Apopka sending settlement agreement to Wendover

A settlement agreement was brought to the floor of the Apopka City Council for Wendover Housing Partners (the developers of Southwick Commons affordable housing development) at its June 21st meeting. This measure is in response to the last City Council meeting in which Wendover’s development plan was denied due to disagreements on the size and type of balcony that was proposed.

And while the 4-1 vote moved the settlement agreement down the road, there was a curious "nay" vote.

According to Community Development Director Jim Hitt, Wendover brought a counter-proposal that has “several requirements that far exceed any original development agreements” and requires an ordinance to bar future ad valorem taxes and remove impact fees. Hitt said that he and his staff recommend not approving the counter-proposal. He said future problems that must be resolved within the plan are parking spaces and stormwater drains.

A settlement agreement was provided to the City Council members through email and print copy. City Commissioner Kyle Becker expressed concerns with the handling of the settlement agreement due to the nature of its development.

“…Did anybody work in partnership with the applicant because it seems like a colossal waste of time if we come up with a settlement agreement that the other party is not even willing to stipulate,” Becker asked. 

Hitt said not to worry about the settlement agreement but suggested that now with all City Council members in attendance, it would be appropriate to revote on the issue of Wendover’s balconies. 

“…With the way that I’ve got it planned out is that you do a revote because all of you are here at this stage,” Hitt said. “And quite frankly, I believe we’ve got the votes to accept the balconies the way they’ve already been presented.”

City Commissioner Nick Nesta asked why the special counsel wasn’t at the meeting for questioning. Hitt said that Douglas Noah, special counsel assigned to Apopka by the Florida League of Cities, proposed a formal meeting for this discussion but did not address why Noah was unavailable for questioning at Wednesday’s meeting. 

Mayor Bryan Nelson said that he, Hitt, and Noah had been trying to resolve the issue throughout the week. He said that they can now approve the previous motion, the balconies, and the settlement agreement is “moot.”

Becker asked Nelson if he was okay with the settlement agreement being “moot.” Hitt jumped in to answer the question and said to take the printed copy of the settlement agreement and set it off to the side.

“Take it, put it off to the side,” Hitt said. “What I read to you and what I emailed you, that’s what I believe we can do without having to worry about any type of an agreement,” Hitt said.

Becker, unsure of what Hitt and Nelson were proposing, asked for clarification.

“Did I hear you correctly that you want to approve now what was a 2-2 tie last meeting?” Becker asked.

Hitt said that now that City Commissioner Alexander Smith, who was not present for the last meeting, they could take a revote and move forward with the Wendover development plan if it received a motion of approval.

“If we get a majority that sends the message to the staff, we can proceed the way I outlined, and then we’re done,” Hitt said.

City Commissioner Diane Velazquez struggled to find the words as she attempted to express her position on the matter. She began to ask about the copy of the settlement agreement that lay in front of her. Hitt stopped her and said that the document could be disregarded.

“Okay…” Velazquez said. “This will go in the shredder?”

Hitt said to Velazquez that it would be “fine” for the copy to be disposed of.

Nelson asked for the motion to be voted on. The vote was 4-1, with Nelson being the outlier.

“I thought you just said that you wanted staff to approve it?” Becker asked Nelson.

Nesta facetiously referred to the handling of the proceedings as “fun games” and said that the City Council should keep moving forward with the next item on the agenda.

Becker pressed Nelson one more time.

“You literally said you wanted to approve it and get it done,” Becker said to Nelson.