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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 08 24 Board of Adjustment Workshop Minutes ,-- ----- CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP AUGUST 24, 2006 CALL TO ORDER The Board of Adjustment Workshop of Thursday, August 24, 2006 was called to Order at 7:05 p.m. by Chairman Thomas Waters in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Chairman Thomas Waters, present Vice Chairman Jack Taylor, present Board Member Linda Collins, present Board Member Kathryn Fairchild, present Board Member Howard Casman, absent After a moment of silence Vice Chairman Jack Taylor led the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC INPUT No one spoke. REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR 300. Office Of The City Attorney Workshop To Discuss Roles And Responsibilities Of The Board Of Adjustment And To Discuss The New Law Chapter 2006-88, Laws Of Florida, Effective October 1, 2006. City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese introduced this Agenda Item and said, "I wanted to take the opportunity to go over a change in the Law that is effective October 1, [2006] of this year, and I think it is going to have a significant impact in the way that local governments handle development permits in the State of Florida." Attorney Garganese then said, "With respect to the Law change, effective October 1, [2006], municipalities that deny development permits must state the reasons for the denial in writing, and they also have to set forth the applicable portions of the Ordinance or Rules or Statute of the Law on which the denial is based. That, as you know, is currently not the Law today, but it is coming up. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP AUGUST 24, 2006 PAGE20F4 What does that mean to the Board of Adjustment? The Board of Adjustment is an Advisory Board to the City Commission and you handle several Development Permit Applications. And they are Variance Requests, Conditional Uses, Waivers of the City Code and some miscellaneous duties that are spread out in the Code, so, when you are in the process of deliberating and making your recommendation to the City Commission, and you are going to recommend denial, you are going to need to set forth the basis of the denial in the Record very clearly for the City Commission to consider and state the Law in which you base it. Granted, the Board is not sitting here as a Judge, but if you are going to deny an Application, for example, that is not consistent to the Code, you are going to need to set forth the reasons and set forth the Code provisions on which the denial is based." Continuing, Attorney Garganese stated, "Weare going to need to state those reasons ultimately when the final decision is made by the Commission. So, my recommendation, even though you are an Advisory Board, is follow the Law and so your recommendation includes - a legal basis that the City Commission can consider when they ultimately make the final decision. Practically speaking, when you get your Agenda packet, I talked to Staff - about this. If the Staff is going to recommend denial, we are going to make sure that the Staff Reports state the reasons clearly and also state the Law in which the denial is going to be based." Attorney Garganese then said, "There may be instances during the Meeting where you come up with other reasons that may not be in the Staff Report, but I suggest that you hone in on those reasons and maybe be more specific in your Motions if it is a particular Code provision that you believe the Application violates. " Attorney Garganese said, "If it is inconsistent with say, three (3) Code provisions, my advice would be that you state all three (3) Code provisions instead of stating, 'It is not consistent with the Code'. You identify every basis in which you want to recommend denial. Because ultimately, if it is challenged in Court, we will want to have every single reason enumerated in the Record and it gives us hopefully a better chance to support the decision." Attorney Garganese said, "We should at least have the basis for the denial." Advisory Board Member Kathryn Fairchild asked, "If they cite those, do we have access to them before we get here. Are they online?" Attorney Garganese said, "Yes." Attorney Garganese stated, "It is called 'Municode.com'." Attorney Garganese then said, "They have a free service and then they have a service you can pay for. The free service is probably all you need." Attorney Garganese said, "When you go on to their Web site, you will see a picture of the United States, you click on the State of Florida and it lists every single government entity in which they publish the Code for. The very last entry for Florida is Winter Springs." Discussion. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP - AUGUST 24,2006 PAGE 3 OF4 Chairman Waters asked, "Can anybody go wireless?" Attorney Garganese said, "I think you need to get a code. But, I think if you had a laptop and you wanted to use it for official City business, and get access during the Meeting - Municode.com. - I do not know why the Board of Adjustment Members would not have the same access to it." In regard to accessing information from a laptop during a Meeting, Attorney Garganese said, "The only thing you would have to keep in mind is - the Applications that you consider are Quasi-Judical, so if you are going to base your decision on something you are - pulling up in the middle of a Hearing, I would ask that you just state for the Record what that is so the - Applicants have an opportunity to ask questions or maybe cross examine the information you are trying to put on the Record. In fairness, you should put it on the Record." Discussion ensued on the City's Website. With reference to accessing the Website using a wireless laptop, Chairman Waters asked, "How would we go about doing that?" Deputy City Clerk Joan Brown said, "I can check with I.S., Information Services." Discussion ensued. Chairman Waters asked, "Is your recommendation, that if we approve something, that we also put that in there, or is that not necessary?" Attorney Garganese said, "It is not required by Law, but it may just - say that it meets certain Code provisions." Mr. John Baker, AICP, Senior Planner, Community Development Department said, "I think this - is most pertinent where Staff recommends, for example, has a different Recommendation than the Board and on occasion, we do disagree and to outline why it should be approved instead of denied or should be denied instead of approved." Mr. Baker then said, "So, I think it would be helpful - if you would specify how you think it meets each one of those Criteria." Attorney Garganese said, "That is a very good point. In fact even when you do not disagree with Staff, if it is approval, I will tell you that when the Commission considers the Recommendation - it would be very helpful for them if they can just go right to the reasons for your decision, and they were clearly spelled out and then they can use that as an initial review of what they are considering." Attorney Garganese continued, "Where the Chair will sit and write what that recommendation is and the reasons and Staff would work with them and that would be forwarded to the Commission in addition to any Minutes that may be prepared. That would be helpful." Chairman Waters asked, "Can that be done after the Vote is taken or should that be done..." Attorney Garganese said, "... You need to make that as part of the basis of your decision before you Vote or when you Vote, so it is clear." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP - AUGUST 24, 2006 PAGE40F4 Board Member Fairchild asked, "Should that be in the Motion portion?" Attorney Garganese stated, "Yes. I think it needs to be in the Motion." Vice Chairman Taylor said, "Which means we will have to have a discussion period if that particular thing happens." Attorney Garganese continued, "Once you hear all of the Presentations and gather all the information from the Staff level, from the Applicant's standpoint, and maybe from other members of the Public, there comes a time where the Chair should just cut off the [Public] Input and then the time is really reserved under the rules for Board discussion." Attorney Garganese said, "You need to reserve time for yourself to deliberate. That means additional questions may come up where you may need to get additional information from the Applicant or Staff, that is perfectly appropriate, but you need to reserve some time so you - can think about the basis for your decision. First, think about whether you have a Consensus to go one way or another, then you need to think about what those reasons are, and then you need to state that." Further discussion ensued. ADJOURNMENT "I MAKE A MOTION TO ADJOURN." MOTION BY VICE CHAIRMAN TAYLOR. SECONDED BY ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER KATHRYN FAIRCHILD. DISCUSSION. WITH CONSENSUS OF THE BOARD, THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. MOTION CARRIED. Chairman Waters adjourned the Workshop at 7:35 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: J AN L. BROWN EPUTY CITY CLERK