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Meetings · Kissimmee

Kissimmee Planning Advisory Board — November 5, 2025 minutes

City of Kissimmee Planning Advisory Board — November 5, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (4 members present) Duration: 6:00 PM – 8:18 PM (2 hours 18 minutes) Location: Kissimmee City Hall, Commission Chambers, 101 Church Street

Attendance

  • Present: Chairman Robert Bussiere, Board Member Alex Alemi, Board Member Thomas Kapp, Board Member Raymond Sanchez
  • Absent: Board Member Lynda Roth, Board Member Jon Arguello
  • Staff Present: Brenda Ryan (Planning Manager), Kalanit Oded (Deputy City Attorney), Ryan Altizer (Senior Planner), Kayla Smith (Planning Technician)

Roster reset. Kapp, Sanchez and Arguello appear for the first time. Marrero-Pinto, Marin, Sabino and Bernard no longer appear. The vice-chair seat is vacant following Diana Marrero-Pinto's resignation, per Alemi's written motion filed with these minutes.

Prior minutes: August 20, 2025 minutes amended twice from the dais and then adopted as amended; September 17, 2025 minutes approved 4-0.

Agenda Items

Item 3.A: Amendment and approval of the August 20, 2025 minutes

  • Type: Other (records correction)
  • Action: Two amendments carried, then the minutes adopted as amended
  • Vote: First amendment — insert Alemi's failed motion on Item 5.C (PUD-23-0001) to strike the self-storage conditional use from the Osceola Village PUD amendment while retaining the signage amendments — 4-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Bussiere). Second amendment — record in the discussion section that Alemi gave public notice on August 20 that he would move to adopt Rosenberg's Rules of Order at a subsequent meeting — 3-1, NAY: Kapp (moved Alemi, seconded Bussiere). Adoption of the minutes as amended — 4-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Sanchez).
  • Notable Discussion: The amendment describes the August 20 self-storage motion as having "failed, 3-2." The August 20 minutes as published record that motion failing 2-3 (aye: Alemi, Roth; nay: Bussiere, Marrero-Pinto, Marin) — the same result stated from the prevailing side.

Item 5.A: ZMA-25-0003 / Ordinance #25-13 — 4200 W. Vine Street rezoning

  • Type: Rezoning (Zoning Map Amendment)
  • Case Number: ZMA-25-0003 / Proposed Ordinance #25-13
  • Location: 4200 W. Vine Street — Parcel IDs 19-25-29-00U0-0116-0000, 19-25-29-00U0-0115-0000, 19-25-29-00U0-0110-0000, 19-25-29-00U0-0120-0000
  • Applicant: [not available — no applicant or representative is recorded as speaking]
  • Request: Change the Zoning Map designation from Vine Street West Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development (MUPUD) to Mixed-Use Urban Corridor (T5-U).
  • Current Zoning: Vine Street West MUPUD (established 2017 by Ordinance 17-01; the site was Highway Commercial before that)
  • Proposed Zoning: Mixed-Use Urban Corridor (T5-U)
  • Acreage: approximately 4.53 acres
  • Staff Recommendation: Approve, with three compliance findings
  • Action: Recommended for approval
  • Vote: 4-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Sanchez)
  • Conditions: Three compliance findings adopted with the motion — Comprehensive Plan FLU Policy 1.2.9.3 (Vine Street Mixed-Use, maximum 40 du/ac and up to 6.0 FAR, implemented through the adopted Vine Street CRA Master Plan); LDC § 14-3-27 (amendment procedure); LDC § 14-5-4(E) (T5-U district intent — transit-oriented design, infill, lot aggregation, redevelopment of underdeveloped sites, relationship to transit stops, implementation of the Vine Street CRA master plan areas).
  • Notable Discussion: Altizer stated the parcels are currently vacant; a Sonny's BBQ built in 1984 on Parcel 19-25-29-00U0-0116-0000 was recently demolished. No public comment recorded.

