Description	WORKSHOP - Kickoff Meeting - Comprehensive Plan Update Workshops 2/22/07; 4:00.p.m. at the Price Martin Community Center
Date	2/22/2007	Location	Palatka City Commission
Time	Speaker	Note
4:05:51 PM	CALL TO ORDER	4:05 p.m. by Mayor Flagg
4:05:54 PM	PRESENT:	Mayor Karl N. Flagg; Commissioners Mary Lawson Brown, Allegra Kitchens, James Norwood. Jr. and George E. Sanders
4:05:56 PM	ALSO PRESENT:	City Manager Allen R. Bush, City Attorney Donald E. Holmes, City Clerk Betsy Jordan Driggers, Assistant City Clerk Karen Venables, Parks Supt. Jeff Norton, Planner Geoff Pappas, Police Chief Gary Getchell, Fire Chief Mike Lambert, General Services Director Ken Venables, Public Works Director Woody Boynton, Water Distr. Supt. Rhett McCamey, Airport Manager Glenn Ball, Planner's Assistant Debbie Banks.
4:05:59 PM	READING OF CALL	Mayor Flagg read the following call, which was issued on February 14, 2007: TO MESSRS: MARY LAWSON BROWN, JAMES NORWOOD, GEORGE SANDERS AND ALLEGRA KITCHENS: You are hereby notified that that a workshop meeting is called to be held at the alternate meeting place of the Palatka City Commission, the Price Martin Center, located at 220 N. 11^th Street in the City of Palatka, to commence at 4:00 p.m. The purpose of the workshop is to begin the process of updates and amendments to the City of Palatka Comprehensive Plan. /s/ Karl N. Flagg, Mayor The following Commissioners acknowledged receipt of a copy of the foregoing notice of a special meeting on the 14^th day of February, 2006: /s/ Mary Lawson Brown /s/ James Norwood, Jr. /s/ George E. Sanders /s/ Allegra Kitchens
4:06:03 PM		Mayor Flagg opened the workshop.
4:06:28 PM	PRESENTATION	Geoff Pappas, Planner, introduced Guy Parrola and Ed Layman, consultants with the Northeast Florida Regional Council, the entity the City has contracted with to aid in the development of its required periodic Comprehensive Plan updates and amendments, as mandated by FS Chapter 163. The City Commission, staff and audience viewed a power-point presentation on the Comprehensive Plan Update process, provided by the NE Florida Regional Council. Mr. Pappas noted the Comp Plan contains elements representative of the plan's jurisdiction, and is updated periodically to effectively manage growth, looking at population and development increases and where development will progress. There are new requirements in place. They must have public input; this is the “People's Plan,” not the City of Palatka's plan. It is important to have public involvement. They take input from elected officials, both City and County, various City boards, stakeholders, businesses and the general public. This is a global, all-inclusive plan. At the state level, there are nine required elements of the Comprehensive Plan
4:11:24 PM	Future Land Use Element:	This is the traditional focal point of the comprehensive plan and sets forth the physical land use plan for future development of a local government. It sets forth appropriate locations for future development, and appropriate density of land use, based on location, growth, infrastructure, development trends, population projections, and suitability. Adjacent land uses must be congruent.
4:12:43 PM		The Future Land Use Map is broken down into districts, i.e. residential, commercial, industrial, recreation, conservation, agriculture, vacant/undeveloped land, historic/culturally significant areas (such as the historic districts), public grounds, other public facilities, and education. Due to Palatka's organizational structure, they will explore the creation of individual potable & non-potable water and sanitary sewer elements.
4:22:07 PM	Transportation Element:	They will establish desired & projected system needs, assess the capability of the existing system, and formulate levels of service standards. This is interdependent with the Future Land Use element and assists with concurrency measures.
4:22:26 PM	Housing Element:	This looks at present housing stock characteristics, conditions and inventory; identifies housing projections and supply & demand issues, and land requirements for housing needs. It includes high density, medium density and low density housing as well as public and affordable housing.
4:22:58 PM	Solid Waste Element:	They will identify demand for public facilities for solid waste areas, correlated with Future Land Use and population projections, evaluate the performance of existing facilities, and prioritize funding for facilities.
4:23:36 PM	Conservation Element:	Promotes conservation, use and protection of natural resources, identifies future land uses that may be incompatible with protected natural resources, and establishes policy to protect natural resources. This includes recreation areas.
4:24:29 PM	Intergovernmental Coordination Element:	This element is designed to maintain and improve government efficiency in public service delivery. Includes intergovernmental coordination with other agencies through inter-local agreements, avoidance of duplication of activities, and promotes cooperation between government entities.
