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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060914_TybeeCouncilMinsCouncil Minutes Page 1 of 10 Meeting of 2006-09-14 City Council Minutes Mayor Pro Tem Sessions called the Consent Agenda Meeting to order at 6:30PM on September 14, 2006. Present in addition to Sessions was Crone, Williams, Pearce, Doyle and Wolff. Mayor Buelterman was out of town. Also present was City Manager Schleicher, Assistant City Manager Anderson and City Attorney Hughes. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions listed the Consent Agenda Items as; Emergency purchase to repair sludge pump at wastewater plant Amendments to Purchasing Policy Budget Adjustment to move $100,000 from 2007 SPLOST to fully fund bid for Theater Roof and stabilize the building Budget Adjustment of $4,600 from Beach Patrol small equipment for new printer in copy room Request to establish project length fund for capital projects Approval of changes to budget policy Permission for the POAG to park a grill in the parking lot beside the pier Reject the demands of Ante Litem Notice for Jon and Jacqueline Brown Reject the demands of Ante Litem Notice for Brown Children 1 day alcohol permit for Tybee Beautification Oct 14th Approval for John Mellencamp to film a Music Video at North Beach to include having a small propane fire and parking trucks at the end of parking lot. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions closed the Consent Agenda Meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00PM. Those listed as present during the Consent Agenda were still in attendance. Mr. John Major gave the invocation and the Tybee Memorial Color Guard posted the colors. Everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions extended condolences to Susie Carey’ s Family and Friends. Mr. Cannon of the Tybee Beautification Association requested that they be allowed to put event banners in the Palm Trees at the Tybee Sign. He said the three upcoming events are; The Beach Sweep on Sept. 30 and they are requesting to put banners up on the 25th until the 30th, Low Country Boil on Oct. 14th and they want to put the banner up on Oct 9th until the 14th, Adopt a Highway on Nov. 18th and they want to put the banner up Nov. 13th until the 18th. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said Mr. Harbin, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee could not attend tonight’ s meeting but we want to thank him for his hard work on getting beach money for Tybee. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions announced a Proclamation for Magic Marc Day at the Crab Shack that she had presented earlier at the event. Mr. Woody Hemphill the new Campground Manager for Tybee introduced himself and shared a little of his history. He thanked everyone for the warm welcome he and his wife have received and said he is glad to be here. Mr. Warren Johnson announced that the Tybee Neighbors are gathering a group to go by bus to the Courthouse sometime during the first week of January to protest property taxes. He said they Page 1 of 10 Council Minutes Page 2 of 10 are hoping for a group of around 300. He suggested raising the age limit up from 62 to 70 for Senior Citizens to eliminate the school taxes and he said it should apply no matter what your income is. Ms. Susie Morris of the Friends of Tybee Theater group announced that King Mackerel and the Blues Running show on Saturday night at the Lighthouse. She said the show is a fundraiser to help with the renovation cost of the Theater and the construction crews should be taking the old roof off starting tomorrow. Mr. Joe Buck introduced himself as a candidate for President of Savannah Chatham Board of Education. Ms. Sandi Postle representing the Tybee Neighbors Association gave an update from the meeting on Sept. 7th. She said they discussed the upcoming revision of the comprehensive plan concerning the housing section. She said they divided into 10 character areas based on what the DCA group recommended and answered questions concerning the 1992 Master Plan. She presented a copy of the report and citizen surveys to Council. She said they have another group that is researching tax relief, advocacy and information sources. She said their next meeting is October 5th at City Hall and they will have a guest speaker from the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and he will do a brief presentation on the coastal water quality based on the results of his 20 year study. Mr. Henry Levy said he wanted to address the problem of the Tybee Theater and the fact that it ceased to be a Theater more than forty years ago and became a derelict structure. He said it has been used as a motorcycle repair shop and a sail loft which were more appropriate uses than a Theater. He said it has been surrounded by residential property and will be a late night irritant and will be a scourge to the community surrounding it. He reiterated his suggestion that a new theater at another site could be constructed for less than this renovation and it would be in a better location with adequate parking. Mr. James Moore questioned Council regarding the signs that were put out for the Blood Drive. He said someone called and demanded they be removed from the city right