##VIDEO ID:g74tRU_MKMs## e e e e e e e e e e I'd like to call me to order Lo please chair Kenny here Vice chair bre bill here board member kovis board member Hawkins board member mccristal here board member Moser here and board member Noble okay we can stand for the Pledge of Allegiance please mark will you lead us in the pledge sure I pled to the flag of the United States of America and the stands do the invation to if you want by the way Noble's right there was out of the car I sorry let the record show that Mr Hawkins and Mr Noble have joined us uh uh I I would like to change the agenda just a little bit I uh uh I want to want number four to be number two and number three to be number three and number two then becomes number four is that correct yes it is chair okay what we're actually doing is putting the presentation by Main Street first okay if no one has an objection I need a motion I move to modify the agenda as youve presented second all in favor I I I okay can I get an approval of the crb minutes please move to approve can I got a second second second all in favor I I okay comments from the public on non agenda see none comments from the board members on not a non-agenda items seeing none okay you are up Candace little short sorry my laptop for my notes my cheat sheet can everyone hear me okay I don't know is that one is this on testing all right great so for those of you there are some familiar faces up um up there but if you do not know me I am Candace Callahan I'm the executive director for Stuart Main Street and I'm about to celebrate my fourth year next week with this wonderful organization I wanted to to kind of before I get into why we are here I want to lay the foundation as to who we are and what we do CU some of you up there may not be as familiar with our program we are a 501c3 nonprofit that's been serving our downtown for about 37 years now and what is Main Street right so it's not unfortunately a physical place right now because we do not have a street named Main Street but what it is it's really an Adaptive framework for revitalization so um basically we're helping create jobs create creating a safe place for people to want to come and helping save tax dollars at the end of the day that's most important right and then also to protect our historic um assets and resources and I found this in an article recently that describes Main Street programs it says it's a formula used to articulate a focused deliberate path for strengthening our community and Commercial district and I'll get to more about that but the history as to where we started so Main Street America is our Banner program it was established in 1980 um as a call or an answer to the economic times that we were seeing across the country it was founded Under The National Trust for historic preservation and our state program Florida Main Street was established shortly thereafter in 1985 under our division of historic resources for the state and then the city of Stewart brought our wonderful program here to help them with their revitalization in 19 87 a very strong statistic that at the time in the 80s downtown if you were here with then I'm sure most of you have been um but the 80s downtown wasn't great it wasn't thriving um a lot of empty storefronts there was a 60% vacancy rate in the downtown but after 5 years of adopting our um our program the vacancy rate dropped to 0% so the proof is right there we belong to a network of over 2,000 other communities across the country and 60 um Community Main Street communities here in the um State of Florida so this here is just our objectives we have a four-point strategy we focus on promotion design organization and economic Vitality to help with the revitalization um efforts and every Main Street program is different they have to follow these four points and all the activities within each pillar have to align with one another is what we call a transformational strategy and um again every Main Street has to follow this but every Community is going to be different because they're at all different Paces of their revitalization we're not all on the same path here um and depending on what their uniqueness is to their community and how they choose to answer that and that brings us to our mission statement our mission is to create and promote a positive downtown experience for residents businesses visitors and we do that through community-driven preservation based Economic Development we're often looked at as an event organization but hopefully I'll be able to shed a little bit more light on why we do not consider ourselves an event organization we really are a liaison and the nucleus for the city of Stewart we help advocate for the city but we also help to educate the public and um inviting generations for f beyond our Our Generations to also appreciate our city and to nurture its historic nature and I also like to say it's a little bit about small town America you know we do have a little bit of growth do I dare say the g-word but there is some growth around us but however our mission is to protect our downtown and I think our city also has that same goal as well so we're very much aligned next you'll see a list of our projects I will not bore you through going through our impressive resume of projects but I will shed a little bit of light on two of our um most significant currently we have Flagler Center we currently have that lease um we um in partnership with the city of Stewart and I will tell you that that is a huge it has been a huge and instrumental part of our fundraising which allows to which supports our mission again being a nonprofit We need different streams of Revenue so that really does help to support our mission and then we're able to do more and more for our community so it's been really beneficial so thank you for your support on that and then Market on Maine which is our Farmers Market we took that over back in July of 2021 so hopefully you'll get to come and see us on Sundays down at Flagler Park and let's see oh yes back in 2022 we had applied on behalf of the city of Stewart um for a grant we were awarded a $440,000 grant to help the city update their historic property survey and now we're in about phase two on that project we just got awarded um panol I need to get with you on that don't let me forget we got awarded a $25,000 Grant to help the city achieve the historic designation for the downtown so we'll be starting work on that hopefully um in the next few months on to our community events which we're mostly known for but again we use these to fulfill our mission of promotion and economic Vitality we promote the downtown we bring people here and then they support our small businesses we have a very robust calendar of events um thanks to some of these lovely ladies in the audience for their help with these events we host three arts and craft festivals those three events alone support or bring $1.3 million of economic impact for the Sur surrounding area we have two sipen shops which we call our steart strolls we have three sidewalk sales we have an annual um downtown cleanup now for Earth Day we have our annual Halloween event which is hobgoblins and it's it's going to be celebrating its 25th year this year in um in um in partnership with the city and then we have our Christmas tree lighting which is Christmas on Maine we have two now year round weekly events which are one of them being Rock and Riverwalk which is most recognizable and then now of course course we have the farmers market which I've already mentioned and then we host about 250 events annually at Flagler Center so to say the least we're busy and we continue to do more all of that that I just ran through very quickly adds up to this impact so this is our cumulative stats unfortunately the first 12 years of our um um existence hasn't been able to be calculated because back then in the 80s and early 90s technology wasn't what it was and we weren't able to really understand the impact that our organization has but these are pretty close still um so we've generated some pretty high numbers here or help generate some pretty high numbers here in public and private interest as well as creating new jobs and new businesses to the district and in 2023 alone our volunteers which we are mostly a volunteer-based organization which some of you already know up there having served on our organiz um with our organization that's about $80,000 just in 2023 in volunteer hours and gor that's numers going to grow the more we grow and we continue to do more things for our downtown so the reason I'm here sorry to run through that pretty quickly out of breath um I'm here to talk to you about a program that was really beneficial um for our downtown we did this as an answer to well it was because of covid we had to help our businesses in some sort of way so we started this little old program called downtown dollars and it's a downtown gifts certificate program basically it it's only it's only able to be used in our downtown back then it was a paper program which unfortunately was a lot of took a lot of man hours it's a lot it's very labor intensive to manage a program like this we only ran it for two months with very little funds we donated about $2,000 just towards a bonus Buck program so you know you've seen it maybe at the holidays where you buy one gift certificate you get another at some sort of value right it's a little bonus well again we did that for 2 months that $2,000 was depleted only in 2 weeks that equ that equals $112,000 given to the businesses because of the sales of the gift card or the gift certificates and then plus the bonus funds and our expenses as an organization we did not use any of those funds raised from the sales of the gift cards or the bonus bucks we we came out of pocket and had the expenses of hiring manag M for that putting it on the website promoting it advertising it design all of that that was a completely separate um line item for us um so because it had such success in such a short amount of time