MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF THE LAFAYETTE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION FOR OCTOBER 18, 2021

Members in attendance:
Randie Denker, President; Brian Lupiani; Kathy McGuire; Ellery Sedgwick; Craig Shaw, John Wallace
Incoming members present: Benji Charles; Matt Duke; Bill Mattox
Others attending: Nina Alexander; Angie Deas; Linda Hyson; Jim Parker; Lizzie Ruse; Lauren Squillacote

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m.

The minutes of the September meeting were approved unanimously.

Treasurer's Report: None.

The Chair designated Craig as secretary.

Election results: Ellery reported that the votes received to date were unanimous in favor of the election to the Board of Benji Charles, Matt Duke, and Bill Mattox, and they were officially recognized by the Chair as current members.

Update on changes to the city's new variance ordinance:  Randie explained that the City is getting ready to adopt a new variance ordinance that will do away with deviations. This ordinance has been paired with the new “glitch” ordinance that is revamping the zoning code. Some of the items that were formerly part of the deviation ordinance will now be subsumed into the new zoning code changes. Some of the zoning code changes are acceptable to us, but others are still not to our liking. For example, Randie and Kathy do not like that developers can get two extra floors in exchange for saving trees. They feel that other incentives for saving trees are appropriate. Kathy expanded on this later in the meeting, below.

Midtown Master Plan: John reported that there has been no significant recent activity due to lack of a quorum at the most recent meeting. For the benefit of new members of the Board, he described the general boundaries of Midtown for purposes of the plan as bounded roughly by Tharpe Street and Bradford/Betton Roads on the north, Adams Street on the west, the Thomasville Monroe fork on the south, and Gadsden Street on the east.

Thomasville Road multi-use path: Randie reported that there are three proposed options for the path. Randie informed the attendees of the meeting that there is an online survey in which they are soliciting comments from the public about their preferred routes. Unfortunately, the City has not inventoried the trees that will have to be removed for each route, so it is difficult to intelligently pick a favorite route. Randie wrote to commissioners about this lack of information and Rick Minor is attempting to obtain that information for us.

Neighborhood webpage: Randie notified the Board that the webpage is in need of an update, and John noted the same could be said for the neighborhood Facebook page. Benji volunteered to work with Ellery on the webpage, and Matt will do likewise for the Facebook page.

Update on activities of  Alliance of Tallahassee Neighborhoods: Kathy has been elected Chair of ATN. She noted that the Variance and Deviations ordinances are nearing completion and that Randie and Ellery were heavily involved in their formulation. She then reported that there are three current areas that ATN is focused on: 1) The status of the new police station on the site of the former Northwood Mall (which at this time is apparently not intended to be subject to the master plan that will cover the rest of the site), and the unknown prospects for redevelopment of the former station on 7th Avenue; 2) improving the processes for public participation; and 3) the rewrite of portions of the Comprehensive Plan. The city is planning to hire a consultant and ATN will have some input in the hiring decision.
The "glitch ordinance" is being revised, making changes to the zoning ordinance, particularly regarding the interplay between preservation of trees and height restrictions. The ordinance will be initiated at the November 2 Planning Commission meeting, introduced at the City Commission meeting on December 8, acted on by the Planning Commission on January 4, and voted on by the City Commission on January 26. 

Committee Reports:
Development and Growth Committee: No report
Outreach Committee: Craig reported one new member on Marion Avenue, his sister Susan Shaw.
Police Liaison Committee: Craig reported that he had emailed our TPD liaison requesting possible police presence in the neighborhood on Halloween night and the liaison replied that he will notify his watch commanders about our request. Craig will arrange to try to have the TPD liaison attend the January 2022 meeting to answer any general questions board members may have.
Newsletter Committee: Kathy stated that the Board will continue to circulate paper notifications for important events affecting the neighborhood.
Communications Committee: Ellery reported that the newsletter was effective as a tool for generating dues payments.
Disaster Preparedness Committee: No report.

Traffic Issues: Jim Parker reported on the latest construction progress on 6th Avenue, involving bump-outs on the north side of the street at several locations, and that an island may be situated at 6th and Mitchell. There are no physical changes on 7th Avenue except for signage. The 25-second traffic light cycle at 6th and Mitchell appears to have had the effect of slowing some traffic.

Items 8 and 9 on the agenda were skipped. 

Issues surrounding Halloween: Various members weighed in on the feasibility of re-establishing cone barriers on Halloween night on Beard and Ingleside. Matt moved that the Board should arrange for cones to be set up and the motion passed without dissent. Ellery will follow up with the appropriate contact person. Randie moved that the Board contact media outlets to discourage Halloween attendance in the neighborhood. The motion died for lack of a second.

The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.