4:25:47 PM	Capital Improvements Element:	This was formulated to address five areas. It looks at the need and cost for public facilities and improvements, i.e. sewage treatment plants, water plants, government buildings, civic centers. It analyzes financial feasibility of such improvements. New facilities and improvements must be financially feasible or they won't pass muster with DCA. It looks to adopt financial policies to guide funding of improvements, and schedules funding and construction of improvements based on needs identified in the Comp Plan elements.
4:27:22 PM	Economic Development:	This element is optional. It can be valuable in creating a sustainable community, and provides guiding principals for converting areas from residential to commercial and vice-versa.
4:27:56 PM	Airport Element:	This element is also optional. It protects the Airport's interests and puts development standards in place as they relate to land uses around the airport as they relate to Air Installation Compatibility Use Zones (AICUZ). It promotes compatible land uses within proximity to the airport, and discourages inappropriate land uses within that proximity.
4:28:34 PM	Education:	FS163.3177(12), requires each local government to adopt a public school facilities element in order to implement a school concurrency program. This is being conducted by the School Board, and the City will be coordinating this with them through a grant. The Regional Council will not be involved in this element. This provides for future planning of new schools in the Future Land Use and Intergovernmental Coordination Elements.
4:30:28 PM	Public Safety Element	This protects the Police and Fire Department's interests and establishes levels of service standards for fire and police responses. It also promotes crime prevention through environmental design (SEPTED) techniques to reduce service calls, and establishes policies that aid in the process of public safety.
4:31:37 PM	Conclusion	Mr. Pappas concluded by saying the future of Palatka belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, which he paraphrased from Eleanor Roosevelt quote. He said this is the People's plan, not the City of Palatka's plan. It is a consensus-building plan of how the community wants to grow.
4:33:01 PM	Public Comments & Questions	Christy Sanford, 312 Dodge Street, asked how many of these are required by the state, and how much flexibility they have in naming their own elements? As to parks, she believes they should be divided into urban landscaping and recreation. She doesn't see an urban landscaping element; conservation doesn't really provide for that. Looking good is part of redevelopment. She doesn't see that orientation. Mr. Pappas said they can set up the recreational open space development in two parts if they want to; they will discuss that during the first workshop.
4:35:20 PM		Ruth Burke, 510 Mulholland Park, asked who makes the final decision. Mr. Pappas said the draft will go to DCA, and they will return it with comments and suggestions. They City will make final corrections, send it back to DCA, and they will either approve or reject it. If it is not rational and doesn't cover all the elements, they can reject it.
4:37:03 PM	Urban Service Boundary Map	Mr. Pappas displayed a potential Urban Service Boundary Map, which he stated he was introducing tonight. It displays future growth areas around the City and will be key to planning for the future. These are just anticipated boundaries. It could get smaller or larger; that will be determined through meetings with Putnam County BOCC and staff. Currently, the boundary goes south to Peniel Road to E. St. Johns Street, and north of Rice Creek. Rice Creek could form a natural boundary to the north. This is all speculative.
4:39:56 PM		Commissioner Brown asked if they need to judge future boundaries by what has come in over the last ten years. Mr. Pappas said there are several future developments planned, i.e. out on Lundy Road, and on Hwy 19. They need to determine how far west they will go. This will include a plan to square up the boundaries and eliminate enclaves.
4:41:20 PM	Robert Griffith	510 Mulholland Park, asked if the County is also involved in the process. Mr. Pappas said the County will be an integral part of this; they will meet with them numerous times before it is over. This will relate to shared or duplicated services, intergovernmental agreements, etc.
4:42:41 PM		Commissioner Sanders said they will have to plan for future industrial development areas as well as commercial and residential areas. Mr. Pappas said they will look at the current inventory and look for areas to either expand or mix it. They will talk about that in the first workshop.
4:43:43 PM		Commissioner Kitchens said thus far the discussion has centered around County areas, and those talks should include county residents. She thought they were here to talk about the City's Comp Plan. Mr. Pappas said he would be remiss if he didn't talk about urban service boundaries, as that is in the works now. Commissioner Kitchens said the City's zoning map has not been updated since 2003 or earlier, and needs to be updated prior to the Comp Plan updates. Mr. Pappas said he is working on that now. Commissioner Kitchens said it is causing a lot of confusion, and suggested working with the Property Appraiser's office on an update. Mr. Pappas said they are talking with them about that now, and noted Det. Chris Cheatham has been working on the inconsistencies in the Weed & Seed area.
