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CCMtg11-10-08WSMin LONGWOO~ CIT~~ COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida WOF,K .SESSION MINU7,ES NOVEMBEF:10, 2008 7:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Brian D. Sackett Deputy Mayor H.C.. "Butch" )Eiundy, Jr.. Commissioner John C. Maingot Commissioner Mike Holt John J. Drago, City Admiinistr,ator Sarah M. Mirus, City Clerk Paul Sizemore, Director of Comm-unity Services Ryan Spinella, Executive Assistant Absent: Commissioner Dan Anderson (Excused) 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Sackett called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Deputy Mayor Bundy moved to suspend the rules. Seconded by Commissioner Maingot .and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Cormnssioner Anderson absent. 2. DISCUSS THE PROPOSED LONG~~OOD HISTORIC DISTRICT CODE BOOK. :Mayor Sackett said the purpose of this meeting was to review the second draft of the Historic District Code Book. Randall Glidden, ACi; said there were visual and technical items integrated in the second draft. He stated there have not been any major changes, but in many cases language was refined to bring it closer tee the final product. Mayor Sackett inquired how this should work since Mr. Durso has not been sworn-in. Commissioner Maingot said in checking with the City Attorney he said it was ~ inappropriate for Mr. Durso to be seated with the Commission until he is sworn- in. He stated they would appreciate Mr. Durso's input and participation. Mayor Sackett thanked Mr. Durso for coming and requested that he record all . conunents when the public can respond and make him a part pf the team. CC 11-10-08/321 Mr. Glidden said they planned to review the goals ofthe Book, identify what has changed, review the Code Book, and then recognize what they see as some V' decision points for the Commission as policy isues., He stated the goal was to make the book more flexible, user friendly, relevant, more visually engaging, provide some step by step processes, preserve the Districts Historic integrity, stimulate the growth and revitalize the Code in the core of Downtown; and integrate this with the Longwood Design Guidelines. He reviewed changes and said the book format was a companion to the Guidelines Book. They have added ,inspiration and photo examples of styles. They added some process flow charts to show the process with the City, and they grouped the information by lot use type and architectural styles. He said they gave more ~in the way of definitions to provide a better understanding of standards. Mr. Glidden reviewed the Code changes. He said since the Longwood Design Guidelines have come into place, there have been changes in the City. They updated the architectural regulations, material palette, color palette, and included a section for green building information. He stated they identified a Historic District Core Commercial Zone. They updated and rationalized the District parking requirements. He revietived the parking requirements and said they were recommending a parking fiend for street parking improvements. Mayor Sackett said he would rather see the verbiage "eco-friendly" rather than "green building". Mr. Glidden said one of the big changes was the format of the document. He reviewed the Table of Contents and steps. He said it vas color coded so that there is a relationship to the bar on the side and .where you are in the Book. He stated the Design Guidelines were developed as part of the Comprehensive Plan and therefore, a very important overall part of the planning process for the City. He reviewed the section on How to Plan a Proj ect, and the process. Deputy Mayor Bundy suggested using "Land-Use" for the map. Mayor Sackett said about contributing strictures under Step 2; he did not see demolition listed. He inquired where demolition fits in. Mr. Glidden said this was planning for a new project. He stated they reference demolition in the back and said it was something you would rather not do. However, they list the process if it has to be done. He said they could reference it in the flow chart. He reviewed the Existing Strictures Map and said it also gives you an idea of what lots are vacant. He reviewed the Historic District Lot Type Map and said it identifies the various types of lots and uses within the Historic District. He said it also provides general information with regards to the number of principle structures and lot size. Commissioner Maingot said Item 3 states, "Lots of record within the. Historic District will not be subdivided into smaller lots." CC 11-10-08/322 ~ Mr. Glidden said they did an analysis with regard to the Historic District and potential lot splits. He stated that ctirren.tly there are no lot splits allowed. in the Historic District. He said the questions at this point were what the appropriate minimum lot frontage is, what the current average lot street frontage is by street and for the District, and what the appropriate variance from average is. He stated the Longwood Development Code ideril:ifies a lot size as based on the average in the neighborhood and it can go from 70''/o to 150% of the average. This is where they took their starting point from. They then looked at the streets in the Historic District on the east-west direction. He s:~.id they took the average