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04-12-17 Minutes Special Called City Commission Meeting v MINUTES SPECIAL CALLED CITY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 12,2017-6:00 PM CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD IIN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mitchell E. Reeves City Attorney Brenna Durden Mayor Pro Tern John Stinson Interim City Manager Kevin Hogencamp Commissioner Harding City Clerk Donna L. Bartle Commissioner Jimmy Hill Recording Secretary Joanie Bowman Commissioner M. Blythe Waters Invocation and pledge to the flag Commissioner Stinson gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Mayor Reeves called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. City Clerk Bartle called the roll and Mayor Reeves noted that a quorum was present. 1. Courtesy of Floor to Visitors Mayor Reeves explained the process for public comments and opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. City Clerk Bartle called each speaker to the podium. Chris Jorgensen,92 W.3rd St.,spoke against the CRA and was unsure if form-based code would be beneficial to the City. He thanked Mr. Hogencamp for his detailed City Manager's Report. Richard Reichler, 2025 Beach Ave., member of the Community Development Board, requested that Commissioner Waters include the origin of where the concept of the form-based code came from during her presentation. Mike Whalen, 1420 Mayport Rd., spoke in support of the Section H Proposal on behalf of Mayport Road Corridor Association. Betsy Cosgrove, 116 Poinsetta St., inquired about the password for internet access in the Chamber and City Clerk Bartle provided the password. Steve Fouraker,387 6th St.,wished Mayor Reeves a Happy Birthday and spoke about the Section H Proposal and his goals for improving the Mayport Corridor area. He explained his experience with CRA's and offered to provide contact information of a gentleman who could come speak about CRA's. Atillio Cerqueira, 36 West 6th St., spoke in support of the Section H Proposal on behalf of the Mayport Road Corridor Association and wished the Mayor a Happy Birthday. Brea Paul,330 Sargo Rd., Chairperson for the Community Development Board,spoke about alterations to the City's zoning code and read portions of the Atlantic Beach Code Sections 14-22 and 24-47(e). She stated that, in her opinion, it was far more pertinent to find a Community Development Director before embarking on such code changes. She recommended that the Commission consult the Community Development Board for input on such important matters. City Clerk Bartle read the name and comment from the citizen who did not want to speak as follows: Bridget Barbato,250 Nautical Blvd. S.,has read the Mayport Road Community Redevelopment Area Plan. She supports the findings that a blighted area exists due to four factors and the recommendation that the City of Atlantic Beach draft a resolution to adopt the finding of necessity and compose the Mayport Road Community Development Plan. She especially supports the specific goals: 1) Transform the Mayport Road Corridor into a complete street to improve safety for all users, and 5C)Use healthy community design principals when evaluating all new projects. No one else from the audience spoke so Mayor Reeves closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Mayor Reeves explained the agenda and stated that we are not discussing changing zoning, but when we do have those discussions, the Community Development Board will be very involved. He asked City Attorney Durden if this Commission had the authority to form a CRA. City Attorney stated that decision ultimately is definitely a City Commission decision. Mayor Reeves inquired whether there should be a briefing on the two agenda items that will be discussed at this meeting. Commissioner Hill suggested that they give a brief description for the citizens. 2. Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) A brief description of the origins and the current status of the CRA was given by Planner Derek Reeves. Mayor Reeves explained why there was no staff report or recommendation for the items on this agenda. City Manager Hogencamp explained that they were not asked to give a recommendation but they were asked to notice this meeting to the citizens and businesses who participated in this community discussion in the last couple of years. He stated that he was made aware of that in this meeting tonight and conceded that that was not done and apologized. Mayor Reeves explained that he and former City Manager Nelson Van Liere met with the City of Jacksonville and their Chief of Staff and they were interested in helping the City of Atlantic Beach on various projects but not on a CRA. He briefed everyone about information he received from the Florida League of Cities regarding the status of the CRA bill in Tallahassee and answered questions. Commissioner Stinson commented that he regretted that the businesses that are involved were not noticed but wanted to make it clear that this meeting was properly noticed. Motion: Approve the creation of the CRA for the Mayport Redevelopment Area. Moved by Waters, Seconded by Stinson Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 2 of 9 City Attorney Durden stated that there is a process that has to take place in order to