All right, it these things are either too loud or too quiet. It's on. Good evening. Welcome to the June 2nd regular city council meeting for the city of Jacksonville Beach. We'll begin with the invocation followed by the salute to the flag led by Mr. Sutton. Please rise.
Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you for your grace and mercy uh that you provide each and every day. Um, I lift up this council and pray for discernment and wisdom for this body and for all of our city staff as we work to try and make
this great city even better. Uh, we lift up our military, our first responders, and our medical providers. And we thank you each and every day for their protection and their healing that is through you. Uh, and any that need your touch and continued healing, Lord, we
lift them up and thank you for your comfort. We ask these things in your son Jesus name. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This meeting is called to order. Madam clerk, roll call. Council member Golding here. Council member Horn here. Council. Council member Jansen here. Council member Sutton here. Council member
Wagner here. Council member Wowers here. Mayor Hoffman here. Approval of minutes item A. I move to approve the minutes from the regular city council meeting held on May 19th, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by
saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item B. I move we approve the minutes from the special council briefing held on May 27th, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Approval of the agenda. I move to
approve the agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Announcements. Miss Gold. Thank you, mayor. Uh, first and foremost, I want to welcome our new city
clerk, Molly, to the deis and look forward to working with you. in the years to come. Um, also want I just have a few short announcements. Want to wish a happy birthday to Mr. Jansen who celebrated his birthday on Saturday and
a happy early birthday to Mr. Sutton who's going to celebrate his birthday on Wednesday. Um, interestingly, I was looking at our birthdays and they're all May, June, July, August, September. It's kind of interesting. Don't know. Maybe there's maybe there's something there. I
don't know. Um, and then the only other announcement I have is Beaches Watch is having a meeting this Wednesday night at 7 o'clock, which is June 4th at the Beaches Branch Library. And it is going to be the legislative session recap, the
good and the bad of the 2025 legislative session. And our favorite city manager, Mr. Stephopoulos, will be there, as well as the Atlantic Beach city manager, Bill Killingsworth. and they will be talking about the bills that passed and the
bills that didn't pass and uh the ones that will impact our beach's communities. So, I would encourage anyone who would like to learn about uh what we dealt with with the legislative session this year to please come out to that meeting. Again, it's Wednesday, 7
o'clock at the Beaches Branch Library and it's always a good meeting. Is there going to be a part B when they actually finish the legislative session or just gonna go with it? Mr. Sutton. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to mention that tomorrow, June 3rd, the
city of Neptune Beach to our north, obviously, we'll be uh dedicating and uh declaring June 3rd as Eddie Bounds Day. Uh many of us were friends with uh with Eddie, who uh grew up right here at the
beach. Eddie served both on the Jacksonville Beach Police Department and uh Neptune Beach Police Department where he retired and um uh graduated from Fletcher High School and then uh later in life went on to uh to coach the Fletcher Senators in baseball uh for
quite a few years. So um Eddie passed away about three and a half years ago now, but they'll be uh dedicating the uh I think what's turned into a small te-ball field now at Jarbo Park. used to be all the way back to the edge of Third Street there when it was a larger field, but when they did the redo, they were
able to uh have a a little T-ball field there, and they'll be naming that Eddie Bounds Field tomorrow. So, for those that can make it 5:00 p.m. tomorrow at Jarbo Park, they'll be having that ceremony. Thank you, Mr. Sentin, Mr. Wagner.
So, by the way, for the uh the highlights of the 2025 legislative sessions, if you show up late, you'll miss all the good things because that list is much shorter. Um, so couldn't resist. Uh, I just want to take a second and and show my show my appreciation for
the Citizens on Patrol volunteers. This last weekend, they held a uh garage sale to raise money to support a lot of the charity events they do throughout the year. Uh, you supporting children around Christmas and this type of things. Wonderful event. Connie and Don Brian, who my wife and I actually worked with
at Florida Blue many years ago, uh, hosted us there and it was really great to get to meet a lot of the volunteers. So, that was wonderful. And, um, and I think that's it. Thank you. There was a lot of good Chris Hoffman collectibles at that garage sale, so hopefully. Do you think all of the
Barbie dolls? That's it. Definitely. My Barbie doll collection was out there. Mr. Horn, thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted to say, um, I want to thank the kindness matters organization. They had a 5K run this weekend honoring the volunteer life-saving corps um, and their
continued service to the beaches community. Um, I am appreciative of volunteer life saving corps kind of um, on a a less exciting note. There were unfortunately some fatal drownings around the state of Florida over the weekend. And that's a reminder to everybody that water um, the ocean is a
dangerous place. Please swim in front of a lifeguard. Um, be safe. You know, if you're in Jacksonville Beach right now, there are some tiny little stinging creatures. If you'd like to see me after the meeting, I can show you all my little marks that I have from being in the water recently. Um, but uh just, you
know, safety first, safety second, safety third, swim near lifeguard, know your limits, please. Um, drowning is preventable and it's very sad to see things like this because our whole state is surrounded by water um except for our northern border and um you know, we just
got to we got to know our limits and be safe. Thank you. Thank Mr. Horn, Mr. Jansen. Yeah, I want to piggy back off of both Councilman Horn and Councilman Sutton's uh sentiments. Number one, uh welcome to day two of the 2025 hurricane season.
