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01/14/2017 CLEARWATER DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING January 4, 2017–5:30 PM – City Hall – Room 222 Members Present: Paris Morfopoulos Chairman Dennis Bosi Vice-Chairman Zachary Thorn Member Tony Starova Member Chelsea Allison Treasurer (Arrived 5:34 p.m.) Also Present: Bill Jonson Ex officio/Councilmember Anne Fogarty France Board Administrator Seth Taylor CRA Director Absent: Thomas Wright Member Stu Sjouwerman Member Doreen Caudell Ex officio/Councilmember 1. Chairman Morfopoulos called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. asking the board and Ex officio members to introduce themselves. 2. Oath of Office—Paris Morfopoulos, Tony Starova, Stu Sjouwerman The oath of office was given to Mr. Morfopoulos and Mr. Starova. Mr. Sjouwerman was not in attendance. 3. Election of Officers: a. Chairman: Chairman Morfopoulos called for nominations for the office of Chairman. Member Bosi moved to appoint Member Morfopoulos as Chairman. The motion was duly seconded. Member Starova moved to appoint Member Bosi as Chairman. The motion was duly seconded. Upon voting by secret ballot, Member Morfopoulos was appointed Chairman by a vote of5to0. b. Vice-Chairman: Chairman Morfopoulos called for nominations for the office of Vice-Chairman. Member Starova moved to appoint Member Bosi as Vice-Chairman. The motion was duly seconded. Member Allison moved to appoint Member Thorn as Vice-Chairman. The motion was duly seconded. Upon voting by secret ballot, Member Bosi was appointed Vice-Chairman by a vote of 3 to 2. Downtown Development Board Meeting—January 4, 2017 1 c. Treasurer: Chairman Morfopoulos called for nominations for the office of Treasurer. Member Bosi moved to appoint Member Allison as Treasurer. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Thorn, Member Starova, and Member Allison. "Nays": None. Motion carried. 4. Citizens Comments--Items not on the agenda— Howard Warshauer, 808 Allen Drive, addressed the Board concerning the wall that has been constructed on the new Walgreens location. He stated the contractor was originally denied and appealed the decision and won approval. He said the Board needs to make sure the new Downtown Development Plan is strong and does not allow this type of construction along a major thoroughfare. 5. Approve the Minutes from the December 7, 2016, Meeting Member Thorn moved to approve the minutes from the December 7, 2016, meeting. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Thorn, Member Starova, and Member Allison. "Nays": None. Motion carried. 6. Adopt November 2016 Financial Statement for Filing Member Bosi moved to adopt the November 2016 Financial Statement for filing. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Thorn, Member Starova, and Member Allison. "Nays": None. Motion carried. 7. Status of downtown plan updates— Mark Parry, Planning and Development Services Department Senior Planner and Ella Crandall, Senior Planner provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Board regarding the status of the downtown plan update. Mr. Parry advised the Board that there are two components to this update: 1) update the Downtown Development Plan and 2) change the Community Development Code and Zoning Code. Clearwater is the county seat, and we need to maintain an urban core. He stated that a healthy downtown equals a healthy city. Downtown Development Board Meeting—January 4, 2017 2 In the new plan, the current design guidelines will be replaced with design standards. These will be incorporated into the Community Development Code and taken out of the downtown plan. The goal is to make it easier to develop property in Clearwater by eliminating some of the restrictions, such as the parking requirements, while clearly establishing the standards that the developers need to follow. This should streamline the permitting process since contractors will know exactly what they need to have before getting to that point. A lengthy discussion ensued. Members commented on the need for better signage to direct people to the various parking facilities, be more pet and bicycle friendly, ease the sidewalk sign requirements. Also discussed was if an outdoor seating requirement could be included in the new plan. Gina Clayton, Assistant Planning & Development Director, stated that the City is currently working on a new way-finding project that will be implemented in the near future. Members stated that they have heard of very few instances where people have good things to say about the Planning Department and that it is very hard to do things in Clearwater. Mr. Parry stated that the biggest reasons projects get rejected are the change of use and parking requirements. Ms. Clayton stated that some of the problems are in the building codes and these cannot be changed because they are state or federal regulations and involve safety issues. Ex officio Member Jonson stated 1) that it is useful to have a discussion on what the community members say and how to correct their concerns, 2) we should take things that are code related out of the Downtown Development Code; 3) the 2009 Street Sense document was never able to be implemented, and 4) the Redevelopment Plan has goals and objectives