of way. He said the Fire Department is part of the City so that would have been city property that the signs were on. He said they reached their goal of 60 units. He said it was also stated that they needed to remove the banner that was located in the unincorporated part. He said that wasn’ t removed. He asked why these actions were taken. Ms. Schleicher said they didn’ t have to remove the banner because of it’ s location in the unincorporated area. She said the zoning department had explained to Chief Sasser where the signs could be placed. She said the city has to be the leader in following its own ordinances and we can’ t break the law just because we are the city. She said the city cannot claim the right of way as its private property and put signs up while we tell other people and organizations they can’ t. She said she doesn’ t discount the merit of the cause and the city did offer good alternative locations for the signs. She told Mr. Moore that Council is looking at the sign amendment tonight that would allow temporary signs to be placed 5 feet from the roadway which will allow them more flexibility. She said they are working towards making it formed and fair but we have to treat everyone the same and we have to obey our own rules and laws. She said we have to lead by example. Mr. Moore said he was not representing the Fire Department. He was just approaching Council as a resident. He did not understand why it was deemed necessary for Ms. Williams to call and demand that the signs be removed. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said the goal of the city and council is not to negate any of the good things that are being accomplished. Mr. Moore said the goal of the blood drive is to save lives so Page 2 of 10 they should not be included with the other groups. He said it is important that everyone see their signs. Council Minutes Page 3 of 10 Ms. Williams said she did not call and make demands regarding the signs. She said she was on the phone with Ms. Schleicher and happened to see them on her way to work. She said there has been some controversy regarding non profits and different organizations about their signs. She said you can imagine that if the city is giving preferential treatment to its own then it will cause greater problems as they work towards getting the sign ordinance cleaned up. Ms. Schleicher said the right of way in question actually belongs to the Department of Transportation and is not city right a way. Mr. Postle spoke in favor of the city’ s stance on signs and said he doesn’ t believe there is a single person in that room that doesn’ t support blood drives. He said they are proud of their Police and Fire Departments. He said he supports the city backing up and enforcing their ordinances. He said the city receives a lot of grief when they allow ordinances to be pushed aside for building projects etc. He said it’ s important to thank the city when it stands up for them. He said it is important that the city clarify what the ordinance says so that those who need to be educated get it. He told city officials to keep up the good work. Mr. Tsoulos asked that the ordinances be enforced with sensitivity and not give the impression that the ordinance writers are enemies of the city. He requested that council give consideration to citizens first when it comes to ordinances. Mr. Zack Rowe reiterated the opinion that the Fire Department should not be held to ordinances due to this being a humanitarian effort. He said what’ s next the enforcement of the noise ordinance regarding their sirens? He said the volunteers at the FD represent the city. He said the city should consider what this does to an all volunteer organization like the FD. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said a list of future blood drive dates should be made available to council so that they know about it. She said that way they would know that the signs have been addressed and it’ s covered if the council has approved it. She said they do want to partner with the non profits and our own fire and police departments that are trying to make a difference. She also expressed appreciation for everything volunteers do for Tybee. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions opened the Public Hearings and asked Lawanna Tsoulos to present the petitions. Ms. Tsoulos introduced the first petition as a Zoning Variance of Section 3-030 of LDC, asking for a reduction in lot area in zone R-2 at 15 Thirteenth Street, PIN # 4-0007-05-002, David Woodrum is the petitioner. She said the Planning Commission had recommended denial. She said this petition had been withdrawn after the public hearing was advertised. Mr. Todd Bay representing the Hickey’ s (adjacent land owners) filed a protest to the petition. He said the grounds for a variance are not present in this case. He said if granted this variance would affect the overall neighborhood. He requested the petition be denied. Mayor Pro Tem Session said for the record an opposition letter had been received from Ed and Lori Hickey. City Attorney Hughes said even though the petition was withdrawn they have to entertain public comments because of it being advertised for a public hearing however the council will take no action. He said if the petitioners initiate