So, that runs from June 1st to November 30th. So, be prepared. Make sure you sign up for your code red notifications. That can be done on the city of Jacksonville Beach website. And then secondly, um the dedication of the baseball field was the result of an
Eagle Scout project from one of our scout troops. I think there's only two at the beach. One which my son participates in and they helped build that that um dugout for for them. So I'm proud of them and accomplishing that as an Eagle Scout project. And uh my son
just ranked up to life, so he's working on his Eagle Scout project coming up. So, we've mentioned the h word twice this meeting. So, that's it. No more. Um, but it is time to uh pay attention and be prepared. Um, I have a few
announcements. This week is our seawalk sessions. On Wednesday, the artist is Liz Bechal and true to form, it's like a 94% chance of rain. So, um, keep an eye on social media as, uh, I don't think we've had one of those yet this year,
um, unfortunately. but they are a great event when we do have them. And then again, Countryfest is coming up on June 14th. Um, so keep an eye out for that. Looks like a really good lineup of artists. And then I just found out that the Jacksonville Beach 12U baseball team
is going to play this weekend at the Coopertown Dreams Park. And apparently this is a really big deal. That is all I know about that. But I'm going to ask the council to hold back at the end of this meeting and um let's record a little quick little message to them um
to send our wellw wishes to them as they head up to Coopertown to play baseball. Yeah. Okay. I'm just kidding. I knew that. I'm just kidding. I got that one. I got All right. Any other announcements from council? Okay. Moving on to courtesy of the floor. We have
James Gro. Gork. I got it. I'll make it quick. Um, I live on Third Avenue, James Gro, 113 Third Avenue South, Jacksonville Beach. Um, one of the things I just want to
mention is Charlie's is kind of following up where the other things they they free parking. They don't care who parks there. They don't keep clean. But what I really wanted to address was the fact that they bring in grills. They park in that parking lot. They carry them by my house
and they grill at night at usually after five on the beaches on Third Street and it's pretty much the only place and I spent with a shovel Sunday cleaning up the grill the charcoal off our beach. So, just so you know, like we should have somebody watching for that, but I know that it's after 5, so it's hard to
do it. And they bring their grills in and out through the parking lot that no one charge for, no one monitors, and it's just awful to sit on your porch and watch people go by with a grill in the charcoal bags and just go right to the beach and not care. The other small comment was just
dogs. I mean, I have dogs. I'm on the beach in the morning walking them and I get harassed at 9:05 to get off the beach. But I go to the beach at 12:00 noon and there's five dogs on the beach just sitting there with people and no one's harassing them. So during the height of the day when we're supposed to be getting the dogs off the beach for
the purpose we don't mount it manage it, but we do harass the people who live here at 9:05. So that's just my total comments and thank you very much. Thank you. That is the only uh general courtesy of the floor. Everyone else is
attached to an agenda item. So we will move on to uh a couple presentations that we have and we have joining us today Kevin Hogenamp who is the deputy city manager of election of election of Atlantic Beach. I don't know where that came from and but is serving today in
his role as past president of the Florida Municipal Communications Association. Come on up to the de you guys can feel free to sit on the other side. I don't know why everyone only sits immediately as they walk in. Please come on in, Mr. Hogan. Camp floor. Thank
you. Good evening. Uh FMCA is a trade organization, so to speak, under the Florida League of Cities. It was formed in 2018 to connect, to empower, educate, and support Florida's local government communicators. And as it turns out, the
city of Jacksonville Beach is doing elite work in the arena of municipal communications. That's why I'm here as a past president of the FMCA board. I'm uh here tonight to publicly recognize and express appreciation to the city of Jackson Beach and your communications
manager, Jacob Bour. At our annual meeting uh in May, the city of Jack Beach received a certificate of excellence in government communications for government entities. And Jacob received not only a certificate of excellence in government communications
for individuals, but a top award for a promotional video and the top award in the state for a social media campaign called Take Two Tuesdays, which I assume you all have heard of and which our city councils tell me I need to be more like
Jacob when I grow up. Uh the city of Jacksonville Beach demonstrated how a small staff, a really small staff of one can make a big impact fostering civic engagement, government transparency, and community connection. To boot, Jacob was elected in May as
vice president of our organization, meaning that he's in line to become our president in 2027. Yes, Jacob Bourb will be president of the board. It used to be that I'd hear from my friends in Jackson Beach, why can't we be more more like Atlantic
Beach? And now, Lada Dah uh of uh city of Jackson Beach uh uh is encouraging us to step up our game, which is a great thing for our residents and for good government. Um congrat congratulations to all of you for your great work here in Jackson Beach, inspiring us to do
better, and congrats for being leaders in the field of municipal communications in Florida. Thank you. If I may quickly address a previous announcement uh to council member Golding, I think that meeting is being moved to Neptune House in Jarbo. We were
notified of that today. The Peaches Watch meeting. Anyway, you'll investigate, I'm sure. It's uh it's tentative because the the library's got AC issues again and they expect it to be fixed, but they wanted us to have a plan B. Okay. Yeah. Good. Thanks. Good to
know. Thanks. Thanks everybody. Thank you Mr. Hogan Campamp and congratulations Jacob. Thank you for your leadership and to the city administration and the city council for really putting a focus on communications with our citizens and other stakeholders in our community and
it's really making a difference. If you are don't know what we're talking about with Take Two Tuesday, stand by for Atlantic Beach to come out with something on a different day. You cannot have Tuesday. Um but follow us on social media. sign up for our uh really excellent monthly newsletter. It's full
of great information uh including those videos, but they are really easy. Two minutes to learn about a specific topic, things like code enforcement, upcoming special events, how to attend a city council meeting, things like that. Um they're they're bite-size uh for that
purpose. So, um please take advantage of those. So, congratulations, Jacob. Um, okay. Next, we have a big celebration and anniversary happening here in Jacksonville Beach. And I'd like to thank the um beaches
museum staff for compiling this uh the whereas clauses here for this proclamation. I wish I had told them to be shorter. Um, but it is worthwhile to celebrate 100 years of the Casamarina, which has graced our shores uh here in Jacksonville Beach uh since the day we
became Jacksonville Beach. So let me go ahead and start reading through this. Whereas the Cassa Marina first opened on June 6th, 1925 on the day that Pablo Beach officially became Jacksonville Beach as it is known today, marking a new era, new and persistent era of beach's hospitality. And whereas the
Cass Marina Hotel serves as one of the earliest examples of fireproof architecture in the beach's archite area thanks to its construction using concrete, hallow tile, steel framing, and a sprinkler system. And whereas the Cass Marina has has weathered sorry guys
hurricane season every year for a century survived the Florida land bubble and the Great Depression and stood through changes in ownership, bankruptcy and dramatic renovation, yet has remained in place and operation as a beloved local symbol of the enduring culture and historic heritage of the
beaches. And whereas leased by the United States government in 1944, the Casamarina Hotel accommodated war workers and naval officers families for seven years, serving as an invaluable resource to the homeront during World War II. And whereas standing as a
preserved example of Mediterranean Spanish Revival Architecture listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the National Trust for Historic Places, Historic Hotels of America, the Cassam Marina Hotel serves as a shining example of this of the rich cultural and
architectural heritage of our beaches. And whereas visionaries such as Jean Zap, Mary Louu, and Alan Brown, and most recently Chris and Nadia Hyenes have contributed to the establishment, revival, and preservation of the Cassam Marina Hotel, ensuring that it continues
to thrive in the 21st century. And whereas the Cass Marina Hotel has seen countless weddings, anniversaries, reunions, and other life milestones, drawing beaches, locals, and visitors alike for celebrations that mark the most meaningful chapters of life. weaving the hotel into the emotional
fabric of our history and community. Now therefore, I, Christine A. Chauan, mayor of the J city of Jacksonville Beach, do hereby proclaim Friday, June 6, 2025 as Cassa Marina Hotel Centennial Anniversary in Jacksonville Beach. And we have General Vaner Mark
Vandaloo here to accept the proclamation. Come on up, Mark. [Applause] I will also uh mention that this is just the beginning of the hundredyear celebration. The there will be a big party true Kasa Marina fashion on uh I
think it's Saturday now July 12th. Saturday July 12th and it is a ticketed 21 and up event. But there's going to be uh a great band, Chris Thomas Band, lots of great food, beverages if you're so inclined. So um make sure to keep an eye out for that. It's they're available on
um all the information is on Facebook and you can buy tickets through that. So, hope to see you out there celebrating the Cast Marina. All right, moving on to item A, uh, commemorative signage.
