Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 08-22-2007 special agenda — reading text

committee wo _tl be governed by the Sunshine Law; and it was suggested that Section 3 include a date whe ounci! will appoint the members. The PIO expressed the hope that the stu nts will submit their applications to apply so he can bring at least eleven applications to Council at e. first meeting in August. . The City Attorney was asked if m' ors were subject to the Sunshine Law because it may scare the students off if they are told they ill go to jail if they talk to each other. The City Attorney replied only if they talk about things that m foreseeable cOr1)e before them. She said it is her position that if they are going to have a Board, ommittee, Authority, Commission, or whatever it is called, they do need to be vested with the ide that they are an important authority. She did not make a big distinction between the name of t board or committee but definitely educating them on the Sunshine Law is crucial to municipalla . The PIO further e plained he will serve as staff liaison for the committee and per their direction he will set their agend as to their topics and issues they want to tackle The Mayor pened the floor for public input. As there was no one who wished to speak, public input J was clos a. Dr. lien moved to adopt Res. 07- 11, with the change of the word commission to committee. M . Garvie. seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, ullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. 30 Regular Meeting 6- 12- 07 WATERWAY SIGNAGE Consideration of a request to authorize creation of signage and application to Fish and Wildlife ~ erection of the signage on waterways. The CDS Director explained the Waterfronts Florida Partnership Committee' s request that ouncil approve staff to submit the paperwork for three signs in the waterways to welcome boater: to Fort Walton Beach. The signs will say "Welcome to Fort Walton Beach, a Designated Florida aterfronts o Partnership Community, Thanks for being a neighborly boaterl" and will be .located in anta Rosa Sound and Garnier' s Bayou. She said once approval is received from Fish and Wildli to put up the signs, the City will make the signs and will probably request a donation for installin the signs. She said they will work with Fish and Wildlife on the exact location of the signs so ey are in a safe location and they will meet al/the requirements of Fish and Wildlife for signs in th water. The City Manager acknowledged the City's liability is nQ different than for oth signs. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As there was no one who ished to speak public input was closed. . Dr. Pullen moved to authorize the creation of signage and ap Ication and to Fish and Wildlife for erection of signage on the waterways. Mr. Garvie econded motion. and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, rtwell, and Minich in favor. OFF~STREET PARKING Consideration of a recommendation from the Municipa Janning Board Regarding the Need for a Study on Off-street Parking Requirements for Mixed U Resorts. The CDS Director explained the request from the nicipal Planning Board for a parking study for the Mixed- Use Resort land use category. She 110 d the Mixed- Use off-street parking requirement is relatively new which came before Council in y 2004 as a result of a study performed at that time. She reported there are members of the Pia ing Board that do not agree with what was passed by Council at that time, and was recommen d by staff, and the Board would like the issue looked at again.. She stated from staff position sh was unsure what more the planning staff can bring forward that is different than what was recom ended as nothing has changed, and staff would recommend one of the options to put it out bid for a consultant to do the work~ She. reported the recommendation from the Board is 0 direct staff to perform the. parking study In response to the question, e CDS Director confirmed the issue had been brought to Council previously and it was an in nce when staff disagreed with the Board and at the meeting Council followed staff recommend Ion and in the opinion of staff nothing has changed. She also estimated the cost of a study wou be approximately $ 50, 000 depending on how extensive it is as the study also needs to look at Iti-family, hotel/ motel, transient lodging, and mixed- use resort uses. In response to th question whether there are publications available from organizations on parking that could be re arched, the CDS Director replied yes and staff uses them and relied on them. She stated there i no black and white answer to parking regulations; every parking reg has different .. community tions, they fall within ranges; staff has looked at those, looked at the City' s situation, studied th various uses and made recommendations staff felt were the most reasonable. She said they do at want too much parking, too many parking spaces where there is a lot of asphalt and it is more ater management problems, and it is not attractive; 0 they do not want too litt!e parking and . hitti the absolute right number of parking spaces is seldom going to happen all the time because th use level also changes but they do try to hit it the majority of the time. She thought the hotels, otels, and mixed- used resorts at this point have not seen or experienced a problem unless it is on a very big holiday and they tend not to build for that one occasion of the year.  3'1 Regular Meeting 6- 12- 07 OFF- STREET PARKING cont. In response to the question on whether the Municipal Planning Board had seen the rep,ort when t issue had come before CounCil previously, the CDS Director further explained it is an issue studie for. a period of time then it went before the Municipal Planning Board then to Council; the Board' s co cern is that th~ PWking requirement is not high enough for mixed- use resort ~ nd it com~ s to. the t nsient lodging usa requirement of 1. 1 spaces per unit and they would like to see 2 spaces per unit. he said for most transient lodging facilities 2 spaces per unit is just not needed and find, wh they they look l at occupancy rate as well as the number of automobiles per room, it is not needed so it as not staffs recommendation of what is the best requirement for the City. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. Dick Gercak, 214 Miracle Strip Parkway SW, speaking as a citizen stated he . es in an area heavily populated by resorts and hotels. He described the heavy use by the military uring training programs, that the military bring their families, two vehicles and recreational vehicles' dditional hotels are being added; and the owners say they wish the ordinance had not be.en ch ged to one, that they really need two because they said if their building was destroyed over 5 Yo they would not be able to rebuild. He said there is a need for the study because things have anged since 2004, it is heavily populated with additional vehicles coming in because of the milita . Doug Reed, 842 Santa Rosa Court, stated a parking survey as just, completed in the CRA and he was not real pleased with it; it was a great inventory but it di not tell them anything, they inventoried .. all the parking and said they did not understand the situa' n. He believed if the City went out for a " " survey they will have the same problem, and suggeste f a sUNey is needed to stay with staff who ri:: understands the problems and the situations. ' Dr. Pullen moved to direct staff to prepare the r uested off-street parking requirements study for multi-family developments, then take to the Mu cipal Planning Board for discussion, then bring to Council. Motion died for lack of a second. ' Mr. Holmes moved to disapprove the r ommen dation of the Municipal Planning Board. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. . During brief discussion comments i uded there is no need to do a study at this time; timing is not right; money would be needed to b taken out of reserves; that staff can do the study; that insufficient parking builds slums; and the is e had been looked at before and staff does not see any significant differences. The Mayor called for the ote on the motion and it carried by a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, artwell, and Minich in favor and Pullen opposed. FLOC CITIES OF E ELLENCE AWARDS PROGRAM Consideration of N ' inations for the '2007 FLOC Cities of Excellence Awards Program. J Mr. Holmes seconded Hartwell, ved to table until the next Council meeting on June 26, 2007. Mr. Minich tion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, d Minich in favor. VISIO LAN STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT Con . eration of appointment of a citizen representative to the Vision Plan Stewardship Committee. Holmes nominated Eric Davis to serve as