the businesses the community were really they wrapped their arms around this our leadership our city leadership at the time City staff really enjoyed this program and really encouraged us to bring it back because of its impact here's just a simple list of benefits I think we all understand the importance that small businesses play in our communities um they I read an interesting I didn't know this but small businesses actually make up about 98% currently of employe of the E the I I guess I would say the uh e economy throughout the nation so they equate to 98% but they hire like 60 million people that's a lot so but unfortunately even though they're so important they're also really susceptible to political environmental social um variables hurting their bottom line and hurting their profits um so as a call to answer that we would hope to bring this program back and bring these benefits back to the table for these um business owners and another statistic is 51% of gift card holders actually try new businesses which was really interesting to me and then this is a little bit about what the program looks like so our hope is actually to partner with a third-party um platform it's called yiy it is now currently used by other 600 other downtowns across the country and since it's Inception in 2020 they've helped generate $30 million for small businesses and so it's just the platform itself because it's going to become electronic as opposed to paper which will help it make it more efficient and um less labor intensive for our team um did I miss anything here nope I think we're good there if you have any questions I can definitely answer after I'm done so with your support and the um this the businesses in downtown and our community with a by reintroducing this program the benefits that benefits both consumers and Merchants will be able to help transform the true meaning of supporting local because we're going to be able to keep those dollars local right here in our economy in our local economy and we'll be able to give um come back each year with more statistics because now it's electronic we're able to track certain data a little bit more um and measure its impact and then hopefully you'll be able to join us in this as we continue to grow um the positive economic impact for the downtown and for the surrounding area as well um you were I think you should have received some copies of our letters of support from some of our other economic Partners um so we're very happy to have them on board and I think that is it did I miss anything we're good yeah thank you Kansas you're welcome are there any questions specifics about the program you do you have something to say first yes um so just to mention um they are requesting $30,000 in CRA funds uh for this program so so you're not making a motion today but this is something you'll see in the C budget in September um so that's when you'll make the motion to approve um this amount for this program should you decide to move forward yes so this is strictly to whether we will move forward with this right we want to hear your feedback and um support for the program but it's actual the the item will be um heard at the at the budget meeting yeah and specifically if I didn't touch on this those dollars would be use to sponsor the um the bonus bucks to incentivize people to buy the certificates since this is a new program us as the organization will have the expense of obviously Administration design promotion and advertising for this program so the so I understand yes sir so the money is not going to go for the software or to help on the website it's going to go strictly to the small business businesses that's correct everything will go to the to the businesses from those dollars yes sir and the platform actually is free to nonprofit to Main Street program so we're thankful for that yes do you want to say anything um I mean I don't have much to say um I actually sit on the board of Main Street so I'm going to recuse myself from voting on this okay and you'll see weag it later file the proper form good Mark you want to go uh yeah just a couple things one U Where Do We Stand Candace right now in terms of number of empty businesses in downtown Steward um the last report I was able to receive um showed four vacancies but two had contracts pending or leases pending and we've got a couple potential that haven't come to light yet but that's correct one unit unfortunately I have heard is less than desirable because of the condition of the space um so that needs a little Improvement so that could take a little time but the other businesses seem to they're great locations so they should be filled very quickly but just in terms of History we're we're kind of at a point where we've got more we've got more places open than we've had in the past yes yes and I think we if you want me to comment on why I think that is well yeah I I'd rather not get in I'd rather you not either because it's not your main to what there are factors that are um honestly two that I had heard just wanted to retire um but the other locations you know it's it's not cheap to do business right and that's what I was getting at and that's what my concern is I I appreciate this program I think this this program is a great program and I think it's it's done a lot of stuff and and I don't think we should abandon it at all but you know I'm a little concerned that that we focus on we're focusing on some of these types of programs like this and you know right now I'm worried about you know downtown it's it's very expensive to own a shop in downtown Stewart right now I mean we're talking $45 a square foot um we're talking 900 square feet paying 12,000 a month I mean our businesses can't survive downtown with that kind of success and I'm I'm a little worried as to what you know what Main Street doing to kind ofal well unfortunately Main Street we that's not the role that we have served I have had conversations that we would love to be more involved as far as business steering we are strengthening our partnership with the business development board and our local chamber to help steer certain businesses into the district because we also want to make sure that we maintain a certain level a certain type of business in the downtown that's going to meet consumer you know the market that they're asking for so um again happy to have discussions on how if there's ideas of how Main Street can be involved um but this is a very common problem that's happening in all main streets that I've heard discussion no not offline as a discussion item at a different time what we can do to help the businesses yes but I agree I would love that conversation thank you you have any questions for Candace uh yes hi I'm glad you have that slide up the uh $30,000 investment and that's the taxpayer investment correct that would be from the CRA and then the $180,000 return who gets that the small businesses oh okay that sounds fair yeah uh well 100% of whatever is raised is going to go directly back to the businesses and that's the taxpayers well the taxpayers get a lovely downtown experience oh boy okay U and usually anytime I see something that says you going to turn 30 ,000 into $180,000 is too good to be true so is it usually is yeah yeah okay all right thank you and like I said we're happy to report back um once we have those statistics and you know more data because it'll be electronic so we have the ability now to to pull all kinds of information so we'll be happy to to bring that back to you for a different presentation you have a question um I I do want some clarification I'm not on the board uh but I do volunteer at times with have conflict yeah is there conflict if you're volunteering there I don't see that you have a financial interest in it but he was on the board and he could be voting on behalf of them sure and much clear with you I would say it's you're fine all right yeah um no questions I think this is really exciting Andy two things um I think one way to answer that question that you just addressed about the return returns also come in the form of jobs taxes paid so that's probably factored into the $180,000 just without details but um the thing I was going to ask you I'm just curious what what is the primary source of funding for Main Street could I primary well it comes from a couple different um sources as a nonprofit we're just like a business we have to have different revenue streams right Flagler Center probably being the most um important right now so we pay rent to the city of Stewart we hold a lease um we pay for our utilities there um an upkeep of the building but it does help with the bookings that money does come back into our general operation and our budget so and then we do have some revenue from the market but that we're breaking even there there's no profit sort of speak and then we have opportunities for donations memberships sponsorships for our events to help offset our expenses for hosting these events and um we do have most importantly our long-standing partnership and agreement with the city of Stewart where we provide a list of services and they give us you know a check every quarter so long as we stay in good standing which we have been for this long so I don't see us doing anything different good yeah uh sir I'm like Frank I just hate taxpayers giving money to to nonprofits well not well not non I do that but you're they not giving that money to a nonprofit you're giving it to another business and so I I don't like that either however I could see the benefit to this program so while I may not like it I think it's one of those things where I would vote in favor of it hold my nose so to speak well thank you sir vot in favor of it so do we need to take a vote for it to proceed because otherwise how do you know how the rest of people feel you're got to put it into a budget and do we do we vote down the budget because of it give a cons so if you were not going to support the program you could pull the item out the budget is already