Community Redevelopment Agency Regular Meeting July 12, 2016 The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Titusville, Florida met in regular session in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 555 South Washington Avenue, on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. Call to Order/Determination of a Quorum Chairman Jim Tulley called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present were Chairman Jim Tulley, Vice-Chairman Walt Johnson, and Members Christi Anderson, Matthew Barringer, Curt Leady, Martha Long, and Rita Pritchett. Also, present were Executive Director Scott Larese, Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Attorney Richard Broome. Sr. Administrative Assistant Debbie Denman completed the minutes. Invocation/Pledge of Allegiance Chairman Tulley asked for a moment of silence and then led the entire assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Approval of Minutes Member Long moved to approve the minutes of the regular Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting of May 10, 2016, as submitted. Member Leady seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Special Recognitions and Presentations None Old Business - None New Business [1]
Notice of Local Historic Designation for the Duren Building at 214 Julia Street (HPB No. 2-2016) - Executive Director Larese advised that the owners of property located at 214 Julia Street, the Duren Building, requested that their church building be designated onto the City s Local Register of Historic Places. The Historic Preservation Board would hold a public hearing to consider the request in the summer of 2016. Pursuant to Section 48-7(d)(3) of the Land Development Regulations, notification of such requests would be furnished to the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The CRA may submit comments or make recommendations to the Board concerning the designation prior to the date of the public hearing. The Duren Building was currently a contributing structure in the Titusville National Historic District. Staff recommendation was to accept Historic Nomination application (HPB) No. 2-2016 to nominate the Duren Building located at 214 Julia Street onto the City's Register of Local Historic Places Member Long moved to accept Local Historic Designation for the Duren Building at 214 Julia Street (HPB No. 2-2016), as recommended. Vice-Chairman Johnson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Advisability to Amend Code Related to Downtown Food & Dining Outdoor Seating Executive Director Larese advised that the Downtown Mixed Use (DMU) zoning district Table of Uses - Food and Dining, Item 10 (Sec. 59-1454) required food and dining outdoor areas of seating assembly and/or music entertainment in all of the DMU sub districts to obtain a conditional use permit from the City. Items (a) through (n) of Section 59-1459.11 also provided additional criteria for outdoor seating and/or music entertainment uses in the downtown. Currently, this required downtown food and dining businesses wanting to have outdoor seating to go before the Planning & Zoning Board, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the City Council to obtain approval. Staff recommended Council provide advisability to staff regarding whether to develop an ordinance amending Article XI, Downtown Mixed Use Smart Code for the Community Redevelopment Area, Section 59-1454, Food and Dining, Item 10, Outdoor areas of seating and/or music entertainment. The CRA was in support outdoor areas of seating and/or music entertainment. Vice-Chairman Johnson advised that he was in favor to allow pets. Member Long recommended: Determine how to regulate establishments in maintaining the public walkway that transitioned through the establishment; establish control of the number of seats allowed; and establish control of the encroachment on neighboring establishments. She advised that she also supported allowing dogs. [2]
Member Anderson asked what the state guidelines were for allowing pets. Executive Director Larese advised that staff would need to research Member Anderson s request. Member Leady advised that he was in favor of allowing pets, but asked that staff provide additional information. Member Barringer asked staff to provide information regarding how far away from a building that patio furniture was allowed and how to it for maintain public use. Member Long moved to approve the advisability to amend the Code related to downtown food & dining outdoor seating, as recommended. Member Leady seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Advisability Downtown Court Improvements Executive Director Larese advised that in order to make the downtown courts available for more uses, the City wanted to remove the existing fixed improvements and open the space up. The lighting and benches would remain in the courts and landscaping via hanging baskets would be added to the light poles. It was recommended that the CRA provide staff with direction on the use of the downtown courts at Julia Street and Nevins Court. Member Long recommended the downtown courts be multipurpose use and have fixed or removable shading. Member Anderson recommended a shading canopy, seating, and tables for the downtown courts. Member Barringer recommended engaging the downtown merchants to request their insights and ideas on the improvements for the downtown courts. Vice-Chairman Johnson stated that he was in agreement with the downtown court improvements and recommended shading. Chairman Tulley recommended a small band shell or something similar to accommodate musicians in the back area of the downtown courts toward the back parking area. Debbie Shuler recommended some type of retractable cover or shade, no additional plants, more electrical outlets, a band shell, and hanging stars and moons for the downtown courts. [3]
