SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve a request for termination of a Development Agreement as amended between the City of Clearwater and Clearwater Christian Private School Inc.; authorize the City Council and all appropriate officials to execute the Termination and Release of the Development Agreement as Amended; and adopt Resolution 16-05.
Body
SUMMARY:
Clearwater Christian College Private School, Inc., the property owner, previously requested amendments to the City’s Future Land Use Map and Zoning Atlas, which were approved by City Council in October 2010 (LUZ2010-06002). The 2010 amendments increased the amount of area designated Institutional (I) on the City’s Future Land Use Map and Zoning Atlas (expanded Institutional area) in order to accommodate growth of the college. Concurrent with the map amendments, City Council also approved a development agreement, which establishes a master plan for the developed portion of the property, and sets forth certain encumbrances as outlined below (DVA2010-06001, as amended). The property owner has received several extensions to the development agreement in order to seek approval of the final jurisdictional line as required in the agreement, with the most recent extension providing until January 23, 2017 to receive such approval.
The City has entered into contract negotiations to purchase approximately 111 acres of property from Clearwater Christian College, including a large portion, which is governed by the Development Agreement, as amended. Purchasing the property would create an opportunity for the City to provide water quality benefits to Tampa Bay, an impaired waterbody with a federally-recognized Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Nitrogen, through future water quality improvement projects. While the projects envisioned will differ from those outlined within the agreement as part of the Mitigation Plan, the overall outcome and Bay benefits realized will be the same. The City would like to remove the encumbrances in place through the development agreement prior to purchasing the property from the college. For this reason, the City and college are requesting a mutual, conditional termination of the development agreement, conditioned upon the City’s purchase of a portion of the college’s land. Additionally, the purchase contract is subject to the termination of the development agreement.
Key provisions of the agreement, as amended, are highlighted below:
• Establishes a Master Plan Area (28.55 acres) and a Mitigation Area (102.5 acres);
• Restricts development of the property to a maximum of 750 dormitory beds and a maximum FAR of 0.169;
• Requires the Developer to seek approval from the appropriate state and federal agencies (Southwest Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) for an approved mitigation plan in the Mitigation Plan Area prior to the issuance of land clearing and building permits;
• Requires the City to process the amendments to the future land use map and zoning designations under LUZ2010-06002; and
• Requires that, in the event of termination, the property be returned to its current future land use map and zoning designations (prior to LUZ2010-06002)
Termination of a Development Agreement:
The City of Clearwater and Clearwater Christian College are requesting a mutual, conditional termination of the development agreement, conditioned upon the City’s purchase of a portion of the college’s land, pursuant to section 163.3237, Florida Statutes.
The Community Development Board will review the proposed termination at its April 19, 2016 meeting and make a recommendation to the Council. The Planning and Development Department will report the recommendation at the City Council meeting.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
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USE OF RESERVE FUNDS:
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