Trevor, come on up. Good evening. Trevor Hughes, chief of parks development, maintenance, city of Ch Beach, parks and rec department. Uh this evening we're we're here because recently we received an application for an honorary street sign in the parks
department uh for one of our uh fallen firefighters at the beach. Um and while while his contributions were noteworthy, they didn't fully align with the established criteria for the honorary street program. But we wanted to take a moment to to honor one of our local
first responders. and we saw an opportunity to do so through our city's uh naming policy. The policy gives us the opportunity to to name not only buildings, facilities, but driveways um different types of commemorative every uh commemorative areas within the city.
And so we are proposing a street street sign similar to the honorary street sign over the driveway at fire station 60. Um the the fees will be the same that's in the honorary street program.
Um and we're looking for your approval. Thank you, Trevor. Um we do have one speaker card and uh she does not wish to speak but would like to express support. Um and that is Britney Church. Thank you for being here, Britney. Um and we will
go ahead and have a motion on this item. I move we approve the commemorative sign signage for Ian Church at South Beach Park. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? I'd just like to thank you for for working with the sponsors of
this sign and um for being flexible and I think this is exactly the type of thing we had in mind when we came up with this program. One of the things many things we had in mind. Miss Golding, just real briefly, I just want to thank Mrs. Church for your husband's service to our community with the fire
department and express my sympathy for your loss. um was taken way too young. Thank you, Miss Golding. Any other comments? Madam Clerk, roll call. Council member Golding, yes. Council member Horn, yes. Council member Jansen,
yes. Council member Sutton, yes. Council member Wagner, yes. Council member Wowers, yes. Mayor Hoffman, yes. Motion carries. and just want to thank all of those that are assigned to that station for just doing a beautiful job um being great neighbors to the park and to the parks and recck office there and just
really being an integral part of our community. So, thank you guys all for being out here this evening as well. Um okay, the final item on today's agenda is an ordinance. We'll begin with a report from planning director Ireland.
Thank you, Mayor Hoffman. Good evening, council. Ordinance 20258 8224 is for a reasonzoning. Um I'll give a brief presentation and then allow the representatives for the property owner to come up and give you some more details and answer questions.
Uh the property is located at 1026th Avenue North. We have been referring to it as the Delome property. Um if you haven't eaten there, please do um before they have to move. The the property currently contains a one-story uh commercial strip center that was purch
or that was constructed in 1975. It has a mix of con commercial uses. Uh the developer Corner Lots plans to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a 59 foot building uh as per the vested height provided to them in the settlement from 2010 uh that happened uh
following the 35 foot height limit in the charter. And the new structure will have a mix of commercial uses and either residential condos or hotel rooms. They're still trying to decide which one makes the most sense based on the market right now. And it will contain structured parking with centralized
amenities for the residents or hotel. Uh commercial uses will wrap around the ground floor of the structure on First Street and 6th Avenue North with vehicular access on Second Street. The applicant is currently providing an excess of parking over what is required
uh per the land development code and plans to make some of that parking available to the public uh and al also obviously the users of the commercial uh amenities there and the residential or hotel uses. They also plan on having a variety of types of parking including compact, golf cart and bicycle as the
new code allows those and provides standards for each one of those types of parking. Uh the project has been reviewed by both the CRA and the planning commission. Uh it was found to be uh consistent with both the downtown community redevelopment plan and the land development code respectively from
each of those boards. They both recommended approval by council. Contained within the memo um from Mr. Polei is provided a detailed analysis of how the project complies with the comprehensive plan and the standards contained within the land development code uh and also the preliminary
development plan standards. and staff is recommending approval of the project. Um, I am going to turn it over to the agent for the applicant to give some more detailed information to council. You want to read the Let me start the public first. Yeah. Thank you,
Madam Clerk. Will you read the ordinance by title, please? An ordinance of the city of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, establishing a redevelopment district RD zoning district within the city of Jacksonville Beach, Florida as provided under chapter 34 of the code of ordinances of said
city providing for a repeal of conflicting ordinances, severability, and an effective date. I really just wanted to get my reading out of the way. This ordinance for the reszoning of property is before the council for a public hearing and consideration on its first reading.
