MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD MEETING March 25, 2025 5:30PM The City of Lake Wales Planning and Zoning Board held a meeting on March 25, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at City Hall, 201 W. Central Ave. Lake Wales Florida. ATTENDANCE Planning Board Members (Shaded area indicates absence): Chairperson Vice-Chair Roy Casey Eric Rio Courtney Bud Kyra Love Larry Bossarte Wilkinson McKibben McCrystal Colburn City Staff: Dept. of Planning and Development Autumn Cochella - Growth Management Director Shannon Hancock- Recording Secretary 1. CALL TO ORDER --Ms. Love called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL - Board is present. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Meeting August 27,2024 Mr. Bossarte made a motion to approve the minutes as published and Mr. Colburn seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. 4. COMMUNICATIONS AND PETITIONS = Ms. Love opened up the floor to communications and petitions. Seeing no movement, Ms. Love closed the communication and petitions. NEW BUSINESS 5. Self-Storage Lake Wales Major Site Plan PROJECT: Self-Storage Lake Wales APPLICANT: Patel Greene and Associates, LLC, authorized agent APPROVAL: Major Site Plan PUBLIC HEARING: Not required Ms. Cochella presented the staff report. Mr. Rio questioned about the number of trees on the lot. Ms. Cochella explained that there is a lot of trees and a tree survey will be required in the next phase. She explained what all the tree survey includes and mentioned the tree replacement fund. Mr. Colburn motioned to accept staff recommendation and approval of this Major Site Plan with associated conditions of approval. Mr. Wilkinson seconded the motion. Ms. Love asked for a roll call vote. Chair Vice-Chair Roy Casey Eric Courtney Bud Kyra Love Larry Bossarte Wilkinson McKibben Rio McCrystal Colburn Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes The motion passed. 6. Grove Manor Apartments PROJECT: Grove Manor Apartments APPLICANT: Lake Wales Housing Authority APPROVAL: Special Exception Use Permit Approval for a Multi-Family Planned Development (PDP) and Master Phasing Plan PUBLIC HEARING; Requirements met Ms. Cochella explained the uniqueness of this project and presented the staff report. The applicant was in attendance Rick Crogan with Smith & Henzy Affordable Group explained the different phases of the project. He explained that due to funding, they are starting with Phase 2. Mr. Crogan stated that each phase will commence based on receiving the funding through Florida Housing to start the projects. He stated that phase 2 consist of 78 units and has multiple stories. Brian Herbert with Gallo Herbert Architects explained the design of the project and what was suggested by Dover Kohl. He explained which buildings were two stories and which buildings were three stories. Mr. McKibben wanted to confirm that the other portion of phase 2 was water retention and clubhouse. The representatives stated yes. There was open discussion between the board and the representatives on where the water retention and clubhouse are located within the project. Ms. Love asked what all amenities will the clubhouse offer, if any and what is the purpose of the clubhouse. Mr. Crogan explained that the leasing office will be in the clubhouse, it will have a workout room, a small kitchenette where birthday parties can be held, and a plaza out front with a covered area. Ms. Love stated that visually, it does not have a lot of parking. Mr. Herbert explained that part of the Dover Kohl plan was that they didn't want a lot of parking lots. So, they designed the parking lots to be hidden by the buildings and put a lot on street parking. Mr. Crogan stated that this design was discussed with Dover Kohl over about 15 meetings and there were about five or six designs that were rejected by Dover Kohl before they approved this design. He stated that they were very involved in this design, as well as the redevelopment agency and City Commission were very involved in approving their plans SO they can apply for Florida Housing. Ms. Cochella asked for the representatives to explain the background of why they needed the buy in from City Commission. Mr. Crogan explained that once they started with the project, they were notified about the Lake Wales Connected plan, therefore they had to comply with the Lake Wales Connected plan of which this development is a major component between the north and south parts of Lake Wales. He explained that City Commission wanted them to meet with Dover Kohl. Mr. Rio and Ms. Love expressed their concern in regard to the parking. Ms. Love explained how her concern was with the distance from the building to the available parking. Mr. Herbert explained the design again. There was discussion within the board on the available parking for this phase. Ms. Cochella explained that Dover Kohl and partners try to get away from over parking sites. She stated that we depend on the experts for the project to tell us how they need to park their site. Ms. Cochella explained the parking requirements and that there should be a parking waiver for this site. She stated that this plan never went through any kind of planning process through the city and there was one million dollars allocated to this project from City Commission. She explained the process of which this current project has been through within its planning stage to now. Ms. Love questioned if there was no going back to the drawing board. Ms. Cochella stated that the question would be for the applicant. She stated that the planning staff is recommending approval based on the plan that is before the board that was worked thoughtfully with Dover Kohl and Partners, our town planners. Ms. Cochella stated that there is also the idea of other modes of transportation and that not all residents will own a vehicle. She stated that they could bike, walk, bus, or transit. Mr. Crogan explained that at this point, they have spent over $600,000 on this current plan and design. He stated that at this point, it would be hard to go back and redesign this project to add additional parking spaces. Mr. Colburn asked what the criteria is for affordable housing. Ms. Cochella stated that would be a question for the subject matter experts, maybe someone from the housing authority. She