City of Groveland City Council: September 8, 2026

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (4 of 5 members present) Duration: 6:30 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. Location: E.L. Puryear Building, 243 S. Lake Avenue, Groveland

Attendance

• Present: Mayor Keith Keogh, Vice Mayor Barbara Gaines, Council Members Amy Jo Carroll and Michael Jaycox
• Absent: Council Member Stephen Shylkofski (excused)
• Staff Present: Interim City Manager Timothy Maslow, Clerk Virginia Wright, Sergeant-At-Arms Deputy Chief Armando Loney, Interim City Attorney Richard S. Geller; also appearing, Senior Planner Alan Booker and Procurement Manager Coraly Vasquez

Agenda Items

Item 2: Ordinance 2026-13, Sampey Road Parcel 2 Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Second Reading)

• Type: Comp Plan Amendment (small-scale, future land use)
• Case Number: Ordinance 2026-13
• Location: Approximately 15.41 acres "located southeast of Sampey Road, generally north of State Road 50, east of Phelps Street, and west of Beverly Drive"
• Applicant: Represented by Alex Stringfellow
• Request: Amend the Future Land Use Plan designation "from City of Groveland Established Neighborhood, Agriculture, and Conservation to City of Groveland Employment Center and Conservation."
• Acreage: 15.41 +/- acres
• Staff Recommendation: Approve; "the Planning and Zoning Board had unanimously recommended approval"
• Action: Motion passed (second reading)
• Vote: Motion passed with all council members present voting aye (motion by Vice Mayor Gaines, second by Council Member Carroll)
• Notable Discussion:
  • Mr. Booker said "the applicant proposed approximately 90,000 square feet of light industrial flex space." Projected traffic: approximately 43 morning and 44 afternoon peak-hour trips, about 15 additional vehicles on the Phelps Street segment at peak; the City's traffic engineer found the project qualified for a traffic exemption at fewer than 100 peak-hour two-way trips.
  • Portions of the property lie in FEMA Flood Zone A; the City's 2020 CRA Watershed Study set a community-based flood elevation of 96.6 feet.
  • Interim City Manager Maslow said staff was evaluating no-freight signage, raised crosswalks, speed-limit reductions, and "a potential approximately $1 million investment by the applicant to improve and possibly reorient Sampey Road to provide more direct access to State Road 50."
  • Mr. Stringfellow said Sampey Road would meet City standards (two 12-foot lanes in a 40-foot right-of-way), that the project was intended "for light industrial flex-space users rather than freight or logistics operations," that the applicant was agreeable to no-freight signage on Phelps Street "subject to City review," and that the development could support up to approximately 90 employees.
  • Council Member Jaycox asked whether City-owned property could provide access from Sampey Road to State Road 50 without Phelps Street; staff had asked Transportation and Public Works Director TJ Fish to evaluate the connection.
  • A resident asked who pays for road, stormwater, water and sewer infrastructure; "Staff confirmed that the developer would be responsible for those costs."

Item 3: Ordinance 2026-14, Sampey Road Parcel 2 Rezoning (Second Reading)

• Type: Rezoning
• Case Number: Ordinance 2026-14
• Location: Sampey Road, north of State Road 50, east of Phelps Street and west of Beverly Drive
• Request: Change the zoning "from City of Groveland Agriculture, Light Industrial, and Conservation to City of Groveland Light Industrial and Conservation" for the property the ordinance title describes as "owned by Jon Jones."
• Current Zoning: City of Groveland Agriculture, Light Industrial, and Conservation
• Proposed Zoning: City of Groveland Light Industrial and Conservation
• Action: Motion passed (second reading)
• Vote: Motion passed with all council members present voting aye
• Notable Discussion: Public comment: none.

Item 4: Ordinance 2026-15, Sampey Road Parcel 1 Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Second Reading)

• Type: Comp Plan Amendment (small-scale, future land use)
• Case Number: Ordinance 2026-15
• Location: Sampey Road Parcel 1
• Request: Amend the Future Land Use Plan designation "from City of Groveland Established Neighborhood and Conservation to City of Groveland Agriculture, Employment Center and Conservation."
• Acreage: 14.77 +/- acres
• Action: Motion passed (second reading)
• Vote: Motion passed with all council members present voting aye
• Notable Discussion: Public comment: none.

