City of Kissimmee Planning Advisory Board — August 20, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (5 of 7 members present) Duration: 6:00 PM – 8:01 PM (2 hours 1 minute) — the longest PAB meeting of the coverage period Location: Kissimmee City Hall, Commission Chambers, 101 Church Street

Attendance

Present: Chairman Robert Bussiere, Board Member Diana Marrero-Pinto, Board Member Alex Alemi, Board Member Rebeca Marin, Board Member Lynda Roth
Absent: Board Member Aaron Sabino, Board Member Yolanda Bernard
Staff Present: Brenda Ryan (Planning Manager), Kalanit Oded (Deputy City Attorney), Samia Singleton (CRA Manager), Cristian Arias (Senior Planner), Ryan Altizer (Senior Planner), Kayla Smith (Planning Technician)

Prior minutes approved: June 4, 2025 PAB workshop minutes, 5-0 (moved Marrero-Pinto, seconded Alemi). Robert Spalding no longer appears on the roster after May 7; Lynda Roth joined at the June 4 workshop.

Agenda Items

Item 5.A: Amendment to Resolution 10-2020 — Downtown Kissimmee CRA Master Redevelopment Plan update

Type: Other (redevelopment plan amendment / recommendation to City Commission)
Case Number: Amendment to Resolution 10-2020
Location: Downtown Kissimmee Community Redevelopment Area
Applicant: City of Kissimmee / Downtown Kissimmee CRA; consultant Inspire Placemaking, Laura Martinez, Project Manager
Request: Update the Downtown Kissimmee Community Redevelopment Agency Master Redevelopment Plan.
Current Zoning: N/A (area plan)
Proposed Zoning: N/A
Acreage: CRA-wide; more than 120 acres within the CRA remain vacant
Staff Recommendation: Approve
Action: Approved / recommended forward to the City Commission
Vote: 5-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Roth)
Conditions: None formally attached; the consultant agreed to consider Alemi's requested language revision before the Commission hearing.
Notable Discussion: Martinez said the update focuses on identifying areas needing revitalization and addressing "lingering perceptions of safety," and that more than 120 acres inside the CRA remain vacant and available for infill. The update merges the "Connectivity" and "Public Realm" action points into a single "Unified Mobility Enhancements and Wayfinding" focus area and adds "Enhance Public Safety" as a new priority, emphasizing community policing, infrastructure improvements, and flexible design supporting mixed-use development and walkability. Final revisions were to be completed before presentation to the City Commission on September 3, 2025. Alemi supported the update and asked that the corridor-studies language on page 44 be revised to reflect recent City Commission discussions reconsidering the Broadway lane reduction. Martinez agreed to take the comment into consideration before the Commission presentation.

Item 5.B: CU-25-0004 — Lechonera El Jibarito outdoor sales, 1985 S. John Young Parkway

Type: Conditional Use with Site Plan (special event / outdoor sales)
Case Number: CU-25-0004
Location: 1985 S. John Young Parkway
Applicant: Lisandra Roman, owner, Lechonera El Jibarito
Request: Establish outdoor sales from vehicles as a special event — up to six food trucks and six tents operating after the restaurant closes at 6:00 PM.
Current Zoning: Highway Commercial (HC)
Proposed Zoning: No change
Acreage: approximately 1.11 acres
Staff Recommendation: Approve with 12 conditions, hours limited to Wednesday–Sunday 7:00–10:00 PM because of noise ordinance restrictions and nearby residential areas
Action: Approved with the hours condition amended from the dais — recorded as "Motion to Approve w/ Amended Condition #1 Passed"
Vote: 5-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Marrero-Pinto)
Conditions: Twelve conditions as recommended, with Condition 1 amended: (1) hours of operation Wednesday–Sunday 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM (staff had recommended a 10:00 PM close); (2) the special-event approval is valid for 90 days only and must return to the Development Review Committee for renewal or different hours/days per LDC § 14-6-28; (3) no food trucks, trailers or event materials stored or parked on site outside approved hours, with a parking agreement with surrounding parcels possibly required; (4) no more than six food trucks per night; (5) no more than six tents with table and chairs per night; (6) no public address or sound projection system between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, no amplified sound after 10:00 PM, per Chapter 22, Article II of the Code of Ordinances; (7) permits posted on site and available on request, with failure to comply voiding the approval and exposing the operator to daily fines and forfeiture of future event dates; (8) the City reserves the right to limit, alter or deny special events at any time, with express reference to LDC § 14-3-29(F)(3) on safety, aesthetics, noise, lighting, odors and vibration; (9) alcohol sales and consumption strictly prohibited during event hours; (10) event organizer responsible for outside vendors, including a vendor list with FDACS food permits and named alternates, and vendor-supplied garbage bags; (11) trash cans throughout the event area and immediate post-event cleanup of the site, adjacent sites and rights-of-way; (12) every food truck must hold a current City business license.
Notable Discussion: Altizer stated the event is compatible with the surrounding area, "conveniently located on a major thoroughfare and supported by City staff." Roman said she agreed with all City conditions but respectfully requested the close be extended from 10:00 PM to midnight to account for setup and breakdown time, emphasized her commitment to safety and noise-ordinance compliance, and said she hoped the event would create jobs and give the community diverse food options. Discussion ensued among board members on the hours request; Alemi moved approval with the extension to midnight and the board carried it unanimously — over the staff recommendation, while leaving the 10:00 PM amplified-sound cutoff intact.