lot frontage minus public owned lots. Commissioner Maingot said the residents indicated they wanted activity in the District. He inquired how they could think out of the box, in looking ahead,. to have revitalization. Mr. Glidden reviewed the range for potential lot street. frontage. He said parking was the biggest. problem. He stated part of the issue of revitalization was creating the critical mass and making usable corrunercial sites that are marketable and economically viable. He also discussed :mixed-use and parking issues. Commissioner Maingot said they needed to encourage business such as office structures, cafes, and restaurants. He stated they would not exist unless they have bodies living in the Historic, District and. they needed to address these two critical factors in planning. Scott Weber, ACi, said that they were making multiple recommendations. One is to reduce the parking requirements, allow for on street parking in as many places as possible, and reduce the amount of parking on an individual site. He stated another vvas to then allow for higher densification. He said they are showing the minimums and maximums :for lots and looking for guidance :from the Commission to narrow these down. He stated Church Avenue and Warren. Avenue could be those types of higher density and use. the ripple effect to the south and north for residential. He declared they were looking for guidance from the Commission at this Work Session regarding lot size. Mayor Sackett said they are looking to achieve the critical mass so as to obtain this movement. Based on that, what are the numbers that would achieve this? Mr. Weber said they were trying to provide the tools and flexibility that have a larger range of possibilities to allow development. Deputy Mayor Bundy said they need to look at Chtu•ch and Warren focused as retail or critical mass. He stated they have some existing, parking in this area. He said they would end up with two separai:e sections of the Historic District, one ~ more retail focused, and one more office professional with residential, He stated they could increase the densities where public parking was available or make the parking requirements less, due to the private and public shared parking. He said you could not place retail without. parking or it will fail. He said to focus on CC 11-10-08/323 having this type of parking available, people will park and walk to the various stores. ~ Mr. Glidden said they refer to this as the "pa"rk-once" concept in the back of the Book. He stated this is why they suggest shifting some of the parking from the private property owner to a more shared activity. He advised they used the numbers from the Property Appraiser's to create their data. He said they would like the Commission's input on this matter. He stated they carried over the no lot- split from the old Code. Deputy Mayor Bundy said he would like to see efforts for businesses to contain their employee parking. Mr. Glidden reviewed the permitted Downtown Historic Land Uses. He said these were almost the same as before. They did try to reflect the idea of the Historic. Core so as to focus the idea of more retail environments to be more appropriate. for Church, Warren, and 427. Discussion was held regarding mixed-use located in the West Warren and Church Avenue areas. Mr. Glidden said the nature of the Civic Lots were. somewhat unusual because of the fimction of the organizations that use these. In this case, there is more of a ' setback requirement that would be negotiated on a case by case basis. ~ Commissioner Maingot inquired about stormwater. Mr. Glidden said stormwater was taken care of by underground infiltration systems. Deputy Mayor Btindy inquired if there was an opportunity to increase the coverage, provided the stormwater numbers can be met. He said he didn't want to create problems down the road. He stated it would still have to meet St. John's guidelines. Mr. Glidden said they needed to take into account that the Historic District was the one area in the City where they can have gravel parking lots and this becomes pervious area. Mr. Sizemore said one of the exceptional items in the first Code, and carried over to this one, that makes the Historie~District different in doing site design from the rest of the City, is that there are provisions to encourage the use of pervious parking materials. He stated the stormWater calculations are based on the true permeability of the material. He said the projects that will be the most impacted by adjustinb the impervious surface ratio will be the projects that choose to do fully paved or brick parking areas. ~ ~CC 11-10-08/324 Mr. Glidden reviewed Mixed-Use Lots and said they made a few adjustments to ! the existing Code. He said as they have newer building structures, the one issue they want is to maintain certain aspects of the character of the historic buildings. He stated an encouragement in the Mixed-Use areas was to build the buildings up a little. He said this would better approximate what you would see in one of the buildings currently in the District. He stated the average was approximately 18 inches at the building edge. He reviewed and discussed Storefront Use Lots. He said the Flow .Chart shows what an applicant would do and who they need to meet with in the City. He stated the appeals process and variance, process