City of Tavares Planning and Zoning Advisory Board — July 17, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (6 of 7 members present) Duration: 3:00 PM – 3:59 PM (59 minutes) Location: Tavares City Hall Council Chambers, 201 E. Main Street

Attendance

• Present: Gary Santoro (Chairman), Deborah Murphy (Vice-Chairperson), Bruce Peterman, James Sweezea, Dara Treadwell, Jay Cunningham (new member)
• Absent: Brooke Matthews
• Staff Present: Antonio Fabre (Community Development Director), Anarquis Frias (City Planner), Amanda Boggus (City Attorney), Michelle Winegard (Deputy City Clerk), Michael Willis (Fire Division Chief); Fire Chief Richard Keith also present

Prior minutes: May 15, 2025 minutes approved with one grammatical correction (moved Sweezea, seconded Peterman), 6-0.

Note: Santoro welcomed Jay Cunningham as the newest Board Member — the seat vacated by the Board's April 17, 2025 removal of Dian Joy.

Agenda Items

Item 1: Approval of the May 15, 2025, Planning and Zoning Board Meeting Minutes

• Type: Other (administrative)
• Request: Approve the May 15, 2025 minutes
• Action: Approved with correction
• Vote: 6-0 (moved Sweezea, seconded Peterman)
• Notable Discussion: Treadwell's only correction was grammatical, on page 4 — "there were none" rather than "there was none" where the Chairman asked for comments.

Item 2: Ordinance 2025-02 — Parks, Alcoholic Beverages, and the Adopt-A-Park / Adopt-A-Trail Program

• Type: Text Amendment (Code of Ordinances)
• Case Number: Ordinance 2025-02
• Location: Citywide, plus Lake County parks inside the City's Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement area
• Applicant: City of Tavares Public Works Department (Director James Dillon; presented by Anarquis Frias in Dillon's absence)
• Request: Amend Chapter 3 Alcoholic Beverages § 3-3 and Chapter 14 Parks and Recreation §§ 14-1 to 14-3, add §§ 14-4 – 14-5 and 14-56 – 14-62, and add Article IV §§ 14-63 – 14-65 establishing an Adopt-A-Park / Adopt-A-Trail Program
• Current Zoning: N/A (citywide code)
• Proposed Zoning: N/A
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: Recommended for approval as amended with the Board's suggested changes, pending legal review and City Council adoption
• Vote: 6-0 (moved Murphy, seconded Treadwell)
• Conditions: Board-directed revisions on e-cigarettes and vaping, e-bikes, advertising and fee structures for different park types, and service animals — all pending legal research and drafting
• Notable Discussion:
  • Frias framed the amendment against thirty years of park-system growth and stated that City staff compared the Lake County Code of Ordinances against the City's, "to ensure consistency and uniformity for all parks within the City's ISBA area" — naming Lake Gem and Lake Idamere as County parks inside the City's ISBA. Stakeholders included the Police Department, Community Services, Economic Development, Community Development, Public Works, and the City Attorney.
  • Peterman asked whether e-cigarettes should be included under § 14-54. Fabre said e-cigarettes are different from tobacco products and were not addressed in the draft. Sweezea agreed they should be. The Board reached consensus to include e-cigarette and vaping language.
  • Peterman asked whether e-bikes fall under "bicycles" in § 14-55, line 251. Santoro noted e-bikes have varying engine classifications and asked that the differences be considered. Fabre confirmed the Board preferred e-bikes not be allowed in parks, though they may be permitted on designated trails.
  • Cunningham asked about the § 14-60 fee structure and whether fees differ between recreational and passive parks. Boggus distinguished recreational parks (active-use amenities) from passive parks (natural, quiet) and said she would provide revised language defining both and incorporate the Board's recommendations for Council review.
  • Cunningham questioned the intent of § 14-62 park advertising. Fabre said the idea originated with Dillon and was modeled on other municipalities. Boggus gave ball-field banners as an example and said that kind of advertising would not be appropriate in nature parks. The City Administrator would hold final authority over advertising approvals; the Board agreed keeping that authority with the Administrator allows flexibility and reduces recurring board involvement.
  • Treadwell asked who administers the Adopt-A-Trail program. Fabre: the City Administrator holds appointment authority. Boggus: the program cannot begin until the ordinance is adopted.
  • Santoro flagged that § 14-50 references guide dogs but never mentions "service animals." Fabre acknowledged a service-animal exemption would need to be added. Santoro noted that under federal guidelines only dogs and miniature ponies are recognized as service animals; Boggus said she would research what questions the City may lawfully ask.