Item 5.B: ZMA-25-0007 / Ordinance #25-17 — 201 E. Dakin Street rezoning to Waterfront (T6)

  • Type: Rezoning (Zoning Map Amendment)
  • Case Number: ZMA-25-0007 / Proposed Ordinance #25-17
  • Location: 201 E. Dakin Street
  • Applicant: [not available — no applicant representative is recorded as speaking; the site is developed with City facilities]
  • Request: Change the Zoning Map designation from Mixed-Use Center (T5-M) to Waterfront (T6), the district permitting the greatest intensity and the tallest buildings in Kissimmee.
  • Current Zoning: Mixed-Use Center (T5-M) — rezoned from Open Space (OS) in 2022 to align with the Downtown CRA Form-Based Code; Future Land Use Mixed-Use Downtown (MU-D)
  • Proposed Zoning: Waterfront (T6)
  • Acreage: approximately 13.62 acres
  • Staff Recommendation: Approve, with three compliance findings
  • Action: Recommended for approval
  • Vote: 3-1 — AYE: Bussiere, Kapp, Sanchez. NAY: Alemi. (moved Kapp, seconded Sanchez). The minutes print the tally as "3 - 4"; the recorded aye and nay lists are three and one. See Raw Notes.
  • Conditions: Three compliance findings — Comprehensive Plan FLU Policy 1.2.9.2 (Mixed-Use Downtown, mirroring the Strategic Investment Map sub-areas in the September 2012 Downtown Kissimmee CRA Plan Update); LDC § 14-3-27; LDC § 14-5-4(G) (Waterfront T6 district, which "permits the greatest intensity and mix of uses with buildings close to the sidewalk … Building heights are permitted to be tallest here, to create landmark defining features and to create a sense of enclosure for the park").
  • Notable Discussion: Altizer stated the 13.62-acre site is currently developed with the City's Library, Civic Center, and SunRail Parking Garage, and is proposed for redevelopment with a hotel and a new civic center. Two residents spoke against. Cynthia Franklin, 504 E. Drury, thanked Alemi for explaining the process and helping residents understand the criteria, thanked Kapp for considering the community, stated she does not support any eight-story development in the neighborhood, and recommended keeping the property zoned T5-M "to allow greater board oversight and increased community input." Sheila Honeycut, 314 Lakeshore Blvd., said residents depend on the board to keep the neighborhood walkable and family-friendly and that she does not see a need for the proposed development.

Item 5.C: CU-25-0022 — HVAC intensive service use, 1226 Dyer Boulevard

  • Type: Conditional Use with Site Plan Waiver
  • Case Number: CU-25-0022
  • Location: 1226 Dyer Boulevard, within the Kissimmee Industrial Park PUD
  • Applicant: [not available — no applicant representative is recorded as speaking]
  • Request: Establish an intensive service use — heating, ventilation and air-conditioning service — inside the Kissimmee Industrial Park PUD.
  • Current Zoning: Kissimmee Industrial Park Planned Unit Development (the City's oldest PUD, approved in 1968 for restricted industrial and business park uses)
  • Proposed Zoning: No change
  • Acreage: [not available]
  • Staff Recommendation: Approve with four conditions
  • Action: Approved with conditions
  • Vote: 4-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Kapp)
  • Conditions: (1) compliance with Kissimmee Industrial Center PUD standards; (2) compliance with LDC § 14-3-29(C)(2), conditional use site plan waiver, since existing parking, loading, lighting and other site characteristics are unaffected; (3) compliance with LDC § 14-3-29(F) general review criteria; (4) conditions-of-approval analysis reviewed against LDC § 14-3-29(G).
  • Notable Discussion: Ryan explained the 1968 PUD contains a provision allowing certain uses to be reviewed by the Planning Advisory Board, and listed the prior conditional uses run through that provision: lawn care and leaf-and-litter collection offices (DRC#03-054), secondhand merchandise retail (DRC#06-073), a thrift store (DRC#12-00081) and retail air conditioning sales (CU-24-0009).

Item 5.D: LUPA-25-0003 / Ordinance #25-18 — 2001 Yates Road Future Land Use Map amendment — DENIED

  • Type: Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Future Land Use Map)
  • Case Number: LUPA-25-0003 / Proposed Ordinance #25-18
  • Location: 2001 Yates Road
  • Applicant: Osceola County — Cori Carpenter for the County; George Kramer, planner with Inspire Placemaking, presented
  • Request: Change the Future Land Use Map designation from Recreational (REC) to Institutional (INST) to enable a County emergency resource center and senior housing.
  • Current Zoning: Open Space (OS); Future Land Use Recreational (REC)
  • Proposed Zoning: N/A — future land use to Institutional (INST), intensity up to 2.0 FAR
  • Acreage: approximately 13.12 acres
  • Staff Recommendation: Approve — staff found compliance with FLU Policy 1.2.6.1 (Institutional) and LDC § 14-3-26
  • Action: DENIED
  • Vote: Motion to Deny passed 4-0 — AYE: Alemi, Bussiere, Kapp, Sanchez (moved Kapp, seconded Alemi)
  • Conditions: N/A
  • Notable Discussion: Altizer stated the parcels are vacant except for a portion of the Shingle Creek Regional Park Trail on the eastern side, which the County development would not impact, and that the amendment was filed together with a Zoning Map Amendment (PUD-25-0014) proposing community-serving uses including an emergency resource center and senior housing. Cori Carpenter of Osceola County explained the site was selected because it is County-owned, outside the floodplain, and located along U.S. 192 with high transit access and transient activity; that plans include replacing parkland elsewhere with no net loss; and that the facility is "intended as a resource center — not a housing complex" where individuals can access food, housing vouchers and services, with corridor transit providing access from nearby affordable housing for those without vehicles. Kramer presented plans for the resource center and housing development. No opposing public speakers are recorded on this item. The board moved to deny without recording a stated finding.