were referenced. He said they tried to bring the appropriate elements from the Longwood Development Code in; so there is continuity. Commissioner Maingot inquired about the CAPP Program in this instance. Deputy Mayor Btuldy left the meeting at: 8:08 p.m. and returned at 8:10 p.m. Mr. Sizemore said they should add this into the Flow Chart parallel to the Site Development Plan. Mayor Sackett inquired about sharing a single driveway access for~Mixed-Use Lots. Mr. Sizemore said this was language from the existing Code. I Commissioner Holt said there were areas in Winter Park where they use a common drivetivay for cluster homes where they enter private garages. Mr. Glidden said there would be a cross easement for the common driveway. He stated part of this was developed with the shared parking in order to provide more efficient parking for both parcels. Commissioner Maingot said they have this same situation at Avalon Park. Mr. Glidden reviewed page 19 and said i:his would be for most projects in the District. He reviewed Historic District p<rrking and why to change the parking requirements. He suggested the `'park-once" planning and said you wanted to plan for a diverse and dynamic District core, :He stated they based the new parking rations on updated data. He said their recommendation to reduce commercial use to three spaces per 1,000 square feet and keep it at rivo spaces per unit for residential. They recommend looking ini:o reduction of two spaces per 1,000 square feet in the. core. This allows for the allocation of public parking. The other factor is to provide credit for the adjacent on street parking: H. e reviewed other various incentives for parking. Deputy Mayor Bundy said the tandem p:~rking was a good idea. He stated this leaves possibilities open for unconventional solutions to parking. He suggested rather than using the verbiage "shall not", to use "should not" so to give more. flexibility. CC 11-10-08/325 Mr. Weber said they would like to rewrite this sentence entirely. He stated you ~ would, want parking next to a civic building. Deputy Mayor Bundy said there were various pervious products, and he inquired if they looked into allowing these. He stated handicap spaces have to be hard surface, but if they could use pervious concrete, it would provide another opporhulity for development.. Mr. Sizemore said Dan'Willard was in the process of revising the manual of standards and has looked closely at these products. He is recommending including the specifications for the products so it can be an option. y Mr. Glidden said they also included some requirements for bicycle parking for commercial and mixed-use projects. He stated they have some bike trails in the area. Deputy Mayor Bundy suggested also changing "shall" to "should" in this. area. Commissioner Holt inquired about the use of a six foot fence to screen rather than an eight foot fence. Mr. Glidden said when you go to eight feet the Florida Building Code is involved. He stated it could be put back in. Commissioner Holt suggested providinb the option of a six or eight foot fence. Commissioner Maingot said they were using the term "tnicks" and many people are driving four door trucks today. Mr. Glidden said this came from the existing code. Deputy Mayor Bundy said they should look at the definition in the Code for commercial vehicles and suggested looking at weight limits. He stated the issue of six foot fences for the purpose of screening also needed to be evaluated as far as the streetscape. He said he did not want to prohibit the parking, of recreational vehicles. Mr. Glidden said Section 1..11 discusses Geometry and this was taken from the existing Development Code. He reviewed Section 1.12 and said this gives an idea of what is possible for parking surfaces. He said they were showing cluster mailboxes since the post office is requiring these. He said Step 2 was the Historic Structures and Architectural Guidelines. He reviewed the Historic District Standards, rehabilitation of supporting structures, and new construction. He stated they were recommending showing outlines of adjacent buildings of adjacent properties on their plans. He said they go into the interior standards and give more of a narrative on the different treatment approaches. ~ Commissioner Holt left the meeting at 9:01 p.m. and returned at 9.:02 p.m. CC 11-1.0=08/326 ~.m. Mayor Sackett inquired why this was in the interior of the book and not an appendix-. , Mr. Glidden said this section talks a lot about the contributing structures. He stated this leads into the next section that goes into the specific guidelines. Deputy Mayor Bundy said they need to make sure the architects and engineers are aware that there are certain exceptions to ADA Codes. Mr. Glidden said Section 2.6 was on Demolition. He reviewed the changes made to this Section. He stated the~timing is to have people re-thinle about the demolition. He said one question that did come up was regarding the fine for demolishing a building in whole or in part without a permit. He inquired if the munber put in the Code five years ago was the, number the Commission wanted" to maintain. Deputy Mayor Bundy said it was designed to be more ptuiitive than anything. for not following the process. I-1e stated whe;n they purchase the building; they know it is a contributing stricture. He said economics