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2-18-25 CDB Adopted MinutesMINUTES AM& Community Development Board (CDB) Meeting Tuesday, February 18, 2025 - 6:00 PM I" City Hall, Commission Chamber 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 Present: Kirk Hansen, Chair Ellen Golombek, Vice Chair Angela Farford, Member Harold Gear, Member Absent Richard Arthur, Member Jeff Haynie, Member Gregory (Greg) Beliles, Alternate Member Jennifer Lagner, Member Also Present: Bob Graham, City Attorney (CA) Amanda Askew, Planning & Community Development Dir. (PCDD) Abrielle Genest, Principal Planner Valerie Jones, Recording Clerk 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Hansen. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes were approved. A. Approve minutes of the January 21, 2025 regular meeting of the Community Development Board. The minutes were approved. 3. NEW BUSINESS A. 1889 Beach Avenue ZVAR25-0005 (Christopher Emans) Request for a variance to reduce the minimum 5 -foot setback for a generator at 1889 Beach Avenue. STAFF REPORT: Planner Genest presented the information as explained in the staff report. She also provided a PowerPoint presentation. Mr. Gear asked about a past variance where equipment was installed and moved. Mr. Haynie asked about existing non -conforming since there is already equipment there. He asked if there would be a need for a variance. Planner Genest said if they were installing new equipment they would have to come in for a variance or come into compliance with the Code. Chair Hansen said the Board approved a variance that did that. Mr. Beliles said the Board might want to consider addressing this the next time changes to Chapter 24 are discussed. APPLICANT REPORT: Christopher Emans introduced himself as the applicant. He said that the generator is just for the garage and where he wants to put it is the only place Community Development Board (CDB) Februan, 18, 2025 Page 1 of 5 it can go. Mr. Emans said the generator wouldn't protrude any farther than the existing equipment. Mr. Haynie asked about another location. Mr. Emans said that the east location had a sliding glass door and several other doors. Ms. Farford asked what the need was for a generator just for the garage. She asked if there was living space in the garage. He said it was to be used if they lost power. Mr. Gear asked if the house was built within the coastal control line. Director Askew confirmed it probably was the the air conditioning units might not be. Mr. Gear asked if the generator could be put in the front of the house. Director Askew said that it can't be permitted on the street side or the ocean side. She said it could go in between the house and the detached garage or in the side yard as long as there is 5 feet between the unit and the property line with a 12-24 inch separation from the house. PUBLIC COMMENT: Chair Hansen opened the floor to public comment. Brinkley Harrell of 260 Sixth Street introduced himself. He said he is against this request, and any requests for setbacks, due to a past fire that jumped 3 properties that had narrow side yards. Mr. Harrell said that generators are fuel powered and have the potential to catch fire. He added that generators are loud and once they come on, they run until the electricity is returned. BOARD DISCUSSION: Ms. Farford said she is concerned about the potential fire issue. Mr. Arthur said there are zero lot line in the commercial district and the main change listed was for noise which would be addressed through the noise ordinance. He said the Board has granted similar variances for similar equipment. Mr. Arthur said the installer probably preferred to put it in that location due to the electric running to the other equipment. MOTION. To DENY ZVAR25-0005 due to the request not meeting any of the grounds for approval. Motion: Angela Farford Second: Jeff Haynie Kirk Hansen Against Ellen Golombek For Angela Farford (Moved 41) For Harold Gear For Richard Arthur Against Jeff Haynie (Seconded By) For Gregory (Greg) Beliles Against Motion passed 4 to 3. B. 1793 Park Terrace East ZVAR25-0007 (Meghan Niemczyk) Request for a variance to Section 24-105(e) to exceed the minimum twenty (20) foot rear yard setback to construct an addition at 1793 Park Terrace East. Community Development Board (CDB) February 18, 2025 Page 2 of 5 STAFF REPORT: Planner Genest presented the information as explained in the staff report. She also provided a PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Golombek asked if the breezeway was enclosed. Planner Genest said the applicant can confirm but she thought it was open. Mr. Belile asked if the breezeway went away would there still be a need for a variance due to it being 900 sq. ft. Planner Genest said that was correct. Mr. Arthur asked which side was the front yard. Planner Genest said the shorter frontage is the front yard and the rear property line was established on the east because it meets the 20 feet setback whereas the south is under 20 feet and would create a nonconformity. Mr. Arthur asked what the height restriction was for a two-story 600 sq. ft. structure. Planner Genest said it is 25 feet. APPLICANT REPORT: Meghan Niemczyk introduced herself as the applicant. She provided a presentation and explained that their lot is one of the smallest on the street with lots to the south getting larger. Ms. Niemczyk said they are only at 36.8% lot coverage. She said she has a ranch house and wanted to have an addition that looked like it was part of the original structure. Ms. Niemczyk said her 80 -year-old mother will be moving into the addition and that is why it is single -story. She had 3 letters of support from her neighbors. Ms. Golombek asked if the breezeway was open. Ms. Niemczyk said it was open and not enclosed. Ms. Golombek asked why not seek a variance on the 900 sq. ft. that exceeds the 600 sq. ft. Director Askew said the breezeway wouldn't be able to be there because that would connect both structures and that becomes the primary structure which would eliminate the covered access. Ms. Golombek asked if the applicant could apply for a variance to from the 600 sq. ft. limit. Director Askew said they could, but the structure wouldn't be