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05.30.74 SpecialPlanning and Zoning Commission Special Meeting May 30, 1974 8:00 P. M. Members Present: Members Absent: Others Present: Arthur Harris, Chairman David Berrien Edward Blacksheare C. B. Franklin Victor Gischler Robert Karns Kirby Moncrief Rudy Sloan Jefferson Davis Bill Braceland, Building Official Al Payne, Building Inspector M. LaZenby, City Engineer W. E. Knowles, City Manager The meeting was called to order by the Chairman. Consideration was first given to the Plat for ',The Oaks" condo- minium patio homes to be developed by Mr. Bob McKee on five acres located north of Country Club Road and west of Idyllwilde Section 5. Mr. Phillip Logan, attorney representing Mr. McKee, told the board that since the setback and lot widths for "The Oaks ", as originally platted, did not meet the requirements of the city plat laws, the City Attorney had advised that the five acres be platted as one lot and described in metes and bounds. They are now proposing the plat as a single parcel to meet the plat law, and a plot plan showing lot units as an adendum to the plat. Mr. Logan told the board the side lines are going to be limited; but, the back lines are going to be tremendous. There is plenty of space and density is no problem. It is a concept for which there is no applicable law. The plot plan will show these units being relatively close, but allowing for better use of the overall land. If the Plan- ning and Zoning Commission will approve the plat, the City Commission has indicated that they are not going to object. Then we will go to the Board of Adjustment to see if, on the hardship basis of not having a condominium ordinance, they will grant a variance on the setback requirements. Planning and Zoning May 30, 1974 Page 2 After consideration, a motion was made by Mr. Sloan to approve the Plat for "The Oaks" and to recommend its approval to the City Commission. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berrien and was carried. The Chairman signed the Plat. The site plan for "The Oaks" had been approved on May 16, 1974, contingent upon the City Commission's approval of the Plat for "The Oaks ". In discussion of the site plan, Mr. McKee agreed to the addition of acceleration and deceleration lanes on SR 46 -A. The City Manager next addressed the board on problems that had come to his attention concerning the San Situs Development in Druid Park, on the east side of US 17 -92. Investigation had brought to light unapproved excavation and a borrow pit operation in progress at this site. When he started making inquiries, he was shown a little sketch by a salesman, showing a lake in the middle which was not in- cluded in any areas of the development. Apprehensive about city maintenance expense, he had questioned the ownership of the lake, because he did not want the city to inherit it. He was told the lake would be deeper than shown on the sketch because they had a subcontractor who is demucking parts and actually he is going to dig it much deeper. When he told the salesman that no one knew about this, he was told that it had been approved. The City Manager said he had been contacted by Mr. McCammon of Odyssey, Inc., the developer of San Situs. Mr. McCammon had pre- sented him with a contract which the subcontractor, DL -& M Land - clearing, had signed with them, which nobody knew about. The gist of the contract is that D L & M would demuck the property and had the right to go down beneath the muck line and remove as much fill as he wanted. In return, D L & M would build the east -west road for them and they would pay D L & M $5,000, and D L & M would put all the muck removed from the ground back in the hole that had been dug. When he had asked what D L & M was doing with all the fill dirt, the answer was he was selling it. Actually they are land leasing the property for a borrow pit in return for paving the street. The City Manager said he told them that before this ends up with the city owning a borrow pit, to let us have some plans as to what they plan to do, what they are doing, and what they will have when they get done. No plans were produced, and the matter was brought before the City Commission. The City Commission gave them ten days to get up some plan for what they are doing, which expires on June 6. Until that time they can haul out what they want. He said that at the time he was out there, they were digging and there was a 25 -foot verticle band. They had pumps keeping it dry so they could work. They had dug across the state drainage easement and blocked it off. Planning and Zoning Commission May 30, 1974 Page 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -- The City Manager asked the Planning and Zoning Commission just what they had approved, and what the representatives of San Situs had been told. They said that the Planning and Zoning Commission had approved it, and they felt they did not have to come back to this board anymore. The Chairman told the City Manager that on April 4th, John Mero, representing San Situs, had presented a rough sketch, it was not even a survey, just a rough line drawing with no dimensions. They got preliminary approval only. We talked about multiple- family dwelling in the tear section near French Avenue. The City Manager said that in looking at the Planning and Zoning minutes, it was approved as a conceptional sketch. This is not the way they had taken it. They feel they did not have to come back to the city because this had already been approved. When he asked if there was going to be a road and had it been approved, where is the drainage, utilities, etc., they hurriedly got up an overlay and brought it in last Friday. In it they began to show some definitive lines. He told them the city would not stand still for that lake being in unowned property and the city would not be responsible for it. Then they split it out and put it inside the parcels. When the City Manager was questioned about the developers of San Sitis getting permits to carry out this pperation, he said at no time have they reached a stage where they come for a building permit. At no time did anyone know that there was a borrow pit operation, contemplated or in progress. The Chairman said he thought they should notify the developer that according to the law of the City of Sanford, they are allowed to bring in a preliminary by and let us look at it, but before they can start anything at all they have to bring in the plans and engineering. The contract with D L & M was dated March 28, about a week before the meeting when they were in and got concept approval only. The only that was mentioned on April 4th about removing any muck at all was that they said their engineers were finding a place where they could put it so it would not be near any buildings. They were going to dig ditches, put the muck in there, and put the good dirt back around the lake. That is what they told us when they were here. The Chairman said it was his understanding that Mr. John Mero was only talking about one section, the multi - family section on the south side, and the rest would be developed in the general concept of the sketch; and, he did not know of anybody on the board that gave them the understanding that this was an approved development. The Chairman asked to hear the recording taken at the meeting of April 4, 1974. Planning and Zoning Commission May 30, 1974 Page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------ - - - - -- After listening to the recording, on the motion of Mr. Berrien, seconded by Mr. Karns and carried, the following memorandum was approved to be forwarded to the City Commission: "On April 4, 1974, Mr. John Mero, accompanied by Mr. George McCammon, presented us with a preliminary site plan for an apartment site and a letter sized sketch of what they would like to do with the total acreage. The Planning and Zoning Commission, after lengthy discussion; and after many times mentioning the fact that this was only preliminary approval; and after Mr. Mero, himself, mentioned at least twice that they were only requesting a preliminary approval because they did not even have their survey work done, and that they were going to get Clark, Dietz to do their engineering work; the board moved to approve this as a preliminary plan only. No site plan approval was ever given. Since the preliminaries were brought in, the Planning and Zoning Commission has not seen or heard anything else from these people. During our discussion on April 4, there was no mention made of any dirt or anything else being removed from the site. Only mention was made that they were going to dig some muck in some remote places on the property, bury the muck, and use the fill dirt to fill in the lower places. No mention was made about the contract that had been signed with a contractor to remove fill dirt from the site. We.have reviewed the recordings of our conversations with Mr. Mero, and the above facts are borne out on the recordings." Due to the City Planner being unable to attend the meeting, the planned discussion on the Traffic Engineering Report was postponed until June 5, 1974, between 7:00 and 8:00 P.M. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. /Y Arthur H. Harris, Chairman