4:47:14 PM		Len Freeman, 422 River Street, speaking as a citizen and member of the Putnam County Planning Commission, said as to the urban service boundary map, they have discussed at length the potential ironing out of enclaves and establishing an urban service boundary map. There are several thousand acres on this map that are wetlands and conservation areas owned by the State. He asked Mr. Pappas what he envisions the protocol to be in working with the County, Regional Council and DCA in coming up with a solid urban service boundary. Mr. Pappas said there are several options available. They can do a wholesale annexation or set up an urban service boundary where you wouldn't have to go to DCA for large-scale land development, which is something new, but it may not be beneficial for all parties. They are currently holding meetings on that and on ways to protect conservation land, agricultural areas, and low-density communities. They don't want urban sprawl. They need to fix the 'pockets' first, and then decide on the boundaries. They need to determine how they will provide for services.
4:50:54 PM		Allen Bush, City Manager, said the City has held an initial meeting with the County on this in order to lay out the initial protocol. Urban Service boundaries don't necessarily reflect the city limits, but where city services would be extended to. Mr. Pappas concurred, saying it is to determine where services will extend outside the City's jurisdiction. There are currently problem areas in the County where wells are drying up, and services could be provided there without annexation.
4:52:55 PM		James Williams, Ocean Street, asked how the City would handle putting an industrial site in a residential neighborhood. The current comp plan sets forth residential, commercial and industrial areas, and people have tried to move industrial uses into residential areas. Mr. Pappas said they have to look at each instance to see if the uses are compatible with each other. There is an economic factor to look at. They need to decide if it is the best location for that designation. That will be decided upon in the workshops.
4:57:02 PM		Ruth Burke, 510 Mulholland, said, as to parking garages, the state statute states a majority of landowners have a vote. Mr. Pappas said they may be able to add that to the plan. Mrs. Burke said it is going to happen with riverfront development, and she wants to be sure she is notified of this. Mr. Pappas said if something has already been approved, they can't stop it. A conceptual plan has been accepted, but for the most part it is still in the developmental stages. Ms. Burke read from the statute that transportation elements must be approved by a majority vote; this is from the 2006 Florida Statute. Mr. Pappas said that applies to a tax increment financing district. Ms. Burke said St. Johns Avenue is in a tax district. Mr. Pappas said this is a regulatory issue and a zoning issue. These policies can be in place on a local level to be consistent with state statutes and regional rules. It can be addressed in the Comp Plan update.
5:01:12 PM		Mr. Pappas said, based on the timeline, the workshop is scheduled for March 5 at 4:00 p.m. They may need an additional hour for the workshop, and may need to move it up to 3:00 p.m. They will be giving notice on this. The 2nd workshop is scheduled for May. They will have tables set up so that they can break out into groups; there will be one table per element. In June they will present a draft update to the Commission, who can then suggest changes, and afterwards they will hold Workshop #3. Then a draft will be ready for transmittal to DCA. By October they will have their amendments in place and will hold a final workshop. Afterwards, the plan can be transmitted to DCA for final approval. They hope to submit the final plan to the City Commission for adoption in November, 2007. The final plan may look different from what the City submits to DCA; there are other agencies that will have a say in the Plan.
5:05:43 PM		Commissioner Brown said workshops should be held after 5:00 p.m. so people can attend. Mr. Pappas said they want to encourage people to attend and will try to make the meetings as accessible as possible. They will be sending out notices on the next workshop.
5:06:45 PM		Mr. Pappas concluded his presentation.
5:08:14 PM	Commissioner Comments
5:08:24 PM		Commissioner Brown complimented Mr. Pappas on his presentation and said they have a big task ahead of them. She is looking forward to it. The Empowerment Zone application has a lot of citizen input in it, and may contain something they can use.
5:09:58 PM		Commissioner Kitchens thanked Mr. Pappas for his presentation and said it is vital to set workshop times in the evenings so citizens can attend. They may need to set some on Saturdays.
5:10:31 PM		Mayor Flagg said, reference urban service boundaries, until the City and County come together, they shouldn't be putting out information on any proposed urban service boundaries. None have been established. They also need to be clear that urban service does not equal annexation, so as not to cause confusion and grief for the citizens. Every map that has not been approved or authorized needs to have DRAFT and a date stamped over it, together with where it is coming from. Mr. Pappas said he is trying to get them thinking about where they want to grow in the future. This is absolutely a draft and will go through many changes. They first need to determine how they will set the boundaries. There may be different intergovernmental agreements regarding how they will deliver services.
5:13:48 PM	Adjourn	5:14 upon a motion by Commission Brown, seconded by Commissioner Kitchens.

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