01/16/1991 - Clearwater Beach Blue Ribbon Task Force
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MINUTES
CLEARWATER BEACH BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE
JANUARY 16. 1991
Members Present:
Chairman Deegan, Ms. Garris, Ms. Tiernan (arrived 6:00 p.m.), and
Messrs. Doran, Fowler, Gans, Henderson, Homer, Keyes, Little, Martin
(arrived 6:50 p.m.), McDougall, Rosenow (arrived 7: 1 0 p.m.), and
Seaton
Members Excused:
John Homer and Walter Wellborn
Also Present:
James M. Polatty, Jr., Director of Planning and Development
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by Chairman Deegan in the Boardroom of the Sea
Stone Resort.
The Chairman stated the January 9 minutes should be held and approved together with the January
16 minutes at the next meeting of the Task Force.
The Chairman gave the following information update: 1) City Attorney Galbraith met with the Traffic
subcommittee regarding the cruising ordinance and told them he would try to have the ordinance
ready if at all possible in advance of spring break; 2) Wade-Trim met with the Traffic subcommittee
on January 11, and Mr. Gans stated Wade-Trim was expected to deliver its report to the City
Commission on February 18; and 3) the town meeting is scheduled for January 28 from 7 to 10 p.m.
at Memorial Civic Center and has been advertised in all the papers. Ms. Garris suggested extending
a written invitation to the City Commission so the press would be alerted. She also volunteered to
inform Vision Cable to see if they would announce it at the next City Commission meeting.
Mr. Deegan stated he was pleased to report that he is reaffirmed in the mutual commitments to keep
this coalition together and to work in consensus on everything and as to things they do not agree
upon, they will at least have consensus on how to deal with those issues. He quoted what they had
agreed to in their first meeting to be guided in general by Robert's Rules of Order, but to seek
consensus on important issues, rather than putting everything to a vote. He stated he had received
phone calls asking why they were now voting on issues. He stated he explained that a straw vote
is taken for the purpose of finding out how much disagreement exists and to see where they might
continue to work towards agreement, and that it was not a democratic type of vote to determine
what to do with things.
The Task Force continued to review the draft of the final report to the City Commission, beginning
on page 48, changing, deleting and adding language where necessary. The group agreed to add a
recommendation to request the Sanitation Department to pick up dumpster trash on Sundays and
holidays the same as it now does on Saturdays.
At 7:30 p.m. news of our involvement in the war with Iraq was announced and the group took a 10
minute recess.
In discussion on redevelopment options for small motel operations, the group reached consensus on
the following: 1) to modify the City's Land Development Code to grandfather in existing footprints
for CR, multi-family and commercial uses, and to delete the proposed modification, n Allow setbacks
that now exist. n; 2) to qualify the height restriction modifications to exclude CR-28 and single family
zoning; 3) to place a cap of 40 units on redevelopment of a motel on a lot size of 150 ft. x 100 ft.;
4) to delete any reference to proving whether on-site parking can be done on a 1 50 ft. x 100 ft. lot;
5) to delete any reference to increase density to 125% of existing motel units if an owner wished
to convert to multi-family condominiums; and 6) to set the minimum apartment size to 800 sq. ft.
rather than 1000 sq. ft. for a condominium conversion.
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In discussion on the proposed tram, it was stated the tram and tram stations could be paid for from
the Parking Fund, private enterprise or the County bus system.
Mr. Deegan handed out an additional page No. 80 which gave an analysis of the 1989-90 Parking
Fund revenues and expenditures specifically pointing out the Beach's portion of these funds. Mr.
Deegan will incorporate this into the final report.
In reviewing the financial implications for all recommendations, it was suggested money could also
come from Pennies for Pinellas, the County transportation system and by placing ads in the Jolly
Trolley.
The Chairman directed the group's attention to a Strategy Flow Chart distributed with the draft report
and asked them to identify the nCritical Success Factorsn for each item. He stated he would have
the completed chart ready for distribution at the town meeting on January 28.
The Chairman advised that members of the City staff had called him asking what they planned to do
about having the City Commissioners available at the town meeting. He asked whether they should
formally invite them or not. It was suggested by Mr. Keyes to invite the Commissioners to attend
the meeting, but not as participants. Mr. Deegan read a memo he had drafted to the Mayor and City
Commissioners which stated they were welcome to attend the town meeting as private citizens and
not in their official capacities, and that they would not be expected to field questions from the
audience. The group agreed Mr. Deegan should send the letter as drafted by him.
The Chairman encouraged any subcommittee that wanted to bring visual aids to the town meeting
on January 28 to do so. He stated the Civic Center would be open at 6:00 p.m. for them to prepare
for the 7:00 p.m. meeting. Mr. Little stated he would make arrangements to obtain the Modesto
videotape and equipment for that presentation. Mr. Deegan stated he would show slides that he had
prepared outlining the issues and recommendations for the first 45 minutes of the meeting and then
would open the meeting up for discussion issue by issue and hoped the various subcommittee people
would field questions pertaining to their specific issue.
The Chairman stated another meeting of the Task Force would be called sometime after the town
meeting and before presentation of their report to the City Commission. The meeting adjourned at
8:30 p.m.
Arthur X Deegan II, Chairman
Clearwater Beach
Blue Ribbon Task Force
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January 16, 1991