Planning Commission

PLANNING COMMISSION CITY MANAGER Demery Bishop Shawn Gillen Ron Bossick Marianne Bramble COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Tina Gann George Shaw Charles Matlock David McNaughton CITY ATTORNEY Alan Robertson Edward M. Hughes Planning Commission Meeting MINUTES May 20, 2019 Chair Bishop called the May 20, 2019, Tybee Island Planning Commission meeting to order. Commissioners present were Marianne Bramble, Ron Bossick, David McNaughton, Alan Robertson and Charles Matlock. Tina Gann was absent. Consideration of Minutes: Chair Bishop asked for consideration of the April 15, 2019, meeting minutes. Commissioner Alan Robertson made a motion to approve. Vice Chair Ron Bossick seconded. The vote to approve was unanimous. Disclosures/Recusals: Chair Bishop asked if there were any disclosures or recusals. Commissioner Alan Robertson recused himself from the special review item at 212 Butler Avenue. Old Business: Chair Demery Bishop asked if there was any old business. Commissioner David McNaughton asked if the discussion on Maritime zoning district to do with the passenger cruise line and the discussions based on the workshop from May are going to be on the agenda again to discuss. George Shaw stated that the Maritime change was forwarded to City Council and he has not had any feedback. He will check with them on that again. In addition, the other items can be scheduled for the June Seventeenth meeting. New Business: Special review: Zoning letter approval for building crossover – 212 Butler Avenue – Desoto Beach Hotel - 4-0004-07-002 – Zone C-1 – Greg Stoeffler. George Shaw stated in anticipation of the new Dunes that are being built later this year by the Corps of Army Engineers, the Desoto Beach Hotel has approached City staff about building a private crossover that will be done to DNR requirements after the dunes are built. They also are going to try to have it ADA if possible. Greg Stoeffler, one of the owners of the Desoto Beach Hotel, approached the Planning Commission and stated they felt they need this private crossover for their guest to be able to access the beach. Commissioner Marianne Bramble made a motion to approve. Commissioner Charles Matlock seconded. The vote to approve was unanimous. Discussion only: Allowing multifamily development in C-2 Zoning – Jeffrey A. Cramer: George Shaw approached the Planning Commission and stated that the petitioner Jeffery A. Cramer could not attend the meeting tonight therefore; he will be speaking for him. George Shaw stated the Petitioner feels the City lacks housing in some areas, so allowing multifamily throughout C-2 would help in that situation. George Shaw stated if just allowing multifamily without restricting it to long- term rental you may not solve any housing problems, you might create more short-term rentals. In addition, our Master Plan discourages down zoning in that district and encourages mixed use, which we already allow with the residential over commercial. Logistically you cannot put residential below flood and that area is an AE 9 zone. Therefore, they would have to elevate. It would be hard for Staff to approve without limiting it to long-term rentals only. Vice Chair Ron Bossick stated the C-2 district is a very large district and asked how affordable housing would be designated. Commissioner Marianne Bramble stated she would like it to be long-term rental to give workers on Tybee a place to live. Chair Demery Bishop stated it must be limited to long-term rentals. Short-term has become too wide spread on the Island. Commissioner Alan Robertson stated the Master Plan specifically discourages down zoning within that corridor. In addition, we should look at each parcel separately rather than a broad spectrum. George Shaw stated when Jeff A. Cramer goes in front of City Council with this he will let them know how Planning Commission feels about this issue. Home Base Business and Home Occupation Business – City of Tybee Island. George Shaw approached the Planning Commission and stated this area has been a bit of a dilemma for staff in trying to understand what is allowed and what is not allowed. There is some conflict between the two and staff is looking for a little guidance in this area. The Home Base Business License and Home Occupation Business License need to have some limiting factors to differentiate the two. Commissioner Ron Bossick stated the ordinance says home occupation shall be limited to no more than 25% of the heated floor, so the area under the house could not be used. George Shaw stated that is a detail that we do not find out about most of the time. Maybe that is something we should put in that has them give us more detail with the home based business application. Commissioner Alan Robertson stated he likes the idea of a site plan because of the R-1 and R-2 disturbances that could happen. Commissioner Marianne Bramble stated everyone that wants a home based business should have to go through site plan review. Commissioner David McNaughton stated if people do not come to your house, you should be fine getting a business license, but if people come to your house to do business then you should probably have a special review or site plan review. George Shaw stated he would do a draft with the input from Planning Commission to narrow it down a little and bring back to them to look over and make some decisions. Karen Gilbert, who lives at 113 Jones Avenue approached the Planning Commission and stated she is a Pharmaceutical consultant that travels around the Country and also has a home based Business office and pays the license every year. She feels like the application she fills out each year answers most of her questions about the nature of her business and feels the process works well. Adjournment: Commissioner McNaughton made a motion to adjourn. Vice Chair Bossick seconded. The motion to adjourn was unanimous. 7:05pm Lisa L. Schaaf