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03/06/2008 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES CITY OF CLEARWATER March 6, 2008 Present: Frank Hibbard Mayor John Doran Vice-Mayor Carlen Petersen Councilmember George N. Cretekos Councilmember Paul Gibson Councilmember Also present: William B. Horne II City Manager Jill S. Silverboard Assistant City Manager Rod Irwin Assistant City Manager Pamela K. Akin City Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The invocation was offered by Reverend Jay Sloan of Central Church of the Nazarene. The Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 4 - Presentations: 4.1 Clearwater Civitan Club Fred NovoMesky highlighted Clearwater Civitan Club’s efforts on behalf of the community. 4.2 Painting to be presented to Council: Sandy Holden and Clark Keser The painting of the Sailing Center was created by Sandy Holden, a paraplegic participant in the facility’s Sailability program. 4.3 Proclamation: Celebrate Clearwater Neighborhoods Week: March 9 – 15, 2008 Leadership ICMA Team The Leadership ICMA (International City/County Management Association) Team was introduced. They are working with staff on performance measurement processes. 5 - Approval of Minutes 5.1 Approve the minutes of the February 21, 2008 City Council Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk. Council 2008-03-06 1 Councilmember Petersen moved to approve the minutes of the February 21, 2008, City Council Meeting as recorded and submitted in written summation by the City Clerk to each Councilmember. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 6 - Citizens to be Heard re Items Not on the Agenda – None. Public Hearings - Not before 6:00 p.m. 7Second Readings - Public Hearing - 7.1 Adopt Ordinance 7912-08 on second reading, vacating the five-foot utility easement lying adjacent to the northerly property lines of Lots 1 and 4, Block 41A, Mandalay Subdivision. Ordinance 7912-08 was presented for second reading and read by title only. Councilmember Cretekos moved to pass and adopt Ordinance 7912-08 on second and final reading. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Doran, Petersen, Cretekos, Gibson, and Hibbard. "Nays": None. City Manager Reports 8 - Consent Agenda - Approved as submitted 8.1 Approve the Rollover (first of two authorized rollovers) of Bid 13-07 Gas Material - Meters and Regulators Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 15 in the amount of $232,000 to M. T. Deason Company, Incorporated for the period March 8, 2008 to March 31, 2009 and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent) 8.2 Ratify and Confirm Change Order 5 to Gibbs & Register, Inc. of Winter Garden, FL. for the Cleveland Street Streetscape Project (03-0093-ED), increasing the contract by $131,346.03 for a new contract total of $10,336,582.56, and approving a time extension of 112 days. (consent) 8.3 Approve a Contract For Purchase of Real Property with Donna Andrus for property legally described as LAUREL LAKE SUBDIVISION, Lots 8, 9 and 10, in the sum of $395,000 plus estimated environmental inspection and closing expenses not to exceed $3,000, and authorize appropriate officials to execute same, together with all other documentation required to effect closing. (consent) Councilmember Doran moved to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted and that the appropriate officials be authorized to execute same. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 9 - Other items on City Manager Reports 9.1 Amend the Code creating section 17.07 to enhance trench digging safety and pass Ordinance 7918-08 on first reading. Council 2008-03-06 2 s Florida Statutes Section 633.025 (2007) requires a municipality, county, or special district with fire and life safety responsibilities to adopt and enforce minimum fire and life safety standards. Florida State Fire Prevention Codes do not address trench digging safety at this time. For the safety of construction workers working in trenches and for first responders rendering aid and medical services resulting from a collapse, entrapment, or an injury, the Fire & Rescue Department would like to strengthen the requirements of the minimum fire and life safety codes by implementing a local ordinance for trench digging safety. The ordinance requires: 1) Individuals, partnerships, corporations, and any other entity of any kind engaging in trench digging to be in compliance with this ordinance, laws of Florida, and OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration); 2) A permit to be obtained from the City of Clearwater Building Department, and any permit holder shall follow the permit stipulations as outlined in the ordinance; 3) A fire inspector or designee shall periodically inspect trench digging sites, and enforce permit posting and compliance with OSHA; and 4) Violations of the article may result in revocation or suspension of trench digging permits; written notice of violations shall be issued for any deficiency; no further trench digging may take place until deficiency noted is corrected; deficiencies not corrected in a timely manner will result in a stop work order; flagrant and/or repeated violations shall be reported to OSHA. Permit costs will be included in a revised Fire and Life Safety Inspection/Permit Fees schedule, which will include “Trench Digging Permit $200.” A draft of the trench digging ordinance was provided to several construction affiliated companies asking for their input; and the responses received were favorable. Councilmember Gibson moved to amend the Code creating section 17.07 to enhance trench digging safety. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Ordinance 7918-08 was presented for first reading and read by title only. Councilmember Petersen moved to pass Ordinance 7918-08 on first reading. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Doran, Petersen, Cretekos, Gibson, and Hibbard. "Nays": None. 9.2 Amend the Fire and Life Safety Inspection/Permit Fees schedule to add fees for a Trench Digging Permit and pass Ordinance 7919-08 on first reading. Florida Statutes Section 633.025 (2007) requires a municipality, county, or special district with fire and life safety responsibilities to adopt and enforce minimum fire and life safety standards. Florida State Fire Prevention Codes do not address trench digging safety at this time. For the safety of construction workers working in trenches and for first responders rendering aid and medical services resulting from a collapse, entrapment, or an injury, the Fire & Rescue Department would like to strengthen the requirements of the minimum fire and life safety codes by implementing a local ordinance for trench digging safety. Permit costs will be included in a revised Fire and Life Safety Inspection/Permit Fees schedule, which will include “Trench Digging Permit $200.” A draft of the trench digging Council 2008-03-06 3 ordinance was provided to several construction affiliated companies asking for their input; and the responses received were favorable. Councilmember Doran moved to amend the Fire and Life Safety Inspection/Permit Fees schedule to add fees for a Trench Digging Permit. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Ordinance 7919-08 was presented for first reading and read by title only. Councilmember Cretekos moved to pass Ordinance 7919-08 on first reading. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Doran, Petersen, Cretekos, Gibson, and Hibbard. "Nays": None. 9.3 Appoint two members to the Municipal Code Enforcement Board with one term expiring on October 31, 2008 and another term expiring on October 31, 2011. Member Doran moved to appoint Phillip J. Locke, with a term expiring October 31, 2011. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Member Doran moved to appoint William J. McCann, with a term expiring October 31, 2008. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Miscellaneous Reports and Items 10 - City Manager Verbal Reports The City Attorney reported the City has right of first refusal for the Florida Progress property next to the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center. 11 - Council Discussion Items 11.1 Hotel Density In her March 5, 2008, memorandum, Assistant Planning Director Gina Clayton referenced City Council direction on March 3, 2008, to make two changes to the eligibility criteria for the proposed Hotel Density Reserve. She said the changes raise several issues with the Reserve concept. Assumption for Beach by Design Amendments: The PPC’s (Pinellas Planning Council) increased hotel density provisions were designed to incentivize resorts. As the City already has achieved the approval of three resorts through the use of the Destination Resort Density Pool, the August hotel density white paper focused on: 1) loss of numerous small/mid-priced hotel rooms on beach and 2) existing hotel densities do not support their redevelopment. Due to high land costs, consolidation of large parcels on Clearwater beach is unlikely. As mid-priced hotels offer limited amenities (breakfast areas/limited meeting space) and can be profitable at 120 units, their need for land area is much less than upscale hotels and resorts. Based on Council discussion in August, Planning Department work has focused on facilitating the development of Council 2008-03-06 4 mid-priced hotels on relatively small parcels. To that end, staff has discussed City goals with the PPC and laid the foundation for Clearwater’s different approach to increased densities. Changes desired by the Council on Monday are somewhat inconsistent with the premise used in developing Beach by Design amendments. Staff has concerns with changing the maximum permitted unit allocation from the pool and adding a sunset provision. Maximum Unit Allocation: Proposed amendments support a maximum allocation of 100 Reserve units to a project based on: 1) 100-unit cap enables smaller properties to actually accommodate mid-priced hotel development because the Reserve allows economic parity to be achieved on relatively small properties. Under staff’s proposed cap, a 0.75-acre parcel could accommodate a 137-unit hotel. A 5.5-acre property could achieve 375 units. Staff’s premise of gaining 120 room mid-priced hotel units is achieved; 2) 100-unit cap limit implements proposal to incentivize mid-priced hotels on smaller beach properties. Specific limit can be applied to properties of varying sizes while providing the developer with very clear limitations on what can be requested and enables staff to treat developers fairly in the process. A cap of 20% of total reserve units will bring much more variation in proposals with no criteria to govern the allocation of units, resulting in inconsistencies; 3) 100-unit cap prevents larger properties, which would be allowed more units based on parcel size, from requesting substantial units out of the pool; 4) Existing hotels with non-conforming density still could