the petition again it will have to be advertised for another public hearing. Ms. Tosoulos introduced the next petition as a Zoning Variance of Section 3-090 of LDC, schedule of development regulations in zone R-1-B at 9 Lovell Avenue, PIN 4-0003-17-05, Gail Lamb is the petitioner. She said the Planning Commission recommended approval. She said this petition had been withdrawn after the public hearing was advertised. Ms. Greenway spoke in opposition to the petition saying she would like to see a finished drawing of the proposed house before it is Page 3 of 10 considered. Council took no action, Council Minutes Page 4 of 10 Special Review and Zoning Variance of Section 3-080(B) of LDC, Off Street Parking requirements, Zone R- T at 13 Fourteenth Street. PIN # 4-00007-06-001, Eric and Chris Sheldon; Shiloh and Amber Hutton; Dennis and Kathleen Hutton are the petitioners. She said the Planning Commission recommended denial. Ms. Erin Sheldon gave a short presentation on the surrounding properties. She said her family has owned the property for over 50 years. She said they attempted to use the property for a bed & breakfast but did not succeed because of the noise level of the neighborhood and the fact that their house is old and cannot defuse that noise. Scott Barnard of Barnard Architects presented the plan and said he had been working with this family for four years. He presented a video presentation of the plan for 8 condominiums. Mr. Crone asked what happens to the green space in the future. Attorney Harold Yellin representing the family proposed including a foot note on the plat to be recorded or a declaration that says the green space will be as you see it on this plat with one exception. He said that exception would be for any reason if the footprint expands. He said if the property owners to the North want to participate in this development we would want to have the right to come back before you and have you re-look at our site plan and redefine green space. In all events the area for green space would not be less that 40 ft. by 165 ft. which comes behind these units. He said there are two very large oaks that the petitioner wants protected and they are willing to commit that to writing. He said the dark shaded area on the design will always be dedicated green space. Mr. Yellin said the driveway variance is the only variance being requested for this plan. He said the issue is really curb cuts on hwy 80. He said they want to create a non access easement on Butler Ave. Mr. Pearce said a way to permanently protect green space is to put it into a conservation easement. Ms. Sheldon said they had looked into that but the tax assessors office told them because of the size of the property it would not be considered a conservation easement. Mr. Pearce said a conservation easement is not done through the tax assessor’ s office but is done through a non profit organization. Mr. Yellin said a dedicated green space is a viable option even if a conservation easement is not. Mr. Hughes asked what the plans for the existing building were because they wouldn’ t be allowed to have more than one principle structure on the property. Ms. Sheldon said they are working with Cullen Chambers of the Historic Society on finding a location for the structure. Mr. Wolff said he is concerned with the increase in density that this development will have and is troubled by the entire green space not being put into dedicated green space. He said if the property were subdivided the most it could have would be 3 duplexes or 4 single family homes. He said that would be the density allowed without the condo use. He asked if the family would be willing to reduce the number of units to six without dedicating the entire green space or some sort of compromise rather than leaving options to tie in the property to the North. Ms. Sheldon said they are experiencing a hardship on this property and it’ s the noise. She said if the noise was not an issue we could sell this house and move on. She said they need the 8 units to span the property and create the buffer. She said the economics become not feasible if the units are reduced. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked them to explain expand. Mr. Yellin said if the people to the North admired the green space on their property and decided they would like to utilize that green space as their front yard or back yard and build units there that would expand the footprint of this property. He said there are no plans to do that but it could happen and they want to have that option. Mr. Hughes read the ordinance concerning hardships for variances. He said it deals with peculiar circumstances or conditions beyond that of adjoining properties. It is the physical condition of the property itself and that it can’ t be developed in conformity to the existing regulations with undue hardships to the property. He said an example would be an oddly configured lot that is triangular that you couldn’ t put anything on. He said physical characteristics of the property would include trees and things of that nature. Mr. Yellin said they could have brought a no variance plan to council but they do not believe it would be as good a plan as the one presented. Ms. Sheldon requested that council members give them input