City of Mount Dora Planning and Zoning Commission — March 18, 2026

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (7 of 7 members present — full board) Duration: 10:00 AM – 11:37 AM (1 hour 37 minutes, including a recess resuming at 11:01 AM) Location: City Hall Board Room, 510 North Baker Street

Attendance

• Present: Vice Chair Adrian Coombes (presiding, elected Chair during the meeting), Harris Turner, Lynn Tipton, Tom Dring, Suzanne Scheck, Andrea Lother, David Hoops
• Absent: None. Miles Beach no longer appears on the roll.
• Staff Present: Michele Janiszewski, Deputy Planning Director; Ryan Winkler, AICP, Senior Planner (author of both staff reports); Whitney Scott, Associate Planner; Andrew Hand, City Attorney

Elections: Adrian Coombes elected Chair 7-0 (moved Scheck, seconded Turner). Tom Dring elected Vice-Chair 7-0 (moved Scheck, seconded Tipton).

Prior minutes: January 21, 2026 minutes approved 7-0 (moved Tipton, seconded Scheck). February 18, 2026 was canceled.

New member: David Hoops appears on the roll for the first time.

Agenda Items

Item 1: 110 N Clayton Street — Variance (VAR26-01)

• Type: Variance
• Case Number: VAR26-01
• Location: 110 N. Clayton Street, northeast corner of 1st Avenue and N. Clayton Street; platted Lots 12, 13 and the south 15 ft of Lot 15, Block D, Alta Vista subdivision (Plat Book 2, Page 14)
• Applicant: Carolyn K. Parlato (owner and applicant). Mr. Malak spoke for the application.
• Request: Variance to LDC Sections 3.4.2(5.d.) and 3.5.1 to allow a garage addition to be located on the property line in lieu of the required setback, replacing an existing raised wood deck, plus a driveway extension to serve the proposed garage.
• Current Zoning: R-1 (single-family); Future Land Use Medium Density Residential; within the Historic Preservation Review Area overlay
• Proposed Zoning: No change
• Acreage: 0.29 acres (12,632.4 sq ft). Existing home 1,818 sq ft living area, built 1952; 336 sq ft finished garage, 72 sq ft open porch, 192 sq ft wood deck.
• Staff Recommendation: Denial
• Action: Approved (recommended)
• Vote: 7-0 (moved Scheck, seconded Turner) — "subject to conditions provided by staff per the Land Development Code"
• Conditions: Subject to staff conditions per the LDC
• Notable Discussion:
  • Turner disclosed on the record that he is a surrounding neighbor of the applicant and was notified of the application through the adjacent-property mailings sent by the city. Hand stated there is no conflict. Turner then seconded the motion to approve.
  • The hardship is the City's own stormwater pond. Per the staff report, the parcel immediately north is owned by the City of Mount Dora and serves as a regional stormwater management conveyance system (Alternate Key 1729416). Malak stated the hardship is water damage and flooding in vehicles, forcing them to move vehicles off the property at all hours.
  • The applicant had been escalating to Public Works for nine months. Per the staff report: contacted Public Works June 17, 2025 about flooding and drainage along the Clayton Street corridor citing severe storms and diverted traffic; contacted Public Works Director George Marek on November 6, 2025 with photos and video. Marek ordered and installed "Road Subject to Flooding" signs along the corridor and gave an update on funding availability for design work.
  • Malak said he met with Utilities Director Marsian, who advised the proposed structure would not adversely impact stormwater and would be beneficial for both the homeowner and drainage flow.
  • Adjacent neighbors Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Wallace and Mrs. Hargraves stated they support the application.
  • Janiszewski clarified the sequence: the variance application comes first, then the Certificate of Appropriateness (Historic Preservation).
  • Hand stated a variance does not set a precedent because the board reviews individual, unique circumstances.
  • Janiszewski stated the controlling test: if the board is recommending approval, the application must meet all of the standards listed in LDC Section 2.5.1(6).
  • The board wanted to speak with Marsian about stormwater plans first; the applicant objected to further delay because of ongoing flooding and water damage.
  • On R-1 parking: Janiszewski said a second space must be provided but only one needs to be in a garage.
  • Discussion of granting an easement for city access to the property — Janiszewski confirmed there is currently no easement.
  • Hand advised against adding a condition to the motion, treating the point as discussion rather than condition.
  • The board asked to have engineering/stormwater staff available for future variance applications.

