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01/16/2018 Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 City of Clearwater City Hall 112 S. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33756 m ap ® e Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 16, 2018 9:00 AM Council Chambers Community Redevelopment Agency Page 1 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 Rollcall Present 5 - Chair George N. Cretekos, Trustee Doreen Caudell, Trustee Bob Cundiff, Trustee Hoyt Hamilton (Arrived 9:04 a.m.), and Trustee Bill Jonson Also Present—William B. Horne 11 — City Manager, Jill Silverboard — Deputy City Manager, Micah Maxwell — Interim CRA Executive Director, Pamela K. Akin — City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole Sprague — Official Records and Legislative Services Coo rd in ator To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 1. Call to Order— Chair Cretekos The meeting was called to order at 9:02 a.m. at City Hall. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve the minutes of the December 21, 2017 CRA Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk. Trustee Jonson moved to approve the minutes of the December 21, 2017 CRA Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda — None. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Recommend approval of the amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan repealing and replacing Chapters 1-3 which update goals, objectives and policies; increase density and intensity and revise height; modify Character District boundaries; expand the Old Bay Character District boundaries northward and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. The Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan serves as a Special Area Plan for the Downtown Planning Area and as a Community Redevelopment Plan for the Community Redevelopment Area. Since the adoption of the Plan many Page 2 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 changes have occurred in the Downtown; however, there continues to be a lack of commercial development, erosion of neighborhood character, and limited new housing development. This update is primarily focused on the land use components of the Plan, with additional updates to incorporate current data. Chapter 4, Implementation Plan, is not being amended at this time; however, it is incorporated into the updated document and reformatted to be consistent with the Plan as a whole. Chapter 4 is anticipated to be updated concurrently with the 15-year review of the Community Redevelopment Area Plan by Pinellas County in 2018. The Planning and Development Department is recommending amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan to increase development potential, support preservation of neighborhood character, eliminate the need for lot consolidation in certain Districts, support a variety of housing types, and encourage a multimodal Downtown. Ordinance No. 9103-18 proposes to: • Reaffirm and update the Vision, Guiding Principles, Goals, Objectives and Policies; • Expand the Old Bay Character District boundary and subsequently the Downtown Planning Area boundary; • Consolidate two Character District boundaries into one; • Increase intensity and density throughout; • Revise maximum permitted height to provide for transitions and consistency between standards and policy; • Revise Character District policies; • Incorporate the visions of recently completed supporting documents including Imagine Clearwater, North Marina Area Master Plan, Clearwater Comprehensive Boating Plan, and East Gateway District Vision Plan; • Add density specific to overnight accommodations functioning as bed and breakfasts in the Old Bay and Prospect Lake Character Districts; and • Remove the Design Guidelines. Senior Planner Ella Crandall provided a PowerPoint presentation. In response to questions, Ms. Crandall said the proposed maximum height in the Old Bay District will be 55 feet. Currently, the maximum height in the Old Bay Expansion Area is 75 feet, staff is proposing to limit the maximum height at 30 feet. The condominium off Eldridge Street that went through a flexible development application is a legally established non-confirming site. The proposed reduced height will support development to fill out a site and be more urban, rather than a tower Page 3 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 surrounded by parking. The reduced height better supports the neighborhood character and is supported by the N. Marina Master Plan and ULI. Planning and Development Director Michael Delk said the proposed heights are above the flood elevation. Ms. Crandall said the proposed changes to the Old Bay District support single-family homes. The proposed 100-ft. maximum height is for a hotel on the parcel located West of N. Osceola Avenue and North of Seminole Boulevard. Mr. Delk said the 100-ft. height proposal is the foundation for implementing the N. Marina Master Plan into the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. The proposed maximum height in the Prospect Lake Character District will be 30 feet, it is currently 75 feet. Mr. Delk said staff is proposing to approach zoning changes to the Downtown Gateway Character District that are similar