Public Hearings Summary

• Number of speakers: One resident on Ordinance 2026-13; none on Ordinances 2026-14 and 2026-15.
• General sentiment: A cost question, answered by staff.
• Key concerns: Who pays for roadway, stormwater, water and sewer infrastructure. Traffic and pedestrian safety concerns from the first reading were addressed in the staff presentation.

Key Signals

• Sampey Road Parcel 2 cleared second reading for employment and light industrial use. On second reading the City Council approved Ordinance 2026-13 (15.41 +/- acres from Established Neighborhood, Agriculture, and Conservation to Employment Center and Conservation) and Ordinance 2026-14 (rezoning from Agriculture, Light Industrial, and Conservation to Light Industrial and Conservation), with Ordinance 2026-15 moving Parcel 1 (14.77 +/- acres) to Agriculture, Employment Center and Conservation. The applicant describes approximately 90,000 square feet of light industrial flex space.
• The same move appears across the region's dockets. Minneola's Planning & Zoning Commission agenda for September 14, 2026 carries Ordinance 2026-20, rezoning 14.52+ acres at Grassy Lake, east of US Highway 27 and south of Citrus Grove Road, from Commercial-Planned Unit Development (PUD-C) to Industrial-Planned Unit Development (PUD-I), with a Grassy Lake Industrial site plan. Apopka's City Commission agenda for August 19, 2026 carries Ordinances No. 3160 and 3161 moving 5.23 +/- acres on E. Keene Road from Commercial to Industrial future land use and from C-C (Community Commercial) to I-L (Light Industrial) zoning for warehouse storage (enclosed car storage), and Davenport's City Commission agenda for August 17, 2026 carried Ordinance No. 1456, moving 220 Davenport Boulevard from City Commerce Activity (CAC) to City Manufacturing Warehouse (MW), which the Commission deleted from its order of business that evening. Groveland's change is the one of these recorded as approved on second reading.
• The road question travels with the approval. Staff is evaluating a possible applicant investment of approximately $1 million to reorient Sampey Road toward State Road 50, plus no-freight signage on Phelps Street, which the applicant said it would accept, "subject to City review."

Raw Notes

• Resolutions 2026-59 and 2026-60 (Amendment 3 to FDEP State Revolving Fund loan agreements SW350630, $300,000 for the Stormwater Facilities Plan, and DW350621, $11,112,180 for metering and water main work; each extends completion and debt service by one year) were pulled from consent and amended to change Section 6 "from 'repeal' to 'prevail'"; each motion passed with all council members present voting aye.
• Consent agenda (minutes including August 17, August 20 special and executive session, and August 25 budget workshop; Resolution 2026-58 school resource officer agreement with Cherry Lake Preparatory Academy; Resolution 2026-61 settlement for acquisition of parcels 423 and 823 for the Gadson Street Trail Project, $70,000; Resolution 2026-62 amendment to the Hartman Law Firm special counsel contract, including legal work on "water and sewer impact/connection fees, developer impact fee prepayments, capacity reservation fees, and surety bonding by developers"): motion passed with all council members present voting aye.
• Old Business Item 1: Resolution 2026-33, revised Procurement Policy (Council approval threshold reduced from $250,000 to $100,000), approved.
• New Business: none.
• The minutes print the movers on Ordinances 2026-14 and 2026-15 as "Vice Mayor Jaycox"; the attendance list names Barbara Gaines as Vice Mayor and Michael Jaycox as a Council Member.
• Two residents spoke in general public comment: one on a crosswalk near Wilson Lake, one on the former Police Chief's lawsuit.
• Reports: Mayor Keogh asked for updates on the Train Depot lot split and the spray field study and spoke to preserving Wilson Island for conservation, with a September 29, 2026 meeting on possible County and State conservation funding. City Manager recruitment drew 11 candidates, with finalist interviews planned for the September 21 meeting. Budget hearings: September 16 and September 21 at 6:00 p.m.
• The minutes text is an OCR layer ("Sampev," "Rezoninq"); quotations above are normalized to the words the text plainly intends.