Item 3: Ordinance 2025-05 — LDR Chapter 8, Table 8-1 Future Land Use/Zoning Matrix and Table 8-3 Development Standards

• Type: Text Amendment (Land Development Regulations)
• Case Number: Ordinance 2025-05
• Location: Citywide; the setback change applies in the Downtown Waterfront Entertainment District
• Applicant: City of Tavares Community Development
• Request: Two corrections. (1) Revise Table 8-1 to allow PD (Planned Development) in the RE (Residential Estate) zoning district, consistent with the adopted Comprehensive Plan. (2) Revise Table 8-3 CD (Commercial Downtown) to permit 0' setbacks without any height conditions in the Downtown Waterfront Entertainment District.
• Current Zoning: N/A (citywide code)
• Proposed Zoning: N/A
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: Recommended for approval as amended by City staff
• Vote: 6-0 (moved Peterman, seconded Treadwell)
• Conditions: None added
• Notable Discussion:
  • Fabre read the provenance into the record. On September 21, 2022 City Council approved a master revision of the LDRs to align with the adopted 2040 "Taking Flight" Comprehensive Plan; staff subsequently discovered errors in Chapter 8, Table 8-1. Separately, on April 17, 2025 this Board recommended that Council consider 0' setbacks without conditions in the Downtown Waterfront Entertainment District, and on May 7, 2025 the City Council directed staff to implement the recommended text amendment.
  • Fabre emphasized that eliminating downtown setback requirements would simplify the development process.
  • Boggus: removing the downtown setback requirement lets builders use available lot space "without the need to apply for variances on a case-by-case basis" while maintaining design standards.
  • Division Chief Willis confirmed the change would not affect emergency vehicle access or fire department operations.
  • Santoro concluded that the Board supported the changes as submitted.

Item 4: Ordinance 2025-06 — LDR Chapter 16, Section 16-24 Fire Protection (Click-2-Enter gate access)

• Type: Text Amendment (Land Development Regulations)
• Case Number: Ordinance 2025-06
• Location: Citywide — applies to every electronic roadway entrance gate
• Applicant: City of Tavares Fire Department (Division Chief Michael Willis)
• Request: Replace the Siren-Operated Sensor (SOS) system with the "Click-2-Enter®" (C2E) secure-radio-frequency system as the required public-safety gate-access standard in gated communities
• Current Zoning: N/A (citywide code)
• Proposed Zoning: N/A
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: Recommended for approval with the Chairman's suggested revisions, to be forwarded to City Council for adoption
• Vote: 6-0 (moved Murphy, seconded Sweezea)
• Conditions: Two Board-directed revisions — (1) replace "municipal" with "government" emergency services, and (2) clarify permit and inspection requirements for both repairs and replacements
• Notable Discussion:
  • Willis's rationale: the SOS system relies on audible sirens and a receiving microphone "known to fail," while C2E uses secure radio frequency through dispatch. Adoption aligns the City with surrounding jurisdictions, promoting regional consistency and interoperability.
  • Peterman asked whether the amendment applies only to new construction. Willis: yes, but if an existing fire protection system is outdated, out of service, or beyond repair, the Fire Department can require an upgrade to the new standard.
  • Santoro distributed a hard copy of his own redraft of subsection B and read it aloud into the record — requiring every electronic roadway entrance gate to carry an approved Public Safety Access System, permitted and inspected by the City before installation and operation, and authorizing the City or any authorized responding emergency service to order a malfunctioning gate to remain locked open until the system is repaired, replaced, and inspected.
  • Santoro's draft used "municipal" to exclude private emergency services. Boggus warned "municipal" might unintentionally exclude valid government partners such as county or interagency responders and recommended "government emergency services" instead. Willis agreed the term encompasses City Police, EMS partners, and county and interlocal responders. Sweezea and the rest of the Board supported the substitution.
  • Willis confirmed that both repaired and replaced systems require reinspection through the City permit process. Peterman asked whether property owners had repaired systems without permits; Willis confirmed such violations had been found during annual inspections and named it as one reason for the transition to C2E.
  • Cunningham suggested requiring an "approved" inspection; Willis said the word was unnecessary because the process inherently requires repair or replacement until approval.
  • Willis explained C2E holds the gate open for five minutes, allowing all responding vehicles through without repeated cycling.

Item 5: Community Development Director Report

• Type: Other (staff report)
• Applicant: City of Tavares Community Development
• Action: No action (report)
• Notable Discussion:
  • Building officials and inspectors began using iPads to expedite work.
  • Tavares Heritage Square: the site plan had been approved. The next step requires the contractor to submit horizontal and vertical building elevations. Asked by Peterman about timeline, Fabre indicated construction was expected to begin within one year. Frias added that, as with the Starbucks development, builders often start enthusiastically but face external delays, and may request extensions.
  • Santoro asked about the signalized intersection at CR 561 and SR 19. Fabre: the State of Florida is overseeing the project, still in process, expected to be completed by early 2026.
  • Murphy and Fabre discussed the distinction between Code Enforcement Officers and Building Inspectors.
  • Santoro closed by requesting that all Board members refrain from discussing upcoming projects with anyone before their formal presentation to the Board.