to the US 19 Zoning District, a common zoning district with a form-based approach from an urban design standpoint about what form of development is desired in certain locations. The Downtown Gateway Character District will have a single zoning district with lower thresholds to process development approvals, similar to US 19. Ms. Crandall said density units for mixed-use projects with residential will be calculated by a mixed use calculator. Planning Manager Lauren Matzke said the Special Area Plan is allowed through the countywide rules as a means for planning a specific geographic area and allowing greater densities and intensities in that area, provided the municipalities can support them through utilities and infrastructure. The countywide rules no longer have a special area plan process but do maintain those in existence prior to the 2015 update. The densities and intensities that are allowed through the Downtown Plan are greater than those allowed through an activity center or other designations in the countywide rules. Ms. Crandall said the current Downtown Plan was adopted in 2004. Ms. Matzke said Chapter Four will be updated later this year and will include some of the ULI zoning and land use recommendations. It was suggested that a cross reference table of the ULI recommendations be provided. The City Manager said the staff request was made last week and would exceed the 8-hour rule and that staff would need additional time to complete the task. In response to questions, Ms. Crandall said the current plan has been amended six times since it was adopted in 2004. Mr. Delk said the Downtown Development Plan is the visionary document, establishing the vision for Downtown. Chapter Four is the implementing document, delineating the capital improvements and project list for the CRA. Deputy City Manager Jill Silverboard said the ULI report was an advisory to a series of priorities that Council then adopted. Those priorities were the Page 4 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 basis for staffs work plan over the last three years. The North Marina Master Plan, Imagine Clearwater Plan, and Comprehensive Boating Plan were identified as action items from the ULI report. Staff has moved from the ULI report, an overarching conceptual guidance document, then Council identified sixteen priorities to start with, which included an updated Downtown Redevelopment Plan. Staff sees this as an incremental sequential process and no longer looking back to the ULI report to tie the recommendations before the Trustees today. In response to questions regarding the structure of the document, Ms. Crandall said the documents lists objectives underneath goals, the objectives are specific to the goal. The policies support the vision, guiding principles and objectives. The urban design goal is the last goal outlined the in the Plan. The policies listed in the character districts are specific to those areas. She said the health and vitality of Downtown will affect the overall city,just as the overall city will affect Downtown. Mr. Delk said few successful cities have failing downtowns; there is a relationship between healthy downtowns and healthy communities. Ms. Crandall said the Plan is a visionary document that identifies general goals and objectives that could be pursued in the future. The capital improvement plan will outline how the plan will be achieved. She said page 48 identifies a policy to coordinate with Pinellas County for improvements on the Pinellas Trail as a policy that applies to the entire Downtown. Ms. Crandall said transportation and transit is addressed in the accessibility goals and objectives. In response to a concern regarding references to historic properties and Capitol Theatre being removed, Mr. Delk said the proposed document was streamlined to focus specifically on policies that can be implemented in Chapter 4. Staff strives to work with property owners everyday on maintenance and aesthetic standards. He said policies 28 through 30 mention high-level coordination with code compliance staff and law enforcement. Planning and Development Assistant Director Gina Clayton said the CRA recently changed their logo and brand, which has been incorporated in banners and signage; the new logo will be implemented in the Master Streetscape Plan to make it more visible on the street through wayfinding. She said the gateways are addressed in the wayfinding (Chapter 3). Discussion ensued with a suggestion made that Item 4.1 be continued to February 12, 2018 so that the new CRA Executive Director has an opportunity to review the proposed plan and provide the Trustees feedback. Interim CRA Executive Director Micah Maxwell said a copy Page 5 City of Clearwater Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 Community Redevelopment Agency 9 of the proposed Plan has been emailed to the new CRA Executive Director. Trustee Caudell moved to continue Item 4.1 to February 12, 2018. The motion was duly seconded and carried with the following vote: Ayes: 4 - Trustee Caudell, Trustee Cundiff, Trustee Hamilton and Trustee Jonson Nays: 1 - Chair Cretekos 5. Ad'oi urn Attest City Clerk City of Clearwater The meeting adjourned at 10:23 a.m. c eorltICSt 45 Chair Community Redevelopment Agency Page 6