Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 06-12-07 regular minutes — reading text

Waterfronts Florida Partnership Committee' s request that Council approve staff to submit the paperwork for three signs in the waterways to welcome boaters to Fort Walton Beach. The signs will say 'Welcome to Fort Walton Beach, a Designated Florida Waterfronts Partnership Community, Thanks for being a neighborly boater!" and will be located in Santa Rosa Sound and Garnier' s Bayou. She said once approval is received from Fish and Wildlife to put up the signs, the City will make the signs and will probably request a donation for installing the signs. She said they will work with Fish and Wildlife on the exact location of the signs so they are in a safe location and they will meet all the requirements of Fish and Wildlife for signs in the water. The City Manager acknowledged the City' s liability is no different than for other signs. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As there was no one who wished to speak public input was closed. Dr. Pullen moved to authorize the creation of signage and application and to Fish and Wildlife for erection of signage on the waterways. Mr. Garvie seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. OFF-STREET PARKING Consideration of a recommendation from the Municipal Planning Board Regarding the Need for a Study on Off-street Parking Requirements for Mixed Use Resorts. The CDS Director explained the request from the Municipal Planning Board for a parking study for the Mixed- Use Resort land use category. She noted the Mixed- Use off-street parking requirement is relatively new which came before Council in May 2004 as a result of a study performed at that time. She reported there are members of the Planning Board that do not agree with what was passed by Council at that time, and was recommended by staff, and the Board would like the issue looked at again. She stated from staff position she was unsure what more the planning staff can bring forward that is different than what was recommended as nothing has changed, and staff would recommend one of the options to put it out to bid for a consultant to do the work. She reported the recommendation from the Board is to direct staff to perform the parking study In response to the question, the CDS Director confirmed the issue had been brought to Council previously and it was an instance when staff disagreed with the Board and at the meeting Council followed staff recommendation and in the opinion of staff nothing has changed. She also estimated the cost of a study would be approximately $ 50, 000 depending on how extensive it is as the study also needs to look at multi- family, hotel/ motel, transient lodging, and mixed- use resort uses. In response to the question whether there are publications available from organizations on parking a that could be researched, the CDS Director replied yes and staff uses them and relied on them. She .,.,..,.. stated there is no black and white answer to parking regulations; every community has different '... parking regulations, they fall within ranges; staff has looked at those, looked at the City' s situation, studied the various uses and made recommendations staff felt were the most reasonable. She said they do not want too much parking, too many parking spaces where there is a lot of asphalt and it is more water management problems, and it is not attractive; they do not want too little parking and hitting the absolute right number of parking spaces is seldom going to happen all the time because the use level also changes but they do try to hit it the majority of the time. She thought the hotels, motels, 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.  31 Regular Meeting 6- 12- 07 OFF- STREET PARKING cont. In response to the question on whether the Municipal Planning Board had seen the report when the issue had come before Council previously, the CDS Director further explained it is an issue studied for a period of time then it went before the Municipal Planning Board then to Council; the Board' s concern is that the parking requirement is not high enough for mixed- use resort and it comes to the transient lodging use requirement of 1. 1 spaces per unit and they would like to see 2 spaces per unit. She said for most transient lodging facilities 2 spaces per unit is just not needed and they find, when they look at occupancy rate as well as the number of automobiles per room, it is not needed so it was 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 lives in an area heavily populated by resorts and hotels. He described the heavy use by the military during training programs, that the military bring their families, two vehicles and recreational vehicles; additional hotels are being added; and the owners say they wish the ordinance had not been changed to one, that they really need two because they said if their building was destroyed over 50% they would not be able to rebuild. He said there is a need for the study because things have changed since 2004, it is heavily populated with additional vehicles coming in because of the military. Doug Reed, 842 Santa Rosa Court, stated a parking survey was just completed in the CRA and he was not real pleased with it; it was a great inventory but it did not tell them anything, they inventoried all the parking and said they did not understand the situation. He believed if the City went out for a survey they will have the same problem, and suggested if a survey is needed to stay with staff who understands the problems and the situations. Dr. Pullen moved to direct staff to prepare the requested off-street parking requirements study for multi- family developments, then take to the Municipal Board for discussion, then Planning to bring Council. Motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Holmes moved to disapprove the recommendation of the Municipal Planning Board. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. During brief discussion comments included there is no need to do a study at this time; timing is not right; money would be needed to be taken out of reserves; that staff can do the study; that insufficient parking builds slums; and the issue had been looked at before and staff does not see any significant differences. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried by a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Hartwell, and Minich in favor and Pullen opposed. FLOC CITIES OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS PROGRAM Consideration of Nominations for the 2007 FLOC Cities of Excellence Awards Program. Mr. Holmes moved to table until the next Council meeting on June 26, 2007. Mr. Minich seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. VISION PLAN STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT Consideration of appointment of a citizen representative to the Vision Plan Stewardship Committee. Mr. Holmes nominated Eric Davis to serve as the citizen representative. 32 Regular Meeting 6- 12- 07 VISION PLAN STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT cont. The Mayor called for the vote on the nomination to re- appoint Eric Davis, 24 Anastasia Drive, to serve as the citizen representative on the Vision Plan Stewardship Committee for a four year term until June 11, 2011 and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. HOUSING AUTHORITY APPOINTMENT Consideration of the Mayor' s appointment to the Fort Walton Beach Housing Authority. Mr. Minich nominated Bernard Johnson. The Mayor called for the vote on the nomination to re- appoint Bernard Johnson, 210 Yellow Pine Court, Niceville to serve on the Fort Walton Beach Housing Authority for a four year term until June 11, 2011 and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS The Mayor mentioned this will be the place to bring up future agenda items, be it at a workshop or regular meeting and noted the backup information would need to be provided. Mr. Miller requested the Finance Director provide a six-month report at her earliest convenience. Mr. Hartwell received confirmation that his item regarding neighborhood committees will be placed on the next workshop agenda. Dr. Pullen' s request for a presentation from the police department on policing and computerization will be placed on a council workshop agenda. The Mayor mentioned there may be a new category on the agenda for periodic updates on major projects. MAYOR/COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Holmes commented on the wonderful Billy Bowlegs festival and commended staff on the COOP exercise held last Saturday. Mr. Miller and Mr. Reeves stated they attended the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials, which was an excellent course and they learned a lot. Mr. Garvie commended staff for the wonderful Kid' s Day event held at the Landing. Mr. Garvie discussed the workshop he attended in Crestview on alternate water supply. Dr. Pullen stated he is looking forward to what the police department will present on their computers. Billy Bowlegs parade this year was the biggest he has and