needs to be taken off the table. Mr. Glidden suggested they may want. to have the City Attorney review this issue. r ~ Mr. Sizemore said he would work with lvlr. Glidden to look into moving some of ~ the economic conditions. He stated he would meet with the City Attorney regarding the matter. The Commission recessed at 9:16 p.m. and reconvened at 9:25 p.m. Commissioner Holt said if something needs to be demolished, some things were salvable and may be able to be used on another contributing stricture. He suggested language that would address thhis matter. Mr. Glidden said the paragraph following the word "penalty" in bold, states, ``Once all possibilities for saving the stricture have been exhausted, all salvageable building material should be collected and then the structure should be QUICKLY and THOROUGHLY removed." Deputy Mayor Bundy suggested in this :;entente that "should" be changed to "shall". He said an engineer or architect that. works mostly on new buildings may or may not be qualified to look at the material and determine if it is salvageable. He suggested as part of the demolition process there needs to be an architectural historian. Mr. Weber said they could come up with some language regarding this matter. Deputy Mayor Bundy said he liked this concept in the new Book and stated it was less confiising. CC 11-10-08/327 Mr. Glidden said they referred to this as a Book to lead people in the projects. ~ Mr. Glidden reviewed the photographs in Step 3, Architectural Patterns. He reviewed each Section. He said these were for people who were building ne~v constriction in the District or renovating a supporting structure: He stated. they listed the materials and -said these were intended for new constriction, renovation and rehabilitation of supporting structures, and any addition or rehabilitation of an addition to a contributing structure. He said they provided a listing of material manufacturers. Mr. Glidden reviewed the color selections. He said these were based on the current colors, but they have been updated. He stated they would be providing a little more information on this page. Commissioner Holt inquired if there was a way to have the color palette removable and add language to follow the color palette. Deputy Mayor Btmdy suggested they have white as a color option. Mr. Glidden gave several examples for shades of white and said they could make an argument to use it as a base. Mr. Weber said they would like to take another look at this particular page. Mr. Glidden said at the.end they would be submitting the entire Book electronically to Mr. Sizemore so it may be placed on the City's website. Deputy Mayor Bundy said certain matters should not be updated before coming to the Commission. However, the color selection will be modified periodically. Mr. Glidden reviewed the roof materials. He said there were selections for hard and soft roofs that were appropriate for the District. He stated he understood there were some comments Commissioner Maingot would like to see with regards to referencing the, xeriscaping and landscaping. Commissioner Maingot outlined his suggestions for language to be added to the Landscaping General Requirements. Mr. Glidden said he obtained drafts from City staff and St. John's Water Management and incorporated that into this. Commissioner Maingot said with the incoming water restrictions and people still wanting to •have some items that need watering, there should be a combination. He said there can. be two design elements in one landscape. He said groundcover with mulch did not work, as groundcover needs to touch soil. He stated a landscape architect will be signing and sealing the plan. ~ CC 11-10-08/328 ~ Mr. Glidden said three and four inches of mulch was becoming the standard so to ' hold moisture. Mr. Weber said they can reference mulch to the City of Longwood Standards. Mr. Glidden said one of the items is fencing on civic lots and this is intended primarily for the Police Department for secure reasons. He stated they would adjustthe fencing on the other areas to allow the eight foot fencing if necessary. Discussion ensued regarding fence heights. Mr. Glidden said they provided a listing for different types of signage and guidelines for placement. Deputy Mayor Bundy said they needed to be more specific regarding neon signage. Mr. Glidden said they provided a suggestion for a Historic. Marker Program. He said the next Section was on Lot and Building Maintenance. He reviewed the Appendices and said their case studies were in this area. Terms and Definitions are at the end. He said the Resources and Bibliography are also listed at the end. Commissioner Holt inquired how the new language would be presented. Mr. Glidden said ultimately there will be. a new binder at the end. He stated if they would like, they can provide loose pages. Mayor Sackett said he wotild rather they print a loose page with the amendments and indicate the page number for that amendment, He stated they can paper clip the loose page in their Books. Deputy Mayor Bundy said he would like to leave it up to their discretion on how to present the changes. 3. ADJOURN. Mayor Sackett adjourned the meeting at 10:21 p.m. Brian D. Sackett, yor ATTES ~ Sarah N1.1VIirus, CMC, MBA ~ 'City Clerk CC 11-10-0~~/329 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. CC 11-10-08/330