Item 5.E: PUD-25-0014 / Ordinance #25-19 — 2001 Yates Road rezoning — DENIED

  • Type: Rezoning (Zoning Map Amendment to PUD)
  • Case Number: PUD-25-0014 / Proposed Ordinance #25-19
  • Location: 2001 Yates Road
  • Applicant: Osceola County
  • Request: Change the Zoning Map designation from Open Space (OS) to Planned Unit Development (PUD), establishing development standards and phasing for the County's emergency resource center and senior housing.
  • Current Zoning: Open Space (OS)
  • Proposed Zoning: Planned Unit Development (PUD)
  • Acreage: approximately 13.12 acres
  • Staff Recommendation: Approve
  • Action: DENIED
  • Vote: Motion to Deny passed 4-0 — AYE: Alemi, Bussiere, Kapp, Sanchez (moved Alemi, seconded Kapp)
  • Conditions: N/A
  • Notable Discussion: Altizer stated the PUD was submitted with LUPA-25-0003 and would establish development standards and phasing for the County project. No further discussion is recorded before the motion to deny.

Item 7.A: Rosenberg's Rules of Order

  • Type: Other (board procedure)
  • Applicant: Board Member Alemi, by written motion filed with the minutes
  • Action: Alemi's motion to adopt died for lack of a second; a subsequent motion to table the discussion passed 4-0; later, under Item 7.D, the board voted 3-1 to strike the Rosenberg's adoption from Item 7.A and keep Robert's Rules of Order.
  • Vote: Motion to adopt — no second. Motion to table — 4-0 (moved Alemi, seconded Kapp). Motion to strike and keep Robert's Rules — 3-1, NAY: Sanchez.
  • Notable Discussion: Ryan stated the item was brought back for review by new board members and that planning staff recommend against adopting Rosenberg's Rules. Alemi's written motion cites Kissimmee Code § 2-211(c), which gives the PAB authority to "make its own rules of procedure and determine its time of meeting," notes that Rosenberg's Rules (Revised 2011) are used in the nearby City of Belle Isle, and states the California League of Cities granted permission to post them on the City website.

Item 7.B: PAB meeting dates

  • Type: Other (board administration)
  • Action: Informational
  • Notable Discussion: Ryan reminded the board of the remaining 2025–2026 meeting dates and said staff are still working on establishing the full 2026 PAB schedule, with the board to be updated when finalized.

Item 7.C: Calendar of events / public notice

  • Type: Other (board administration)
  • Action: Discussion only
  • Notable Discussion: Ryan showed the board the City website's calendar resource, explained it provides a minimum of three business days' notice of Commission and advisory board meetings, updates automatically when a project's status changes in the EnerGov system, and lets the public track upcoming items for all advisory boards including Development Review. Alemi requested earlier notification of PAB items, asked that notices sent to the Orlando Sentinel be forwarded to the board two weeks in advance, and disclosed that he had created the website Kissimmee.fyi to compile those notices for public and board use. He noted that while City policy requires three business days' notice, the Florida Government Sunshine Manual recommends at least seven days, and said the board's effectiveness is limited by the lack of advance communication. Oded responded that the Friday prior to a meeting is sufficient review time, that this is a volunteer board, that this meeting's agenda "was stacked," and that moving forward meetings will be held more regularly.