if they do not like the plan as presented. Mr. Nick Basta spoke in favor of the petition. He said the family has addressed every concern brought to their attention by him. Page 4 of 10 Ms. Ann Miller asked how far the old house is from Butler Ave. and how much of a buffer would be on 14th Street and also how many parking spaces the city would be giving up. Ms. Sheldon said the plan calls for the building to be on the same line as the existing house with a 20 foot setback on 14th Street and the city would lose 4 parking spaces. Council Minutes Page 5 of 10 Ms. Kathleen Hutton said they have been there and have watched people build single family and duplexes and cut down trees. She said other development plans will not preserve the trees. Mr. Johnson asked about the water shortage and asked where the water will come from to serve all these new developments. Mr. Johnson said he understood that the council was going to allow only 40 new meter taps a year. Mr. Levy said these people have a house they were uncomfortable in because city council has not enacted a decent ordinance to keep noise from going from commercial areas to residential areas. He said the architect and the owners have come up with a brilliant plan and are to be congratulated on it. He said he believes they will have a time selling that end unit because of the noise and that’ s a failure of city council. Mr. Levy recommended that council approve their plan. Ms. Angela McIntosh asked how many Oak trees would be taken out to save the two large ones and asked if the family would be willing to give up the total green space. Mr. Barnard said they have 3 Live Oaks and they will end up with 7. He said they have 3 Water Oaks and they will end up with zero. He said they have 63 trees and will end up with 90. Mr. Shell Solomon said he thinks they have done a great job. He recommended that if council approves this plan that they approve other similar plans along this street. Mr. Crone moved to approve plan with the proposed designated green space being recorded, Ms. Doyle seconded. Mr. Wolff reiterated his concerns with the density and the total green space not being dedicated. He said he likes the plan as it is except for the number of units. Mr. Pearce said one of the rules concerning conservation easements is that the property owner can’ t keep it. He said this plan is too vague as to what this green space is. He said without the conservation easement the taxes would go up because of this being developable property and they would have to subdivide and sell it because of economics. Ms. Williams said this plan has greatly improved however she agrees with Paul’ s concerns regarding the density. She said our Master Plan calls for low density. She said even eliminating that corner unit on Butler and Fourteenth it would alleviate the density to a degree and give them more of a buffer. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said this plan is greatly improved but approval will open doors to all the remaining large tracts of land in that vicinity to be developed in an area they are trying to maintain a buffer in. The vote was 2 with Mr. Crone and Ms. Doyle voting in favor of the motion and 4 with Ms. Williams, Mr. Wolff, Mr. Pearce and Mayor Pro Tem Sessions voting against the motion. Ms. Tsoulos presented the next petition as a Zoning Variance of Section 5-010(K) of the LDC that prohibits placing materials in marshlands; zone R-T at Solomon and Polk Streets, PIN #s 4-0021-10- 001/12-002/11-001, Tom Sullivan petitioner. She said the Planning Commission recommended approval. Mr. Sullivan described the property as a 6 acre tract directly across from the campground. He said there are 25 lots of record and .3 acres is an isolated jurisdictional wetland because it is located in the 100 year floodplain. Mr. Pearce said wetlands can be isolated but are protected by our ordinances. Mr. Sullivan said this would lead to the development of a 25 lot tract on Tybee. He said that area called wetlands is a flat ditch with trash in it and it’ s dry. He said he has walked it many times and had no mud on his shoes and the elevation variance is perhaps 6 inches from one side to the other. He said he wants to develop this property into a green development and call it The Woods at North Beach. He said he is requesting Councils support of a nationwide permit granted by the Corps of Engineers to fill the wetlands. Ms. Doyle made reference to a letter that council has received from neighboring property owner on Estill Mr. Petschek that contains many issues with developing that site. She said she would not be comfortable making a decision until these issues are addressed. Mr. Sullivan said they had Phase 1 and Phase 2 geological survey’ s done and they came back clear. He said at some point the property may have been used as a topical landfill. He said there Page 5 of 10 are mattresses, tires and dead animal carcasses on it. He said it is nasty and needs to be cleaned up. He said Mr. Pearce had suggested that they bring in water from the plant and restore the wetland which he thinks is a great idea if the city is willing to do a landswap. Ms. Doyle said in the letter is states that 2.5 acres represents undeveloped right of ways. Mr. Sullivan said there are three unopened streets that are located there with Telephone being in the center and Estill Council Minutes Page 6 of 10 being on the North side but he doesn’ t think they need Estill to be opened. He said he thinks they could stipulate that Estill not be opened. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked that Mr. Petschek’ s opposition letter become part of the record. Ms. Williams asked Mr. Sullivan if he had an opportunity to read the letter and if he were prepared to address concerns outlined in it. Mr. Sullivan responded that Mr. Petschek had offered to buy this property and did not understand his opposition. Ms. Williams said she researched this property on Sagis and it described this property as underwater and some of them have an appraised value of $10.00 because they are not considered buildable lots. Mr. Sullivan said he has walked all 25 lots and gotten no mud on his shoes. Ms. Williams said in all fairness to Mr. Sullivan he should have a chance to review and respond to the comprehensive concerns addressed by the neighbor. Ms. Doyle asked Mr. Hughes opinion of the issues in the letter. Mr. Hughes said the letter addresses many issues that exceed the variance request. He said one of the issues refers to lot sizes. He said the Plat shown in the application shows 30 lots while the plat on the screen shows 25. He asked Mr. Sullivan how many lots he wanted to develop. Mr. Sullivan said it would have to be 25 to make it financially feasible. Mr. Hughes said the lots now are substandard lots of record and can be built with single family homes assuming that set backs are met and the other issues are dealt with including the wetlands issue. Mr. Sullivan said they will not ask for any additional variance request after this. He said he would like to keep the option of trading with the city for the railroad right of way in exchange for the wetland area. He said that would enable him to move the houses forward and restore the wetlands with water and wildlife. Mr. Sullivan requested a member of council be given the authority to make decisions concerning this property to speed things up. Ms. Hughes said there is no person allowed to make those decisions and that is why this is a public hearing so the public can be informed and the decision can be made in an open meeting by councils vote. Ms. Doyle reiterated her concerns over the issues in the letter. Mr. Sullivan said the Corps of Engineers sent the National Marine Fisheries Agency and the US Fish and Wildlife Agency along with the Department of Natural Resources to look at this property. He said those agency’ s have determined those are not wetlands per say and they can be filled. He said he is asking for Tybee to endorse what the Federal Government has already decided we can do. Mr. Wolff said he wanted to clarify that this is a wetland and the Corps of Engineers has staked it out and Mr. Sullivan has had to buy credits to mitigate this permit. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if there was an erosion problem on that property. Mr. Sullivan said it is high on all four sides of that area. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked what the hardship was on this property. Mr. Sullivan responded that there is a hardship in respect to the land and a hardship in respect to the owner. He said they can build 25 homes but where the wetland is the homes would have to be smaller and they would still have the ditch in the back yard that smells. He said that area needs to be supported to be a true feasible wetland. He said a Planning Commission member said that was not a functioning eco system because of an exotic invasive pest plant. He said he doesn’ t know what that means but he knows that area is nasty and they want to clean it up. Mr. Sullivan explained the reason they haven’ t started developing already is they were told by the city there was a 25 foot buffer around all the wetland. He said that would eliminate almost four lots and a million dollars worth of property. He said they can’ t begin the development if the four lots are disallowed knowing they would lose a million dollars worth of property. He said there is no 25 foot buffer around a fresh water wetland and they were given wrong information by the city. He said they could actually start construction on the opposite end of the property while negotiating the wetland. Mr. Pearce said he has looked at this site and it is a Willow Swamp. He said Willows only grow in wet areas. He said the invasive tree is a Chinese tallow tree and also Page 6 of 10 only grown in wetland areas. He said it would have to be removed to restore the wetland. Ms. Williams asked how large the parcel is not counting the city streets. Mr. Sullivan said he does not know that that has been determined. She asked if the Corps took that into consideration when Council Minutes Page 7 of 10 determining the permit. Mr. Sullivan said if the four lots by the wetlands were sold the owners would not need a permit from the corps to fill the land because they are less than a quarter acre each. He said as a large piece of land they are required to apply for the permit because the wetland is over one third of an acre. Ms. Williams pointed out the discrepancy in the acreage with the plat saying 5.75 acres and the letter saying 3.25 acres. She