ready um so it's ready to be presented I think you should have a motion from this board that they do either support or not support so that there's no secrets going forward I would make a motion that we uh include this uh funding in our in the budget and I got a second second can I get a roll call vote on this please board member mccristal uh no board member Moser yes board member Noble yes chair cenny yes Vice chair bville yes and board member Hawkins you would just excuse yourself he's going to recuse himself yes okay so it passes so that's fine thank you C thank you so much appreciate that okay okay so we're going to take item what's listed as item three next we had it has to be done in that order I was told so can I get uh Martin Luther King Boulevard reson to business and mixed use zoning District ordinance number 2532 2024 an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of Stewart Florida see it's very nice when you sit up here amending the city's official zoning map to reone a 2.4 acre parcel located at 710 Martin Luther King Boulevard being more described in exhibit a attached from commercial planning unit development cpud to business and mixed use bmu zoning designation providing direction to the city clerk providing for repeal of of all ordinances in conflict providing for an effective date and for other purposes Jody Way Down Yonder in the popole patch good evening board members for the record my name is Jody cougler I am the development director uh tonight I'll be presenting agenda item number two this is a rezoning request uh for a property located at 710 Martin Luther King Boulevard the the in accordance with the public notice requirements it was mailed out notices within 300 ft we also did um post signs on three parts of the property and also did have a special neighborhood meeting held at the community center as you can see the project is located at 710 Southeast Martin Luther King Highway Boulevard and the property is located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Tarpon Avenue total acre is 2.4 and is located within the city's overlay within the CR and E Stewart uh the applicant is the community redevelopment agency with the city of Stewart and they're requesting to change this from a commercial plan unit development to a bmu um designation to Future land use is East Stewart as you recall in 2023 uh the city commission adopted the East Stewart overlay District which is the form based code so this is one of our first projects coming out of the gate for this um in this resoning and project uh some of the questions were brought up is why are we bringing this to the board for the community redevelopment board and also going to the land uh the local planning agency according to your new form based code um this is a requirement that the community re Redevelopment agency and also the uh LPA make recommendations to the city of steuart City commission again this is a request EST from the uh community redevelopment Agency on behalf of project Lyft and uh to rezone the property from commercial plan unit development to a business mixed use and staff is recommending approval and requesting this board to forward a recommendation of approval to the city commission okay the applicant does have a presentation however there is it's combined with the two projects uh panal is going to give you an overall of how we how we got here today with this particular project and this particular uh property okay good afternoon panal Gandhi sa C director for the record I just want to give you a little background about this project and how we got here um the C applied for the cdbg which is a Community Development block grant Co program uh back in 2021 uh this program was specifically released um by the government uh to respond respond to Economic Development impact after the pandemic uh we were only one of the 17 communities uh that received this Grant and we requested about $4.7 million um to acquire and Rehab a facility uh for vocational training center uh in East Stewart we were looking at the property uh the Willie Gary property on MLK Boulevard uh we did change the scope of the project later on as we started to look at the property and we just didn't find it it was cost feasible to rehab it so we decided that it's better that we demolish it and do new construction so we knew that the costs were going to go higher so then um CRA did go back to Florida commerce uh which is also the Deo uh and requested additional $1.5 million uh for the change in scope of the project to um acquisition demo and new construction um so we have a total of 6 point um $6.2 million for this project uh we acquired the city acquired this property uh in January 2024 for $1 uh6 million um we're also partnering with project lft to provide the training programs at this new facility um earlier this year uh we did have a memorandum of understanding uh go before the city commission um to partner with project lift to provide the services at the new facility um we contracted with Kim horn we had to go through the RFP process um as required by the grant um regulations uh and we hired kimly horn to prepare the design for this project um like jod mentioned we went before the East Dart Community um we also invited the stman neighborhood um to present the project plans and um you know we received some feedback at that meeting uh we're hoping to get your support for this project we're going to the LPA meeting um on Thursday and then two City commission hearings uh and end of this month and beginning of September would be the second hearing with before the city commission um we do have Grant obligations um we want to go out for RFP to hire a contractor uh by the end of October November award the contract by end of this year and then start construction in early uh 2025 so with that we can close out the grant by early January through March 2026 do have to meet those obligations so we're hoping that uh we get your support to keep this project moving forward uh we do have the entire design team here and um the CEO president of um project LIF Bob zaku is here also to go through the programs and um I'll let um uh Shelby take over from here and present the design plans do you want to present the design plans now you want to wait for the next item to do so there's no there's no problem with that doing it that way okay the county does everything differently so I have to remember where I sit for that well good afternoon everyone my name is Shelby graen and I'm representing the civil engineer for the site with kimley horn first we'd like to thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today and it's with great excitement that we introduce project lft uh here are some visuals on the left for the location of the site as mentioned previously it ABS MLK junor Boulevard Tarpon Avenue and Southeast Lake Street it's in the community of the East Dort neighborhood um we can go to the next slide um here's just a brief graphic showing us our existing conditions on the site uh I believe it to be in existing gas station with some car wash facilities that are proposed to be demolished and removed and replaced with our proposed project lift site in the purple atch you can see the proposed right of-way Dedication that is a part of this process we also have the 12,000 squ foot proposed vocational skills training facility related parking to serve the 14 staff and approximately 16 students and two proposed dry Retention Ponds and related Landscaping here's a visual for our proposed utilities that would connect to the city system and serve the proposed site and here is uh some more pretty pictures of the proposed Landscaping plan this one is a fun one to show to emphasize the proposed shared use path which lines the west side of the site from North to S thank you Jody and now on to the more exciting things I'll bring up our hum architect representative uh to explain his renderings good afternoon my name is Scott Hughes with Hughes uo Architects known as hum uh this is the footprint of the building Bob zaku will go into details of the activities that take place inside and it's approximately 12,000 Square ft uh 200 square ft 200 feet long 60 ft wide next slide these are the elevations of the building a major characteristic is the Deep overhang created in order to have a posive a passive solar characteristic but also to of course protect the building from from the sunlight and also Pro uh project a welcoming characteris istic to the building itself on the street next slide rendering of the street Frontage itself we made uh took great pains to push the building towards the street to make it as well welcoming as possible and to be consistent with the goals of the CRA to create a street Frontage next Slide the roof itself extends on both ends again to create some Community openness space to uh make the corners more architecturally aggressive next slide another vision of that next slide on both that and the parking area in the rear and now I'll introduce Bob zacho who will tell you about the program itself my name is Bob zacho I'm the CEO and founder of project LT thank you all for having me today and I just can't thank this team enough for working so hard on this uh this opportunity to bring to uh to to East Stewart and and to the community itself and and certainly Scott and I have been working on projects together for for several year years now and um you know I can't be more proud of an opportunity to partner with the city of Stewart and to bring project lift um to uh right into the center of town so um I I know I've I've obviously met the majority of people but there's some folks I just haven't haven't met before maybe we haven't had some personal connections before so I'm going to go through a little bit of what project lift is how project lift started why project lifts exist and you can stay on this slide for for a bit um you know I'm a licensed psychotherapist I started project LIF 14 years ago I was very frustrated with doing treatment inside of a clinical office um I