City of Clermont Planning and Zoning Commission — July 7, 2026

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (5 of 7 members present) Duration: 6:30 PM – 7:23 PM (53 minutes) Location: Clermont City Hall, 685 West Montrose Street

Attendance

• Present: Chair Colby, Commissioner Entsuah, Commissioner Niemiec, Commissioner Hoisington, Commissioner Cramer
• Absent: Commissioner Tidona, Commissioner May
• Staff Present: Development Services Director Curt Henschel, Planner Nicholas Gonzalez, Planner Justine Day, City Attorney Christian Waugh (by phone), Planning Coordinator Rae Chidlow

Prior minutes: June 2, 2026 minutes approved as amended (moved Cramer, seconded Hoisington), 5-0.

Also appearing: Bryan Bain, Seat 2 City Council Member — speaking as a member of the public on Item 3.

Agenda Items

Item 1: Resolution No. 2026-021R — CityVet Conditional Use Permit

• Type: Conditional Use Permit (CUP)
• Case Number: Resolution No. 2026-021R
• Location: Governors Lake Commerce Center, southeast corner of S US Hwy 27 and Citrus Tower Blvd (AK 3921298, 3921299, 3921300)
• Applicant: Peacock Partnership (project architect); Jim Graham appeared for CityVet
• Request: Allow a veterinary clinic to operate within a Planned Unit Development carrying C-1 Light Commercial uses, built out within a future multi-tenant shell building currently in site review.
• Current Zoning: PUD with C-1 Light Commercial uses (Ord. 2020-24, amending the Kings Crossing Commercial Complex PUD)
• Proposed Zoning: No change
• Acreage: 2.33 +/- acres
• Staff Recommendation: Approve with conditions
• Action: Recommended for approval
• Vote: 5-0 (moved Niemiec, seconded Hoisington)
• Conditions: As drafted in Resolution 2026-021R — small animals (canine and feline) only; no boarding, with overnight stays only where medically necessary; hours Monday–Friday 7:00 AM–6:00 PM and Saturday 8:00 AM–2:00 PM; use confined to the ~2,873 sq ft southern end unit with expansion requiring a CUP amendment; waste management and operation plan required with City authority to reopen the CUP on odor nuisance; City Council may amend or revoke if parking proves inadequate.
• Notable Discussion:
  • Day's presentation noted the nearest residential use is approximately 1,100 ft away across S US Hwy 27, the nearest veterinary clinic roughly 1.5 miles south of Hartwood Marsh Road, and Lake Felter buffering the east side.
  • Graham clarified the official applicant is Peacock Partnership, the project's architect, and said the project "would be a valuable service and amenity for the community."
  • Hoisington identified a conflict between documents: the staff report stated no overnight boarding while the resolution allowed overnight stays when medically necessary. Day explained the exception covers emergencies where an animal needs observation or stabilization before transfer to an emergency facility. Graham drew the distinction the record turns on — "the clinic distinguishes between boarding and medical hospitalization" — pets will not be accepted for boarding or pet-sitting; overnight stays occur only when medically necessary after treatment or surgery.
  • Cramer asked whether the parking analysis accounted for future occupancy of the remaining tenant space. Day: the site provides 96 parking spaces against 27 required for the existing retail businesses plus the proposed clinic; the remaining tenant space use is undetermined and will be evaluated when proposed.
  • Niemiec asked the applicant how the clinic would benefit the City of Clermont. Graham said CityVet's model differs from large corporate chains because "each clinic is owned by a local veterinarian who lives and works in the community," and that the company analyzes population growth, demand, and nearby competition before selecting a location. Niemiec followed up on whether staff remain on-site overnight; Graham said staff may remain until late evening if urgent care is offered but do not typically stay overnight — animals kept overnight are "generally sedated and housed in kennels until staff return when the clinic reopens the following morning."
  • Entsuah's concern was parking. Graham said CityVet typically negotiates a few short-term or reserved spaces near the entrance for clients transporting injured, immobile, or large animals and pets brought in for euthanasia, and noted the clinic operates primarily by scheduled appointment and drop-off/pick-up rather than walk-in, reducing parking demand.
  • Colby asked how emergencies arriving near closing would be handled, and what determines whether urgent care is offered at a location. Graham: the clinic closes as scheduled for regular appointments, but if the location offers urgent care it may remain open until 9:00 or 10:00 PM for urgent cases only; the decision depends on nearby competition, availability of existing veterinary emergency facilities, and staffing capacity.
  • No public comments.

