Local News
AP ditching contract for planning, zoning
Marc Valero | Highlands Today
Published: January 30, 2013
AVON PARK - Three different opinions from the county concerning a downtown building's parking requirements has the city council with one opinion — cancel as soon as possible its contract for county planning and zoning services.Published: January 30, 2013
At Monday's city council meeting, City Manager Julian Deleon said he and City Attorney Gerald Buhr received a report Friday from a planning and zoning consultant, who the city hired for a definitive answer on the parking requirements for the building at 1 West Main Street
In the past four months the owners of the building, Fernando and Yudith Fernandez, have been informed by county planning and zoning that 1.7 parking spaces are required per unit, that one parking space is required per unit and that no parking requirements are necessary.
The Fernandezes want to rent rooms on the second-floor of their building to farm workers.
Buhr said the consultant believes the Fernandezes will have to finalize their request for a variance for the property.
The city's zoning consultant said the first letter from the county had the appropriate parking requirement (1.7 parking spaces per unit) according to the city's code, he said.
It leaves the city in an awkward position because the county will not have the variance hearing and the county is the city's planning director at this moment, Buhr said.
"I don't see how you can continue, quite frankly, with the county contract in that regard," he said.
If council members decided to cancel the contract, he recommended asking Deleon to request the county to waive the time period required for cancellation, Buhr said, so the city can have the Fernandezes' variance hearing as soon as possible.
Deleon said city staff will be able to handle the basic code interpretations and he believes a $20,000 budget for planning and zoning services will be sufficient to handle variances. Last year about three variances were processed for the city.
Council members voted unanimously to terminate the planning and zoning contract with the county.
Deleon explained Tuesday that the consultant found that the code requires parking, which triggers a variance for the 1 West Main St. property.
The city will prioritize getting the applicants a resolution to their requested parking variance, Deleon said. The county overall has done a good job, he said.
mvalero@highlandstoday.com (863) 386-5826