worked primarily with 14 15 16y old uh young men who were struggling with drugs alcohol depression anxiety stress attention deficit hyperactivity family functional issues which I'll tell you 90% of the time it's a family functional issue and um so I'm sitting inside of my my clinical office frustrated with doing treatment because if any of you have ever spoken to a 16-year-old boy before and asked them how they're doing today it usually is onew answer right Frank one word answers right that's exactly right it is it's like so how are you today and uh fine and good comes out of people's mouth and we know that there's more to it uh than that we know that there's a better way to get into a kid's life and um I uh I called A buddy of mine who was an ASC Certified mechanic and I asked him to kind of make a long story short I asked him if he would be open to doing uh teaching kids automotive repair while I did Psychotherapy underneath the hood of a car because the frustrations inside of a clinical office were that great right I realized quickly that that seven weeks of treatment that we were providing for a kid 45 minutes of clip um I'm sure that there's people on this panel um where mental health has affected their own family or themselves or drugs and alcohol have affected their own family or themselves and we do know that 45 minutes sometimes just isn't enough and what we really wanted to do was get a kid outside of that clinical office so that they could experience something something greater um and that's relationship true relationship with true mentoring with true um opportunities for for growth and that's how project lft uh started that first year uh we worked with 19 kids out of if you want to go to the next slide I think it's some of the stats aren here on next slide uh here we go here's our a little bit of a timeline of who of who we are um we found a project live in 2010 actually started in in city in the city of Stewart um we were we out quickly outgrew grew that space because it was free and uh they were willing to only do so much uh for a fledgling um uh nonprofit We moved uh we were able to purchase a building back in 2014 um to uh to accommodate uh our growth back in over in Palm City uh we then grew it to right around 200 to 200 teens and young adults every every single year that first year 19 teenagers were teens from Indian Town were involved 14we intensive allation program which I'll go over and how that works and how that ties into job Readiness and employability because it really grew and blossomed into something that I think none of us uh could have expected in fact I think Mark and I we probably had a lot of conversations around then about about what we were doing how we were doing it in the movements that we're going forward um we opened our second site in Bel Glade which I don't know if any of you have ever been out to Bel Glade before but if you want to be as close to a third world country in our in our area as possible that's probably it in some of the areas there are really really bad I wanted to see if project LIF could work in some of the hardest places in the country um in 201 20 we opened Fort Pierce um uh that was our third location we served another 250 kids out of there we um had now are um one of the main providers of substance abuse mental health job Readiness employability in the St lcy County area as well um at year 14 uh we served just under 530 uh students in in our in our Martin County Palm City site right that's an incredible amount of growth a lot of those teens from all over the county we're going from Jensen Beach to Indian Town Hope Sound to Stewart everywhere across the piece so um and now here we are in um in 2026 which I it is it absolutely moves me to be standing up here and hearing a presentation about project lift right and hearing and seeing what this looks like because this dream of mine to see something like this come and be in the middle of our community is is emotional for me it's this is mik me is where I grew up um East to I played my um Youth Sports in Stewart I was a Stewart Hornet I'm very proud of that and when anybody's ready for to bring that team back I'm ready to to uh uh to be a part of that for sure because it it saved a lot of kids' lives so that's 2026 a future look at it so let's go with a day in the life of a project LIF kid and young adult because there's a lot of questions about hey how is it that we serve kind of into that young adult range as well right our main our main gig has always been working with for 14 and 19 year olds uh 14 and 19 year- olds who are struggling um with the walls of the school frankly right so um I say this with absolute Authority I don't I I do care who is in the room but I just know what I know is that a lot of times the school the the walls of the school don't really resonate with a lot of the kids that we work with right and it is 2024 so we really need to change the way we do things there's a lot of changes on the horizon we need to act like I this is way I put it at a presentation this morning look we're not leading like we're in the middle of a pandemic anymore we're leading like we're coming out of that pandemic we have to lead differently now and things have changed in a big way so our first program starts at 8:00 in the morning it's um it is actually a career Rising program those are teens that have dropped out of high school they're typically 17 called Rising 17 year olds to 24 years old which are uh indicative of some of the grants in the operational funds that we get through um to support project lift and the uh different funding are arms that we have in which I'd be happy to answer questions on funding arms if you have those questions um the rising 17y old of 24 they get their 8:00 in the morning they do Hands-On High touch vocational training we do not slide a book in front of these kids and say here learn chapters 1 through 4 I can tell you it doesn't work we live in a different day and age uh now we want to be in a position where we put a 2800 degree oxy settling torch into a kid's hand and make them learn right cuz that somewhere along the line that's how it happened for us we get that opportunity to change them and that's to me the easiest way to change a canid especially through a therapeutic process right fear does that right hey I'm afraid of this tool but I have to trust this Mentor right oh Joe's been preaching in forever I see the pointing back and forth with you to right that this is Joe and I have had these conversations a million times right it changes people get them into that position tell me was he a teacher of yours no thank God can I make sure thank God Joe Flanigan was not my teacher what I was poting Joe about was simply that it's the fear is missing in our school system that's the problem there heal Fe there's no fear that's right a healthy Fe and young men young men are animals they use their non-conscious brain a whole lot more than their cerebral part of their brain and there there has to be a Fear Factor to establish discipline and it's missing okay thank you that's what I missed about you not being here for a while here's the thing you're you're right you're right it's it's and I'll call it a healthy fear right the healthy fear is these young men when I was a kid I could climb to the TR top of the tree right I'd climb to the top of the tree and my mom would be yelling at me get down get down get down I'd fall break my arm and she'd be like oh you know I told you not to climb the tree and i' get that cast on and guess what I was doing the next day climbing the tree right with one AR right cuz that's what we do right that's that's young men you put that healthy fear in place and that's what happens and it also Fosters good mentoring right that kid has to trust the vocational trainer or the vocational Mentor because he has no idea how to use that machine and oh by the way you know an oxy acetylene torch is the most powerful torch in anybody's in anybody's shop right it doesn't matter you can go across the country and that is your most powerful tool in anybody's so now you Foster Trust with the mentor and you Foster trust with the kid it goes back and forth and that's how relationship builds uh so Hands-On tie touch vocational training they go into um mental health counseling oneon-one they also do group group therapy sessions we have a family style meal together where we all sit down staff and kids and break bread we sit down and make sure that we're all eating together that happens at every one of our facilities two times a day for one uh the first one's at lunch know by the way that's usually the biggest meal of the day I think anybody know the farmer methods right the farmer is everybody sat down and ate a big meal at lunchtime right your lighter meal was in the afternoon so it kind of Fosters this kind of way of being that gives that connectivity um those relationships are continued to be built because your mentors are the ones that are out there advocating for you all across the line by the way we have a a really phenomenal Grant through um through the State of Florida it's a mentoring Grant and that en engages um adult male role models to to engage with young men right it's strictly for for uh for young men we do have a girl's program as well which I'll talk about in a minute um uh we have our family style meal then they go into our uh high school diploma program the majority of the teens that are working on our career Rising program in the morning um have dropped out of high school um or they are they've been out of high school for quite some time and they want to work on getting their high school diploma a high school Di diploma this is not a GED this is a high school diploma it's an opportunity for them to have that dignity that's associated with getting a high school diploma I I was very frustrated with the fact that I had a weight list of 30 40 kids that didn't have high school diplomas and I'd call the school district and they'd say to me stuff like well we we got a GED