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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-15-2025 PZ MinutesCITY OF SEBASTIAN PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION/LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY MINUTES MAY 15, 2025 Call to Order— Chair Kautenburg called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Pledae of Alleaiance -- was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present: Mr. Carter Ms. Kautenburg Mr. Reno (a) Absent: Ms. Lorusso — excused Mr. Roberts (a)— excused Ms. Kinchen — excused Also Present: Jennifer Cockcroft, City Attorney Dorri Bosworth, Community Development Manager Jim Mann, Principal Planner Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Bridget Eakins, Recording Secretary IV. Announcement and Aaenda Modifications Ms. Geesey Ms. Matthews Ms. Battles Ms. Kautenburg announced Commissioners Ms. Lorusso, Ms. Kinchen, and Mr. Roberts were excused from tonights meeting and Mr. Reno will be voting in their place. V. ADDroval of Minutes — Regular Meeting of May 1, 2025 A motion accepting the minutes of the May 1, 2025 was made by Mr. Carter, seconded by Ms. Matthews and unanimously approved via voice vote. VI. Local Plannina Aaencv (LPA) Public Hearinqs A. Public Hearing — Recommendation to City Council —Land Development Code Amendment— Ordinance 0-25-12 — Amending Article V, Zoning District Regulations, by amending the Townhouse Dimensional Regulations within the RM-8 and the RM-10 Zoning Districts The City Attorney read the title of the ordinance. The Principal Planner displayed a Power Point presentation for the amendment presented. The Principal Planner explained that this was a land development code text amendment related to the townhome dimensional regulations in the residential multifamily zoning district of eight units per acre, also known as RM-8, and the residential multifamily zoning district ten units per acre, also known as RM-10. The Principal Planner explained the history of the RM-8 and RM-10 regulations and said the recent trends within PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION/LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 15, 2025 the townhome regulations and submissions in our current RM-8 and RM-10 regulations seemed too restrictive for what has been proposed. He stated they have had applications come in and revised and advised some of the applicants what we would like to do to help them for the development of their projects. The Principal Planner went to the next slide which depicted their text amendment changes pictorially and he discussed the changes in RM-8 and RM-10. He proposed to reduce the lot width minimum from 25' to 20'; increase the lot depth minimum from 75' to 90', and change the lot size requirement from 1875 square feet to 1800 square feet. On the next slide, the Principal Planner explained the text amendment for RM-8 would only be for the RM-8 zoning district and this reduced the side setback from 10' to 5' and increased the distance requirements between the townhome buildings. He mentioned this could be a 2-plex, 6- plex or 4-plex to be whichever they designed from 15' to 20' to give a bigger buffer. He then displayed an example on the Power Point. Next slide the Principal Planner presented a table of the administrative corrections on RM-10 only, and explained staff observed some administrative items that did not happen with the original adoption of the RM-10. He reported there were some footnotes in the actual dimension regulation table which did not make it into the code, and the Power Point table displayed the corrections. The Principal Planner stated the recommendation from staff was for the City Council to approve, and the first reading of City Council would be June 11, 2025. He informed the Commissioners if they had any questions, to please ask. There was no public input. Ms. Kautenburg closed the hearing and she called for Commission deliberations and actions. Mr. Carter said he did not have any specific questions but had mixed feelings and questioned staff if this would be allowing for more density. The Principal Planner explained density would remain the same, and allow them to come in with a different dimensional size criteria to allow more affordability. He further explained the current 25' width lot and the 75' depth created a different dynamic of what a townhome design could be, and he believed with the deceased size or the width and length of it would possibly increase the affordability. Mr. Carter countered that if history was any indication, it would still be just as expensive and was concerned this will not lower prices for affordability. The Principal Planner replied that most of the regulations will remain the same within the zoning criteria and development criteria, the townhome models are becoming thinner and longer. He said staffs intention was to provide development within the city for density requirements, for multifamily comprehensive code or plan, and help the developers obtain the ability to develop townhomes. Community Development Manager offered the city increased medium density residential from 8 units per acre to 10 units per acre with the Comp Plan. She said if you are zoned in RM-8, you can still only have 8 units per acre and so, with the townhouse change yes, they are smaller. She also said it does accommodate mostly RM-10, where they will now have the ability to reach the 10 units per acre. The Community Development Manager described the circumstance of finding it hard to meet our dimensional regulations to bring townhouse projects in and agrees with Mr. Carter that the density does stay the same. Mr. Carter replied speaking on the intentions of the Board to get more affordable housing within the city and declared the citizens that work here cannot afford to live here. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION/LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY IS, 2025 Ms. Geesey said she was usually not for making a lot smaller, or changing setbacks, but the change proposed does not seem extreme and she will always defer to staff. She questioned on Page two about the minimum living area not changing. The Principal Planner replied the living area was not changing. Ms. Geesey stated the square footage changing was not going to change the cost, and she was concerned that the change on the entire lot was going to not make the units more affordable. Mr. Reno asked staff what was used for municipality comparisons. The Community Development Manager provided the code the city adopted in 2001 was from Satellite Beach, and said staff used them as a comparison again. She added that Satellite Beach dropped theirs to 15' to 18' wide townhouses and they looked at Melbourne's model as well. She informed that Indian River County did not have specific dimensions on their lot width, and would just refer to density. She added Port St. Lucie or Stuart was another one, and they had read a great deal of codes which the majority did not have specific dimensions. Mr. Reno asked for the difference between a side setback and a side interior setback. The Principal Planner explained the side interior setback was basically the setback requirements in between the buildings themselves, and gave the example of wall to wall, and a side setback would be in the individual property line with the setback requirement for the property line. He then displayed it pictorially on the Power Point to Mr. Reno. Ms. Matthews said she has no comment. Ms. Battles stated she was in favor, and that it allows for flexibility and options for developers to come in and provide houses in the community. Ms. Kautenburg said she concurs with the panel and does not have any concerns. She believed the change was insignificant in reality, but the perceptions of the change were important A motion was made by Ms. Battles to recommend approval of the proposed Land Development Code amendment to Ordinance 0-25-12 —Article V. The motion was seconded by Mr. Geesey. Roll call: Mr. Carter-- yes Ms. Geesey— yes Ms. Kautenburg-- yes Ms. Matthews-- yes Mr. Reno (a)-- yes Ms. Battles-- yes The motion carried with six affirmative votes. VII. Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission Quasi -Judicial Hearings - None VIII. Unfinished Business - None IX. New Business -None X. Adioum There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chair Kautenburg at 6:17p.m.