Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 06-14-1983 Regular — reading text

sense in anyone' s book to penalize people on the water so that people across from the water can look over the townhouses and see the water. He stated that he could not understand that. He stated that they should be allowed' to build condo' s on the water and this should be looked into and it needed to be corrected, Mr. Seibold, RDA Director, stated that the zoning ordinance did provide for multi- family on the water and single family on the hill and that he did not know what the gentleman was talking about. He stated that good development was proposed in the zoning ordinance. Mr. Gene Smith stated that he would like to address the sign portion of the ordinance. He stated that he would like to speak for the ordinance as far as eli~inating blinking signs, billboards, etc. and would like to see an upg-rading of the sign situation downtown. Mr. Tom Tona asked if this ordinance was regarding parking on Brooks Street? Mr. Seibold stated this had nothing to do with the widening of Brooks Street. He stated that most people had talked about it as a zoning ordinance and that question was not addressed in the zoning ordinance other than off street parking. Mr. Don David stated that he might be able to clear the air.. He stated thatthe ordinance detailed certain zoning areas and how projects can be done in that zoning area. He stated that whatever was done on Brooks Street, whether it was widened or not I part of this ordinance, that it was was not a a separate project. He stated that whatever was built in the project area would be built under this framework. rt would have to follow the guidelines set in the ordinance. He suggested that they read the ordinance. Mayor Bagley stated that the ordinance had been available at City Hall fer anyone to read and will be taken up under the. ordinances later tonight. Mayor Bagley asked if there would be a public hearing on the widening of Brooks Street. Mr. Seibold stated they had  nr 6/ 14/ 83 080 DOWNTOWN ZONING ORD. directions from Council given six months ago when they 100. 304 PUBLIC alloted $ 400, 000 to approach and widen Brooks Street. He HEARING ( Con' t) stated that they were carrying out Council' s wishes. Mr. Tom Tona__ inquired as to what the area would be rezoned to? Mayor stated it was in the ordinance. Mr. Tona stated he had not read the ordinance. Mayor Bagley stated that there would be the first reading of the ordinance tonight and ~ anyone interested could, get a copy of the ordinance: between now and the next council meeting in 2 weeks when it would be read for the second and final time. Mr. Harold Wray stated that he had read over the proposed ordinance and had some questions. He stated that he had noticed that in the ordinance it stated the RDA would approve or disapprove otherwise handle or any proposed development in the area and he questioned that. He stated that he did not understand why the Council did not come over the RDA approval. The City Attorney stated that his understanding was that the planning and zoning commission is not the RDA it was the Council. He stated that the RDA sat in the:,. capacity of the planning and zoning commission for the city but once they make their recommendation regarding those issues they bring it to Council. Mayor Bagley asked if the Council was the final authority on zoning. City Attorney stated that on rezoning they were. Mr. Wray stated that he did not see in the ordinance any- thing requiring notification of property owners on each side of new development. Mr. Seibold stated they, RDA, would follow whatever the law required. He stated that if some- one wanted to build a single family house in a properly zoned area there was requirement no neighbors be that the notified. He stated that when rezoning was done that notice would be given before hand. An unidentified gentleman asked who had requested the re- zoning? Mr. Seibold stated that Council had adopted the redevelopment plan following a series of public hearings in December and that the zoning ordinance proposed tonight was designed to implement the plan that you have adopted. tt. Bishop inquired as to whether or not the statement had been made that the rezoning would effect any property not owners. Mr. Seibold stated that he did not recall saying) that. Mr. Bishop stated if someone had commercial land it would not ~ ffect his zoning now but it could, couldn' t it? Mr. Seibold stated that it would not affect someone' s commercial operation. If it was zoned commercial today the proposed zoning ordinance permits him to carry out a com- mercial operation on that land and he is not grandfathered in, DRS permits mixed use that permits residential and com- mercial to exist within the same area, but they have to be compatible. Harold Wray stated that in the ordinance boD3S were there relative to height of buildings in conformance to  6- 14- 83 081 DOWNTOWN ZONING ORD. existing codes. He stated that he questioned the se.ction on 100. 304 PUBLI.C bonus. HEARING ( Con' t) Mr. Don David stated that this a simple ordinance was not and it is hard to talk about generalities. He stated it in that' there was always a chance when something was changed of someone overlooking a particular point that may come up later. He urged anyone that had property on Brooks Street to come to City Hall, get a copy of the ordinance, read it, I talk with Mr. Seibold, be sure that you have a clear under- standing of what we' re about to do and work out any problem we may have now instead of later. Mayor Bagley stated that there would be an RDA meeting at City Hall Thursday at 1: 00p. m. and urged anyone interested to attend. Mr. Baughman moved that the ordinance be postponed for 2 weeks for the first reading to give the people interested a chance to read the ordinance. Motion seconded by Mr. Bishop. Mr. Miller stated Council was in public hearing not in session and Mayor stated that the moti.on was out:. of order. Mayor Bagley stated that this was the third public hearing on the issue and it had been advertised properly in the paper. There was much futher discussion on the ordinance as to what property was affected, how the owners felt, etc. All in- terested people were again told of the RDA meeting on Thursday at City Hall at 1: 00 p. m. and that copies of the ordinance would be available for their review. There being no further discussion, the Mayor closed the public hearing. ORDER OF TijE DAY Mr. Baughman moved that the order of the day be set aside