stated that it is a percentage based off of median income. Mr. McKibben wanted to clarify that all the parking in question for phase 2 is also along the water retention pond and clubhouse. Ms. Cochella explained the parking requirements again. She went back to Mr. Colburn's question and stated that the criteria for affordable housing is state regulated. She stated that the applicant has to present to the city that they meet the criteria for affordable housing and they have to continue to be affordable housing for a regulated number of years. Mr. Crogan stated that it will need to remain affordable housing for 50 years. He further explained that they will be putting people in those units that are 30%, 60%, 70% and 80% of the area median income. Mr. Crogan stated he wanted to mention phase 4 of this project and explained the location of it. He stated that this phase is being given to the city and that the city will decide what will be built there. Ms. Love asked for clarification on when the 50 years begin. Mr. Crogan confirmed that it is 50 years from the day they close on the transaction. Mr. Colburn asked if the existing buildings were currently vacant. Mr. Crogan stated that they are not vacant. He explained the relocation process for the current tenants. Mr. Crogan stated that the current tenants will have an option to move back in, if they choose, once the new building is built. Ms. Love questioned how close will the tenants be relocated. Mr. Crogan stated that it was up to the tenants. Al Kirkland stated that the vouchers provided will cover the entire county. Ms. Love asked if there was enough space for all of the residents to be in Lake Wales. Mr. Kirkland stated that he could not answer that question. He stated they will try their best to find housing wherever the tenants would want to live. Mr. Kirkland stated they will assist the residents through the entire process but he cannot guarantee everyone will be able to live in Lake Wales. Mr. Wilkinson asked when the current buildings were built. Mr. Kirkland stated 1972. Mr. Wilkinson explained that he worked as a fire fighter with the city for 25 years and he has been inside those units and they are definitely in need of an upgrade. Ms. Love opened it up for public hearing and asked if anyone would like to speak. Jim Long, he owns 10-15 acres on the northside of the project. He stated he has employees that live in the neighborhood. He questioned if the residents will have assistance with moving. He stated this project affects him with the amount of people who will be moving in. Mr. Long explained that at night, he has to run people out of his building and it has been tough. Linda Kimbrough, she owns property in the vicinity and she has no objection to the project. She stated the only thing that bothers heri is that SO many people will be displaced and asked if they would be able to come back. She also has concerns about the parking. Qornelious Richardson, he grandfathered some land on MLK Blvd, he stated he has no objection on what they are trying to do. He stated the only thing he is uneasy about is if the residents want to return, will their rent increase or is it going to stay the same. Ms. Love asked if anyone else would like to speak. Seeing no movement, she closed the public hearing. Mr. Crogan stated in relation to the relocation, they will pay all moving expenses. He stated they will also assist the tenants with finding new places to live. He stated the tenants that are relocated will have the option to move back, if they qualify. Mr. Crogan stated as far as the rent increase, 60 of the 80 units that are in this phase will have rental assistance through HUD, meaning the tenant will only have to pay 30% of their income. Ms. Cochella asked if the tenants that currently live there will have first option to move back. Mr. Crogan stated that they will have the option to move back but they will need to qualify first based on income. Ms. Love stated she still doesn't like the parking and Mr. Rio agreed. Mr. Crogan stated that it would be hard to change the design right now for phase 2. He stated that they could increase parking in the next phase to make up for lost parking in this phase. There was continued discussion in regard to parking within this phase. Ms. Cochella explained that this is a recommendation and that all of the board members are making their own personal recommendation based on their experience and their own thoughts on the plan. She stated that they are a vote and a recommendation and they do not have to all be on the same page and have consensus. Mr. McKibben asked if there was any demographic information based on how many people would be using public transportation versus having their own car. He asked if any data or research had been done. Ms. Cochella stated not from the city staff. Mr. McKibben gave some ecommendations on what to do with the parking spots within this phase. Ms. Cochella asked Mr. Kirkland how Grove Manor is functioning now as far as the parking goes. She asked if it was sufficiently parked or if there are any parking issues currently. Mr. Kirkland stated that they do not have a parking issues. He stated quite a few residents use the bus services that come through there now. Mr. Colburn asked about the parking calculations. Ms. Cochella listed the recommendations suggested throughout the different discussions. She also gave the parking calculations for this phase. The board members discussed parking calculations throughout the project as a whole. Mr. McKibben mentioned dissolving a parking spot and making it a parking spot for multiple motorcycles, as that is form of transportation used also. Mr. Colburn moved to accept staff recommendation and further recommend to the City Commission for the approval of the special exception use permit for this planned development project with the associated conditions of approval to include a total of at least 1.5 parking spaces per unit for the entire project. Ms. McCrystal seconded the motion. Ms. Love asked for a roll call vote. Chair Vice-Chair Roy Casey Eric Rio Courtney Bud Kyra Love Larry Bossarte Wilkinson McKibben No McCrystal Colburn No Yes Yes No Yes Yes 4 - yay and 3 - nay. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 6:29 PM fc 14 Ohuma-dlonal Attest: Recording Secretary Chairperson