Item 2: 1218 Overlook Drive — Detached Garage Variance (VAR26-02)

• Type: Variance
• Case Number: VAR26-02
• Location: 1218 Overlook Drive, north of W 11th Avenue, east of Overlook Drive, west of Normandy Drive
• Applicant: Nicholas Tanner and Michelle Crunk (owners); Nicholas Tanner (applicant)
• Request: Variance to LDC Section 3.5.4(2.) to allow an accessory building of 672 square feet in lieu of the 600 square feet maximum — a detached garage of 672 sq ft plus a 308 sq ft carport structure, 980 sq ft total.
• Current Zoning: R-1A (single-family); Future Land Use Low Density Residential; no overlay
• Proposed Zoning: No change
• Acreage: 0.46 acres (19,940 sq ft, 199.40' x 100.00'). Existing home 3,268 sq ft living area, built 1950; 200 sq ft carport, 1,081 sq ft decking, 192 sq ft open porch.
• Staff Recommendation: Denial
• Action: Approved (recommended)
• Vote: 6-1 (moved Turner, seconded Scheck) — "subject to conditions provided by staff per the Land Development Code." The dissenting member is not named in the minutes.
• Conditions: Subject to staff conditions per the LDC
• Notable Discussion:
  • Tanner submitted Exhibit A: additional documents and pictures. Per the staff report, he provided a concept plan showing location, size and height relative to the primary residence, plus detail demonstrating the need for storage of oversized vehicles and personal materials with photo evidence and self-drawn diagrams.
  • The board took a short recess; the meeting resumed at 11:01 AM.
  • Asked to state the hardship, the applicant said it is that they don't have a garage at all.
  • Discussion of not being bound by square footage per the Land Development Code; the existing driveway on Normandy; the number of accessory structures allowed; how vehicles will be moved into the garage; and the size and length of the vehicle proposed to be stored.
  • Tanner asked about other properties within the city that have exceeded the square footage limit for detached structures.
  • Tanner said the garage cannot be attached to the existing main structure. Building two separate structures under the cap was raised; the applicant said it is costly and not viable.
  • Discussion of whether trees will be removed for the new driveway; the applicant confirmed the structure will be used as a garage.
  • Conversation on the board's role in approval versus denial.

Public Hearings Summary

• Number of speakers: 3 members of the public — Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Wallace, and Mrs. Hargraves, all adjacent neighbors, all in support of the 110 N Clayton variance. Applicant testimony from Mr. Malak (VAR26-01) and Nicholas Tanner (VAR26-02). No public comment recorded on VAR26-02.
• General sentiment: Supportive.
• Key concerns: None raised by the public. The board's concerns were stormwater liability and precedent on VAR26-01, and the absence of a legal hardship on VAR26-02.

Key Signals

• Mount Dora's planning board approved both variances on its March agenda over staff recommendations of denial. Winkler recommended denial on VAR26-01 and VAR26-02; the board approved them 7-0 and 6-1. Set against the Rhodes variance at 410 N Tremain — which the same board tabled twice in 2025 and which never returned — this is a real shift. The 2026 board, with two new members and a new chair, is more willing to grant residential relief than the 2025 board was, and staff's written recommendation is no longer a reliable predictor of the outcome.