Under the laws of the state of Florida, an application for the resoning of specific property or development site is handled as a quasi judicial proceeding. Quasi judicial proceeding means that the city council is now functioning in a manner similar to a court with the mayor and council sitting as impartial decision makers hearing testimony and
questioning presenters who are to provide substantial and competent evidence to support their side of the issue. It is the duty of the council to arrive at sound decisions regarding the use of property within the city. This includes receiving citizen input regarding the proposed use on the neighborhood, especially where the input
is fact-based and not a simple expression of opinion. It is the applicant's burden to demonstrate that their application is consistent with the land development code and the comprehensive plan. If the applicant is successful in showing consistency, then it is up to the local government to produce competent substantial evidence
of record that the application should be denied. The council's decision on a reszoning application is based on the criteria set forth in section 34538 of the land development code. Each member of the council has been provided a copy of the criteria. In addition, the council has received a copy of the
application and the staff and planning commission's recommendations on the zoning request. I will now open the public hearing on ordinance number 2025-8224. So, we have already heard from staff, so we will uh go ahead and have the applicants come on up. Hello everyone. My name is Michael
Sitner. My address is one independent drive, sweet 1200 Jacksonville, Florida 3220. I work for Driver McAfee. We're the lawyers that filed the application on behalf of the developer. Uh good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Billy Zites with Corner Lot Development Group. My home
address is 502 Arcola Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida. And our office is based in downtown Jacksonville. So, I'll I'll get us started in the presentation. Um, and we started this journey back in November of last year. Our intention has been from
the onset to work directly with the staff and with the code to ensure that our project was not only compatible with the central business district, but also highlighted some of the areas that it's subject to which would be the commercial and pedestrian corridors on first and
sixth. So since the beginning we sort of came in with a really basic design and then attempted to evolve that design as the comprehensive plan was adopted and as we learned more about kind of the needs of the community. Um I I
fortunately live in a really popular beach town. Um I'm familiar how challenging parking can be. So our intention with this project was to make parking part of a solution and not a continued problem. Our first step in doing that was to have ensure the
entrance was on second street to reduce any vehicular traffic on first and sixth. Our second effort um which you can see in the renderings that we have up here would be to have elevated pedestrian corridors um and ensure that we're able to provide sort of nice
shaded walkways that either encourage people to take a rest bit in the commercial business as they came to and from the beach or also slow everybody down as they came to that corner which as we know can be really popular and busy which we just heard for the past hundred years thanks to the castle
marina. Um, so you you can see some of what we've done. In addition, we also wanted to leave ourselves available in the future for the potential to have some outdoor dining because we really like kind of what's happened in some of this corridor. And our goal is to try to continue the work that's already been done that's been supported by this
board. So you can see from the from the elevations he intends to have balconies surrounded the parking garage screen so it's not visible um from the road and the parking lot is going to be centralized and I believe because it's
so significantly above what's required by code that it's available not only to the public but also to the commercial folks um who obviously if you're a commercial business you're going to need access for folks to enjoy your business. We also want to make sure I mean we we
manage multif family and commercial properties as a business for ourselves. We're concerned about our employees ability to get to work on time and employee retention. That's always important. So if we have sufficient parking, we can accommodate most of those situations on site.
And so here you can see the view which shows the sixth street and then second street the elevated uh pedestrian corridors encouraging you know slowed down pedestrian traffic and then the entrance into the parking garage on second street. Um you know from the
beginning of our meetings not only with the planning staff and the city's leadership um we've also had several pre-application meetings with your technical department so we can ensure that what we are putting together in this presentation is that we would be able to construct that the utilities
would be available that we could resolve any um electrical or power solutions. So, we've been thorough in our due diligence. As you guys all know, development is a really dynamic process. This is a really big first step. Um but we were careful from November of last
year to try to check as many boxes as possible and put something before you that we would be able to develop. Um that's why the application allows for the flexibility between for sale condominiums or the potential for hotels. I think both work great for this
corridor. Which one is going to be the most feasible from a development perspective is the journey that we've been undertaking also over the past few months. So there you can see the entrance to the parking garage and additional commercial frontage and
signage on second. Um that way we can kind of draw more people and visitors to the site. There's a section with the unique alleyway um and the public rightway that goes between the mango what is now mangoes
and also the site. That didn't work that good, did it? Um if you could read that, which you probably could, that would kind of summarize what the development program could be for the 36 condos that would be for sale. But again, that's subject to kind of how we go through our
development journey and the outcome of our decision this evening. And this this gives you a good feel for the site plan. So, you can see the entrance um focused on Second Street. What we really worked on was making sure that once you were in the
parking garage, when you came out, you entered onto that pedestrian corridor on first or you entered onto that commercial corridor on sixth. The intention of that is I'm going to park there and I'm a public person. I'm just going to go to the beach. I just come out first and it's really easy. If I'm going to visit a commercial
establishment, I spill right onto the commercial. Maybe I get a little bit of both, right? Maybe I get an ice cream cone and go to the beach. Maybe I rent a surfboard and go to the beach. But we wanted to give our pedestrians um and our visitors options so that they felt like they were a part of something once
they left the parking garage. Nobody loves structured parking. Um it's incredibly um capitalally constrained or it's very expensive. So, our intention was to try to make sure it had the most diverse uses. That way, we would be able to serve as many people as possible from
commercial to the residents to the hotel or condos. Um, and really make it part of the solution as I've stated before. So, I think that's the last slide of the presentation. Mr. Sitner's here and he's happy to answer any technical questions about the application and I'm here to answer any
questions from the board. Thanks to the mayor and and the council for their time and a lot of credit to the leadership of the city because it's been a lot of fun working with staff. I get to work in a lot of municipalities and uh this has been a really uh
educational journey because the code has changed along the way and we've been able to kind of be nimble with it. All right. Thank you. We will go ahead and have uh public comment now. If you guys want to take a seat, we'll pull you back up if we have questions. Um, Roger
Whiting, my little clock is broken. See, maybe. Okay, just I'll start timer. Roger Whiting, 11:03 Second Avenue, North, Jack Beach. Um, I'm here and I asked a
question at the committee and got somewhat of an answer. My my questions about the heights. I understand the ruling, but when we had the higher buildings, they were not allowed to be built right to the
sidewalks, which is throwing shadows over the sidewalks continuously basically for six months of the year. Excuse me. I had dental work done. and uh adjacent properties are going to be complete because they're going to be
right to the sidewalk. There used to be setbacks for those higher buildings from the property line that were required and the higher they went, the further those setbacks had to be. I don't remember the numbers, but I know they were in place. This is 100% lock coverage, meaning it's
going to be to the sidewalks all the way around. There's them sidewalks, unlike the ones going through the neighborhoods, are not 8 feet wide. You're right to it and that's going to be completely shadowed the whole time, six months out
of the year for the people using the sidewalks. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Whiting. Bad Mosley. My name is Thad Mosley. I live at 371 Duvall Drive and I'm here today to speak in favor of this request for RD zoning.