create a CRA. She suggested a slight revision to move forward with implementing that process to establish a CRA. Motion: Amend original motion- Move forward with implementing the process to establish a CRA for the Mayport Redevelopment District. Moved by Waters, Seconded by Stinson Commissioner Hill spoke in opposition to the CRA and explained his reasons for not wanting it. He believed that they can deal specifically with the things that our citizens want dealt with quicker by using the overflow of cash on hand and solving our own problems without looking at a bureaucratic process that has been proven to fail over and over. Mayor Reeves acknowledged Community Development Board members Linda Lanier, Brea Paul (Chair), Richard Reichler and Steven Mandelbaum who were in the audience. Commissioner Stinson explained that some CRA's work and some do not and expressed the importance to have Jacksonville and Duval County's support for the CRA. He believed the Commission needs a firm plan that answers some of the questions brought up by the Mayport Corridor Business Association and include the Community Development Board in the process. He liked that CRA's allocate funding for certain things and opens unique investment vehicles for the City to use those funds to help businesses, homeowners, schools and parks in the area. He questioned what the Commission is going to do if a CRA is not done and believes they should think about the road blocks that have prevented the City from doing things in the past. Commissioner Waters explained that the CRA is the solution to how you commit the City and future leaders in the City to a plan that is administered by citizens. She explained why she requested that the CRA Committee members be invited. She believes that leaders, residents, business owners, in that community, have really good ideas and want a mechanism to get those things done. She spoke about the majority of Committee members approving the implementation of a CRA. She spoke in favor of CRA's and believes that CRA's that are grounded in the community work well for the community. She believes it is time to go to the City of Jacksonville and ask for their support. She agreed with Commissioner Stinson that if we do not go with the CRA, then we need to continue the discussion and come up with what we are going to do. Commissioner Harding explained that he has spoken to numerous business owners and residents. He agreed that it is a good thing to have funding dedicated to redevelopment. He clarified some of the misinformation. He expressed concerns about there not being enough money through the Atlantic Beach millage and needing bonds to pay for redevelopment if the City of Jacksonville is not in cooperation with us. He stated that he is not opposed to the CRA, but it needs to make sense. He spoke about the need to have decisions made and things taken care of soon. Mayor Reeves explained that each of the Commissioners have the option to go and speak to individual City of Jacksonville Council Members to get their support for a CRA. He expressed concern about the amount of funding needed for a CRA and suggested other ways of taking care of issues without the CRA. Discussion continued about the pros and cons of a CRA, the funding, getting input from the Community Development Board, soliciting Jacksonville Council Members for their support, and various ways to improve the Mayport Road area. Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 3 of 9 Mayor Reeves explained a few options they have for motions: 1) Table the CRA to a later date, 2) Withdraw it, or 3) Amend the current motion by adding that it be postponed until after the Commissioners have an opportunity to have their individual meetings with the Jacksonville City Council Members. City Attorney Durden clarified that if you choose to table the motion, it is not debatable and it takes a simple majority to approve. She explained that if you chose to postpone, amend or withdraw the motion,those are debatable and are just by majority vote. Motion: Table to gather more information. Moved by Hill Mayor Reeves asked for a second,there was no second. MOTION DIED. (Mayor Reeves called for a break at 7:44 p.m. and reconvened at 7:49 p.m.) Mayor Reeves stepped down from the Chair and handed it over to Mayor Pro Tem Stinson. Motion: Defer the vote on this until May 22,2017. Moved by Reeves, Seconded by Hill Mayor Reeves urged each Commissioner along with Mr. Hogencamp to visit the Jacksonville Council Members individually to ask for Jacksonville's support for the CRA. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Harding inquired about the administration of the CRA. City Attorney Durden explained that the City Commission has full authority to create a CRA in any manner and fund the administration of the CRA in any manner that it wishes. You can declare yourselves to be the CRA Board or you can appoint a separate board. You can identify a planner who half time is funded by the CRA and the other half of the salary is funded by the general fund. She stated that they do have significant flexibility in determining how to administer the CRA and how to create the CRA. The Commission, with the exception of Commissioner Hill, agreed to meet with the City of Jacksonville Council members in regards to the CRA. Commissioner Stinson agreed with Commissioner Waters that a position of solidarity serves us well if we are going to go downtown and talk to the City of Jacksonville Council members about trying to garner their support or at least determine what the level of support might be. Motion: Call the question. Moved by Reeves, Seconded by Waters City Attorney Durden reminded the Commission that calling the question is not debatable and will require a two-thirds vote which would be 4 votes. Roll Call Votes: Aye: 4 Harding,Waters,Reeves, Stinson Nay: 1 Hill MOTION CARRIED Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12,2017 Page 4 of 9 Motion: Defer to May 22, 2017 to give Commissioners' time to contact City of Jacksonville Council Members to see about support or lack thereof. Roll Call Votes: Aye: Hill,Reeves Nay: Waters, Harding, Stinson MOTION FAILED Motion: Call the question on the original motion. Moved by Stinson, Seconded by Harding Roll Call Votes: Aye: 4 Harding,Waters, Stinson, Reeves Nay: 1 Hill MOTION CARRIED Motion: Move forward with implementing the process to establish a CRA for the Mayport Road Redevelopment District. Roll Call Votes: Aye: 4 Harding, Stinson, Waters, Reeves Nay: 1 Hill MOTION CARRIED (Mayor Reeves called for a break at 8:23 p.m. and reconvened at 8:28 p.m.) 3. Form-based Code Land Development Regulations (for discussion). Commissioner Waters explained how form-based code came up and she gave an overview of her research. She explained the way that it functions noting that it does not regulate what you do or where you can do it, which frees up the City in many ways from legal challenges. Instead, it tells you how the built environment looks, how businesses function within a neighborhood and how they interact with one another. She further explained it looks at restrictions on where parking is located,what storefronts must look like,how much glass you must have on a storefront,and things that generally affect the friendly appearance of an environment. They do look at infrastructure in terms of sidewalks and roads and road use, but often times they are focused on making walkable, workable communities. She explained that her proposal at the last meeting was a request to take this to the Community Development Board. The Community Development Board's stated goal in our Charter is to be the planning agency and should have their input. She stated that she would like to attend their meeting and introduce form-based code and turn it over to them for review before they take on code reform. Discussion ensued among the Commissioners. Commissioner Stinson explained that according to his research, form-based code originated in Seaside Florida and worked very well in that community. He stated that he felt it lends itself to master planned communities much easier than it does in developed communities. It is form over function; how far it sets off the street, how tall it can be,where the garage is,where you enter, and things of that nature. He questioned whether our citizens are going to accept the idea of form over Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12,2017 Page 5 of 9 function or predefined structures. He noted that there are quite a few small cities in Florida that have moved to form-based code that may be willing to share how it works within their community which we may want to consider before moving forward. Mayor Reeves stated that he researched form-based code on the internet and finds it to be an interesting concept. He reached out to a resident and referred to a public email from Steve Lindorff that contained information about form-based code. Commissioner Harding was glad they are at least having this conversation about code revision and looking at the codes. He stated this topic was brought up back in September and money was allotted in the budget to do it and now we are talking about it. He stated that it was said by Commissioner Waters several months ago,that we need to stop regulating the types of businesses and start enforcing the codes instead of telling people we do not want their business in Atlantic Beach. He wants to be business-friendly, but also wants to enforce the codes and the regulations. He stated that he did not know a lot about the form-based code but is excited to learn more about it and believes it is a step in the right direction. Commissioner Hill indicated that he researched form-based code and understands that it is the latest, newest, coolest thing. He said that Atlantic Beach is an eclectic, unique, beautiful, little seaside community with a mixed use business district, a thriving commercial district on the ocean and a generally successful, functioning, involved citizenship. It was his opinion that, when you make structural changes that are fundamentally different, there is some risk to that. He said what we need is common sense based code. We need to look at the existing code, fix the language and give staff a shot at restructuring the code that we have.He stated that he appreciates Commissioner Waters being creative and thinking outside the box and believes it is worth discussing. He explained that after looking at it, he is not in favor of planned communities, is in support of code review, and opposed to form-based code as a solution. Commissioner Waters explained that form-based code is very fluid making communities