Attendee Name	Title	Status	Arrived
Robin Fisher	Chairman / Commissioner District 1	Present
Andy Anderson	Vice Chairman / Commissioner District 5	Present
Chuck Nelson	Commissioner District 2	Present
Mary Bolin	Commissioner District 4	Present
Trudie Infantini	Commissioner District 3	Present

 

The Board of County Commissioners acts as a Quasi Judicial body when it hears requests for rezonings and Conditional Use Permits.  Applicants must provide competent substantial evidence establishing facts, or expert witness testimony showing that the request meets the Zoning Code and the Comprehensive Plan criteria.  Opponents must also testify as to facts, or provide expert testimony; whether they like, or dislike, a request is not competent evidence.  The Board must then decide whether the evidence demonstrates consistency and compatibility with the Comprehensive Plan and the existing rules in the Zoning Ordinance, property adjacent to the property to be rezoned, and the actual development of the surrounding area.  The Board cannot consider speculation, non-expert opinion testimony, or poll the audience by asking those in favor or opposed to stand up or raise their hands.  If a Commissioner has had communications regarding a rezoning or Conditional Use Permit request before the Board, the Commissioner must disclose the subject of the communication and the identity of the person, group, or entity, with whom the communication took place before the Board takes action on the request.  Likewise, if a Commissioner has made a site visit, inspection, or investigation, the Commissioner must disclose that fact before the Board takes action on the request.  Each applicant is allowed a total of 15 minutes to present their request unless the time is extended by a majority vote of the Board.  The applicant may reserve any portion of the 15 minutes for rebuttal.  Other speakers are allowed five minutes to speak.  Speakers may not pass their time to someone else in order to give that person more time to speak.

 

 

 

Chairman Fisher announced in lieu of an invocation, the Board will observe a moment of silence.

 

 

 

Commissioner Mary Bolin led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

 

Space Coast Government Television broadcast a video of Colton Eigenmann. 

 

Chairman Fisher read aloud the Resolution congratulating Colton Eigenmann as a member of Team USA, Winning the World Title in Motocross.

 

The Board adopted Resolution No. 11-185, congratulating Colton Eigenmann upon winning the 85cc Division Motocross World Title, and wishes him much success as he continues to pursue his goals. 

 

 

Colton Eigenmann stated he has been riding since the age of three; stated it was really cool racing in France, because he met other kids from around the world; and he liked to try and learn all of their languages and how they act.  He stated to win was awesome; and upon winning the World Title, he was on stage during the National Anthem. 

 

Chairman Fisher inquired how Colton got his brochure.  Colton responded that is his resume to send to his sponsors.  Commissioner Nelson noted Colton he has his own website.  Colton stated he does not get paid, the sponsors just help him out with gear and goggles and things like that. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated Colton is the next Travis Pastrana; and inquired if that was who he was aspiring to be like.  Colton replied yes. 

 

Conrad Eigenmann stated Colton does not boast, or tell everybody what he does, and it is interesting when the teachers call and say they did not know.  He added interestingly enough, there are thousands of kids that race, eight get selected to go to Europe; and he was selected two years ago to go to Belgium, where he won the first two races, but during the last race he had the championship snatched from him when his motorcycle broke.  He stated last year Colton went to Europe and was bumped up a class; and there was a race in France, in which he was selected to go back to the team a second time, which is unusual.  He stated he won a couple of races and ended up second, so he still had not won that elusive title; and the promoters that put the U.S.A. team together gave him a third chance, which is unheard of.  He stated Colton was selected back this year; he went back with a vengeance; and there was really no one that competed with him.  

 

Chairman Fisher stated the video shows that.  Mr. Eigenmann stated he gets goose bumps and tears in his eyes because he has worked so hard; Colton trains every day and keeps his grades up; and he does what he needs to do to pursue his dreams.  He added as the defending champ, he gets to go back next year to defend his title; but he is unsure which country it will be in. 

 

MOVER:            Andy Anderson, Vice Chairman / Commissioner District 5

SECONDER:     Trudie Infantini, Commissioner District 3

AYES:                Fisher, Anderson, Nelson, Bolin, Infantini

 

 

 

Mel Scott, Assistant County Manager, stated he would like the Board to consider cancelling the September 8, 2011 Workshop, as no topic has been identified. 