terminate that density and be eligible for 100 units from the Reserve; and 5) Based on a review of numerous beach properties, the maximum allocation of 100 units could support hotels of varying sizes ranging from 138 units to 379 units, not including any terminated units. Concerns about 20% Cap from Reserve: 1) Full 20% cap (277 units) could only be achieved on very large properties. Cap alone exceeds number of units at the Sandpearl (253 units on 3.69 acres) and 2) Potential allocation of 277 units per development will be difficult to justify to the PPC and Countywide Planning Authority based on premises used in developing amendments to Beach by Design. That number of units also may be difficult to justify without imposing FAR (Floor Area Ratio) regulations that include the entire hotel and parking. Sunset Provisions: Staff is concerned that a sunset provision defeats the theory behind the Hotel Density Reserve. The Reserve is created from a density per acre standard spread across the entire beach that is captured into a Reserve to be allocated on a project-by-project basis. Based on this, the Reserve’s timeframe should not be limited as a 90-unit per acre standard always would be in place. Additionally, staff has concerns: 1) Sunset provision gives Reserve appearance of another “density pool” within Beach by Design, which may raise issues during PPC and Countywide Planning Authority approval process; 2) Traffic study findings indicate Reserve units could be constructed and concurrency requirements maintained. In fact traffic study projected this development to be in place by 2027; 3) Hotel construction will only occur if the market supports it. If the market does not support it within the 10-year timeframe, the Reserve will sunset and opportunities for higher hotel densities will cease to exist. This approach seems to counter the goal of getting hotels constructed instead of condominiums; 4) If units are not allocated within the proposed 10-year timeframe, the City would lose future opportunities to facilitate hotel development. Once the Reserve sunsets, properties will be limited to 50 units per acre; 5) It is uncertain if the market can absorb the 853 hotel units generated by the projects that made use of the Destination Resort Pool plus another 1,385 hotel rooms within a period of 10 years; 6) A 10-year limit may bring forward unviable projects that are submitted just to obtain vested rights prior to the expiration of the Reserve; and 7) In the Council 2008-03-06 5 event a project that utilized the Reserve does not meet development agreement timeframes, the City would get the units back and have an opportunity to reallocate them to another project. A sunset provision could prevent this from occurring. Ms. Clayton said there is no guarantee that the PPC will approve this plan. As proposed, large parcels could be divided and qualify for more units. Height above 100 feet could be sufficient only to construct TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) units. Non- conforming uses could be terminated and qualify for pool units. Units would have to be constructed within specific time frames. The City Attorney said the City Council could approve fewer units per acre than permitted, but not more. Concerns were expressed that a single developer could reserve and never use a large number of units or that no development could occur. It was agreed that program administration should not be cumbersome Discussion ensued regarding a sunset provision with comments that the market will dictate how quickly units are used and that density would return to the current 50 units/acre if units are sunsetted. Concern was expressed that beach residents want construction to end by a date certain and that constructing all of the units would exacerbate the beach transportation LOS (Level of Service). The City Attorney said allowing units to sunset could negate the City’s ability to recapture the units in the future. Councilmember Petersen moved that the amendment not include a sunset provision. The motion was duly seconded. Councilmembers Doran, Petersen, Cretekos, and Gibson voted “Aye”; Mayor Hibbard voted “Nay.” Motion carried. Consensus was to approve reserve unit allocations: 1) properties 0.75 to 2.5 acres can receive a maximum of 100 units and 2) properties over 2.5 acres can receive the number of units needed to achieve the difference between 50 upa (units per acre) and 90 upa. Staff will report on the traffic impact fee per hotel unit. 12 - Other Council Action Councilmembers reported on events in which they recently participated and reviewed upcoming events; welcomed Phillies to Spring Training, congratulated CFY (Clearwater for Youth) for receiving $700,000 matching contribution; participated in Paint Your Heart Out Clearwater; congratulated Clearwater USCG (United States Coast Guard) for International Search & Rescue team award. Councilmember Cretekos welcomed Sofia Elizabeth and congratulated her parents Rosemarie & Ian Call. Councilmember Doran reported hazardous waste disposal is available on Saturday at Home Depot on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard. Council 2008-03-06 6 Mayor Hibbard thanked Terry Schmidt and staff for efforts at Phanfest and other events; Zack Graley is raising funds to compete in the Olympics; recommended new ice cream shop in the gateway area. 13 - Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m. Council 2008-03-06 .~~ '--" Mayor City of Clearwater 7