program over here and I'm telling you there that it is harder to get a GED than it is to get a high school diploma yet we pushed the GED for some reason and oh by the way uh the dignity It's associated with with the word g uh GED is really difficult is you go to get a job this is what was happening with these kids they go to get a job and the first thing that the the HR department ask them is say do you have a high school diploma and they go no I have a GED the word no would come out of their mouth right it already put a negative connotation into this into the system when like I said 2024 there's there's a million platforms to get high school diplomas and that's what we do at Lyft um they then go home right around 2:30 in the afternoon go back into they go back into their work environment then go home around 2:30 in the afternoon it is a paid Apprentice style program so they actually get $15 an hour for the work that they do while they're at project LIF so they're earning a paycheck they're getting themselves out of generational poverty they're learning a skilled trade they're getting relationships built they're earning their high school diploma they're getting high um uh high quality mental health and substance abuse counseling if they need it because by the way these companies they're not going to hire you if you're pop pop hot on a drug screen they're not going to hire you it doesn't matter marijuana I got my marijuana card I can't tell you how I don't have my marijuana card to be clear I don't have it I'm very against it is it here's the deal is they come in and they go well I have a marijuana card I can do whatever I want and I'm sure uh Dr kovas would would confer on this with her HHS experiences on it right is go well guess what the company's not going to hire you they don't care about your card they care about what's in your system right and whether or not you're going to be able to operate Machinery so so I'll put our kids up against any um any currently employed uh person right now to uh to compare on that area second program we have is our our teens come to us right around 3:00 in the afternoon they're 14 and 19 years old um am I on a time crunch yes you are thank you Tom thank you I got like someone just has to tell me Tom that's all right the uh we got our 14 and 19 year olds uh those are the teens that come to us that have been adjudicated through the court systems they um they uh go through the same exact systems that project lifs career Rising goes through they do Hands-On High touch vocational training they do uh mental health substance abuse counseling they do the family style meal group therapies and then uh transported home at night we transport all of the teens and young adults to and from our organization um we they are also paid Apprentice style programming and then the the third program that we have that goes from uh 5:30 at night as there's a little bit of an overlap on the on the um the high the the kids that are still in high school so they go until about 6:30 at night um but our third program is 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and that's a full electrical Apprentice program we have 24 young uh adults and uh Rising uh teenagers in that program it's a full program this is four years of commitment with employment this is Real Deal connectivity to a full Apprentice programming uh with construction and that's what we're planning on bringing to bringing a Stuart this is this is a long-term investment this is something that um my heart and soul has been in Stuart for my entire life there's no better place than I would like to see this program grow and Thrive than in my hometown and where I've raised my children where I was raised and get uh be able to put an experience into the east east Stewart community that really has direct access to Industry Partners all the resources that they need to be successful and oh by the way we're not holding their hand right we're just standing next to them and telling them where they could do it any questions well let's see and these would be questions for either Bob or panel or for Jody so if that way we can keep on moving Aaron uh it sounds like a really good program I like I like the idea of it I so what vocational trades do you guys uh specialize in like what what do you actually welding uh carpentry uh we do boat building boat restoration um we do small equipment operation uh plasma cutting so migt stick and plasma cutting and we actually have big plasma tables where we're teaching uh teens and young adults to do manufacturing you so manufacturing Logistics and and distribution we have a CDL simulator that teaches them how to drive a tractor trailer um which is really awesome and I encourage any one of you to come down and drive the tractor trailer it is a lot of fun we do have the VR equipment for teens that aren't necessarily teens and young adults aren't necessarily like they're a little bit afraid of it right off the bat and we could put the VR components in so we're mixing technology uh with trade right off right off the bat um we build um Cottage houses as well so we've build built 15 Cottage houses they're like tiny homes so just under 500 square fet and and again I encourage anybody to come out and take a look I'd love to give yall tour project lift is that enough of them right there's a lot that was good um mentioned Automotive I forgot about automotive repair that's how we started project Right Automotive and Marine technology Marine technology is a big one as well we partner with Chapman um over at project lift in both counties actually in Martin and St Lucy County yeah I've heard a lot about you guys in the last like uh year so this is exciting uh what so you guys would take up the whole uh space that would be rebuilt there yes sir okay Mark you have questions I'm sure you do yeah not for Bob necessarily though I'll let um for pel I I just I want to make sure I understand the I always get confused on this so the zoning situation so what's the difference between what we're moving from and what we're moving to and uh and what's allowed on that property and then um along those same lines what types of things uh for the uh what call it the major for the code change what what difference is there too can you could you explain that that's actually the next presentation where we're asking deviations from the code uh we're uh requesting resoning from PUD to um to uh bmu uh which is a business mixed use uh and we're complying with most of the code requirements that that we adopted through form based code um there were a few deviations that were requesting and that's part of the next presentation well was the the old zoning was cpud it was just a cpud um so that was just specific exemptions to the existing land use right or code right so if we wanted to deviate completely from the form based code um then we could have just kept uh with the Pud process but we really wanted to Showcase how the form based code really works um so we were able to um you know just do rezoning and show the community that we're actually applying the code okay that's it uh yes so the city owns the land yes city owns the land who's who's building the uh buildings who's paying for the project it's all through the grant that the city received okay I am Pro C is processing this application on behalf of the city so the city is not paying for the construction it was all paid through the grant the acquisition Demolition and conr construction and at the next presentation you're going to tell us what was the real purpose of these zoning changes right yeah okay all right thank you um I think most of my questions will be in the next round but I I do just want to say I had a a young adult who was in foster care who went through this program and the level of confidence that it gave her was really special so um I've seen what it does firstand in my home so thank you my favorite story my favorite I had a mom walk up to me just the other day at a at I was sitting there eating lunch and I and I or dinner and with my family and I got to tell you I go through this a lot where like I kind of don't want to go out to lunch and Stuart and you know like a lot of you right you understand like and this mom walks up to me and she's just like I want you to let you know that one of your mentors saved my kids life right and it was so nice of she goes do you work at project lift and I usually don't get that like I usually get oh are you you know the you know or whatever it's like you work there and it was it just made my heart feel so good but our girls program is is amazing it is amazing and in fact last year we served 51% first time ever U more girls than boys so quick quick couple questions one verifying you're you're a 501c3 yes sir okay uh just curious more so what what are your primary sources of funding for your operations yeah sure I love talking about it nothing in detail just no I'll just give you the five categories and then if you want to jump in and I will give you details if you want so um individual uh uh contributors uh that's uh family foundations and regular foundations so corporate contributions make a big portion of what project LIF receives like uh Bank of America Corporate cover that kind of thing uh we have quasa governmental dollars children services Council so I call quasi governmental uh children services councils or United ways um we also have uh regular Foundation grants uh governmental dollars Department of Labor um and also some State Side dollars and we also receive an appropriation which is primarily though for our North County count North and then the last question is what just again very high altitude long range plans and how does steuart with with lift and how does steuart figure into that I you know I see this this building design is definitely a branded building right um worked with Scott and his team Sarah uh one of his Architects that works with us and and really putting together this brand because we do believe that it's a national a model that can