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Titusville commission asks staff to withdraw multifamily canopy item from May 27 council discussion, seek workshop
Summary
After public commenters and commissioners raised data and definition concerns about competing multifamily canopy proposals, the Tree and Environmental Commission voted to ask staff to remove the multifamily canopy item from the May 27 city council discussion and hold a workshop to reconcile differences.
The Titusville Tree and Environmental Commission unanimously voted to request that city staff withdraw the multifamily canopy item from the city council discussion scheduled for May 27 and instead schedule a workshop to reconcile differences between the commission and staff proposals.
The vote followed extended public comment and commissioner discussion over two competing proposals: a TEC-recommended ordinance that would exempt infill residential projects of 2 acres or less from canopy requirements tied to comprehensive plan policy 1.77, and a staff-drafted version that would treat “all residential developments with greater than 50 units” as the threshold for canopy requirements. Mary Spar, a longtime volunteer environmental activist, told the commission she and TEC recommended excluding multifamily infill projects of 2 acres or less to implement the council’s January 14 infill policy, and that she had compiled a citywide snapshot of developments currently under review to show how many projects would be affected.
"Both the January 14 infill ordinance that council adopted and TEC's draft multifamily canopy ordinance define infill lots as being 2 acres or less," Mary Spar said during public comment. "Staff's residential definition of greater than 50 units says nothing about infill whatsoever."
Commissioners pressed staff and each other on the underlying data and definitions they said were necessary before sending conflicting proposals to council. Several commissioners urged a parcel-level analysis of infill properties — asking how many buildable parcels exist by size and how many could realistically support 50 units — and recommended clarifying definitions for duplex, townhome and condominium in the Land Development Regulations so the city applies canopy rules consistently.
Planning staff was identified as the party preparing the staff-drafted version; commissioners said Brad (staff) planned to present the item to council but he was not present for the TEC meeting. Lily (staff) told commissioners she did not have the staff presentation in her binder at the meeting.
After discussion, the commission moved, seconded and approved a request that the multifamily canopy item be removed from the May 27 council discussion agenda and that staff convene a workshop with TEC to "resolve the differences." The roll call showed unanimous support: Member Burdette — yes; Member Delgado — yes; Member Browning — yes; Member Tucker — yes; Vice Chairwoman Thompson — yes; Member Walter — yes; Chairman Majak — yes.
The commission emphasized that the workshop should focus on shared objectives (encouraging infill while preserving canopy) and on getting consistent definitions and parcel-level data before council is asked to choose between two widely different approaches.
Next steps: commissioners asked staff to coordinate a workshop or special meeting with TEC before the council discussion so the group can present a more unified recommendation, or at least a clearer set of options, to the City Council.