Um, four or five specific items. The property owner is a longstanding and deeply committed investor and participant in Jacksonville Beach. The developer has a solid record of successful projects and has worked
closely with Jacksonville Beach Planning to address access, egress, and other issues. U the fact that this project has the height it's got was a result of an arbitration I think you all are familiar
with that reduced oceanfront height where the hotel is now and parcelled out components of that height privilege to three or four other properties I'm very well aware what the
setbacks were the old rules I was not in favor of the height cap but anyway it was either one or two feet depending on what period of time you're talking about. But I don't believe there's any such um condition in the arbitration
award of the height this piece of property. Um this project brings people and businesses to Jacksonville Beach. Be it hotel rooms or condominiums, it still brings people to the beach and it brings businesses to the beach. Um I believe
that's what we've been working on for a while. I'm very familiar with this part of town. I've been invested in it, participating in it for an embarrassing number of years. Um, last point is that this design is
attractive and it manages to include more than adequate parking, which is on site and out of sight, which I think is fantastic. Really don't like looking at car parks. We've got a lot of them. And I think that they've internalized the
parking is a major plus for this project. Any shadows to be cast will be cast on the streets and the sun declining to the south and never getting above dead high on June 22nd or whatever
is not going to be casting any shadows to the south. So, all in all, I think it's a great project. Good people. Um, they've done it before. They can do it again. I think it's going to be a super duper addition to this part of Jacksonville Beach and I ask you all please to consider accepting it. Thank
you so much. Thank you, Mr. Mosley. Casey Braun. Yeah. Casey Braun, 80413th Avenue North, Jacksonville Beach, Florida. uh considering this ordinance 20258224 and it states that the city
council has considered the adoption of this ordinance based on one or more factors listed in section 3453HC of the land development code and hereby finds that this amendment will not result in an adverse change to the
community in which it is located. Aside from the potential eyesore of height minimum set and minimum setbacks, was traffic considered as an adverse change? And I'm not talking about parking. Traffic impact research
is always conducted by the developer and never shows any adverse possibilities. The growing monstrous eyes outside Gonzalez Park is a typical example. The truth is that traffic is a bigger impact than is ever discussed in
development briefings. In 1970, the mayor of Jacksonville spoke at a Florida State University conference on problems of metropolitan transportation where the population had increased by
12.8% from 1960 to 1970. The number of automobiles had increased 78.5%. The average number of daily trips within the city increased by
117.5%. And downtown trips by 127%. More than doubling the traffic level of a decade earlier. The resulting increased traffic congestion worked against opening downtown to
development. And if you've tried driving down here most time in the day, you'll know that traffic's easily doubled out there. As I stated in a previous council meeting, nearly all the projects being considered by Jack's Beach to protect
citizens like bike trails, crosswalks, parking, Penman Road, pedestrian friendly, all involved traffic. The ordinance will increase cars and work against downtown and the rest of the beach as
well. If if people want to go to the beach, all they really need is a parking lot. Uh like all other projects that are implemented here, there is discussion before any decisions, but rarely any explanation as to why
afterwards. For this one, I hope there's no need to discuss why. Please vote it down. Thank you, Mr. Brun. Is there anyone else who would like to speak during public hearing for or against the
proposal? Mr. P. Good evening, council. My name is Gary Pay, 725 Bonire Circle, Jack Beach. Just a couple quick comments. Um I think this is a wonderful addition to the city. It is consistent with the
2007 vision plan that had been put together by the city particularly for the corridor along 6th Avenue North and is therefore I think a project that should be approved by the city. Architecturally speaking, it
complements, I believe, uh, Kasa Marino, which is across the street on first. Um, it has that same somewhat style of art deco, which I think would be a wonderful feature to have on that intersection.
That is a very important intersection in the city. First Street, 6th Avenue North could be a real hub for the city if done correctly with retail and restaurants and so forth. And I think what I've seen
in the plan starts to present exactly that concept. The only thing I would uh ask and Heather, you might want to take a look at this. On the plan, it shows an alley to the north of the project just
off of First Street. And I don't know if that alley has any real function. And the thing that I would just put out there for consideration is maybe that alley ought to just become part of the project. If there's nothing in the
alley, somebody's got to maintain it. Is it maintained by the city or by somebody else? It's kind of right between this project and Mangoes. Um, if there's nothing in the way of utilities under there, I would think that this might be
an opportunity to make that a little bit nicer than just an alley in that location. But thank you all for your attention. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. P. Would anyone else like to address this item? Seeing none, the public hearing is closed. Uh, would the applicant or
planning director like to respond to any comments? All right. Sorry, I should have said that. And then now that the public hearing is closed, uh before requesting motion on this ordinance, beginning with myself, each of the members is requested to indicate for the record whether the member has
had any exparte communications on the matter, and if so, disclose the names of persons and the substance of the communications. An exparte communication refers to any meeting or discussion with a person or citizen who may have an interest in the decision which occurred outside of the public hearing process.
Written exparte communications, whether sent to one member or all members, do not have to be disclosed on the record, but must be made a part of the record by sending them or forwarding them to the city clerk. I have not had any exparte communications on this item. Mr. Sutton,
none. Mr. Horn, none. Mr. Wowers, none. Mr. Wagner, none. Mr. Jansen. Uh this morning, uh Steven Deanau called me and asked me to introduce myself to Mike Sitner who's his representative, but and I did right before the meeting, but
there was no conversation of the project itself, so quite frankly, none. Thank you, Mr. Jansen. Miss Golding. None. All right. Okay. Is there a motion on this item? There is. I move we approve the ordinance number 20258224 on the first reading for
reszoning of property located at 1026th Avenue North from central business district CBD to redevelopment district RD for a mixeduse project and a schedule second reading for June 16th, 2025. Second. Before opening the floor for
discussion or questions by the council, please be reminded that our decision will be based on the criteria set forth in the land development code and the council is required to approve a clear statement of specific findings of facts stating the basis upon which such facts were determined and the decision was made. We'll now open the floor uh for
discussion by councel. Mr. Jansen. So maybe uh Heather, you or or Mr. seats could uh speak to that that interesting alleyway that Mr. Patel brought up.