Item 7.D: Board Member Alemi motions — officer elections and Ordinance #25-14

  • Type: Other (board governance)
  • Action: Officer-election motion — no vote taken. Rules amendment — 3-1. Procedural-violation motion — died for lack of a second.
  • Notable Discussion: Alemi moved to hold Chair and Vice Chair elections at the next meeting, citing Kissimmee Code § 2-211(a) ("The planning advisory board shall annually elect a chair and a vice-chair from among its membership"), noting the board "has not held recent elections" and that the vice-chair seat is vacant following Diana Marrero-Pinto's resignation. Oded said a motion was not required and advised waiting until the full board is present. Kapp seconded a renewed motion; no vote was taken. Alemi then moved to strike Rosenberg's adoption from Item 7.A and keep Robert's Rules, carried 3-1 (nay: Sanchez), and to approve with that amendment, again 3-1. Alemi finally moved on a written finding that the City Commission committed a procedural violation in adopting Ordinance #25-14 on August 19, 2025; no member seconded and the motion died. The written motion is reproduced in the minutes packet — see Key Signals and Raw Notes.

Public Hearings Summary

  • Number of speakers: 4 — Cynthia Franklin (504 E. Drury) and Sheila Honeycut (314 Lakeshore Blvd.) opposing Item 5.B; Cori Carpenter (Osceola County) and George Kramer (Inspire Placemaking) presenting Items 5.D and 5.E.
  • General sentiment: Opposed on the downtown waterfront upzoning; no public opposition recorded to the County resource center, which the board denied anyway.
  • Key concerns: Building height — Franklin stated she does not support "any eight-story development in the neighborhood." Loss of board oversight — Franklin argued for keeping T5-M zoning specifically because it preserves "greater board oversight and increased community input." Neighborhood character — Honeycut cited walkability and family-friendliness and questioned the need for the project.

Key Signals

  • Kissimmee's planning board voted 4-0 to deny Osceola County's emergency resource center and senior housing at 2001 Yates Road — against a staff recommendation to approve, with no public opposition on the record. Both instruments went down: the Future Land Use amendment and the PUD rezoning. The County's own planner explained the 13.12-acre site was chosen because it is County-owned, outside the floodplain, and on the U.S. 192 transit corridor, and that the facility is a services center — food, housing vouchers, case management — "not a housing complex." The board denied without stating findings. For anyone tracking where Osceola County can site homelessness and senior services, this is the first hard municipal "no" in the corpus, and it came from a four-member board three of whom had never voted on a Kissimmee application before.

  • The City is rezoning its own downtown waterfront — Library, Civic Center and SunRail garage, 13.62 acres — into the district that permits the tallest buildings in Kissimmee, for a hotel. ZMA-25-0007 moves 201 E. Dakin Street from T5-M to Waterfront (T6), where the code says "building heights are permitted to be tallest here." The parcel was Open Space until 2022. Two residents spoke against it; one named the number that is not in the staff report — "any eight-story development." It passed 3-1. Alemi was the dissent. Anyone with property near Lakefront Park should read § 14-5-4(G) before the Commission hearing.

  • A resident told the board that T5-M should be kept specifically because it preserves board oversight — and she is right about the mechanism. Cynthia Franklin's argument was procedural, not aesthetic: the more permissive district removes the discretionary review steps that bring projects back to a public hearing. In a city where the PAB is the final decision-maker on conditional uses with site plans, upzoning to a by-right district is the single most effective way to take a future project out of the public's reach. That is the durable lesson from this meeting, and it was made by a member of the public, not by staff.

  • The City Commission adopted a comprehensive plan amendment in August without the statutorily required PAB hearing, and the staff report said so in writing. Alemi's written motion quotes the Ordinance #25-14 staff report verbatim: "No PAB recommendation due to lack of quorum on the following dates: July 2, 2025 & July 16, 2025." Ordinance #25-14 changed the Mill Slough Fire Station property from Recreation to Institutional. Kissimmee Code § 14-3-26(C)(2) and Fla. Stat. § 163.3174(4)(a) both use "shall" — the local planning agency shall hold a public hearing and make a recommendation before the governing body acts. The motion to find a violation died for lack of a second. The board's own quorum failures were used as the justification for bypassing the board, and the board declined to say anything about it.

  • The staff report's stated justification does not match the City's own cancellation notices. Ordinance #25-14's staff report gives the reason as "lack of quorum on the following dates: July 2, 2025 & July 16, 2025." The public notice the City Clerk posted for July 2, 2025 reads "Due to a lack of agenda items" — not quorum. Only the July 16 notice cites quorum. If July 2 was cancelled because there was nothing to hear, the Mill Slough Fire Station amendment was not scheduled for it, and the quorum explanation covers one missed date rather than two. Two City records, two different reasons, and the discrepancy is on the side that justified bypassing a statutorily required hearing.