Item 5.C: PUD-23-0001 — Osceola Village Center PUD Amendment

Type: PUD Amendment (Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development)
Case Number: PUD-23-0001
Location: Parcel ID 33-25-29-00U0-0012-0000
Applicant: Osceola Village Center; represented by Richard Wohlfarth, planner and engineer, 1275 Prince Court, Lake Mary
Request: Add self-storage facilities as a permitted use and add regulatory language to the sign standards, allowing 4-foot by 15-foot monument entry signs for the multi-family development.
Current Zoning: Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development (MUPUD), approved 2019; Future Land Use Commercial General (CG)
Proposed Zoning: MUPUD, amended
Acreage: 161.8 acres (the full Osceola Village Center MUPUD)
Staff Recommendation: Approve
Action: Approved as submitted, after a motion to strip the self-storage use failed
Vote: First motion (Alemi): strike Item 20 from Part A — remove the self-storage use while retaining the signage amendments — FAILED 2-3. AYE: Alemi, Roth. NAY: Bussiere, Marrero-Pinto, Marin. (seconded Roth). Second motion: approve as submitted — PASSED 5-0 (moved Marrero-Pinto, seconded Alemi).
Conditions: None added beyond the three compliance findings in the staff report (LDC §§ 14-3-28 and 14-4-8(D) MUPUD intent; LDC § 14-4-8(D)(3)(b) allowable uses, self-storage being allowed in non-residential districts including Highway Commercial; Comprehensive Plan FLU Policy 1.2.3.2 Commercial General).
Notable Discussion: Arias explained the 2019 MUPUD covers 161.8 acres of mixed residential and commercial development, and the applicant sought self-storage as a permitted use plus modified sign standards. Wohlfarth described the project as "a true mixed-use development with residential, hospital, and retail uses" and said the proposed three-story self-storage facility would complement the community, serve residents and nearby businesses, and enhance the site's design and functionality. Planning staff and the board discussed the future land use designation and current regulations on allowed uses within the development. Alemi's motion to strike the self-storage use drew a second from Roth but lost 2-3; Alemi then seconded the approval motion that carried the self-storage use through unanimously.

Item 5.D: ABDN-25-0002 — Vacation of unnamed right-of-way adjacent to 15 Church Street

Type: Right-of-way vacation / abandonment (resolution)
Case Number: ABDN-25-0002
Location: Unnamed alleyway adjacent to 15 Church Street — First Presbyterian Church
Applicant: Represented by Bob Whidden, RJ Whidden Associates, 8 Broadway Avenue, Kissimmee
Request: Adopt a resolution vacating approximately 0.1 acres of right-of-way.
Current Zoning: T4-R and T4-O
Proposed Zoning: N/A
Acreage: 0.1 acres, more or less
Staff Recommendation: Approve with three findings/conditions
Action: Recommended for approval
Vote: 4-1 per the approved minutes — AYE: Bussiere, Marrero-Pinto, Marin, Roth. NAY: Alemi. (moved Marrero-Pinto, seconded Roth). The same-day Action Summary records this item 5-0 with Alemi voting aye; the approved minutes are the controlling record. See Raw Notes.
Conditions: (1) removal of the rights-of-way or easements has no impact on the roadway network and results in no net loss of connectivity within the City's Multimodal Transportation District; (2) consistent with applicant justification, future development, emergency response, city services and other LDC documents; (3) compliance with LDC § 14-3-47, Vacation and Abandonment of Rights-of-Way and Easements.
Notable Discussion: Ryan explained that a 17-foot-wide alleyway established by the 1889 O'Neal and Osborn Addition Plat overlaps the existing First Presbyterian Church, built in 1886 — the plat drew a right-of-way through a building that already stood. Similar vacations were approved in 1970 and 1996 with no objections from utility providers. Board members asked about establishing a pedestrian easement and downtown master plan enhancements; Ryan stated there is no public interest in establishing a pedestrian easement on private property. Whidden said he discovered the alleyway running through the church building as a record error, explained the vacation prevents future ownership and insurance problems, offered an alternative easement if needed, and commended City staff.

Public Hearings Summary

Number of speakers: 4 — Laura Martinez (Inspire Placemaking, Item 5.A), Lisandra Roman (applicant/owner, Item 5.B), Richard Wohlfarth (applicant representative, Item 5.C), Bob Whidden (applicant representative, Item 5.D). Items 5.B, 5.C and 5.D were noticed public hearings.
General sentiment: No opposition from the public on any item. Every speaker was applicant-side or consultant-side.
Key concerns: The only substantive objections came from the dais — Alemi's failed motion to remove self-storage from the Osceola Village Center PUD, and his lone dissent on the Church Street right-of-way vacation.