Advisability Main Street Parking Chairman Tulley stated that staff recommended to table this item, but advised that he would allow citizens that wished to speak, to make their comments at this meeting. Executive Director Larese advised that staff recommended tabling the Advisability Main Street Parking as further work was needed on the project. He stated that two proposals that were provided to the Fire Department were not acceptable. Kerry Kennedy stated that he owned several properties in the downtown area and provided the CRA a handout on his concerns and suggestions regarding the bike lane on Main Street. He stated that he was not notified of the proposed changes and recommended moving the bike lane to Broad Street or Julia Street and to not only focus on Main Street. He asked the CRA to revisit the proposed concept. Bill Baldwin advised that he was President of North Brevard Historical Museum and stated that the East Main Street businesses mostly supported the bike path. He advised that it appeared that Broad Street would best suit the needs of the bike path and that he was concerned over the loss parking spots for North Brevard Historical Museum. He advised that there were many older workers at the museum that had canes and walkers and with limited parking, they were unable to get to work. He stated that limited parking had also lent to the loss in business for several businesses in the downtown. Member Barringer moved to allow Bill Baldwin an additional three (3) minutes to speak. Member Long seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Baldwin stated that the merchants wanted to support the bike trail, but some type of acceptable parking needed to be retained. Lori Rudolph stated that she was a business owner in the downtown and that the current design had created a huge impact on her business. She advised that she was not notified of the proposed changes, but she agreed the bike trail was very important. She did not feel her business should suffer from it. Member Pritchett arrived at 6:13 p.m. Betty Mattingly stated that she was concerned that many valuable older workers at the North Brevard Historical Museum would be unable to get to work due to the traffic pattern and limited parking and that it would also affect the ability for the museum to provide historical education and research to visitors. [4]
Debbie Shuler asked that the road striping be put back to how it was originally. Ray Johnson stated that the bike path had taken out all the parking in the front of the First Baptist Church and that required the handicapped individuals to park in the back of the church and walk around to the front of the church. He advised that that some were unable to do that and asked that the CRA help the church out with the parking. Edward Johnson stated that he was the owner of businesses in the downtown and recommended to move the bike path to the north side of Main Street. Chairman Tulley recommended that any individual with an alternate solution for the bike path, provide it to City staff. Pete Metzger stated that his mother who was handicapped, attended the First Baptist Church and now had to walk from the back of the church all the way to the front of the church or walk up a flight of stairs to attend. He advised that the design was flawed as the bike path did not even go to the Welcome Center. Thomas Merrill stated that First Baptist Church members had used Main Street as a parking place for 126 years. He advised that in the past, access to the back parking lot from Hopkins Avenue had been denied and that parking spaces had been blocked by planters installed on the street in front of the church. He stated when an inquiry was made, the church was told that the parking for the church would not be affected by the bike path. Mr. Merrill recommended options for the bike path and provided a copy of a property plat for the First Baptist Church that showed that the church owned part of the street. Member Pritchett moved to table Advisability Main Street Parking to the regular Community Redevelopment Agency meeting on August 9, 2016 as recommended. Vice- Chairman Johnson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Petitions and Requests from the Public Present - None Executive Director s Report Executive Director Larese submitted a written report that included as followed: Informational Item [5]
The Tuesday, November 8, 2016 CRA meeting is being moved to Thursday, November 10, 2016 due to Election Day. Capital Projects in the Downtown Downtown Connector Project Sand Point Park Splash Pad Downtown Welcome Center BMX Track Ongoing Projects US Highway 1 and SR 406 Corridor Studies Historic Preservation Board Executive Director Larese advised that Lockheed Martin announced that Titusville would be their location for 300 new jobs. Member Leady asked for staff to provide short-term solutions for handicap parking at the regular CRA meeting on August 9, 2016. Public Works Director Kevin Cook stated that staff would review short term solutions for handicap parking. He advised that in City owned parking lots, two (2) regular parking spaces were lost when adding one handicap parking space. He stated that he would not advocate parallel parking dedicated for handicap parking and that it would probably not be ADA compliant. Chairman Tulley asked that staff provide recommendations for handicap parking once they had time to review the options. The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. [6]