said that is a big difference. Mr. Sullivan said the 3.25 acre may be the acreage of the lots of record with the city streets. Mr. Montford spoke in favor of the petition asking council to consider Mr. Sullivan’ s Property Rights. He also said this area is a health hazard as it creates mosquito swarms. Speaking in opposition was Barry and Angela McIntosh, Jennifer Agnew, John Tanner, Joe O’ Leary and Kevin Carpenter. Their concerns were lot sizes, animals, trees and where the water will flow if this is filled in. Mr. Hughes addressed the lot size issue by stating the lots are substandard lots of record that were in existence prior to the R-1 Zone being implemented therefore they are grandfathered in. Mr. Pearce moved to deny, Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was 4 with Pearce, Wolff, Sessions and Williams voting in favor of denial and Crone and Doyle opposed. Ms. Tsoulos presented a request for a variance to build a Bulkhead within the 25 foot buffer at 11 Teresa Lane. Ms. Emma Borders said they want to construct a wooden bulkhead landward of the jurisdictional line. She gave copies of letters from the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Natural Resources to Council. She said their bulkhead will be identical to their neighbor’ s bulkhead. Mr. Wolff asked about the bulkhead in reference to existing pilings. Ms. Borders said the bulkhead will be one foot landward of those pilings. Mr. Wolff told Ms. Borders that she should check with the EPD to make sure she is compliant in case she needs a permit from them. He explained the pervious regulations and said nothing would be allowed in the 25 foot buffer once that bulkhead goes up. Ms. Williams said the Borders will need a permit from the EPD. Mr. Wolff moved to approve, Ms. Williams seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Tsoulos presented a request for a variance of the Shore Protection Line at 2 Eighth Street. Mr. B.H. Levy, Jr. said he owns two lots that have been lots of record for generations. He wants to construct two townhouses that will not technically be duplexes, on those lots. He said the two adjacent houses are 15 feet closer to the beach than their proposal. He said the three generations that have paid taxes assumed that these lots were buildable based on the assessments. Mr. Hughes asked if Mr. Levy’ s current house was on lot 3. Mr. Levy responded that his house is on Lots 3 and 4. He asked Mr. Levy if he were requesting a subdivision. Mr. Levy said no. Mr. Hughes said looking on the tax map it is hard to determine these lots. After discussion concerning the jurisdictional lines Mr. Levy said one of the lines actually goes through his residence. Ms. Williams said that is because it is a porch and considered unheated space. Ms. Williams said the Planning Commission Minutes reflect that the DNR had given approval to go to the toe of the Dune and she doesn’ t believe that is accurate. Mr. Levy said the DNR has given no approval because he has not applied yet. Mr. Hughes said the DNR routinely grants permission to go to the toe of the dune. Mr. Anderson said that could also mean they confer with where the line is placed on the drawing. Mr. Wolff said in view of the fact that this is the second request for a variance to our Shore Protection Act in the last couple of months and the issues that have been raised about the ordinance. He moved to table this petition it until council can review the ordinance, Mr. Pearce seconded. Ms. Williams asked for a time frame to be added in fairness to the petitioner. Mr. Hughes said the way he understood the motion is the council wants to take a look at the existing ordinance to see if it needs adjustment and it may end up affecting this petitioner. Mr. Hughes said not more than 90 days would be a reasonable cap. Mr. Wolff amended his motion to say table to review the ordinance and hopefully come up with a recommendation in no more than 90 days, Mr. Pearce seconded. Mr. Hughes told Page 7 of 10 council members they could decide if they wanted to send the ordinance back to Planning Commission after looking at the properties involved. Mr. Wolff said he would like for council to review it. The vote was 4 with Wolff, Pearce, Williams and Sessions voting in favor and 2 with Crone and Doyle opposed. Council Minutes Page 8 of 10 Mr. Hughes said the minutes should reflect notices were given to himself and the clerk from Mr. Levy. He said the notices state that any denial would violate various rights he has to develop this property. Ms. Tsoulos presented the Conditional Zoning Ordinance Section 5-1-1. She said this would allow city council to place conditions on property that would be rezoned. Mr. Hughes said in the event that you receive a petition to rezone a piece of property you could rezone it placing conditions on it. If a property is rezoned the conditions that is marked on the map so that the next person trying to acquire it would know there are restrictions on it. He said an example is you could have a piece of residential go commercial but only for a particular type of commercial development and the map would have a notation on it that would be discovered during due diligence. Mr. Hughes said the city does not to his knowledge grant variances for uses because that is effectively rezoning without changing the property on the map. This would keep you from having to do that. Mr. Wolff said so if we approved a commercial use in R-1 that particular lot would go to C-1. Mr. Hughes said that would be C-1 Conditional so that the conditions are always attached to that lot unless they come back to rezone it again. Mr. Hughes said he can’ t think of a situation where council would do this but this would allow it if the situation came up. Mr. Crone asked if Frank Jenkins recommended doing this. Mr. Hughes said yes. Mr. Wolff moved to approve, Mr. Pearce seconded. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if this condition would be on the deed. Mr. Hughes said no it would be on the map. He said you wouldn’ t write all the conditions on there if it went from R something to C something it would be C with an asterisk and there would be a legend at the bottom of the map indicating that this has conditions on it. He said you could put the conditions on the bottom of the map or make a reference underneath. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Tsoulos presented the text amendment to section 5-020 which would require bike racks on a site plan approval in a C-1 zone. Ms. Schleicher said it would be for commercial site only. She said the Economic Development Committee suggested a parking space trade situation instead of making it a requirement. Mr. Wolff said in Commercial Zone one designated parking space for a bike rack. Ms. Doyle said this seems to put another requirement on someone wanting to build. Mr. Wolff said it would work for restaurants where the one space could contain 10 bikes meaning 10 people as opposed to one vehicle. Mr. Crone moved to send it back to the Planning Commission to be reviewed and perfected and brought back to council with recommendations. Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Tsoulos presented text amendments to the sign ordinance contained in section 6-040 in the LDC and section 6-070. She said one deals primarily with banners and the other with signs in the right of way. Ms. Schleicher said a lot of people do not know the width of a right of way. She said the original author may not have understood that this ordinance would exclude any signs being put in the right of way including political signs or yard signs in their own front yards. She said if someone can measure 5 feet off of the improved roadway and they won’ t create a visual obstruction they can put their sign up. Ms. Schleicher said there have been concerns with banners as well such as; can they be located on private property? She said the code now allows non profits to come to council for approval to put up a banner but that is along drawn out process. This change would leave that option but would also allow organizations to come in and apply to post a banner at two specific locations determined by staff without going through council approval. Ms. Doyle asked what improved portion meant. Mr. Hughes said for example improved in front of city hall would include the sidewalk so you would have to be five feet off of the sidewalk. He said Page 8 of 10 if it was a dirt road it would be five feet from the maintained dirt part. Ms. Williams expressed concern over the 30 days prior to the event because so many organizations in order to conserve money will say for example Bingo Friday night or Beach Sweep this Saturday. She said you would have a sign that’ s been up 28 days but not a sign for something happening during the next weekend. She said she does not know what a sign would look like once it has been up 30 days in this weather. Mr. Anderson said his copy of the ordinance said 15 days before the event. Mr. Anderson said they need to strike a line through that since it is in the existing ordinance. Ms. Schleicher said that is part of the ordinance that they are not Council Minutes Page 9 of 10 changing and refers to the council approval for banners. Mr. Wolff moved to approve 6-040 & 6-080 as amended, Ms. Williams seconded. Mr. Wolff amended his motion to include 6-070, Ms. Williams seconded the amended motion. Mr. Crone asked specifically about the blood drive signs. Mr. Anderson suggested since they know the dates a year in advance they come and ask permission at one time. The vote was unanimous. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions introduced the final plat approval under old business. Ms. Tsoulos said this is a final plat approval on a Major Subdivision for SODA Properties at 15 Van Horn Avenue. Mr. Anderson said the infrastructure has been put in place and they have the one year maintenance bond on the infrastructure. Ms. Doyle asked if all the deficiencies noted in the letter had been addressed. Mr. Boswell said the only thing the bond doesn’ t cover are the swales and he has a meeting scheduled with the contractor tomorrow morning to make sure they are put in the right place. Ms. Williams asked if the engineer had given a letter to the city. Mr. Anderson said when the meeting took place the engineer’ s concerns were the two swales and they included them in the bond. He said the engineer had not submitted a letter yet. Ms. Williams asked about the most recent as built survey. Mr. Anderson said yes that is the most recent as built. Mr. Crone moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions opened the business meeting and asked for a motion concerning the request made by Bill Cannon to place Banners at the Tybee Sign. Ms. Williams moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded. Mr. Crone asked what size the banner would be. Mr. Wolff said they cannot be any bigger than 32 square feet because of the ordinance. Mr. Crone said he was concerned about them attaching them to trees. Ms. Williams said they tie them to the trees but they do not attach them. The vote was unanimous. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions called for a motion on the Consent Agenda Items as listed: Emergency purchase to repair a sludge pump at W/S plant. Amendments to Purchasing Policy Budget Adjustment to move $100,000 from the 2007 SPLOST to fully fund the roof repair on the Theater. Budget Adjustment of $4600 from the Beach Patrol small equipment to buy a new printer for the copy room. Request to establish a project length fund for capital projects. Approval of changes to budget policy. Approval of one day alcohol permit for Tybee Beautification for October 14, 2006 Approval for John Mellencamp to film a music video at North Beach and have a small propane fire and park his trucks at the end of the North Beach parking Lot. Permission for the Police Officers Association to have a grill in the parking lot by the pier. Reject Ante Litem Notices for Jon and Jacqueline Brown and the Brown Children. Mr. Wolff moved to approve, Ms. Doyle seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Schleicher said they have had Engineers look at it and they’ ve gotten a potential budget cost for paving Solomon and crush and run. She said if they are going to pave Solomon they do not have enough money in this years budget so it need to be addressed in next years budget if that is the decision. She said they are going to put up guard rails at the deep ditch. She said they Page 9 of 10 would like to look at making it one way going East. She said it would cut down on the non local traffic. She said the people living on Solomon would have a right turn to leave the Island and a light to make the Left turn at Campbell to go back home. She said they need to get input from the neighbors before any significant cost is determined for improving the street. Ms. Schleicher said regarding the Savannah Restoration Contract for the Guard House. She said the change order reflects the taking out of the Fire Suppression System. She said it will come back because Council Minutes Page 10 of 10 they have to get a design and price estimate done. She said there was a misunderstanding regarding the addendum items and they gave us the amount at cost with no overhead. She said the addendum items will add 15%. Mr. Wolff asked if other bidders had placed bids for this project. Ms. Schleicher said there was another bidder that wasn’ t even close. Mr. Wolff asked about using real Slate on the roof. Ms. Schleicher said Mr. Chambers does not recommend using real slate because of maintenance issues. Mr. Crone moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Schleicher said the Hwy 80 Contract with I AM Construction is for the lump sum of $426,007. She said the DOT permits and approvals are in place. Ms. Williams asked how soon this project can start. Ms. Schleicher said October 1st. Ms. Williams moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Doyle introduced an amendment to Code section 10-7 regarding riding horses and ponies, exceptions. She said there is an opportunity for the Clydesdales to come to the St. Patrick’ s Day Parade on the Island. She wants to add except for Special Events and Parades sanctioned and approved by the City Council. Ms. Williams asked if they could make it so that events such as the luau could have pony rides. Ms. Doyle said maybe we could take out Parade and just keep Special Event. Mr. Hughes said he will put this in ordinance form for 1st and 2nd reading at the next meeting. Mr. Wolff asked for a Planning Commission Appointment to the Ethics Advisory Board. Mr. Anderson said unofficially it will be Charlie Brewer. Mr. Wolff moved to accept their recommendation; Ms. Williams seconded and added that Mr. Hughes has recommended that no chairpersons of committees be allowed to serve on boards. Mr. Hughes said when the Ethics Advisory Board gets through with the ordinance it should have a prohibition that involves overlapping membership at all. Such as, it would be inappropriate for the Head of the Audit Committee to be on the Ethics Board. The vote was unanimous. Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked for a motion regarding the 2nd Reading of Text Amendment 2-3-31 expanding the duties of the Audit Committee. Mr. Wolff moved to approve, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Doyle announced a campground grand opening coming this fall with Smore’ s, Hot Dogs and Hayrides. Mr. Pearce moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel, Real Estate and Litigation, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to end Executive Session and Adjourn, Ms. Doyle seconded and the vote was unanimous. Page 10 of 10 ________________________________________ ____________________________ Jason Buelterman Mayor Vivian Woods Clerk of Council