  • The quorum crisis is now a legal exposure, not just a scheduling problem. Two cancelled July meetings produced a comprehensive plan amendment adopted outside the statutory process. The Deputy City Attorney's answer at this meeting — that Friday-before is enough review time, that "this is a volunteer board," that the agenda "was stacked," and that "moving forward, meetings will be held more regularly" — is the City's position on the record. Whether the cadence actually improved is testable: the December 17, February 4, February 18 and March 4 meetings were all subsequently cancelled.

  • The board has no vice-chair, has not held its annual officer election, and just seated three new members. Kissimmee Code § 2-211(a) requires an annual chair and vice-chair election; Alemi's motion states the board "has not held recent elections" and the vice-chair seat is vacant after Marrero-Pinto's resignation. Kapp, Sanchez and Arguello are new. The four members who denied a County social-services campus and upzoned the downtown waterfront in the same two-hour meeting were a board without officers, without a full roster, and without a 2026 calendar.

  • 4200 W. Vine Street exits its own PUD. A 1984 Sonny's BBQ was demolished and the 4.53-acre assemblage moved from the 2017 Vine Street West MUPUD back to the base T5-U district, 4-0. Site-specific PUD entitlements are being dissolved into the form-based corridor code — the opposite of the Osceola Village Center pattern, where a PUD was amended to add uses. Kissimmee is running both plays on the same corridor in the same year.

Raw Notes

  • Source provenance: minutes PDF published to CivicClerk as file 8645 ("11.05.2025 PAB Minutes") under agenda 1939, event 2254. The minutes are a scanned document with no text layer; content was recovered by OCR (pdftoppm + tesseract). OCR artifacts appear in the header ("NOVEMBER §, 2025"), in an LDC citation rendered "1403029(C)(2)" for § 14-3-29(C)(2), and in a Parcel ID rendered "19-25-29-00U0-01 16-0000." A same-day Action Summary is published as file 8628.
  • Vote tally typo on Item 5.B. The source prints "Motion to Approve Passed 3 - 4." The recorded rolls are AYE: Bussiere, Kapp, Sanchez (three) and NAY: Alemi (one). This document records 3-1.
  • The Item 7.A tabling motion is captioned "Motion to Adopt Passed 4 - 0" in the source although the motion on the floor was to table. The substance — the discussion was tabled, and Rosenberg's Rules were not adopted — is unambiguous from the subsequent 3-1 vote to keep Robert's Rules.
  • Pages 10–15 of the published minutes are Alemi's three written motions, filed as part of the record: Motion to Adopt Rosenberg's Rules of Order; Motion for Chair and Vice Chair Elections; and Motion Regarding Procedural Violation in Adoption of Ordinance #25-14. All three are dated November 5, 2025 and moved by Alexander Alemi. The third reproduces the Ordinance #25-14 staff report's own admission and requests (1) a finding of violation, (2) written procedural guidance from the City Attorney on what to do when the PAB lacks quorum on comprehensive plan amendments, (3) a Chair's letter to the Commission and City Attorney requesting a written response on the legal basis for bypassing PAB review and whether #25-14 should be reconsidered, (4) a joint PAB–Commission meeting or workshop on the PAB's role as Local Planning Agency, and (5) reaffirmation of the board's non-discretionary duty under Chapter 163. No member seconded it.
  • Cancellation-notice cross-check. The City publishes a one-page Notice PDF for every cancelled PAB meeting stating the reason verbatim. The notice for July 2, 2025 (CivicClerk file 8325) reads "Due to a lack of agenda items, The Planning Advisory Board Meeting for July 2, 2025 is Cancelled." The notice for July 16, 2025 (file 8363) reads "Due to a lack of a quorum." The Ordinance #25-14 staff report quoted in Alemi's written motion attributes both dates to lack of quorum.
  • Kissimmee Code § 2-209 designates the Planning Advisory Board as the City's Local Planning Agency; § 2-211(a) requires annual officer elections; § 2-211(c) grants the board authority over its own rules of procedure.
  • The City tracks project status in EnerGov, and the public calendar updates automatically from it.
  • Kissimmee.fyi — a website created by Board Member Alemi to compile public notices sent to the Orlando Sentinel — is disclosed on the record at this meeting.
  • The Kissimmee Industrial Park PUD dates to 1968 and is described by staff as the City's oldest.
  • Adjournment 8:18 PM. Signed by the Board Chairman and attested by the Board Secretary.

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