and questioned if the changes to the plan should be brought back to the DDB for review. Planning and Development staff noted that there will be future meetings with residents and the DDB as this project moves forward. Chairman Morfopoulos advised that the board would like to hear more detail as the Downtown Plan is developed and be given a chance to provide detailed input and vote to endorse the changes. Members asked what needs to be done to get any changes approved and was advised that the zoning district standards are adopted by the City Council and the redevelopment plan needs to be reviewed by Pinellas County. Chairman Morfopoulos asked if any citizens had comments on this item. Jack Mortimer, 331 Cleveland Street, addressed the Board and stated that he was at a recent conference and the trend is towards autonomous vehicles such as trams and shuttles and the City should not look at putting any more parking garages on prime City land. The PowerPoint presentation will be provided to the Board. 8. Mid-year Review and Sponsorship Request--Natalie Nagengast, Pierce Street Market Natalie Nagengast thanked the board for their sponsorship funds and that that the market was successful. She thanked Ms. Fogarty France and the residents who attend the market. She addressed the Board concerning her request for additional funding for the Pierce Street Market. Downtown Development Board Meeting—January 4, 2017 3 Carolyn Bradham from Kara Lynn's Kitchen advised the Board that having a presence at the market has allowed her to advertise her business and she has seen an increase in numbers as a result. Ms. Nagengast stated that there has been an increase in market participants which is allowing the market to start moving up the hill to Cleveland Street. She hopes with additional funding, this trend will continue through additional marketing. During the initial budget process, she had requested $15,000 and was granted $7,500. A lengthy discussion ensued as to why she is now requesting additional funding which is more than her original request. Member Starova moved to continue this item until the next meeting. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Bosi and Member Starova. "Nays": Member Morfopoulos, Member Allison, and Member Thorn. Motion failed by a vote of 2 to 3. Member Allison suggested they grant the market the additional $7,500 from the original request. Member Thorn moved to approve an additional $10,000 for the market. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Allison, and Member Thorn. "Nays": Member Bosi and Member Starova. Motion passed by a vote of 3 to 2. 9. Post Event Report—Cleveland Street Business Alliance (CSBA) Events: Downtown Funk, Taste of Downtown & Little Miss/Mr. Miracle—Tony Starova, CSBA President gave a report on the three events. Downtown Funk was held in the 600 block of Cleveland Street resulted with many of the downtown businesses staying open later; the Taste of Downtown sold 200 tickets at $10 each and some funding went to the Pierce Street Market for marketing the event and Little Miss Miracle was held at Station Square Park during Miracle on Cleveland Street. Mr. Starova said they had to pay for a fire marshal for this event even though nothing was being cooked at the Downtown Funk event. 10. Second Reading—Approve funding the Garden Avenue Garage mural in the amount of$5,000 from the Future Initiatives line item. Member Starova moved to approve the funding for the Garden Avenue Garage mural in the amount of$5,000 from the Future Initiatives line item on second reading. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: "Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Thorn, Member Starova, and Member Allison. "Nays": None. Motion carried. Downtown Development Board Meeting—January 4, 2017 4 11. Chairman's Report Chairman Morfopoulos advised the Board of upcoming events. 12. Final Comments Member Bosi stated he is very encouraged by the participation by the downtown merchants in the various events. Member Starova thanked everyone for allowing him to serve on the board again. He said we need to overcome the perception that all that is downtown is Coachman Park. Member Allison stated she will be more present and involved this year. She has seen a lot of growth in the last two years. Ex officio Member Jonson asked if the board could be provided with slideshow presentations prior to the meeting so they can review them first. He said 1) thank you to board members who provided comments on Imagine Clearwater; 2) he was looking forward to the Clear Sky Restaurant opening as it has the potential for huge success and we should come up with ways to make it successful, and 3) he recommends the book Smart Cities which contains a lot of useful information. Mr. Jonson said the Crest Lake Master Plan will be discussed at a meeting at St. Paul's Lutheran Church on Monday, January 9. Chairman Morfopoulos stated he would like to have more control over the meetings while allowing people to voice their point of view. He will be involved in a conference call with the consultants on Thursday to see what they have come up with concerning the downtown. 13. The meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Downtown Development Board Meeting—January 4, 2017 5