 

The Board approved the cancellation of the September 8, 2011 Workshop. 

 

MOVER:            Mary Bolin, Commissioner District 4

SECONDER:     Andy Anderson, Vice Chairman / Commissioner District 5

AYES:                Fisher, Anderson, Nelson, Bolin, Infantini

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the citizens need to give their prayers and respect to Patrick Air Force Base Airmen headed for Afghanistan; and there is a group leaving today of 12 Airmen form the Air Force Reserve 920 Rescue Wing, who will be heading there for combat rescue missions.  He added they are in the middle of a year-long deployment that rotates Airmen out to the war zone; they stay for four months at a time.  He advised the Unit currently has more that 120 deployed to various locations; the majority of them are aviators, maintenance men, and para-rescuers.  He advised para-rescuers are one of the toughest assignments one could have; and it is equal to, or greater than, the Navy Seals.  He went on to state their Unit in 2010 was credited with saving 450 lives, including in the mountains of the Helmena Providence, at an elevation of 11,500; and their primary mission is search and rescue, and bringing back pilots that are shot down, or injured soldiers.  He advised they are an incredible group; and if anyone is ever in the Patrick Air Force area, and drive by and see the helicopters, and people jumping out of perfectly good helicopters into the water, that is their training.  He added he sends out prayers with them. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Commissioners Infantini, Bolin, and himself, were at the promotion ceremony for the new Base Commander, Brigadier General, Tony Cotton at Patrick Air Force Base; and for the change of command with Brigadier General Ed Wilson, who is headed to Fort Meade, Maryland.  He added Brevard County has been so lucky, especially in the time that he has been here, to have great Generals that have come through; there were three that were there with Two-Star General Susan Helm, and Ed Wilson that has his first star, and Tony Cotton who has his first star.  He went on to say it was a great ceremony.  

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he was fortunate to be able to go to Tallahassee last week to gain support for the expansion of Veteran's Memorial Park on Merritt Island, which was in the running for a Florida Communities Trust Grant for $800,000; and as a result of the application, Brevard County finished sixth out of 57, and is in the money for $800,000 to begin the improvements at the park.  He noted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection liked the project and is currently talking to staff about an additional $1 million for stormwater treatment.  He thanked Commissioner Bolin for assisting him in getting with Senator Thad Altman, who was also in Tallahassee.  He stated Senator Altman made a presentation on Brevard County's behalf as well, and did a great job.  He went on to say it is a huge win for Brevard County; and the are dollars being reallocated from projects that were unable to be completed. 

 

 

Chairman Fisher called for a public hearing to consider Planning and Zoning recommendations of August 22, 2011, as follows:

 

 

Cynthia Fox, Zoning Manager stated the request is for the RR-1 zoning classification for the purposes of having a horse.  The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval, subject to a binding development plan; and the applicant has voluntarily limited himself to one horse on the property. 

 

Frank DeGeorge stated he has not had any opposition from any neighbors; he thinks most people that live in the far northern part of the County values the country setting; and a lot of people keep horses, but their properties are zoned correctly.  

 

The Board approved the request to change from RR-1-9 to RR-1 on 1.01 acres, with a Binding Development Plan to limit the number of horses to one (1), which was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Board.

 

MOVER:            Chuck Nelson, Commissioner District 2

SECONDER:     Andy Anderson, Vice Chairman / Commissioner District 5

AYES:                Fisher, Anderson, Nelson, Bolin, Infantini

 

 

 

Cynthia Fox stated the item is being administratively reopened; it was previously heard by the Board on May 5, 2011; and the applicant is seeking to rezone the subject property to BU-1, for the purpose of developing the property as an 18-unit assisted living facility; and advised a small scale comprehensive plan amendment to change to Community Commercial added been added to the request. 

 

Chairman Fisher stated he needed to disclose than he has talked to the applicant about this piece of property.  Commissioner Bolin stated she has not spoken to the applicant, but her staff has met, or spoken on the phone with several people; and inquired if there needed to be a list of names. 

 

Jack Spira stated at the last meeting, staff stated the existing zoning does not allow the applicant to use the property for any sort of assisted living, or group-home, facility; and he believes it was determined after-the-fact that that statement was incorrect.  He noted he received a call from the County Attorney stating that perhaps there should be another hearing, so it is clear on the record what the subject property can be used for.  He went on to state, his understanding as the property sits now, is that it could be a group-home or some sort of living facility with 13 units; the applicant is not looking at going from zero to eighteen units; it would be an additional five units; and the trade-off would be additional parking to the County. 