I was just going to say I'm not aware of a use that's there. This is a strange block that was some combination of two separate plats. The west half didn't have an alley. The east side does. So I you may know more than I do, Billy, of if there's utilities in there or not, or
if it could be closed. I'd probably have to consult with public works to get some additional information. Yeah. Um through to to Councilman Jansen, through the mayor. Um it was discussed at length at the preapp. There are some utilities that are in that alleyway. Our
goal was to resolve the best solution for utility connection and then determine what the outcome of the alley is. Um the alley is currently under the ownership of the city of J Beach. We're openminded to making it a small public space, vacating it if that's the city's
discretion. That would be between Mangoes and us and you to figure out as long as it's better than its current condition and we have utilities to our property were consider us a partner in the solution. Yeah. I also want to just take a moment and and thank you Mr. seats for really taking um consideration
of the community in mind, realizing that we have parking issues and realizing the desires of our community. And also taking in consideration, it looks like on the previous artwork that the that you were addressing maybe the effect of
having what I would call a tunnel effect where by creating that wave kind of look to it if that were to be the final concept. Um and we're that kind of avoids that wind tunnel or that sound tunnel effect along First Street. So, uh
being mindful of those needs to the community and putting a park uh the parking garage opening on Second Street, these type of things shows that you're uh considering what what community likes to see and what we like to see. So, thank you, sir. Appreciate the feedback.
Mr. Horn. Um, Heather, can you comment on some of the things that were mentioned uh specifically uh the setbacks and you know our thought process behind having a full footprint? Sure. Uh so for
the record the the settlement itself is um written very strangely as far as each property's individual requirements. um when the height limit uh before it was changed to 35 foot, it was different
on the ocean front than it was for the rest of the city. So that's why you see a lot of the very tall condos on the ocean that are tall and skinny um because the requirements were different back then. So it's our understanding and interpretation um that they can take advantage of the entire property since
they're reszoning it to RD uh which is similar to what um the Spring Hill did as well. I I don't recall what if Margaritavville had extra setbacks or not. I just off the top of my head, I don't recall. Um but the provisions were pretty strange at the time and then the settlement kind of switched things
around a little bit. Um made it even more confusing if you can imagine that. So again, every property was a little bit unique. Um so setbacks as far as we're concerned can be zero. Um if you do look at I don't think you can see it from this image, but I know there was
concern about the the shade um that it create it's it's really more of like a prominade uh which from my recollection in previous discussions is something that the CRA and the city really wanted to encourage is having those shaded prominads because it is it is hot out
there especially now. Um so it the building line is actually pushed back a little bit on that first floor. Um I know it's kind of hard to see from the pictures but might be easier to see on your on your paper copy. And can you and can you comment on the other issue that was brought up in
regards to to traffic? You know, so one of the things that we like about this project is that it does encourage people to park their car, conduct their business, and not get back into their car again until they leave. They can go to the beach, they can go around downtown, they can, you know,
patronize the commercial establishments. Um, residential traffic generation is a lot lower than commercial. So, the bulk of this project being residential won't generate as much traffic as if it were a strictly commercial building with without residential uses. Um, since we
are a transportation concurrency exception area per statute, um, they won't be required to, you know, add new roads or expand roads. That's just not what we do here. But they will be required to pay into our mobility fee fund based on the difference in use
between what's there now and what they're proposing. Uh, and that money goes into a fund that the city can then use for things like sidewalks and urban trails and ways to encourage other mobility uses such as Mr. Brun, with all due respect, Miss Ireland listened to you quietly while it was your turn to
speak. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Um, they will have to pay into that fund. I don't know the exact amount. That doesn't get figured out until they go to the building permit process. Um, I will say to the developer of looking at this project, um, no, I I I
will commend you on, you know, one of the things I've I kind of sat and thought about this. Um, one of the issues with traffic is one of the problems that we have in Jacksonville Beach is nobody can find parking. And so you have a lot of
traffic, just people driving around looking. Um and this actually provides a rather large number of extra parking spaces than are required and I was very happy to see that. I wish um I think that is part of the give and take with
the setbacks and is that we are getting some more parking spaces here. Um you know I think aesthetically it's good looking property. Um, I think that, um, like was mentioned by, you know, Gary and some other members, I think from the
city side, I think this will be a benefit to us and, um, yeah, I want to thank you though for all the parking assist. Thank you, Miss Golding. Thank you. Um, I have a few questions.
So, if you don't mind staying up there, you're you're the right person, I think, for these questions. Um, first of all, so you mentioned uh uh outside dining, which, you know, that's something that that we're we are very supportive of. And when I look at the site plan, I
don't see that there appears to be a whole lot of space for tables to go for outdoor dining. So, I guess my question to you is this, and I know I know I believe you're going to try to have some restaurants as the commercial tenants.
Is that correct? Yeah. Um, through the mayor to Council, Councilwoman Golding. Um, our our intention is intention is to provide an opportunity to have a restaurant and allow them to adhere to the city's use of outdoor dining per their code. Um, what that means in our
final design, this is this is preliminary. Um so we don't know exactly how that works out. We know that it's been done a number of ways in public right away um you know on the right here on Third Street I believe or in front of
um Waka I believe it's called. So we we would look to that. It's preliminary because we don't know who our tenants going to be. So may maybe it is a restaurant, maybe it's not a restaurant. We just know that it's important to the city. We really like the feel of what's happened on this corner. So we wanted to
create an opportunity to have that here. I I would just say that my comment would be this that um because this is a project that's you know starting from you know ground zero so to speak um I I
would prefer to see that outside dining not um take public right away because you have the opportunity to incorporate it into your design now. Um I you know I would just that that's just my comment.