work in just about any City depending on kind of what those needs are and you can modify those needs however you want like you know Martin County is you know boat building boat you know boat restoration that's a big deal for us here uh manufacturing also is starting to kick up and we also have St lcy County that's very very close to us right so we have a lot of jobs and opportunities 12 miles from here which is super close and super super good so we have um uh a high level on this is um my belief is that we in the next 10 years we could be in 60 cities 120,000 people out of poverty and 30,000 teens served and I believe our steart location will be the flagship we want people to come here and see how this changes a community and how this can be uh affect something nationally and be able to use it as a as not only a place for the teens and young adults of East Stewart you know in the surrounding areas call it north of Cove Road kind of thing um but also as a training ground for others to be able to experience something that they can bring to their own communities great yeah I mean I know you for I don't know I met you I I think I met you when Rob reri brought me over when you were in steart I said to myself what a dump these poor kids have to work with no air conditioning nothing then I saw you a few weeks later in drug court yeah and you were running around trying to get these kids into your program trying to you and the judge it was amazing and I've been a fan of yours ever since and I'm going to tell everyone on this di if you want to go to a fundraiser that's worth every Petty you got his clan back it is wonderful thanks for the endorsement anytime uh so I really don't have any questions I've known about this project for quite a while now and so uh before I take public comment I'll take a I'll entertain a motion shall move that doesn't tell me anything make a real motion motion to motion to approve the uh the uh granting of the funds to project lift for the develop for the development expansion not granting funds I want you to make the motion it's going to say I move appr that's what you're doing I'm not reading this thing I'll make read it but make the motion that says I approve or I I'm making a motion to approve ordinance 2532 2024 to to request that the city commission approve that ordance okay that's that's what I said a second so we have a motion by Mark a second by Andy do you have any public comment we do not no we do not you want to make public comment sure come on up and then you have to fill in a green card afterwards good evening good afternoon excuse my voice my name is James Christy III and um I am from Beast Stewart and like you I played with the Hornets play football there had a store in that particular Plaza for about a year and was born and raised in Steward but I want to tell you there is opposition to this particular project being in East St and being on that site first of all it holds historical value being one of the biggest shopping centers in East Stewart located there we supported it for many years and to see it change there's opposition to that also we talk about young men um needing counseling and different things things but in the black community what we need is economic an economic engine the Willie Gary Plaza was part of that economic engine and we need to realize that when this property is bought by the city and then determine what was going to be put on it I'm not familiar with any meeting regarding getting feedback from the community regarding this project and I keep up on the is pretty good I'm not aware of any meeting but I'm here today to get on record and to tell you there is opposition for this project currently we have residents of the community putting together an alternative plan and that was you're doing Mr CHR you have to address the board okay this gentleman behind me what he's doing I looked at him because I was addressing him about this statement he's doing great work that's great work you're doing and I'm I'm in support of it but like I say it's different from somebody coming into the community by the property saying what's going to be on it mandate what's going to be on it saying that okay we talk to the community and then going ahead and passing it uh I'm in opposition to that and several people are we're going to present something formal uh probably at the next meeting regarding opposition but opposition but I don't want to take a lot of time and I just wanted to get that on record thank you thank you okay we take a vote chair Kenny yes Vice chair bre Bill yes board member Noble yes board member Moser yes board member Hawkins yes and board member mistal no we have a 51 with Mr mistal voting no so can I can I ask a question Tom sure um I guess it's more panol or whoever before we get into the discussion what we're talking about on this site with project lift doesn't preclude us from supporting a development of another site uh for whatever type of alternative is out there right um so this was for specifically for economic development and we have to create 50 jobs on this site as part of the application right um so and when we initially uh applied for the grant we had a public meeting requesting what type of proposals that they would like to see on this site um so we've had public meetings on this project throughout the process even applying for the grant accepting the grant you know uh partnering with project lft so all that has been through you know public hearing okay all right I just had that question and uh just wanted to know Mr chair yes I'd like to qualify my no can I take just 30 seconds sure uh Mr Christy's comments rang true with me uh as as as much as the God's work that you're doing I'm all for it it sounds awesome but this I can I can empathize with Mr Christie in the sense that it really feels like U something's being mandated in our community in the black community without a lot of feedback from them and maybe maybe it feels like a really a really sore thing to these to the people of East Stewart all right thank you move on no let's move on you can say whatever you want same thing okay um 710 Mar Martin Luther King Boulevard major code conditional use project lift resolution number 75224 a resolution of the city Commission of the city of Stewart Florida considering a major code conditional use approval of the city of Stewart community redevelopment agency CRA for the property located at 710 Martin Luther King Boulevard consisting of 2.4 acres to allow the use of vocational training facility releas from on Street Landscaping RightWay ther fairs and off street parking requirements for project lift providing for an effective date providing for a timetable of development providing for conditions of approval and other purposes Jody and thank you again my name is Jody cougler I'm the development director presenting the major C conditional use for 710 soueast Martin Luther Luther King Boulevard and uh for project lift again this property was this project was notified and within 300 ft signs were posted on the property and uh there's an affidavit attesting to that again this is the property the location uh the existing zoning I'm just going to go through these because we did go through them at the previous one uh the major conditional use um the purpose of a major conditional use is to do the uniqueness to the nature of this use size location of various characteristics of particular to the zoning District in this particular case they're asking for the zoning which you just voted on to be a bmu the business mixed use zoning District does allow technical schools but not vocational so we are asking for that to be in part of the conditional use to allow for the vocational portion of of the uh use um again this is uh be presented to you tonight because based off the form based code this is a requirement for this board and also the local planning agency to make recommendations to the city commission uh staff is uh staff is recommending um I apologize there was a slide in here that talked about their different I apologize there was a slide in here that talked about their um exemptions that they're requesting from the board uh as part of the uh condition use um one is the uh thare uh in the form based code there was a thare that was adopted part of the form base part of the East Stewart uh form base code that talks about that they had to um adopt a certain type of their Affair based off his the street type in this particular case it's along Martin Luther King Boulevard and also some of they're asking for some parking exemptions as well we do have a project that is coming forward uh within the next couple years that will be rehabbing the Martin Luther King their Affair so uh to go ahead and rip up that area twice the the project lift is requesting this um a variance I mean the uh conditional use uh to be later on and to contribute to that um to that project um some of the staff recommendations that we are going to request is that they um accommodate the street improvements along the portion of the Landa budding Southeast Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard Southeast Tarpon Avenue and Southeast Lake Avenue is depicted on the site plan the applicant shall provide a legal description and Survey necessary for the transfer upon transfer to land the city ages to Grant a license agreement or RightWay use permit to the applicant for the same land area for the sidewalk and Landscape improvements this same recommendation was made during the selfish Cove project that was just recently built um because we made some improvements along that thare as well um the second recommendation that we're requesting is in Li of the off Street improvements the applicant shall contribute an amount um I don't we don't have that amount yet they may have that tonight for all the elements associated with the streetcape improvements AB buding Southeast Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard uh Southeast Tarpon and Southeast Lake Street prior to the issuance of the