 

He stated in the meantime, he has been dealing with County staff, trying to work on some sort of a trade, where the property can be traded to the County for use as parking; and his understanding is that staff recommended the item to be tabled while they continue to work with staff.  He advised they have identified a parcel that may be acceptable; and he believes that is the reason for the request to table, but that was based upon staff recommendation.  He added he will answer any questions; he knows the subject was belabored last time, and he does not intend to do that again, but if the Board sees fit to table this to give them opportunity to work with staff for a trade-off, that is certainly acceptable to them. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she believes there are two separate issues on the matter; and inquired if the issues are related. 

 

Christine Lepore, Assistant County Attorney, stated to the extent that any potential land-swap has any relevance to the zoning mater, they are two separate issues; and the zoning and the comprehensive plan amendment would relate to whether there is consistency and compatibility. 

 

Mr. Spira stated he acknowledges that.  Commissioner Bolin stated the Board is only present to discuss zoning tonight.  Mr. Spira stated he understands that, but there was a suggestion to have it tabled; and that is fine; but the request is to allow 18 instead of 13 beds; and it would allow parking on the side of the building in order to get another seven or eight parking spaces available to the residents. 

 

Ann Marie Samuelson stated she is the President of South Patrick Residents Association (SPRA), and she sent staff and the Board a brief email on the issue.  She stated the Diamonte Sands request to change zoning at the old Perkins Restaurant site from RU-2-15 residential to BU-1 retail commercial, and to change the comprehensive plan to allow community commercial on the oceanfront next to a public park, and residential properties is an issue SPRA is very much against.  She added the change will bring certain impacts to the community that go beyond what can be said; and as discussed previously, the parking is not going to be made available specifically for the public who visit the park, it is to be used by the residents or staff of the proposed assisted living facility.  She stated any comprehensive plan change conflicts with, and is incompatible with, the current land uses and character of the area; changes would affect the density and intensity, parking, traffic, and disallow the residents an efficient buffer zone; and the change would set a bad precedence for other zoning or comp plan changes in the community.  She noted she has heard that there has been some discussions about comparing assisted living facilities to group homes, but they are not at all on equivalent terms; she has looked at the statutes the ordinances in Brevard County; State statutes, and local ordinances clearly differentiate between the two in the intent of the law and the implementation in the real world; there are also differences in State Licensing and Compliance between a group-home and assisted living facility; and Brevard County's ordinances properly show a differentiation in the two between the type of zoning required.  She went on to say, the purpose of assisted living facilities is to provide seniors with a safe and secure setting to "age in place", by making adjustments to services to assist them as they decline mentally and physically; but group-homes are not specifically designed for that; and a group home's residents are assigned by the State.  She added she spoke with a local geriatric care manager, who expressed concern to her for the health and safety of residents at the proposed location, because it is bounded by a busy highway on the west, and the ocean on the east; some residents wander from assisted living facilities; and there is also concerns about hurricane evacuation for vulnerable residents.  She advised with these issues in mind, SPRA residents ask that the Board vote to deny any changes to zoning and the comprehensive plan, as there are far too many costs to the community without any tangible benefit to the public. 

 

Richard White stated the Brevard County Comprehensive Plan, and Future Land Use Map dictate that there will be no commercial development on the east side of A1A; the proposal is a substantial commercial enterprise with all of the associated traffic and support services it would require. 

 

He advised it is only one-third of an acre; he challenges the fact that the Board is going to create additional parking; there is very little ingress and egress onto the site for commercial vehicles; once there is a building of any footprint whatsoever, emergency vehicles, commercial vehicles, and any vehicles of any size cannot come onto that lot and  turn around; and they would have to exit through the park.  He stated he has not seen any plans for trash collection; to the east of the subject property there was a substantial piece of land that had trash to be emptied three times a week; and it was a small restaurant that was limited to 20 people.  He mentioned he had an engineer look at the drawings that have been submitted.  He stated the applicant was wrong in stating that an 18-bed assisted living facility has the same traffic impact as five single-family homes; the site has only been approved for five condominiums, not single-family homes; and when doing the math with the traffic ratio used by Planning and Zoning, five units equals 29 trips; and the assisted living facility would have a 70 percent traffic increase.  He stated for group homes, the applicant says he can now place 13 units on the subject property, but that is incorrect per the Planning and Zoning Department, who, using the math he previously stated, have said 10 beds is the maximum.  He noted the applicant claimed there would be underground parking; it was probably a misunderstanding, because there cannot be underground parking on the beach; and an assisted living facility needs a certain amount of parking.  He advised there are medical professionals, catering staff, cleaning staff, visitors, and the 18 residents themselves; and inquired where all of them are going to park. 

