St. Cloud changes future Comprehensive Plan prior to failed motion
Two months after St. Cloud Mayor Chris Robertson asked for City Council discussion about terminating the city manager, he made the same motion again Thursday.
The most recent discussion came after Council member Jennifer Paul noted a conversation with Veronica Miller before the Aug. 14 meeting. She said Miller put her “in an awkward spot” when she told her the day of the meeting the mayor intended to make a motion to terminate her “and asked if she had my support.”
“It didn’t sit well with me,” Paul said at Thursday’s meeting.
Miller responded that she had checked with the city attorney to see if she was within her rights to see if she had the backing of the Council.
“I met with my supervisor to ask if I her support,” Miller told Robertson.
“That bothered me a lot,” Robertson replied. “This is the ultimate betrayal. No wonder citizens don’t trust City Hall. You can’t be trusted to run this city, because the mayor can’t trust you.”
Robertson then motioned to add a conversation about terminating Miller’s contract to the agenda; Paul seconded the motion (the mayor’s Aug. 14 motion got no second). Council members Kolby Urban and Ken Gilbert voted against it, and with member Shawn Fletcher not in attendance, the vote failed to get a needed third vote.
That discussion ended a meeting that saw the Council approve updates to the city’s Comprehensive plan to help better plan for the city’s anticipated growth, expected to stay at a level many would call “explosive”.
Current data shows that the city could be in a position to have just over one available job for every two homes. And, speaking of homes, vacant land is not sufficient to capture upcoming projecting housing demand.
The changes expand land that can be used for commercial and employment purposes to help attract more jobs.
“We have discussed extensively that St. Cloud needs to increase economic opportunities,” Community Development Director Melissa Dunklin said to the Council. “The proposed changes promote the creation of integrated urban environments that encourage walkability and transit use.”
She noted, based on current city limits and that the city is outpacing the growth of the rest of the region, St. Cloud will need 232 additional acres of commercial space and 580 acres of industrial and office needs by 2045 in a county that could reach a population of 856,000 by 2050. St. Cloud is projected to have 113,700 residents by 2045.
The city’s response is to create new Future Land Use designations to identify areas for the economic activity it will need to serve them.
Tree-lined Florida Avenue going south from the Lakefront would feature a “neighborhood commercial” zone that would allow accessory units and professional offices only, and on Lakeshore Boulevard between Massachusetts and Michigan Avenues that would allow only bed and breakfasts and small cafes and restaurants. Those wanting that use on those blocks would need a conditional use permit and an accessory plan that the Council will have to approve.
Dunklin said the city envisions those businesses to be homes that have clients come to do business, like an accounting firm. She said this is not allowed now, but new standards would limit their uses.
Residents of that area expressed concerns about what adding commercial business on Florida Avenue might look like when New York Avenue has empty storefronts.
“Let them be Orlando, and let us be St. Cloud,” Florida Avenue resident Don Gray said.
“Florida Avenue is a tough one,” Mayor Chris Robertson said, noting city-wide change will come slowly. “What do we envision there? I’m trying to find a balance for businesses, but I appreciate the beauty of Florida Avenue.”
Councilman Kolby Urban said the city’s priority must be to attract jobs.
“That there is one job for every two houses in St. Cloud is unacceptable to me. That is not a sustainable,” he said. “We need more high-wage jobs in our city. We don’t need to throw out all the employment centers and the areas that will bring jobs and in particular high wage jobs to our city, so that people aren’t taking two hours to get on the Turnpike to go to work in Orlando.”
“Colored Quarters” Label Removed: The Council also voted to remove the label of “colored quarters” from the legal plat description of an area east of downtown that had been on the books since 1910.
Florida statutes allow a local governing body to change the name appearing on a recorded plat if that name includes an ethnic or racial slur.
“People came to me about it, and I brought it back to the city to do the right thing,” said Paul, the Council’s first African American. “To see this happen in 2025 makes me heart happy, and it’s good to see the city do the right thing.”
Osceola Legislative Effort (OLE). Gilbert also asked the city to pause its $30,000 contribution to the Osceola Legislative Effort (OLE). That came two days after Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa asked to reconsider its $40,000 contribution and get the cities to both pay $35,000.
“I want to see what we’re getting, and some benchmarks and timeline,” Gilbert said.
Urban noted OLE goes to Tallahassee to lobby for the “unified voices of all the cities and government organizations in Osceola County.”
“I think one of the benefits we got this year was the new fire boat, which I think was worth the $30,000 we paid.”