Um, okay. The other uh another question I had or comment I guess maybe is on page seven of the application which item number five which is consistency with the city's LDC. Uh
there's a statement that says bars, lounges, nightclubs, and taverns are listed as prohibited uses within the RD narrative description. However, when I go and I look at the prohibited uses in which I guess would be on page 10 and
the the attachment as well that's referenced, the bars, lounges, nightclubs, and taverns are not listed as a prohibited use. And so I was just wanting to ask you about that. Sure. Michael Sittner, one independent drive
through the mayor to council member Golding. uh that use is not included as a permitted use and it's so just because it's outside of the RD excluded uses um since it's not permitted exclusively like in the document. So there's no way we could do a bar because it's not a
permitted use in in the document. So would you be would you be amanable to adding language in the RD resoning that that just clearly states like in that section three under prohibited uses that bars, lounges, nightclubs, and taverns
are prohibited. Just so it's clear, it's you know in black and white in in that section where prohibited uses should reside. through through the chair if that's something that you would like to see shirt and under our understanding it's already not we're on the same page with
the plane department as well. So if that would make it feel more secure I guess with putting that in there we wouldn't mind. I guess my feeling is make making it clear or you know putting it putting it in there very specifically
uh if I mean I would I would feel better about it as opposed to not having it there. So that's just my comment. Yeah, absolutely. Um and then so I absolutely appreciate all the parking that you have in this project. Um looks like 127 extra
spaces ba based on the 110 that are required which is wonderful because as you've said parking is an issue in in our downtown area. Um so I had a couple of questions about parking. Um I know
that the requirements for parking are based off of uh retail, you know, the retail numbers or whatever, but um and I see that so 18,000 some odd squaret of commercial space um requires 38 parking
spaces which you provide in the on that ground floor. Um but you know hopefully you'll have some really successful restaurants that you know or businesses too that will be
um tenants in your building. So, uh, my question is, um, because there's so much extra parking, will there be park public parking beyond the first floor or is just the first floor all that's going to
be available for public parking? Um, through the mayor to to councilwoman Golding. Um, the the intention is that anybody can go there and park and go to the beach or to the commercial establishments and it could be on on any Once we determine the final use, let's
say it's condos, there may be a floor dedicated only to condos that would be separate from the rest of the parking. If it's hotel, there may be two floors and we may have a valet section, but ideally we clearly sign the parking so everybody's aware where they park. We
also offer multiple parking solutions as been as has been discussed, including golf cart compact and and uh bicycle because we want to create the most dynamic product. These parking garages are um cost prohibitive generally. So, we really need to maximize the use and
we also want to be a good neighbor because we don't intend this to be our final development project in the city of Jacksonville Beach. We intend to be good partners and neighbors for the future. Um, so, uh, if you could put the site plan up
there and maybe this is just I I realize this is just a just a a drawing or, you know, a representation. I'm assuming there will be handicap parking. Okay. Okay. Because I I mean I just didn't see anything that was designated for handicapped. So I just wanted to make
sure. Um and then uh one of the issues that we have been having with parking is we have had properties who do not allow their employees to park on their property. And so my question for you is
would you guys be amanable to a condition that requires the employees of your commercial tenants to park on your on the property. Um just to make sure that because what we're seeing and I don't know if you've heard this or not
but but we have properties in the downtown area that don't allow their employees to park on their property. So, they're parking in public parking and you know that's taking away parking from the public of course and so I want to
approach you about that as well about that stipulation or condition. Um through through the mayor I think it's possible to add a provision that allowed for on-site employee parking. I think it would be a challenge for us at this point to determine the volume of that,
but I think we could because we don't know the final use, right? And that's why we're here and that's why the RD zoning in the central business district is so great because it's about the size and massing of the building. Um, which could allow for different uses. So, I think we could add a provision that said employee site parking on site will be
provided. I think that's something that would be probably beneficial to us retaining commercial tenants and finding the right potential hotel partner. Okay. So, I guess my question then would be there are a few things that they've said that they would be willing to do. Is it
is it something that we can just say, okay, ask them to come back with a modified application for the second reading or do we need to make a motion? Uh, city attorney, do you have a
recommendation? I think either way is legally sufficient. We're we're on the record. I'm going to turn to Does planning staff have a preference what what works better, I guess, for record keeping and just the flow of things. Uh again, we don't have a preference either. Usually,
when we get to this point and there's conditions placed on it, we put it right into the ordinance as opposed to editing the narrative. Um so, again, either way is fine. We can put any conditions within the ordinance itself and those would be adhered to. So, if I may, if if this motion as currently on the table
passes tonight, does that give you enough time to put those provisions in the ordinance so when it comes back two weeks from tonight? Yeah, absolutely. It would just come back to you as as amended. That would be legally sufficient. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Wagner.