Key Signals

The board overruled its own staff on closing time and gave a food-truck market at 1985 S. John Young Parkway until midnight. Staff recommended a 10:00 PM close because of the noise ordinance and nearby residential areas; the owner asked for midnight; Alemi moved it and the board carried it 5-0. The amplified-sound cutoff stayed at 10:00 PM, so from 10:00 to midnight the market runs quiet. The approval is good for 90 days and must return to the Development Review Committee for renewal — meaning the real durability test happens at staff level, out of public view, in November 2025.
Self-storage got into a 161.8-acre mixed-use PUD by a 3-2 margin, and the member who tried to stop it then seconded its approval. Alemi moved to strike the self-storage use from Osceola Village Center while keeping the sign amendments; it failed 2-3 with Roth alongside him. He then seconded Marrero-Pinto's motion to approve the whole package, which passed 5-0. For anyone reading vote tallies as sentiment, this is the caution: the unanimous approval conceals a board that had just split on the substance. A three-story self-storage building is now permitted in a development marketed as residential, hospital and retail.
More than 120 acres inside the Downtown CRA are still vacant, and the plan update's answer is safety and wayfinding. Inspire Placemaking's revision merges "Connectivity" and "Public Realm" into one mobility-and-wayfinding focus area and adds "Enhance Public Safety" as a new priority, explicitly to address "lingering perceptions of safety." When a downtown plan adds policing as a redevelopment strategy, the diagnosis is that the vacancy is demand-side, not entitlement-side. Downtown Kissimmee's constraint is not what the code allows.
The Broadway lane reduction is back in play. Alemi asked that the plan's corridor-studies language on page 44 be rewritten to reflect City Commission discussions reconsidering the Broadway lane reduction. A downtown road diet that the Commission is now second-guessing is the kind of infrastructure reversal that changes the calculus for every ground-floor retail pro forma on the street. Watch the September 3, 2025 Commission presentation.
An 1889 plat line running through an 1886 church took a 4-1 vote to erase. ABDN-25-0002 vacates a 17-foot alley the O'Neal and Osborn Addition drew across a building that predated it, the third such correction on the same downtown grid after 1970 and 1996. Staff's position on the record — "there is no public interest in establishing a pedestrian easement on private property" — is the sentence downtown walkability advocates should note, delivered in the same meeting that adopted a CRA plan built around mobility and wayfinding.
The roster turned over and nobody said so on the record. Robert Spalding, present through May 7 and the mover of most 2025 motions, is gone; Lynda Roth arrived at the June 4 training workshop with no recorded introduction or appointment and cast her first substantive votes here. Sabino and Bernard were absent again. Kissimmee's PAB has now cycled three members through a seven-seat board in one year while cancelling roughly half its meetings.

Raw Notes

Source provenance: minutes PDF published to CivicClerk as file 8651 ("08.20.2025 PAB Minutes") under agenda 1935, event 2263. A same-day Action Summary (file 8443) and a revised agenda packet (file 8428) are also published.
Record discrepancy on Item 5.D, and how the Minutes came to differ. The Action Summary published on the meeting date records Item 5.D passing 5-0 with Alemi among the ayes and does not mention any failed motion on Item 5.C. The signed Minutes record Item 5.D as 4-1 with Alemi voting nay, and record Alemi's failed motion to strike the self-storage use from Item 5.C. The mechanism is documented: at the November 5, 2025 meeting Alemi moved to amend these minutes to insert the Item 5.C motion (carried 4-0) and to note his public notice on Rosenberg's Rules in the discussion section (carried 3-1, Kapp dissenting), after which the minutes were adopted as amended 4-0. The November 5 amendment describes the Item 5.C motion as having "failed, 3-2" — the same outcome the August minutes state as 2-3 from the prevailing side. This document follows the amended, approved Minutes. The Item 5.D tally difference is not explained by either amendment and remains an unreconciled divergence between the two published records.
Kayla Smith's title changes from "Administrative Assistant II" in earlier minutes to "Planning Technician" here.
Item 5.C's approval motion reproduces the staff findings with a transcription artifact — the first finding is numbered "14." in the source.
Item 5.B's condition list is reproduced twice in the source minutes: once as recommended by staff (10:00 PM close) and again as adopted in the motion (12:00 AM close). Condition 1 is the only text that differs.
Under DISCUSSION, Alemi raised adopting Rosenberg's Rules of Order in place of Robert's Rules of Order for the PAB, discussion ensued on the pros and cons, and Alemi gave public notice that at the subsequent meeting he would move to adopt Rosenberg's Rules. Planning Manager Ryan stated on the record that she was concerned Rosenberg's Rules "will not maintain consistency with other City boards, promote more public participation or provide more efficient and effective meetings."
Adjournment 8:01 PM. Signed by the Board Chairman and Board Secretary.

Kissimmee Planning Advisory Board — August 20, 2025 minutes