aware that they had restriction. And that's what often happens.

People just don't pay attention and don't think that they have to have any restrictions in their neighborhood. So yes, I think there should be some consideration for that. But how do we do that and still allow businesses to operate? Because some businesses have to make deliveries at night.

So the noise ordinance does have restrictions regarding deliveries and the noise during the evening hours. So if an adjacent property owner was disturbed by those types of deliveries and loading docks, they could call the police department for enforcement of the noise ordinance. So

that's my only concern because I wouldn't want anyone to have to suffer unnecessarily for, because all delivery trucks have those backup sounds and they are annoying. They can't they're pretty loud, especially at night. You know, you can hear them more often than during the day when most people aren't even home. So as long as we have some protection like that, it should be okay as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, ma'am. Verbatim from the noise ordinance, loading and unloading, opening, closing or other handling of boxes, crates, other the the hand, the holidays within seven the the 50 yards hand, of any residential property line or noise restrictive zone are prohibited.

So the biggest part there because I watched this commission meeting that was very interesting, it was the last part that you talked about, evenings or weekends and holidays, 7PM to 10AM. Our business is open before 10AM. So we would literally restrict the ability for business to do business before 10AM on a weekend.

And 7PM.

And 7PM.

Don't people go out to dinner? No.

It's viable in this community that we're trying to grow and develop that just does not make sense.

You raise an excellent point for further consideration and discussion. That is it's not just noise. It is hours of operation specifically, right? We're talking about the inability of businesses to conduct their routine affairs. The common examples have included restaurants who might close at nine or 10PM and would not be able to conduct prep for the next day or clean up from the existing day.

Just a small example. By virtue of their type of operation, a pet care center is 20 fourseven. And I will add one last item. Just as recently as last week, it has come to my attention that this doesn't just impact those considering businesses. What I learned last week as I was approached by commercial real estate individuals who told me that they are currently not marketing properties that exist in these corridors because of the restrictions and their inability to attract people to buy those properties.

And so there's a trickle down effect that goes beyond just a potential business saying, I want to acquire, I want to build or develop. The real estate market itself is hampered. Correct.

Yeah. And we have to I think we need to make that evident to a lot of citizens who just want the city to stay small and don't want all that development. And we need to emphasize the fact that these are the businesses that are going to pay our taxes and keep our taxes low. Mean Yeah.

But how are we going to keep it from being a million gas stations and car washes at

a down price? But they don't build those companies don't build those things unless they do their demographics. So they're not moving into an area unless they know they're going to have business. And that's the trick that people don't understand. If the storage unit goes up, it's because there's a demand for it, not because they just want to build a new one. The same for gas stations. Do we really know

that, though? I mean, yes, I agree that there's

But going to be a business wanting to bring in to make

do we want one on price? I think that's where I'm kind of at a crossroads. I don't think that it should be an all or nothing. I think that's kind of why the board discussed last or about discussing

That's why I objected to that gas station that was going go in at Price And Cranberry. That was terrible.

Mr. Chair, if I may, when the city commission reviewed these new CT and corridor districts, they thoroughly vetted the permissible primary uses in the CT and corridor districts. And they actually eliminated some of those that were recommended to be included by staff. So in your packet, you have the CT and corridor uses listed.

I tried to click on the hyperlinks, and it's not letting me. Right.

So vehicle fueling stations are not permissible in CT districts. They require a special exception approval from the city commission and the Corridor District. And similarly, the city commission did wean down some other uses that had been originally proposed. For example, auto dealers and boats went from permissible to special exception in corridor. Animal hospitals permitted only in corridor.

Industrial was proposed as to be allowed in corridor, and the commission changed it to prohibited. Light industrial, medical testing, and labs were changed to special exception in both corridor districts. And, sexually oriented businesses are prohibited in corridor. So the uses that were incorporated in the CT and corridor district were thoroughly vetted by both staff and then further dwindled down by the city commission before adoption of the new ULDC, specifically with compatibility in mind as to the close proximity of adjacent residential districts.

It'll be interesting to see what happens at Price And Cranberry now that all four corners are stripped. And the same gentleman owns those properties. And what's he going be allowed to put there? So I have a question.

So if we get rid of that altogether, right, and it's twenty fourseven, say I'm in one of those incorporated neighborhoods, right, and a car shop, a mom and pop car shop goes in there and wants to fix cars at 03:00 in the morning. So I understand we have the noise ordinance, but the noise ordinance, too, is public record, right? So say if I'm next door and I constantly complain about that shop two doors down that's revving cars at 03:00 in the morning per se. It could be a little bit of contention between neighbors per se. So that's my thing is I get it with certain shops and things like that, animal hospitals, everything like that.

But that would be my concern, only because I have this guy that just randomly works on cars three blocks away from me. And he doesn't. And I don't complain because I got good impact windows. But if I was around him and now this would say you can basically do 20 fourseven, that would be my only concern with it. Again, noise ordinance, like I said, is public record. So every time I complain about my neighbor, just like whether I call on their trash out front, it's still public record and they're going to know who's constantly complaining about it. And how many times before the police actually they'll go over there and make a report, but how many times do they actually say, Okay, now you're getting fined? I just kind of look at, you know, I'm proactive, so I look at, like, the further part of it.