site permit also the applicant will agree to to enter into a license agreement with the city to use private property no more than 10 ft beyond the rights away dedication for harmonization during the construction of the southeast Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard Tarpon Avenue and Lake Street the third condition that we're looking or recommendation that we're requesting is that the streetcape Improvement shall closely follow East Stewart Neighborhood code thare plan as INF figured um that's in the uh forign based code and the timeline for the street streetscape improvements construction completion shall be all the following and this is a timetable that these uh improvements would come online as part of the um requirements as we go through the Martin Luther King U Improvement Street Improvement program um the applicant is here tonight and they can get over further uh what the requests are for the conditional use other than the vocational sidewalks street parking and um also to defer the uh their Affair at this time improvements that it Jody that's it panel do you want to add anything okay good afternoon again this is Shelby gaziani representing the civil engineering firm kimley horn um I'm just going to reference our justification letter since we don't have a slide to illustrate the major conditional use items that we're seeking relief from um as a part of the rezoning request to bmu they mentioned vocational skills uh Training Center mostly aligning with an Institutional School use um so for that use to be approved at this site we are um requesting a conditional use approval with the rezoning requ EST additionally we are requesting relief uh via the waiver request table through this new process the major conditional use um it's a requirement to propose 10 trees beyond the proposed property line with that right of way dedication and working so closely with the city CRA Department we are aware of future Phase 2 improvements that are forthcoming thus we would like to provide 31 trees within the future right away and 24 trees on site that reflect that revised uh proposed property line so just in those areas of the RightWay dedication which on the site plan were hatched out in that purple we'll have Street trees that are set back a little bit further than um your standard Street trees would be with with the reference to the Future developments that are forthcoming along MLK Boulevard and Tarpon Avenue as well as Lake Street the next waiver request is in in regards to the required parking on site the waiver requests specifies the requirement at one space per 300 square foot for this building with the nature of the site um Bob spoke to this briefly uh these students are typically bust in to from the site so we are providing parking mainly for the staff that are there to train and uh facilitate the counseling we are proposing l of the one space per 300t one space per 450t due to the size of the building um we have a parking statement that was reviewed by the city of Stewart that justifies this um that can be made available as well um but going back to the distribution of the staff that are there we're typically looking at one time at the building 14 students and 16 staff oh I think I said that backwards 16 students 14 stuff and those are the the three main items that we have in our proposed waiver table available on the both the site plan so that would be stamped approved as the site moves forward and our justification letter as well I'm happy to take any questions I I do have one um the conditional use about the trees along MLK are there shade trees in that portion of the street skate plan on the side of the street yeah there are okay how many parking places are oh sorry Frank sorry okay so from a 30,000 foot point of view a Forest Gump explanation please so you're going [Music] to go forward with this plan so that it jives with the future plans for Martin Luther King Boulevard and what you're going to do now would would hold water with the new Martin Luther King Boulevard but not necessarily Martin Luther King Boulevard right now is that a fair assessment so what Frank is asking what you're doing now let me text you what you're doing now will will be okay once the other part of Martin Luther King once we do the streetscape of Martin Luther King that's correct you're anticipating what's going to be done and you doing it in such a fashion and just due to the nature of this project being now and the future projects with their own timelines that Jody touched on we just want to ensure that the city is aware that for now we'll need this these waivers approved until the future projects are and the 33% reduction in parking requirements uh is assuming that building will be used only for this purpose forever and ever and ever yes correct yes it would be consistent with the vocational training centar use do you have any other questions um I I have some comments on the plans so I can do those last if anybody else okay um I I'm really excited that you all are exploring ing the form based code um on this project site and I want to commend you with the um building fronting the street the way it is I think it it will make MLK a street that can be economically developed well because it's going to feel uh appropriate for that street and for the use um I I really like the rendering of the architecture I wonder if the color scheme is um in compliance with the desires of the the community um I I didn't go to all of the um meetings when we were um talking about the East Stewart uh the new codes but I did hear some feedback um that would make me wonder I'd love to hear their input I think it's literally maybe just color um that we could change that could make it more fitting to the community and and what their preferences would be um MLK has a lot of Retention Ponds on it right now and most of them are really unattractive they're just ponds with grass on the edges and water I know these are dry ponds um but I would love to see these look a little less engineered they're currently looks like just going to be grass um we could just talk about this particular project this is this project okay but I'm I'm just talking about the character of the street and I think this would be a good example sorry um third I I took a really deep dive in your uh planting planned and the red maple I definitely love it but I haven't seen them successfully living where they've been planted on projects in Martin County recently so I don't know if it's going to work well in the parking lot um and that's [Music] it I can speak to a few of the concerns um we are in coordination on The Branding of the building so the color scheme is probably something that we could look more into regarding the dry ponds concern um what's kind of exciting about the shared use path that we propose is that it is it's following the East store Neighborhood code and it's lined with um trees and pedestrian lighting so we're kind of hoping that the public is almost kind of shielded from some of those Drive retention Pond aspects um um so I hope this this helps with [Music] that this question is for anybody who can answer it from the city so this project is based on the assumption that the Martin Luther King Boulevard project is full steam ahead it's going to happen no matter what is that true um yeah so we are currently in the final design phase so we're already at 60 % design and it's lated for um Construction in 2728 it's in the capital Improvement projects list that you usually see as part of the budget so it's a done deal it's happening it still has to get approved it's in the CIP but at the actual approval will happen probably in the fiscal year 2027 budget year so it's the board has been seeing it we've already spent over $400,000 on the design the board approved that budget for the design so it's been coming to the board for approval um now it's just a matter of finishing up the design and and go into construction phase and I would say there are elections every two years um yes and the the red maple thing the only the only place I've seen the red maple surviving on their own is when they're planted around around the same spots as they plant the Cypress very wet wet conditions yeah that was my concern is is um we're pretty Sandy here in the downtown Stewart area and so I just don't know if they're going to make it we will look into that okay do you have anything I I don't have any yeah I just had a I just had a quick comment about the project um I like the idea of project lift being there um and but I do and I think this is the right change to the code going from a cud to business mixed use I think is a good idea for the site uh that's why I'm voting yes on it but I have the same concern as Frank and uh this gentleman also about what the ultimate use of the of the site is going to be there were talks um about having like a business incubator type thing there and I think that they wanted when people when they rewrote the code for Martin Luther King Boulevard to add the frontal I think the idea was to have you know retail front was to have business there in the community that people could uh Patron so am a little concerned about that I I understand we've already spent a lot of money on designs I'd like to know you know if there's a way we can figure out a way to fit those type of aspects into this uh but that's that's just what I wanted to comment on Mark yeah a couple things one my concern with this project is has nothing to do with you know project lift or anything but but the the zoning and then and I think it was touched on maybe Frank or somebody touched on it that so we're adjusting this parking so that it works for project lift but if project Li lift pulls out and all of a sudden we've got a higher use uh from a parking standpoint um we're going to have we're going to have a much bigger problem than we have right now and once this property is changed and once we do what we do then you know it's subject to somebody else coming in and taking that spot and and um and