City Council Takes First Step in Piedmont Plaza redevelopment

A Summary of The City Council Meeting for 9/7

Approval of Minutes:

By a vote of 5-0 the City Council approved the minutes into record of the following meetings:

1. City Council Workshop on July 19, 2016.

2. City Council Workshop July 20, 2016

3. City Council meeting August 17, 2016.

Employee Service Awards

The following employees of The City of Apopka were honored:

Five Year Service Award – Samarie Koller – Police/Communications Five Year Service Award – Angela Rozier – Police/Communications Ten Year Service Award – Dennis Carter, Sr – Public Services/Streets Ten Year Service Award – Dina Cedillo – Police/Support Services Fifteen Year Service Award – Charles Whitehead – Public Services/Water Plant Twenty Year Service Award – Gregory Conant – Recreation/Grounds – Athletic Complex

Public Comments

Only Dr. Ray Shackelford spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting.

He applauded the idea of a Youth Council...

"Sometimes we try to impose our wisdom on young people," he said. "But I will be looking forward to all of us learning from them."

He also criticized the Council for raising taxes, and using the the reserves to balance the budget. He called on them to take a pledge not to use the reserves next year to balance the budget.

"I will be back during the budget hearings to present my proposal," he said.

Consent Agenda

Selection of firm to update the City's Land Development Code

The City Council voted 5-0 to approve the two consent agenda items:

The City has received qualifications, data and expressions of interest for professional services related to the update of the Land Development Code, and to authorize a door-to-door solicitation permit for Andrus Albi, an employee of E.H. Engelmeier Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. is requesting approval to go door-to-door within the city limits of Apopka to solicit roofing services. City Code requires a permit to solicit business door-to-door.

Business Items:

Approval of the Preliminary Development Plan for Binon Reserve

The Council voted 5-0 in favor of Binon Reserve - a 21 acre subdivision with 44 homes located at 1078 S. Binion Road (South of Lust Road and West of Binion Road).

Approval of the Redevelopment Plan/Final Development Plan for Piedmont Plaza

The Council voted 5-0 in favor of allowing the owners of the Piedmont Plaza strip mall (where Hobby Lobby is located), to increase the retail square footage by 24,100 square feet to a total of 245,130 square feet of commercial retail space. They also approved three waivers to the City Code:

• Allow a maximum building height of 65 feet (City development standards limit maximum building height to 35 feet).
• Allow less than a 10-foot setback for two buildings.
• Allow only 987 parking spaces (1,227 are required by code).

Approval of Annexation Requests

The Council voted 5-0 to approve five annexation requests. One is on Plymouth Sorrento Road, another is on East Sandpiper Street, and three are on Oak Point Circle.

Ordinance Changes

The Council voted 5-0 to make changes to five existing ordinances. The first is to establish rules regarding conversations between elected and appointed officials and the public. The other four are efforts to update and streamline the approval process for routine items.

Youth Council

Commissioner Kyle Becker made a proposal to form a Youth Council. His initial proposal can be read here. Becker added the idea of including private schools to his initial list of Apopka, Sheeler, and Wekiva High Schools as well as home schooled students who live in the Apopka City limits. The Council was receptive, and assigned it to City Administrator Glenn Irby to form a committee and give a report on where it stands in two weeks at the September 21st City Council meeting.