• The City is the upstream cause of the flooding it was asked to grant relief from. The parcel north of 110 N Clayton is a City-owned regional stormwater conveyance. The owner escalated to Public Works in June 2025 and again to Director Marek in November 2025; the City's response was to install "Road Subject to Flooding" signs and note that design funding might be available. Four months later the owner asked the planning board for a zero-lot-line garage to protect her cars, and the board granted it. This is a municipal drainage deficiency being resolved through a private setback variance — a pattern worth watching wherever Mount Dora's older platted blocks abut city stormwater tracts.

• "There is currently no easement." Janiszewski's answer, in a discussion about granting the City access to the property, is the sentence that will matter later. Mount Dora operates a regional stormwater conveyance adjacent to a residential parcel that it has no recorded access rights to, and it just recommended approving a structure on that shared property line. Anyone buying on Clayton Street north of 1st Avenue should read the March 2026 staff report before the survey.

• The stated hardship on the 672-square-foot garage was "they don't have a garage at all," and it carried 6-1. LDC Section 2.5.1(6) requires special conditions peculiar to the land not applicable to other properties in the same district. The applicant's own question — whether other properties in the city have exceeded the accessory-structure cap — is the tell that this was an equity argument, not a hardship one. Seventy-two square feet over a 600 sq ft cap on a 0.46-acre R-1A lot is a small variance with a large doctrinal footprint: the board just approved an accessory building at 112% of the maximum without a site-specific hardship on the record.

• A commissioner who is the applicant's neighbor disclosed, was cleared, and seconded the motion. Turner stated he is a surrounding neighbor of the Parlato property and was noticed through the adjacent-property mailing; Hand found no conflict; Turner seconded the approval. This is the second time in the coverage window a Mount Dora commissioner has had a direct property relationship to a variance item (Scheck at 3rd and Tremain in July 2025). In a city of roughly 17,000, expect it.

• The board asked for engineering staff at future variance hearings — the third such standing request in twelve months. Wastewater (granted, March 2025), stormwater (granted, December 2025), and now engineering/stormwater at variance hearings. Mount Dora's P&Z has spent the coverage window systematically pulling technical staff into a room that had been receiving planning summaries only.

Raw Notes

• Source provenance: Standalone minutes retrieved as CivicClerk file ID 6590 (event ID 2252, agendaId 1319). The published PDF is a scanned image of the signed original and required OCR. The same minutes appear as native text on pages 2–6 of the April 15, 2026 agenda packet (file ID 6580), which is the cleaner retrieval path. Site-summary figures, LDC citations, and the Public Works escalation dates above come from the two DRC staff reports by Ryan Winkler, AICP in the March 18, 2026 agenda packet (file ID 6544), pages 6–16 (VAR26-01) and 57–64 (VAR26-02).
• The agenda and the staff report render the VAR26-01 applicant's name as "Carloyn Parlato" and "Parlato, Carolyn K" respectively; the staff report's site summary form is used above.
• The requested setback is described inconsistently in the staff report — the LDC citation establishes the R-1 side yard setback as ten feet, with a separate passage stating "in lieu of seven (7) feet." Both appear in the source; the request itself is for the structure to sit on the property line.
• The board discussed whether the application meets all of the standards listed in "section 2.5.(1) 6" as rendered in the minutes; the staff report cites the standards as LDC Section 2.5.1(6).
• Other Business / Staff Updates: discussion of the current Planning Department organizational chart; discussion of Juniper Townhomes — Janiszewski said the applicant has resubmitted and there will be a subdivision application, but it does not need to go before the board; conversation on rectifying trees that were removed, with staff to look at the landscaping plan and possibly utilize the tree bank; discussion of speed bump maintenance.
• Domain migration evidence: the two staff reports in the same packet carry different department contacts — the VAR26-01 report uses planning@MountDora.Gov and the VAR26-02 report uses planning@mountdora.gov, while the meeting agenda header still uses plandev@cityofmountdora.com. The City's web presence moved from ci.mount-dora.fl.us to mountdora.gov during the coverage window.
• Adjournment 11:37 AM, moved Tipton, seconded Scheck. Attested by Whitney Scott, Associate Planner; signed by Chair Adrian Coombes.