PLANNING & ZONING BOARD/LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY AGENDA ITEM
Memo Date: November 30, 2023
Agenda Date: December 6, 2023
Prepared By: Stacey Hopper - City Planner
Through: Stockton Whitten - City Manager
Requested Action:
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Recommend approval of proposed Ordinance 26-2023, a zoning text amendment, amending Appendix A, Article XIX, Section 2, Relating to the meeting schedule of the Planning and Zoning Board; providing for the repeal of prior inconsistent ordinances and resolutions, incorporating into the code, severability, and an effective date.
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BACKGROUND:
The applicant, City of Cocoa, is requesting the Planning and Zoning Board consider an amendment of the Appendix A, Article XIX, Section 2, setting the date of the Planning and Zoning Board meeting.
History: In the past, according to Ordinance 20-2003, the Planning and Zoning Board meeting was held on the second Wednesday of the month. However, in August of 2018, the City Council meeting schedule was changed such that meetings were regularly held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. Accordingly, Planning and Zoning Board meetings were changed to the 1st Wednesday of the month to accommodate the new City Council meeting schedule. Since 2018, the Planning and Zoning Board has regularly held meetings on the 1st Wednesday of the month.
Although in October of 2020 the City Council meetings were moved from the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month back to the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, the 1st Wednesday schedule does appear to work well for the Board and for the staff that must support Board meetings so that they do not need to attend evening meetings twice in one week.
Proposed Ordinance 26-2023, eliminates from the City Code a specific meeting day of the Planning and Zoning Board, currently still codified as the 2nd Wednesday of the month. The Ordinance does not specify a set day of the regular Planning and Zoning meetings, but rather instructs that a regular meeting schedule be established by the Board with at least monthly intervals and with special meetings to be held as necessary at the request of the Chair or Vice-Chair of the board.
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Project Name: |
Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment - Planning and Zoning Board Meeting Schedule, Ordinance 26-2023 |
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Project No.: |
PZ-23-02000012 |
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Meeting Date: |
December 6, 2023 |
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Applicant: |
City of Cocoa |
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Property Owner: |
N/A |
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Project Location: |
Various Zoning Districts |
Future Land Use Designation: N/A
Zoning District: N/A
Existing Land Use: N/A
Council District: City wide
Legal Ad Date: November 21, 2023
I. Zoning Ordinance Amendment Analysis
In accordance with Section 1(G)(2), Article XXII, Appendix A (Zoning), of the Code of the City of Cocoa, the Planning and Zoning Board shall consider and study the following when an amendment to the zoning code is proposed:
a. The need and justification for the change.
b. The relationship of the proposed amendment to the purposes and objective of the comprehensive planning programs and to the comprehensive plan, with appropriate consideration as to whether the proposed changes will further the purposes of [the] zoning code and other codes, regulations, and actions designed to implement the comprehensive plan.
Need and justification for change
Need: The City code needs to be updated to reflect the change in date of the Planning and Zoning Board meeting.
Justification: The change of the City Council meeting date from Wednesday back to Tuesday would result in back to back City Board Meetings if the current ordinance requiring Planning and Zoning Board meetings to occur on the 2nd Wednesday of the month were observed, causing difficulty for City Clerk, Planning and IT staff and forcing key City staff to be away from home two consecutive nights in the 2nd week of each month. When the Planning and Zoning Board meeting was moved to the 1st Wednesday of the month, these staffing issues were resolved, but the City code was not updated to reflect this change.
Summary: Ordinance 26-2023 strikes the 2nd Wednesday of the month from the code and provides flexibility to the Planning and Zoning Board to establish the regular meeting schedule, as long as it is a monthly schedule. The Ordinance leaves the meeting day to the will of the Planning and Zoning Board, and does not specify a certain day that the meeting must be held on, but rather ensures that a Planning and Zoning Board meeting regularly occurs once a month at the will of the P&Z Board.
Following Staff Analysis, the proposed Ordinance, attached as Exhibit A, Ordinance 26-2023 is recommended to the Planning and Zoning Board.
Relationship and consistency with Comprehensive Plan Policies and Objectives
N/A.
STRATEGIC PLAN CONNECTION:
N/A
BUDGETARY IMPACT:
N/A
PREVIOUS ACTION:
Ordinance 20-2003, July 22, 2003. Set in place the schedule of the P&Z meeting as the 2nd Wednesday of the month and removing the provision for the time and place of the meeting to be prescribed by the board.
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning and Zoning Board recommend approval of Ordinance 26-2023 as presented.