more walkable and slowing the pace of life from being a big corporate development to more pedestrian scaled communities. She stated that form-based code is being more widely adopted now. It has been around for about forty years and has been broadly tested in a lot of different communities; small, very planned communities and large, very eclectic, urban communities. Form-based code can be very fluid and the guidelines that we write and where we decide to focus our restrictions dictate the outcome,which is true of every code. She stated the real advantage of form-based code is that it really tries to deal with interaction, and whether it is civic spaces, communal spaces, or interfaces between disparate uses, it can really focus and deal with how those interact with one another. She stated that she is not proposing that this is the only way, but believes that it is something to consider if we are looking at reviewing all of our codes. The Community Development Board is a planning agency and that is what is laid out in our Charter and believes they have the tools. She explained how form-based code, in other communities, has limited the use-by-exceptions and has streamlined the building development and redevelopment processes and allows the Community Development Board to focus more on the planning aspect of community development as opposed to the enforcement aspect. Commissioner Stinson explained his research shows that form-based code is most successful when you have a population that is very familiar with that type of code and in areas of robust growth and requires additional training for staff having to manage it. He said that we have experts, our Community Development Board and planning people, and questioned why they have not Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 6 of 9 suggested anything like this to us before. He thanked Commissioner Waters for introducing this code to us and stated that he thinks he knew the reason why it is not coming from that avenue. He stated that we need to give clear direction to our City Manager, City Attorney and people who do this work. They are waiting for us to tell them what they need or what we expect from them. He echoed Commissioner Harding's comments that we have been sitting on this since September; it is April and we are going to wake up and realize we have not done anything on things like the gas station moratorium and other important issues. He stated that we need to give better direction on things like this, so that they know what to expect. He suggested that the Commission give this to staff and the experts to determine if this code is applicable to the City of Atlantic Beach or not. Mayor Reeves referred to an email that asked the question, is the community intending to apply form-based controls across the entire city or targeting specific areas?He stated that he is concerned that it is not a one size fits all, especially in a built out city like Atlantic Beach. He said that he could see where form-based regulations could work in the Mayport area and the overlay in Town Center where Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach agrees how the Town Center is developed. If we could get both cities to regulate and adopt the same restrictions, then he sees how it could work in a small area. Another question was, how existing property would be treated and what level of investment would they allow with the former standards? Mayor Reeves stated that one of the key concerns that he sees with that is that there are so many state regulations and especially how the courts view vested rights and questioned if it would add more restrictions to the use of private property. He stated that he is glad that this item was brought forward and agrees that they need to take some type of action and give direction to move this forward but is unsure of the timing. Commissioner Harding stated that as far as the timing goes, he is not sure if this is going to be a good fit or not, but they need to start doing something. He agreed that they need to give better direction to staff and deal with the most pressing issues one at a time. Commissioner Hill explained that staff has nothing to do with this issue; staff is all new.He stated that our code has served us very well except for a handful of really bad pieces of code that create a lack of clarity. He stated that he does not believe there is a need for a massive rewrite and said that he likes this community the way it is. He stated that we have to take the task on and commit to do it and said that we are in an increased business cycle where things that have been stagnant for years are starting to move and the economics are driving change. Our Building Department, in general, might need a refreshing look from the task that we are asking of them, which code review is a part of, and gear up. Commissioner Waters explained her research and believes the first action step would be to have the Community Development Board weigh in on whether to look at a new code or make adjustments to the current codes and make suggestions for a code rewrite. Planner Derek Reeves explained examples of form-based codes that we already have and that whatever we change to is going to be a mix, no matter what. He explained a concept called incentive zoning that came up before the Community Development Board a few times. He explained his recommendation to hire additional staff, on a temporary basis, and possibly a consultant and requested direction from the Commission. Discussion ensued and Planner Reeves answered questions about form-based code,staffing needs, and timelines. Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 7 of 9 Commissioner Waters suggested taking it to the Community Development Board, having Planner Reeves discuss it with them, and bringing a report back. Discussion ensued about getting input from the Community Development Board and staff and providing clear direction. Interim City Manager Hogencamp requested a consensus from the Commission. Mayor Reeves stated that he believes the Community Development Board is the starting point, then we assess the recommendation that they come up with, then we sit down and negotiate and get some expert people to come in. Commissioner Hill inquired about the Community Development Board's workload and if they would be able to accomplish this task and in what time frame. Chairperson Brea Paul explained that she requested that Planner Derek Reeves put the Community Redevelopment Area and the Form-based Code on the next Community Development Board agenda as discussion items. She stated that she was unsure which way her board would go, especially regarding the form-based code,but is looking forward to seeing what they will come up with. She believed that Planner Reeves will be able to come back with some sort of input from the Board at the next City Commission meeting. She stated she does not know how the Board would feel about additional meetings, but understands that, with code revision, there would be extra work involved. She stated that they are willing to take on the code revision but they need a mechanism in which to undertake this task such as funding and how they will proceed with it. She believed that 30% of the Code needs revision and a good spell check is needed as well. Commissioner Stinson stated that he thinks they were given a report, at one time, that said these are your options, pick from one and we did not do that. He suggested giving City Manager Hogencamp clear direction and letting him bring back a report with timetables, options and costs and have the Commission make a decision on what we want to do. Commissioner Hill said that the one thing that was clear to him was that the option that made the most sense was to give the City Manager the task of doing code review and giving him the tools available to do it. Because of the workload that was mentioned it is not fair for us to put that task on our volunteer board without professional help. He does not want to have Planner Reeves work solely on this and said that the City Manager has a lot of options to staff up to deal with that, including a consultant or any other form he finds that solves it. We just have to give him a budget to do it. Commissioner Waters clarified that in the initial discussion, Commissioner Hill was emphatically against bringing in an outside consulting firm to whom we would outsource this project and she agrees, but added we do not have the resources in-house to do it. We do have the ability, as Commissioner Hill suggested,to hire a consultant whose sole job within the City, is to work with the Planning & Zoning Department and Community Development Board to undertake a code rewrite. Mayor Reeves indicated that the City Manager now has some direction and he can inform the Commission of what is needed to get the job done. Commissioner Harding inquired if we are asking the Community Development Board to look at the form-based code to see if it is a viable process to rewrite the code. Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 8 of 9 Mayor Reeves explained that we are asking the City Manager to come back with a plan. Interim City Manager Hogencamp stated that they will come back to the Commission with a plan to fix this code rewrite and asked Planner Reeves if he understood the direction being given to staff by the Commission regarding the code rewrite. City Planner Derek Reeves explained that they are going to come back with a plan that has a temporary professional, in-house, to address a rewrite. Closing Comments Commissioner Stinson thanked Commissioner Waters for bringing the code-based form to the Commission and appreciated the time, effort and energy that she put into it. Commissioner Hill thanked Commissioner Waters for taking the initiative to bring this to the Commission and said that it is not a simple fix and there are lots of solutions, but the effort was appreciated and all of the other comments and input are useful to the process. Commissioner Harding thanked Commissioner Waters for getting the ball rolling and thanked the audience for their attendance. Commissioner Waters stated that she was appreciative of the conversation and said that all this was intended to be was a starting point. Mayor Reeves thanked Commissioner Waters for bringing this to the Commission. Adjournment There being no further discussion, Mayor Reeves declared the meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m. ATTEST: Mitchell E. Reeves Mayor/Presiding Officer /44i4t4t, et c Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk Minutes of the Special Called Commission Meeting on April 12, 2017 Page 9 of 9