This Tuesday, April 28, at 6:30 pm, Clermont City Council will consider the request of Elyksian Hotels Clermont, LLC, to rezone the site, located southwest of the intersection of W. Osceola Street and 8th Street from Central Business District (CBD) to a Planned Unit Development (PUD). Approval would allow for the construction of a 50-room boutique hotel with additional meeting space, a rooftop amenity for its guests, and ground floor parking.
The property consists of the current Epic Bike location and the adjacent vacant parcel to the west. The proposed hotel will be built adjacent and connected to the existing Epic Bike building and will share ingress/egress and off-hours parking with the existing Epic Bike business. The entire project is approximately 1.07 +/- acres.
The Development Plan shows the proposed hotel to have square footage of approximately 68,000 square feet with a maximum height of 80 feet. The structure will consist of parking on the ground floor, five stories of hotel rooms, and meeting space above the parking and a rooftop amenity on top. The height is measured from the ground floor parking entrance of the structure on W. Osceola Street to the top of the highest point of the structure on the rooftop amenity, which would be the elevator shaft. This is 25 feet higher than the maximum finished height allowed in the CBD, which is 55 feet. For comparison, City Hall is currently at 53 feet in height.
The proposed 68,000 square foot hotel with the existing Epic Cycle building of 8,500 square feet has an approximate overall total of 76,500 square feet within the project boundary. The maximum permitted Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in the Central Business District is 3.0. The project will develop at approximately 1.66+/- FAR, which is less than the maximum.
The building setbacks in the CBD allows buildings to be constructed up to the property line with a zero setback. The proposed hotel is seeking to build-up to the property line, which includes the Porte-Cochere. The maximum impervious surface ratio (ISR) of the project is 96%. The CBD allows projects up to 100% if the stormwater retention can be satisfied. The development will connect into the City’s Victory Pointe Master Stormwater System for the drainage and retention requirements.
The overall parking demand from the project is calculated to be 76 parking spaces. This is one space per hotel room and one space per 333 square feet of retail space from the Epic Bike shop. The applicant is proposing 54 parking spaces, with 22 spaces within the covered ground floor parking area of the hotel and 32 within the Epic Bike shop parking lot.
The applicant was seeking a public-private partnership to develop 22 on-street parking spaces using a portion of the City’ right-of-way along W. Osceola Street. However, recent changes by the applicant have removed this request. To satisfy the parking shortfall, a remote parking agreement will be required to make up the parking shortfall. The applicant is in discussions with the City and other property owners on different off-site parking options.
According to the City of Clermont staff, one of the key elements of the Downtown-Waterfront Master Plan is to maximize the number of people who live, work and visit downtown. The establishment of the proposed project is consistent with that concept and would provide lodging for visitors in the downtown area.
City staff has reviewed the application as submitted and finds the proposed use is compatible with the surrounding areas, is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and a key component in the vision of the Downtown-Waterfront Master Plan, thus is recommending approval. The Planning and Zoning Commission also unanimously recommended approval by city council.
For further information, visit the following link to access the entire meeting packet:https://clermontfl.civicclerk.com/web/home.aspx .
Meetings will be broadcasted live via Zoom conferencing and the City’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/cityofclermontgovernment
The public has the following communication avenues to address the City Council or the Board as may be permitted by law:
1. The public or applicant may address the council or board in person via a live video conference feed available at 685 W. Montrose Street, Clermont, FL 34711 where City will provide and operate technology to facilitate dialog. The location shall be established according to the Center for Disease Control guidelines and other reasonable precautions shall be implemented, maintained, and monitored by the City.
2. The public or applicant may send a comment or statement to be read at the Council or Board meeting at the appropriate time. All emails must be received prior to the published start time of the applicable meeting. The email address shall be: cityclerk@clermontfl.org
3. The public or applicant may mail or deliver to City Hall on or before 2 p.m. EST of the day of the meeting to which the statement applies. The written statement shall be read at the Council or Board meeting at the appropriate time.
Please visit www.clermontfl.gov for detailed instructions on how to access the virtual stream and provide public comments using any of the previously mentioned options. Meeting agendas are available on the city website and will be posted on the exterior doors of City Hall.