Public Hearings Summary

• Number of speakers: 0 members of the public. All three public-hearing items were presented by City staff; Attorney Boggus stated there were no quasi-judicial matters before the Board, so no one was sworn in.
• General sentiment: No public participation recorded. No one spoke under Audience to be Heard.
• Key concerns: None from the public. Every substantive change to the three ordinances originated from the dais.

Key Signals

• This Board rewrote all three ordinances it was handed, and staff took the edits. E-cigarettes and vaping added to the park code, e-bikes barred from parks but allowed on trails, park-fee language split between recreational and passive, a service-animal exemption inserted, and "municipal" changed to "government" in the fire-access ordinance after the City Attorney warned it would exclude county responders. Tavares P&Z is nominally advisory, but on legislative items it functions as a drafting committee. The pattern to watch is which of these edits actually survive to Council adoption.

• The downtown height cap that forced the April variance is gone. Ordinance 2025-05 rewrites Table 8-3 to permit 0' setbacks in the Downtown Waterfront Entertainment District without any height conditions. The chain is fully documented: Board complaint April 17 → Council direction May 7 → text amendment July 17. Boggus said the point out loud — builders can now use lot space "without the need to apply for variances on a case-by-case basis." Anyone tracking downtown Tavares density should treat July 2025 as the moment the parcel-by-parcel variance gate came off. The 80-foot aviation ceiling the Economic Development Director described in April becomes the operative constraint.

• A second correction in the same ordinance quietly opens Residential Estate land to Planned Development. Table 8-1 was amended to allow PD in the RE zoning district, presented as fixing an error introduced in the September 21, 2022 master LDR revision. RE is Tavares's large-lot residential category. Restoring PD as a permitted mechanism there is the kind of matrix correction that draws no discussion in the room and reappears years later as the enabling citation on a subdivision application.

• Every gated community in Tavares is now on a path to replacing its entry system. Ordinance 2025-06 applies to new construction, but Willis confirmed the Fire Department can require upgrades whenever an existing system is outdated, out of service, or beyond repair — and that unpermitted owner repairs are already being found during annual inspections. HOAs with SOS siren-activated gates should expect the Click-2-Enter conversion, the City permit, and the inspection. A malfunctioning gate can be ordered to stay locked open until it passes.

• The park ordinance reaches across the city line into Lake County parks. Staff compared the County code against the City's to standardize rules "for all parks within the City's ISBA area," naming Lake Gem and Lake Idamere. The Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement is doing more than annexation work in Tavares — it is the frame through which the City writes rules for county-owned land it does not own.

• The chair told his board to stop talking about projects before they are presented. Santoro's closing instruction, delivered without a named incident, is a Sunshine Law and ex parte hygiene move made three months before the Far Reach Ranch / D.R. Horton application generated the City's first organized neighborhood opposition of the coverage period. The January 2026 meeting opened with a full City Attorney orientation on Sunshine Law, quasi-judicial procedure, and ex parte disclosure.

Raw Notes

• Source: July 17, 2025 minutes PDF, CivicClerk file ID 1640, published on event 464 (agendaId 381). Agenda is file ID 1579. No agenda packet was published for this meeting, which is why the May 15, 2025 minutes — approved here as Tab 1 — never reached the public record.
• The minutes PDF is a scanned document run through OCR. Section headers render imperfectly ("[. CALL TO ORDER", "ll. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE") and the letterhead resolves as "ae WARFS / America's Seaplane City~". Body text is clean and quotations above are verbatim from the extracted text.
• Two OCR-visible title glitches in the source: Board Member Cunningham is once written "Chairman Cunningham" and Board Member Treadwell once "Chairman Treadwell" during the Ordinance 2025-06 discussion. Santoro is the chair throughout.
• Roster change: Jay Cunningham seated, filling the vacancy created by the April 17, 2025 removal of Dian Joy. Deputy City Clerk changed from Jillian Roberts to Michelle Winegard, who attests every subsequent set of minutes in this coverage period.
• The adjournment motion (Santoro, seconded Sweezea, 3:59 PM) records no vote tally.
• Ordinance 2025-02 was recommended "as amended with Planning and Zoning Board suggestions ... pending legal updates/corrections" — the Board voted on a document that did not yet exist in final form.
• Minutes attested by Michelle Winegard, Deputy City Clerk. Page count: 9.