attached. Ms. Golombek said she wasn't sure that the covered breezeway was necessary. Director Askew said she thought the applicant wanted to keep the breezeway so her mother wouldn't be exposed to the elements. She said that would be a variance request from a different section of the Code and that it wasn't advertised. The applicant would have considered this option. Mr. Haynie asked the applicant if the proposed structure was 2 -stories. The applicant said it was lofted space for storage and a small office. Chair Hansen said he had 3 letters from neighbors of the applicant speaking in favor of approval of the variance request. The applicant's husband said his house was built before the building restriction lines came into effect. He said the north side of the lot was where the driveway is and where they enter even though the west side of the lot is designated as the "front" yard. PUBLIC COMMENT: Chair Hansen opened the floor to public comment. There were no public comments. BOARD DISCUSSION: Ms. Golombek said she was in favor of approving this request. Mr. Haynie said he didn't see any harm but that isn't grounds for approval. Mr. Gear thought grounds for decision #3 applied. Mr. Arthur asked what the zoning was prior to the 2006 revision. Planner Genest said she would have to research that, but the rear yard setback was probably 20 feet. Mr. Arthur, it's unique that these large lots can be completely built out and be under the 45% maximum impervious lot coverage. Community Development Board (CDB) February 18, 2025 Page 3 of 5 4. MOTION. To APPROVE ZVAR25-0007 based on condition #3 "Exceptional circumstances preventing the reasonable use of the property as compared to other properties in the area." Motion: Harold Gear Second. Ellen Golombek Kirk Hansen Ellen Golombek (Seconded By) Angela Farford Harold Gear (Moved By) Richard Arthur Jeff Haynie Gregory (Greg) Beliles Motion passed S to Z OLD BUSINESS A. Number of driveways (curb cuts) Against For For For For Against For Director Askew provided a PowerPoint presentation. She explained that the City requires you to have 100 feet of lot width in order to have a second driveway. Director Askew said the main priority is protecting pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists. She said fewer number of curb cuts reduces and limits the conflict points. Director Askew said fewer curb cuts result in less impervious area and less disturbance to tree roots. Mr. Arthur asked when the 100 feet restriction was put in place. Director Askew said she thought it was 2004. Mr. Arthur said he felt like the ordinance was too broad. He said the referenced documents are talking about arterial roads in commercial areas like Washington D.C. and Denver. Mr. Arthur said the requests that come before the Board are generally local streets with 15-25 mph traffic. He read some language from the referenced material. Mr. Arthur said it comes down to constriction of property rights and what people can do with their property. He said we are the only City in the county that has a requirement like this. Mr. Arthur said these requests will continue to come before the Board. He thanked Staff for putting the presentation together. Chair Hansen said he recalled 3 requests and 1 was approved. He said that it was his understanding that the Police Chief saw it as a safety issue on certain streets. Chair Hansen said he wouldn't want to usurp the Police Chief. Mr. Arthur thought the classification of the road should be taken into consideration, Sailfish verses Mayport. Mr. Gear said if you own 2 cars you still have 2 cars coming in and out. He said that having 2 driveway entrances doesn't double the number of cars backing out. Ms. Golombek said that she lives close to the school and if there were a lot of circular driveways there wouldn't be any place for the parents to park. Ms. Farford said she would defer to the Police Chief. Chair Hansen said the Board can always grant a variance if it is a unique situation. Mr. Arthur said there are a lot of circular driveways in Oceanwalk and the same standards aren't being applied. Mr. Haynie agreed that the Board should look at each request as they come. Community Development Board (CDB) February 18,2025 Page 4 of 5 5. 6. 7. Attest: REPORTS There were no reports. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Hansen opened the floor to public comment. Brinkley Harrell of 260 Sixth Street introduced himself. He asked the Board about the joint meeting held last June regarding Chapter 24. Mr. Harrell went through the changes that were made. He said that because the rewrite was so voluminous that there were some things that got left out. Mr. Harrell said 2 triggers were supposed to get removed but only 1 did (the 50% market value). He said the trigger regarding 250 sq. ft. is still there but got increased to 400 sq. ft. Mr. Harrell said he hopes the Board will consider making a recommendation back to Commission to eliminate that trigger. He said as long as someone is under 45% then none of this increases the impervious surface. Mr. Harrell said that the 50% calculation for impervious on swimming pools has no math behind it. He said the 5 -inch freeboard acts the same as a yard getting 5 inches of water in a rainstorm. Mr. Harrell said that is all the water the ground can absorb before it starts running off into the street. He said he hopes the Board will address this. Mr. Harrell talked about merged lots that cannot be split back, and these are the lots with the monster houses built on them because the lots couldn't be split back. He said almost all the lots in Old Atlantic Beach are 50 -foot -wide lots. Mr. Harrell thought the Board should look at this. He said the zoning district chart in Chapter 24 is wrong. Mr. Harrell, referring to the RS -2 zoning district, said the chart says nothing about 50 -foot -wide lots and almost all the lots in Old Atlantic Beach are 50 feet wide. He asked that the chart be corrected to reflect these 50 -foot -wide lots. ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion, Chair Hansen declared the meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m. Amanda Askew Kirk Hansen, Chair Community Development Board (CDB) February 18,2025 Page 5 of 5