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1982-08-31 - - - Member Wright commented this would be advantageous to Ms. Kersey as it would make her property more valuable. Mr. Anderson said they didn't care about that. Member A1tobe110 injected that the growth of the area is that Commercial is putting everything out. The whole area is expanding toward Commercial. Discussion ensued between Mr. Joiner and the Board concerning parking area proposed for the building. After much discussion, Attorney Conlon suggested the plan be finalized before going to Council if the Board is considering to grant a rezoning. Member Wright stated he would like to see the plans redrawn and then presented to the Board. He then made a motion to continue this item and have Mr. Joiner get with Mr. Westbrook and return with revised plans next month. Seconded by Member A1tobe110. Motion carried. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN Vice Chairman Kirk stated that since Chairman Dale Burk had resigned, they would need to hold an election of officers, and nominations were open. Member Wright nominated James Kirk for Chairman. Seconded by Member A1tobe1lo. There being no other nominations, James Kirk was elected Chairman. Member A1tobe1lo nominated Darrell Ferneau for Vice Chairman. Seconded by Member Wright. Unanimous vote "Yea". Darrell Ferneau elected Vice Chairman. City Administrator Fellows informed the Board that hopefully the Council would fill the other chair at their meeting of August 10, 1982. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Planning Board, Member Altobe110 moved to adjourn. Seconded by Member Wright. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 P.M. ATTEST: //) Ij~· ..1 /k)~) /.~ C ~ -'¿-é~ . (0. __(djh~~l___dÆ_ Ruth E. Berndt Planning Board Secretary City of Okeechobee A TAPE OF THIS MEETING IN ITS ENTIRETY IS ON FILE IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1982 The Planning Board/Board of Adjustments and Appeals convened in special session in the Day Room of the Fire Department in Okeechobee on Tuesday, August 31, 1982, at 7:00 o'clock p, Members present were: Chairman, James Kirk; James Wright, Thomas Miller, and Darrell Ferneau. Member Frank Altobel10 arrived at 7:06 P.M. Others present were: Building and Zoning Administrator, Mallette Westbrook; City Attorney, David Conlon; and Secretary, Ruth Berndt. 12.1 ~ ~ GGT BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS Chairman Kirk called the Board of Adjustments and Appeals into session. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Kirk stated he had a couple of corrections to the minutes. Under "Approval of Minutes" in the first sentence the word objections should be corrected to read additions. Under "J. O. Pearce, Jr. - Appeal of Decision by Zoning Administrator". The name Swit should be corrected to read Sweat in all instances. Chairman Kirk stated this was all he found and asked if anyone else had any corrections or additions. There being none, Chairman Kirk asked for a motion to accept the minutes. Member Wright moved to accept the minutes as corrected. Seconded by Member Ferneau. Motion carried. OKEECHOBEE RESIDENTIAL SERVICES, INC. Chairman Kirk stated the next item on the agenda is Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc. - Request for a Special Exception for a Group Home on Lots 10, 11, and 12, Block 204, First Addition to Okeechobee. These three lots are located on the Northwest corner of the inter- section of Southeast Third Street and Southeast Fourth Avenue. Chairman Kirk asked if someone here was representing Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc. Attorney Burton Conner stated he was representing Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc. He stated the Board should have received copies of the plans for the facility. He briefly summarized to the Board that the facility would be a standard residential structure with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths (one bath between each 2 sets of bedrooms). There would be 2 clients in each bedroom, for a total of 8 clients, plus house parents room, living room, dining room, kitchen, garage and screen porch area. It will look like a standard residence only a little bit larger. Clients that are presently being served by Okeechobee Rehabilitation Facility during the day, in the sense of working at the nursery or attending programs there, will be staying there at night. They will be paying room and board for living at the facility. Attorney Conner stated this facility will be financed by HUD and since the present Ordinance of District Regulations does not allow for Group Housing and before they can get final approval by the City, the Ordinance will have to be amended. Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc., has filed application for a Special Exception realizing that, technically speaking as of this moment, there is no provision under the zoning ordinance but hopefully the Planning Board will make this recommendation to the City Council that the zoning ordinance be amended to provide for group homes in the RG-1 and RG-2 classification. We are asking for approval of the application for Special Exception conting- ent upon the amendment to the ordinance being adopted by the City Council. Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc. intends to build 2 structures, one on the N.E. corner of the old hospital which is county property zoned Governmental, no problem there. The one talked about tmight is at the corner of S. E. 4th Avenue and S. E. 3rd Street and is zoned Residential General-2. Attorney Conner asked if any Board Member had any questions. Member A1tobe110 asked about the structure North of the old hospital. Attorney Conner stated again it is to be a home also to handle 8 clients. These clients are being presently cared for by parents and as they (parents) become older or disabled, who will provide for these clients. These homes provide facilities where clients can be self supporting, yet have back up systems with everyday needs. These are not nursing homes with 24 hour care. - - - - - - Member Wright asked how many full time employees would be in each of these buildings? Mr. Ellsworth, Director of Okeechobee Rehabilitation Service stated there will be 3 sets of house parents. Two there at all times, one as a back up or rotating. Chairman Kirk asked if anyone in the audience had any comments either for or against this request. Mr. Jim Boromei, owner of Lots 1 and 2, Block 204, stated he was against it. He asked why they didn't build this over on County land if government owned. Attorney Conner stated it is going to be financed by HUD but will be owned by a non- profit corporation. Mrs. Jim Boromei stated they had lived in the area all of their lives and didn't need the extra noise, traffic, etc. and that it isn't fair to have it zoned Commercial when it's been residential. Attorney Conner informed Mrs. Boromei it would not be rezoned Commercial. Mrs. Lottie Raulerson stated that when the application was made 3 years ago to HUD offices, the County agreed they could build both houses on the old hospital property. After someone from HUD came down and looked over the property they were informed they could only put one house on that property. It would have been less expensive to build 2 homes there, but governmental red tape said no only one house in that area and that's the reason they had to go elsewhere. Further discussion ensued with Mr. and Mrs. Jim Boromei, Russell Heiderman, May Cooper, and Gloria Boromei all expressing their reasons why they didn't want this structure in their neighborhood. The consensus being this is a one family residential area. Louise Gore and Connie Johnson, both stated they are for this project. Ms. Gore stated she has a son who would be living in this structure. Attorney Conner pointed out that Residential General-2 classification permits multi- family dwellings or apartment complexes. They did not intend to go to this degree of densit~ He also stated it is a violation of State and Federal laws to discriminate against develop- mentally disabled people. He further stated no doubt about it, the zoning ordinance is goin~ to have to provide for Special Exception for Group Homes. There's not too many choices of where to permit Special Exception for Group Homes and RG-2 classification seems a logical place for it. Mr. Ed W11sworth then stated he wished to clarify a few things. First, the Okeechobee Residential Services, Inc. is an affiliate corporation of Okeechobee Rehabilitation Facility It's not a governmental unit but a private corporation. He also stated this home is badly needed. What would be your concern if you had a retarded person? Where would you want your child to be if something happened to you? Mr. Ellsworth stated they hadn't had any problems with any of the clients in the last 10 months. He also stated there are probably more people with developmental disability than the Faci1it! or School System even know about in the community. Mr. Bill Shea, an employee of HRS who works with group homes, statedfuis home has more than adequate space and certainly can't detract from the community. Chairman Kirk then asked the Board Members if they had any questions. Member Wright asked Mr. Ellsworth since he had stated they had no disruptive problems in the past 10 months, had there been problems prior to that time. Mr. Ellsworth stated he was new at the Facility and could not say. Mrs. Lottie Raulerson stated she's been Chairman of the Board for 12 years or so and there has never been any problem as far as disruptive behavior. Now and then a client has had an epileptic seizure if they didn't take their medication, usually new clients. When this became known to the Facility, they made sure the medication was taken and that has taken care of the problem. 12~ VGT Member A1tobel10 stated he has had property directly across the street from the Facilit for eight years and he has never had one problem. These people have worked around his pro- perty and never any problems. They only need a chance to live a normal life. Everyone has been nice and polite. Chairman Kirk asked what constitutes a group home? Bill Shea stated a group home is 4 to 8 people. A foster home is 1 to 3 people. Chairman Kirk stated if there are no more comments the Board would go over the findings for Special Exception. After the findings were complete and all in accord, Chairman Kirk stated the chair would entertain a motion subject to the Planning Board's recommendation to amend Ordinance No. 402 and the City Council's enacting such an ordinance. Member Altobello moved to grant a Special Exception for a group home on Lots 10, 11 and 12, Block 204, First addition to Okeechobee, contingent on amendment of ordinance #402 to allow group housing in RG-2 classification. Seconded by Member Ferneau. All Members cast Aye votes. Motion carried. DEPT. OF TRANSPORATION - REQUEST 6 MO. EXTENSION Chairman Kirk stated the next item on the agenda is a letter of request from the Depart ment of Transponation for a 6 month extension to allow project engineer's construction trail to remain within the City limits. Chairman Kirk stated Mr. Westbrook had something on this and asked Mr. Westbrook to advise the Board. Mr. Westbrook explained that about a year ago he had written letters to people who had mobile units in the area where it was allowed. One was Indian River Community College, one was the Driver's License Office and one was the Dept. of Transportation. We allowed them a year to move them. The year has expired and D.O.T. has written asking for a 6 month extension until they get the project finished. Discussion ensued as to whether the Board could grant the extension without advertising Member Ferneau moved to table this item until further study was made. Seconded by Member Wright. Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Member Wright moved to adjourn. Seconded by Member Ferneau. Motion carried. PLANNING BOARD Chairman Kirk called the Planning Board into session. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Kirk asked if any of the Members had any corrections or additions to the minutes and if not, the chair would entertain a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Member Wright so moved; seconded by Member Altobello. Motion carried. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 402 Chairman Kirk stated the next item on the agenda was a proposed amendment to Zoning Ordinance No. 402, District Regulations, Residential General 1 and 2 and Commercial, Professional,Offices District to allow group housing by Special Exception. - - - - - - Chairman Kirk inquired if we were going to do this in CPO district also. Mr. Westbrook stated this was just a rough draft and it could be scratched if the Board wanted, but we had to start somewhere. Member Ferneau stated his feelings on the matter are a group home is for RG-1 and RG-2 areas and allowing in RSF and CPO would be a mistake and he moved to scratch CPO. Member Miller, being a new member, asked why scratch the CPO? Chairman Kirk stated that group housing does fit RG-1 and RG-2. He stated this classi- fication allows building row houses, townhouses or apartments and he didn't think this type housing should be wedged between two professional offices. After further discussion concerning the rough draft of the amendment, Member Ferneau moved to propose to City Council an amendment to allow, by Special Exception, group housing in RG-1 and RG-2 areas only. Seconded by Member Wright. Vote unanimous. Motion carried. Discussion ensued concerning the definition of group housing. A group home can be 4 to 16 people, but anything over 16 would be getting into a mini institution. Member Wright suggested with more than 10 it could cause a potential problem and would be easier to control with just 10 people. After polling the Board, the consensus was 8 clients and 2 house parents to be the best. Attorney Conlon read the definition for Group Housing to be: "Group Housing is defined to be residential in nature with no more than 10 unrelated persons per unit, including full time staff persons residing thereon". Ferneau. Motion carried. Member Wright moved to accept this definition for Group Housing. Seconded by Member Attorney Conlon inquired if the Board wanted to require a shubbery zone. Chairman Kirk and Member Wright both stated they feel this isn't necessary. Member Wright also stated after seeing the plans for the home he didn't think it was needed and he felt a case by case requirement would be sufficient. Member Miller agreed. Cmairman Kirk stated, then they would leave it as it is and all agreed. Attorney Conner and the Okeechobee Rehabilitative Services people thanked the Board and left the meeting. MOSE JOINER - REZONING Chairman Kirk stated the next item on the agenda was Mose Joiner's request for rezoning from RG-2 to Commercial on Lots 1 and 2, Block 163, City of Okeechobee. This item was tabled from meeting of August 3, 1982. Granting of request would allow Mr. Joiner to build three and possibly four retail stores on this property. Chairman Kirk asked Mr. Joiner if he has anything to say to the Board. Mr. Joiner stated he was asked to redraw the plans with different parking spaces by the Board and he had done so, and gave the plans to Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Westbrook stated they looked O. K. The Board discussed the parking area and decided parking appropriate. Chairman Kirk asked if anybody else had any comments. As there were none, the Board reviewed the findings for rezoning. Following the findings and all Members in accord, Member Wright moved to grant the request for rezoning from RG-2 to Commercial on Lots 1 and 2, Block 163. Seconded by Member Altobello. 12fi \..-- -r d (, At this point, Member Altobello inquired if Lizzie Kersey, who had objected at the August 3rd meeting, had been notified the meeting was changed from September 7th to August 31st. He was informed that she hadn't been notified. Member Wright withdrew his motion to grant rezoning and Member Altobello moved to strike all findings from the record and to table this item until September 7th and to notify Ms. Kersey of the meeting. Seconded by Member Wright. Motion carried. Member Ferneau pointed out that a time limit should have been placed on the Special Exception for completion. Although this is not mandatory, it is a good idea. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Planning Board, Member Ferneau moved to adjourn. Seconded by Member Wright. Meeting adjourned at 8:52 P.M. City of Okeechobee ATTEST: //7 . ßi "/.. .' /C:~0J(c?_ J1l,: £7Z--d¿ Ruth E. Berndt, Secretary Planning Board City of Okeechobee A TAPE OF THIS MEETING IN ITS ENTIRETY IS ON FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE AT CITY HALL. REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1982 The Planning Board/Board of Adjustments and Appeals convened in regular session in the City Council Chambers at City Hall in Okeechobee on Tuesday, September 7, 1982, at 7:00 P.M. Members present were: Chairman, James Kirk; Jim Wright; and Thomas Miller. Members absent were: Darrell Ferneau and Frank Altobello. Others present were: Secretary, Ruth Berndt BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS Chairman Kirk stated there was no business to come before the Board of Adjustments and Appeals tonight. PLANNING BOARD Chairman Kirk called the Planning Board into session. He stated there were no minutes to be read as they would be read at the next meeting. MOSE JOINER - REZONING Chairman Kirk stated the first item on the agenda was a request by Mose Joiner for rezoning from Residential General-2 to Commercial on Lots 1 and 2, Block 163, City of Okeechobee. This item was tabled from the August 3rd meeting. Granting of this request would allow Mr. Joiner to build three and possibly four retail stores on this property. - - -