Item 2: Ordinance No. 2026-025 — Dark Sky Land Development Code Amendment, and Resolution No. 2026-022R

• Type: Text Amendment (Land Development Code) + implementing Resolution
• Case Number: Ordinance No. 2026-025 (new Chapter 129, "Outdoor Lighting and Dark Sky Standards"); Resolution No. 2026-022R (maximum lumens-per-net-acre schedule under § 129-4(d))
• Location: Citywide — all properties within the corporate limits
• Applicant: City of Clermont (staff-initiated at the direction of the City Manager's Office and City Council)
• Request: Repeal LDC §§ 24-12 and 115-12 and replace them with a new chapter of enforceable outdoor lighting standards aligned with DarkSky International and Illuminating Engineering Society model standards; adopt the implementing output schedule by resolution.
• Current Zoning: N/A (citywide)
• Proposed Zoning: N/A
• Acreage: N/A
• Staff Recommendation: Approve both
• Action: Both recommended for approval (two separate motions)
• Vote: Ordinance No. 2026-025 — 5-0 (moved Cramer, seconded Hoisington). Resolution No. 2026-022R — 5-0 (moved Cramer, seconded Hoisington).
• Conditions: None added; recommended as drafted
• Notable Discussion:
  • Day's presentation restated the enforceability gap: §§ 24-12 and 115-12 "do not provide standards to measure by or enforce when reviewing development applications." Phased retrofit — City-owned and City-leased fixtures compliant by September 1, 2031 subject to coordination with Duke Energy, with a City fixture inventory within twelve months and annual reports to Council; all other nonconforming lighting compliant at the earlier of replacement/removal/substantial modification or September 1, 2036. Cost of upgrades stated as unknown; long-term electricity savings as the offset.
  • Entsuah "expressed appreciation that the topic was finally being considered." Niemiec said he reviewed the item, attempted to identify issues, and commended staff on the materials. Hoisington commended the extent of the work.
  • Cramer — who noted his own neighborhood "was the first older neighborhood in the area to fully convert to dark sky standards" — raised two technical objections. First, the ordinance addresses measuring light trespass both vertically and horizontally but supplies a measurement method only for horizontal, and he recommended adding vertical-measurement clarification. Second, while the ordinance references DarkSky International and IES, he argued it should identify the specific model ordinance, publication editions, or technical guidance documents used to set the numerical thresholds, to strengthen it against future challenge.
  • Waugh explained the drafting choice directly: the City deliberately did not incorporate DarkSky International's standards by reference, instead establishing its own numerical standards within the ordinance "to maintain local control and avoid automatically adopting future changes made by DarkSky International," allowing Clermont "to determine and defend its own lighting standards." Cramer said this addressed his concern about defensibility.
  • Cramer then asked whether the adaptive lighting control requirements reach single-family homes — specifically whether residents would have to turn off porch lights at certain times. Day confirmed the requirements apply to both residential and commercial outdoor fixtures, including porch and landscape lighting, subject to certain residential exemptions and shielding requirements.
  • No public comments.

Item 3: Ordinance No. 2026-026 — Surrounding Property Notifications Land Development Code Amendment

• Type: Text Amendment (Land Development Code — public notice procedure)
• Case Number: Ordinance No. 2026-026
• Location: Citywide
• Applicant: City of Clermont (staff-initiated at the direction of the City Manager's Office and City Council)
• Request: Increase mailed public-hearing notice from 150 feet to 450 feet — "a 200% increase in the written notification requirements" — and require notice to any property owners' association governing property within the 450-foot radius.
• Current Zoning: N/A (citywide)
• Proposed Zoning: N/A
• Acreage: N/A
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: Recommended for approval
• Vote: 5-0 (moved Niemiec, seconded Entsuah)
• Conditions: None added
• Notable Discussion:
  • Gonzalez confirmed no changes to newspaper publication or on-site signage, and that the amendment reaches CUPs, variances, rezonings, Future Land Use Map amendments, and Live Local Act projects.
  • City Council Member Bryan Bain appeared as a member of the public and explained he had worked with staff to develop the proposal, stating that "as a matter of transparency, elected officials should explain the reasoning behind proposals they help develop." The proposal was prompted by resident feedback that the 150-foot radius "was too small, often notifying only a handful of nearby homes." The HOA/condominium-association notice requirement is intended to let associations inform their own residents.
  • Hoisington supported it and asked why 450 feet rather than 500. Cramer supported it as "a change the city has needed for some time."
  • Niemiec noted it was the first time he had seen a city council member speak at a Planning and Zoning meeting as a member of the public, and asked Bain to clarify his role in developing the ordinance. Bain explained that shortly after taking office he met with department heads and proposed revising the notification policy, worked through "the legal, administrative, and financial implications, including how notifications are handled and who bears the associated costs," agreed with staff on the expanded radius, after which staff and the city attorney drafted the language. Niemiec thanked him, noting residents "had questioned the limited 150-foot notification radius for years."
  • Entsuah asked why code enforcement cases were not included. Gonzalez explained code enforcement cases do not involve mailed notice to surrounding properties — notice goes only to the property involved.
  • Colby asked whether the department's practice of adding an extra 50 feet beyond the required distance was official policy or departmental best practice. Gonzalez said it is a best practice ensuring no properties are inadvertently excluded due to mapping boundaries or parcels barely outside the radius. Henschel added that staff intentionally exceed the official distance "to avoid missing properties and to reduce the risk of legal challenges based on inadequate notice." Colby accepted the explanation but expressed concern that relying on a best practice instead of codifying the larger distance could create uncertainty if departmental practices change.