Thank you. So, um, I want to start by thanking you guys for the flexibility and and how focused you you are on our community and helping us kind of support all of our missions and trying to make this a better place for for all of our
residents. So, seems like you guys really are kind of putting that foot first foot forward out really great. So, I really do appreciate that. Um, I did want to just take a second and touch on what Mr. Pel talked about with the look and feel of the building and how notice
some similarities with uh the existing structures down at that area in case Marina and so I just would like to continue to encourage uh where you have I know this is a concept still it's not finalized it's all that stuff but as much as we can kind of keep that kind of
that part of it um would greatly appreciate it I I know you guys want to do what makes the most sense and and what's you know most functional easy to maintain but you know that look and feel would be I think a nice element down there particularly as we have additional building going on across the street. Um
so really would appreciate that. And then the one thing that I would ask um just kind of based on uh uh councelor Golding's comments is considering there's so much we don't know. Is there a way for us to look at things where we say like we won't prohibit the parking
versus coming up with something that says I don't want us to I don't want to have you guys committing to something that you ultimately can't deliver on and put and creating a problem in the future. So if we just say so I'm I'm like a little concerned that we might like declare a certain number or a
certain requirement and you know I'm you know a little nervous about kind of committing to things we don't know yet. Yeah. Through through the mayor to to Councilman Wagner. Um I I think we we'd be concerned about putting a number on it. Um I don't think we're concerned
with providing a provision that would allow it. Um again if we're talking about establishments we hope to put here. Let's speculate on a hotel. Employee retention is going to be critical to our success. So whether we have a hybrid of some employees are
on-site and others are forced to park offsite because we have such a wildly successful hotel or I mean there's been shuttle there's a lot of different solutions out there. I think it's comfortable to provide a provision that would require some but not hold us to a number and I think that could be
something that we all look upon favorably. Thank you very much, Mr. Jansen. Revisit. Yes. Um, Heather, is is there a likelihood that when they finally get to a final concept in design
that this might come back in front of us a second time, not for zoning, but for anything else? No. Not unless they were making changes to their design. Would it come before you guys? There are certain provisions in the code that allow some flexibility administratively. Um, but if
they were to wildly change their concept, then it would have to come back to you guys for an amendment. Okay. Yeah. So, my sentiments kind of falling in line with Mr. Wagner's. I don't want to force the developer to commit to something that that they couldn't follow through with. I I have to agree with his
sentiments, not knowing exactly what's going to be there. That's why I asked that question. So, I would be very careful on how we approach that. Mr. Wowers. Thank you, Mayor. Um, Miss Ireland, I would like to know, is there any place
in the city where we've given uh builders or developers the right to construct balconies 10 ft over the rightway? Yes, it's actually allowable in our central business district with approval from public works. So the um overhangs
that are on the east side of First Street and when you're walking past some of the bar and restaurant establishments that are there, those overhangs are actually in the right of way. So it would be a similar process for them to be able to get that through public works. Well, I would like to ask whoever would
care to comment. Do you have any concerns about public safety with suppose this is a hotel? Let me back up first. Did you put somewhere in your zoning application that you might build town homes, you might build a hotel or
you might sell it fe simple? Uh I definitely the town that definitely the condos or hotel sorry through the mayor to to council member Wowers. Definitely the condos or hotel we did incorporate that so we would have the flexibility. Whether or not we are the
ultimate owner in five or 10 years that's difficult for me to speculate. So, we did not put any provision in there that contemplated a sale or ownership. That's generally not something that's included in a land use and zoning application. So, you would contemplate whatever approval you get that you could just take it and sell it
to a third party and then they could use it in however they see fit. Uh to Councilman Waters, our intention today is to develop it per the approval that we anticipate or hope to receive. That's what's in the RD application and that is
the been the intention since we started the journey in November. So, Miss Ireland, it you said it is a permissible, but has it actually occurred? Are there are there overhangs? Yes, they ex exist now on First Street.
Has there been any problem with people being injured by falling ashtrays or bottles or anything like that? Not that I am aware of. because that makes me frankly a little uncomfortable thinking about people could be up there, you know, drinking, doing whatever and people are the public is walking right
underneath them. So, I do have concerns about that. And, uh, going back to Councilman Horn's question about setbacks. What are the setback requirements? Setbacks in downtown where this property are essentially zero as they're proposing it are are zero
setbacks. I understand there are zero setbacks. But what are the what are the setback? Is it 5 feet, 10 feet? Well, because it's a RD reszoning, they're allowed to be flexible outside the regular standards in the central business district just like we would see with a PUD zoning. Uh they can have a
little bit more flexibility based on what their project needs are outside of the regular zoning standard. So they basically through the RD zoning set their own standards. Let me try to rephrase my question. What are the regular zoning standards? Um, I don't have the new code in front of me, but
for downtown, the front is zero, sides are zero, and I think the rear is 10. I just don't have the new code in front of me. Although Sandy does have it because I dropped her off the copy. Uh, no, I don't. I'd have to dig through it. And just to be clear about public
parking, um, I think there's about 50 public spaces out there now. Are we going to be guaranteed 50 public spaces in this new structure? you referring to the spaces in the that are in front of the strip and all that.
Yeah. So, those are those are private parking spaces that are on the same property as that strip center and for the customers of those tenants. But anyone can park there, right? I I don't know their operational rules. Yeah. I I think you have to be patronizing a
business there. It's not public parking. It's private parking. And one last thing that we've seen um when uh development projects go on, the construction workers are allowed by our uh regulations to park on both sides
of the street. So, I would imagine we're going to have 100 workers. Do you have a plan for where these folks will park or are they just going to be parking all throughout the neighborhood and clogging up downtown? Uh through the mayor to the councilman. Um, our intention would be to work on
that during the building permit process. Generally for large construction process, we would need to file some sort of memorandum of transportation to ensure that when we were working on site, we weren't interrupting the general flow of traffic and we would do that in partnership with your public
works department and that would be closer to the time we get to our building permit process. I hope you will keep that under consideration. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Waters. Miss Golding. Uh, just real quick, if if I'm looking at the correct table to answer Mr.
Wilders's question, I believe for a mixeduse building, it says 10 ft for the front setback. Is that maximum of 10 feet? Okay. And then uh side setback is dash or zero minimum. Zero minimum. Sorry.
Sorry. I'm looking at the wrong thing. Rear setback 10 minimum. That sounds zero minimum for front. I'm sure glad I gave you that copy. Yeah. Today. Any other questions or comments? I just want to echo the
comment that I appreciate the leg work that went into this. I know there's been many meetings over many months, maybe yearish. Um, and I think that um, that thought is evidenced by the fact that we have a majority of our community redevelopment council here um,
or CRA here. So, uh, in support of this project and I think that's very telling. Um, as far as the alignment with our our goals and vision for downtown. So, appreciate the extra effort that you went uh that you put into that. Um, any other questions or comments from
council, Mr. Sutton? Uh just a comment that um Heather if we could get you know before the second reading a few days ahead of time so we can see those revisions that are going to be put in uh with with time to kind of look at that.
Thanks. Any other questions or comments? Madam Clerk, roll call. Council member Horn with the amended adjustments. Yes. Council member Jansen. Yes. Council member Sutton, yes. Council
member Wagner, yes. Council member Wowers, no. Council member Golding, yes. Mayor Hoffman. Yes. Motion carries. Uh, is there a motion to adjurnn? Move to adjurnn. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying
I. I. Any opposed? Council, please, uh, if you don't mind staying back to do a video for the baseball team. I appreciate it. Meeting is ajourned.