and causing problems there with parking along those lines I hate to say stuff without a solution keep in mind we're building a parking garage not very far from this location it would be really nice if we looked at some parking exemption then for properties that are being developed that close to the the parking garage um for that for that reason the other thing that I would say and I appreciate what project lift does and its market and and what it goes after and how it does it you know Bob from the very beginning I've been a supporter but I I will say that a a friend of mine from East Stewart once told me that that we're not going to solve the problems in East Stewart until young black men see other black men going to work with a suit and tie at a high- paid job and so I I think we want to you know I think we want to look at that's why I had the question for all you know it doesn't preclude us from doing other types of things there to encourage jobs economic development at all levels not only trades but um you know at a at other levels professional levels and other levels so but because my concern is the parking and allowing the project to go through based on the existing parking but not allowing for what could happen and what we're going to do there so as uh as part of the MLK streetcape project and also uh we are proposing that there will be some improvements on Tarpin and East at um East Street in the future that's going to generate additional on street parking uh plus all along MLK Boulevard as part of the streetcape project there's going to be a lot more parking and you kind of have to think of this as like a mixed use Corridor so the the concept is you can park once and visit multiple places so one site does not have to uh provide parking spaces um to you know to just serve their businesses like it can we we're going to have um a whole Corridor with mixed use in the future as Redevelopment happens on that Corridor and somebody can park by you know a convenience store and they can still visit um a project lift or vice versa so it's not that we have to have all the parking on site um no it's fine I'll just make my comments and then we'll move on in general we spend so much time talking about parking that we kill projects that's idiotic look at any parking lot half of the spaces at best are empty so while this may concern some people it doesn't concern me at all there is plenty of places to Park especially if you've looked at the MLK design and you've I I don't know I think you have like over a 100 spaces on MLK when that's all said and done so yes I I just so tired of us talking about parking as if parking is parking drives what kind of business we put in where people live it's stupid we need to start talking about building things for people and businesses not building things for cars so that it doesn't bother me at all as to the first time I took a look at this not this project but this piece of property was with Jim charsky in 2012 and we had a meeting with the gares to see whether they would ever in 2014 and I had a meeting in 2015 and I had a meeting in 2016 it is an isore it has been an isore since I came to steart in 2004 this is a good project and we could say let's wait till we get some other project but I don't it hasn't arrived in all those years so should we just leave it alone if we put this project in it's going to have 30 people according to what you told me 14 and 16 who who need to go out and buy things that will generate business this is a generator of business you don't generate business by opening a store and then there's nothing there or around it Sam was there for a number of years Sam didn't couldn't buy the property so he left I I just think it's time that we start to develop and the who are the kids that are going to go to this place who are the young people it's going to be primarily East Stewart people it's going to be the kids who are in the schools so I so I you know I just don't believe that waiting for the perfect project is the way we should go so I'll take a motion if can I say something sure yeah and I I think Tom I I really strongly agree with what Tom's saying as a former developer myself I mean on the issue of whether the parking is going to in the event that project lift leaves that site changes we can always change the parking requirements and come back and modify that for a different use if that were to happen but you know I am concerned about this gentleman coming forth here and presenting whatever concerns he has you know I think what it comes down to sir you you mentioned that you might have a competing proposal for this well rather than talk about competition why don't you collaborate why don't you communicate and if if the two parties if Lyft gets together and finds out what this gentleman's concerns are in the community everybody wins in that deal right uh no just a thought it's a thought he he made it an opinion you you guys could talk off the Record by the way Mr Christie's dad was a City Commissioner for how long two so Mr Christie has the right to speak for that for in that neighborhood or in the entire city because his dad was instrumental in creating that whole 10 street from what I understand it's before my time but it wasn't before my time cuzz I took his seat on the commission when he retired so I have a lot of respect for Mr Christie I spoke at his funeral and so yes you do have a right to speak out and try to make things better okay so take a motion if you don't mind I will move to whatever you give me that I can read it so I move just read the title I'll move resolution number 75224 uh Rel uh resolution of the city Commission of the city of Stuart Florida considering a major code conditional use approval can I get a second second can I get a public comment come on up Miss Brinkley good evening D Brinkley um I remember we was in a meeting four five years ago and you came up started with this base Farm code and the changing of um Martin Luther King to paral parking from uh what it is now and the community at that point said we didn't want that but damn us anyway you damn us anyway we said we didn't want that we wanted to leave it as it is but you don't hear her you don't give a damn about it cuz we went against it e stood is a community it's not a business district where you want to come connect us to K Creek and all that to a business we are a community and that's what we trying to keep as our community when you're trying to take our community from us we own home in there we work hard to get them and eventually you come in there with this tax thing where poor people can't afford the tax and the hell we gone and I'm upset with you heartless people money money money and that's all you thinking about parallel parking is is is not what we wanted we live over there you disregard us as human human beings you want to take us back to Jim Crow where we have no kind of sa in 2024 of what we want in our community please it's a new day it's time out for them CL hear us we done spoke but you're disregard us as human being we mean nothing to you all not all of you but most of you Mr Frankle have to fill out a form please oh okay it's sad it's living in we have a we have a motion we have a second panel if you call the role please I mean panel sus say if you could call the role please board member Hawkins yes Vice chair Breville oh yes board member Noble yes member Moser yes member mistal no chair cenny yes passes 51 with Mr mccristal voting no do we have any other business Tom I do have one comment okay and a closing and a closing it's like a it's like a right just I you know it's fine but I do appreciate what Miss Brinkley is saying what uh Mr Christie is saying in that I I think that um we do have to be concerned with some of these issues um you know they they lose their Community if if all of a sudden you know they're priced out of the community I can understand that and and I think we have to be cautious that but more than anything I I think we do need to I would like to see us get the word out whether it's a workshop or whatever on what some of these code changes means mean in those neighborhoods I don't think any of us fully understand them yet and I don't I don't know fully what you can do in that in that code change um I'm not sure even what I can do in in urban Central or Urban General that I have a zoning on some of my property I don't I don't know exactly what I can do or what I can't do I appreciate form based code but I just think that we should have some sort of a workshop program at some point where you know we can go over these codes uh maybe over a series of couple two three times to explain exactly what they what you can do in there what it's designed to do what we're looking for it to do that kind of thing so that's my comment how many times have we workshopped this form based code was a yearlong workshop it was a we've had many many meetings with neighborhoods businesses uh we I did talk to Jessica from Treasure Coast Regional planning Council and uh maybe in the near future she can kind of give an update as what has come forward using the code so you can see what's working and what's not working so that is something I did discuss with Jessica I mean I remember one time somebody said that we have to pass it to see what it is and that's kind of what happenly and that's exactly what we're doing it is what's happened and well we didn't just pass it it was disussed was done over and over come on now the truth is the truth it was disgusted it wasn't some secret no no I think there was at least four meetings yeah no saying that I think what I'm saying is that that now that we've implemented it I think a lot of us don't fully understand what it meant you know and I think you're right on that point I think it's only been a year and so we are waiting for more stuff to come forward so we can show you what has come forward with those codes and I think that's a great idea yeah that's what I was get okay if there's nothing else I move we adjourn second oh we for