 

Peter Barnes stated he owns a town home less than 500 feet from the proposed development; and he is strongly opposed to the development of this site.  He advised the current zoning allows five condominiums on the less than one-half acre, which the applicant has, it is not for 13; and stated if the County accepts the donation of 15 feet of land to the park from the applicant then the applicant will fully meet the minimum environmental standards for oceanfront development.   He noted he would wager that if the Board were to ask 1,000 people who visit that park if they are willing to accept 15 feet of parking space in return for having a four and a half-story building looming over them every time they went there, he would bet those 1,000 people would not vote in favor of that.  He commented on the parking and that it is an outrage to the taxpayers who specifically pay money for the use of the park for recreational purposes.  He advised he has background as a social worker and social worker supervisor with the State of Florida in the areas of adult services and developmental services, providing services to the disabled and the disabled elderly; and he has 10 years of medical transportation to the disabled and disadvantaged, and 15 years as a vocational rehabilitation supervisor and counselor providing rehabilitation services to the severely disabled.  He stated an assisted living facility is like a junior nursing home, it is for people who cannot conduct the activities of daily living on their own; they may have multiple problems; they may have one or two problems; they may have Alzheimer's; or they may be Schizophrenic; and they cannot take their medications, nor bathe or cook appropriately by themselves on some occasions.  He noted most of the time they are elderly, some of the time they are not; there is another facility under the Brevard County Code called the Institutional Living Facility, which is also called a retirement home for people who say they do not want to cook, clean, or do laundry anymore; they want to get in their car and drive to the golf course, go out to eat, take a cruise when they want; and want time just for themselves, and that is an institutional living facility.  He advised an assisted living facility is for people who cannot do those things for themselves; and inquired if it makes any sense at all for the applicant to purposely construct an assisted living facility on the oceanfront of a barrier island, at a site where the previous building was wrecked by a hurricane and subsequently demolished; and further inquired how many times each year the fragile elderly and disabled people are going to be asked to evacuate the barrier island; and inquired who is going to account for their needs during the time the are evacuated, and what is going to be the effect on them after multiple evacuations.  He urged the Board to not vote in favor of the request.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired with the existing future land use of that area, is the change compatible and consistent with the neighborhoods.  Ms. Fox responded the change would introduce community commercial on the east side of A1A, where there currently is no other community commercial. 

 

Commissioner Bolin further inquired if it was approved, what other types of businesses would be introduced into that area.  Ms. fox responded it is a full general retail zoning classification, which means it is pretty wide open; and it would allow, in addition to retail, office buildings and other types of higher-end commercial uses.  She added she believes the applicant is willing to limit the use to an assisted living facility, with a cap of the number of units; and they submitted that as part of the application.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if it is currently permissible with current zoning to have a group-home.  Ms. Fox replied yes, they can have a group home with up to 14 assigned residents. 

 

Commissioner Bolin advised she is going forward with the denial; and the reason is because she does not feel it is compatible or consistent with the current environment, and she does not want to set a precedent of having commercial on the east side of A1A. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated there is no substantial competent evidence that has been produced that this use would be incompatible with the residential neighborhood, nor does it affect the health and safety of surrounding residents; and he opposes the denial.   

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he is going to disagree with that comment; and that is the only reason he is commenting.  He advised there is no commercial on that side of A1A throughout that portion of the County; and he sees it as a major change, and it is incompatible and inconsistent with the residential nature of that side of the highway.

 

The Board denied request of a Small Scale Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use Designation from Res 15 to CC; and denied the change from RU-2-15 to BU-1, as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board.

 

 

 

Upon consensus, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                                                                                

                                                                        ROBIN L. FISHER, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                    _______                      BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

MITCH NEEDELMAN, CLERK