Okay. First of all, auto repair shops, minor auto repair shops are prohibited in corridor transitionals. They require They are permitted in the corridor districts. The corridor districts, however, are limited. And they are located on the arterial roadways generally and on larger tracks of land.

Okay, perfect. Okay? The major auto repair shops are prohibited in corridor transitional and require a special exception in the corridor districts. So again, we very carefully vetted these. Another important point of information is the police department enforces the noise ordinance, not our code enforcement department.

So the reporting requirements differ between department call and a code enforcement call. Florida statutes requires code enforcement to obtain the name and address of the complainant for enforcement of our codes. The police department operations, I'm not fully informed as to whether they require the name and address as well. But it's a call to police department. Police department will come out. They enforce the hours activity under the noise ordinance and then also the decibel level. Right. Gotcha. Okay.

Is lighting included in there too? Lighting?

Lighting. Lighting is regulated overall by the Unified Land Development Code. And lighting must be shielded, and lighting must be between zero and zero point five, I believe, foot candles at the property line. So all of that lighting plan and photometric plan is reviewed at time of development application.

Correct. So again, the biggest thing here is while a lot of that stuff is important, focus is mostly around the hours of operation. So being able to lift that. And I think that's, we're always gonna have a little bit of runoff. We're always gonna have somebody that's gonna be mad about something.

But at the same time, allowing them to address their grievance is wonderful. But at the same time, we have to allow businesses to come in and develop as well. Because if not, I think there was something that was pointed out. There is potential there would be potential lawsuit that could come from not allowing a business to come in. So when I heard that, was like, well, that's just a hot mess that we're sitting on right now if we don't at least address it, at least have conversation and do do diligence, and I I really don't like that word, but to at least run it down

the track

to see if it is something. If if we we find out that it was a possibility that we could be sued as a city because of it and we did nothing about it, then bad on us. But the fact that we need to take these steps to prevent that, and think being able to lift those restrictions, understanding that code enforcement's going to do their part, make sure that everything happens within reason, I think we have to make our recommendations and let the other parts do what they're supposed to do. So thoughts, concerns type of situations?

I'd make a motion to make a change, to accept the new change of restrictions.

So I know the wording on this has to be kind of precise.

So who's got to Mr. Chair, There's a header paragraph that you could review and possibly help.

Okay. Yes. So it would be so here's the header.

Amending section three twenty four. Is that what

you Yes. Yes. I'd make a motion to accept. Yeah. Hold on one second.

If I may.

Please. It's in the

staff summary. Option one is to city commission adopt ordinance twenty twenty six-four. Option two would be to recommend the commission deny ordinance twenty twenty six-four.

Okay. Since I can't I can't

So twenty twenty twenty four is

that 2026?

'26. So I'm making a motion that the commission would adopt 2026 dash zero four.

And do we have a second?

I'll second it. Excellent.

So we have a motion by Terry, Cheney, and second by Ursula. Eisenhower. Eisenhower.

Just like the president, only German. Excellent.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Well, thank you. Carries. All right. So we will now move into future agenda items. What are some other items that we would like to bring up, talk about, discuss? Just the topics, not getting the full blown conversation on it just yet.

Yeah, I can't think of anything right now.

Nothing right now.

Mr. Chair, we had previously agreed as a body to include in our future agenda topics a continuum around the subject of workforce development, workforce development programming, and related topics. Gotcha.

That's one of those topics that if we hit too often, we'll get the same information. So I think it's something that we should consider it being, basically, an every other month type of discussion if there's something new. Thoughts on that?

Mr. Chair, keeping in mind that the agenda for our meetings in the calendar year of 2026 are Every other month. Correct. Cycle that is not every month.

Correct. That's why I'm saying every other meeting being talked about, it gives us something to actually talk about instead of sitting here looking at each other funny. So

it would be every four months we would talk about it or no?

Because we're meeting every other month, right?

Yeah. Every other meeting. So yeah, once every three months. That would give us enough to actually. And it gives the commission enough to do, to actually talk about it. So we won't be behind the eight ball unless there's something that comes up and then we can call a special meeting if we need to to address that at that time. So we still have the flexibility of calling a special meeting if we need to.

Gotcha. Said once. Once.

Any other discussions that we should talk about? I think we've talked about and we have a lot of new faces on the advisory board here is the target businesses that department is going after to bring to the area, being able to hone in on some of the advancements that's happening in those action items or in those spaces?

Yes, sir. We have it as a future agenda item to report to this group when we meet the economic developments related to those specific silos.

Excellent. Perfect. Okay. Is there anything else that needs to be?

I just have a question. Do we have the schedule for 2026? Because we're doing every other month. Do we have that planned out yet? Like the dates?

It should have been in the meeting package of approved

for those of us who need the cliff notes, we'll be our meetings will be January 20, April 21, July 21, and October 20.

Can I just take a picture

of that? Sure. Sure. And I'll

put it in my notes. Oh, Okay. Or I'll put in my notes. Awesome. Thank you.

Okay. And is there any public comment at this time? There's no public comment. If there's nothing else to be brought before the board, we will go ahead and adjourn our meeting at 10:56. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.