Public Hearings Summary

• Number of speakers: 2 — Jim Graham (applicant representative, CityVet, Item 1) and City Council Member Bryan Bain (appearing as a member of the public, Item 3)
• General sentiment: No opposition recorded on any item
• Key concerns: None raised by the public. The minutes record "no public comments" on Items 1 and 2; the only non-applicant public speaker was a sitting council member supporting Item 3.

Key Signals

• Clermont adopted an enforceable dark-sky code 5-0 and wrote its own numbers rather than adopting DarkSky International's by reference. That drafting choice is the signal, not the vote. Waugh told the board the City declined incorporation by reference specifically "to maintain local control and avoid automatically adopting future changes made by DarkSky International." Clermont gets the credibility of the model standards — the 3,000K ceiling, full-cutoff fixtures, property-line measurement — while keeping the thresholds under its own control and, per the companion resolution, adjustable by a single Council vote. A city preparing for state-preemption fights is building a code it can defend on its own findings.

• The dark-sky rules reach porch lights, and nobody on the dais flinched. Cramer asked the question homeowners will ask — whether adaptive control requirements mean residents must turn off porch and landscape lighting — and Day confirmed the standards apply to residential fixtures, subject to some exemptions and shielding rules. Paired with the 5,000-initial-lumens-per-lot cap for detached single-family, this is the first Clermont code in the coverage period to regulate what individual homeowners install on their own houses. The retrofit deadline for private fixtures is September 1, 2036 or replacement, whichever comes first, so the bite arrives one bulb at a time.

• A sitting council member came to the podium to author-explain his own ordinance — and Niemiec said he had never seen it before. Bryan Bain, elevated to Council from this very commission, appeared as a member of the public on Ordinance 2026-026 and walked through how the 450-foot proposal was developed, including who bears the notification cost. Niemiec flagged the novelty on the record. This is the professionalization pattern turning reflexive: the board that has been rehearsing its institutional position against a proposed magistrate now has an alumnus explaining Council-side reasoning directly to it, in public, before the vote.

• Notice radius tripled 5-0, but the chair flagged the gap the ordinance leaves open. Colby pressed on the department's habit of mailing 50 feet beyond whatever the code requires. Henschel confirmed staff deliberately overshoot "to reduce the risk of legal challenges based on inadequate notice." Colby's response is the durable point: an uncodified best practice can disappear when personnel change. The ordinance codifies 450 feet; the actual practice is 500 and rests on nothing. For anyone who may later contest whether they received adequate notice, the enforceable number is 450.

• Two commissioners absent, and the board passed four items in 53 minutes without a single dissent. Tidona and May — the two members who supply most of the friction, and the two who drove the June rewrite demands on the food-truck ordinance — were both away. The meeting ran unanimous on everything. The pattern the corpus has tracked since 2024 holds: Clermont outcomes remain sensitive to attendance, and the items that clear fastest are the ones the skeptics miss.

• Nothing on this agenda touched the food-truck ordinance or § 101-212. Ordinance 2026-014 did not return in July after the June rewrite demands, and the Section 101-212 CUP-criteria discussion that stalled on quorum in June did not reappear. Both remain open. The July 21 workshop went to the Downtown Action Plan instead.

Raw Notes

• Source provenance: July 7, 2026 minutes were extracted from the August 4, 2026 Planning & Zoning agenda packet (CivicClerk file ID 5710, 120 pp.), minutes occupying PDF pages 3–10. Clermont's packet-carries-previous-minutes pattern confirmed for a second consecutive cycle.
• Attendance note: Tidona announced his July 7 absence in advance at the June 2 meeting during Reports. May, who attended June by phone, was absent entirely.
• City Attorney Christian Waugh participated by phone.
• Reports: Hoisington attended the city's Juneteenth celebration and encouraged attendance next year. Cramer expressed long-standing support for dark-sky compliance and thanked staff and the legal department. Niemiec thanked community members who turned out in poor weather for the Fourth of July Clermont 250th celebration. Entsuah had no reports. Colby announced the Lake County Hobnob, hosted by the City of Clermont at the Clermont Performing Arts Center — a free event Monday 5:00–7:30 PM for residents to meet candidates for city, county, state, and federal office.
• The minutes contain a stray "Chair Colby" line immediately before the Item 2 motions, with no accompanying statement recorded.
• Three separate motions were taken on Item 2's two instruments: Ordinance 2026-025 and Resolution 2026-022R were moved and seconded separately, both by Cramer and Hoisington, both 5-0.
• No discussion of non-agenda items was recorded. Adjournment 7:23 PM. Attested by Planning Coordinator Rae Chidlow; signed by Chair Colby.
• Council calendar from the packet: CityVet Resolution 2026-021R scheduled for Council July 28, 2026; Ordinance 2026-025, Resolution 2026-022R, and Ordinance 2026-026 all scheduled for Council August 11, 2026.