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Ocala board presses developer on garage access, elevator programming for hotel spaces
Summary
Board members pressed project staff and the developer on parking-garage layout and elevator access after staff said the hotel would have dedicated spaces on the 5th and 6th floors, with a third elevator programmed for hotel/valet use; members sought assurance of public access and fairness given the city's partial cost share for the third elevator.
During the discussion of Project Hometown, board members raised concerns about how the parking garage will allocate spaces and how elevator access will be controlled when the city is sharing half the cost of a third elevator.
Planning Director Aubrey Hill explained the configuration: the garage will provide roughly 800 parking spaces overall, with approximately 225 spaces dedicated to hotel use. "There's about 182 or 183 spaces that they have estimated could be squeezed onto the 6th Floor of the parking garage. The remainder would be about 42 parking spaces on the 5th Floor, and they would be gated off," Hill said. Staff said the developer will program the elevator system so the 6th floor is accessible primarily to hotel guests and valet operations, while the public would retain access to the other five floors.
Board members pushed for clarity about the proportionate cost-share for the 3rd elevator (the city is estimated to contribute ~50% toward the elevator cost-share) and asked staff to ensure the parking agreement can be amended if needed to address fairness and operational details without altering the incentive package. Hill said the parking agreement is a separate document that can be modified to address operational issues while keeping the incentive agreement intact.
The board approved the CRA item and directed staff to provide technical details and the parking agreement to the city council for final consideration.
