1966 Beach Avenue ZVAR20-0014 Opposition Collis and Debbie McGeachyWe appreciate this opportunity to voice our concerns and opposition to
the requested zoning variance for increasing the grade for 1966 Beach
Avenue ("referenced property"). Our reasons for opposing the requested
variance is set forth below.
We have lived at 1961 Beachside Court (directly west of the referenced
property) for over 23 years. When we purchased our lot, the referenced
property and 1960 Beach Avenue were one parcel of land with one house
("original house") constructed on the land. There was a continuous
concrete block wall ("original wall") running along the western boundary
of the parcel (our entire eastern property boundary) to the 19th Street
sidewalk and a wooden fence fronting 19th Street for approximately 25
feet from the concrete wall heading east towards Beach Ave. The
referenced property was sold in 2001. The new owner tore down the
original house and divided the parcel into 2 lots and sold the southern
half of the lot in 2001 as well.
The house on the south lot (now 1960 Beach Avenue) was built in 2005.
The owner brought in several truckloads of fill dirt raising the
elevation of the middle and western half of the property prior to the
start of construction. The additional fill dirt has created a
significant difference in elevation from our side of the concrete wall
versus the eastern side of the wall. The measurement from the ground to
the top of the wall for 1960 Beach Avenue is now 41" versus 62" on our
side of the wall.
As for 1966 Beach Avenue, we have seen a continual buildup of soil on
the western portion of this vacant lot since the original home was torn
down with no structural improvements or landscaping to impede the soil
migration. The elevation difference on our side of the wall versus the
subject property is now comparable to the height difference to the
southern lot at 1960 Beach Avenue.
The original concrete wall between the referenced property and ours was
constructed without footers. It began leaning to the west many years ago
which was partially attributable to the additional pressure placed on
the wall by the migrating soil. Also contributing to the wall lean was a
root ball of a palm tree on the referenced lot adjacent to the wall. In
2015, a large section of the wall abutting 1966 Beach Avenue fell over
into our yard.
The current owner of the referenced property subsequently had a new
concrete wall constructed in late 2015/early 2016. A footer for the new
wall was poured along the western property line of the referenced
property and along the old wooden fence abutting the sidewalk on 19th
Street. When the concrete blocks were set in the center of the footer,
the new wall was now about 8" from the old wooden fence abutting the
sidewalk on 19th Street and from where the original wall abutted our
property. With the first hard rain that followed, the gap between the
old wooden fence on 19th Street and the new wall created a funnel effect
into our yard, causing significant flooding in our back and side yards
up to the thresholds of our doors on the ground floor. To stop further
flooding, we backfilled the newly formed funnel area with rocks and dirt
between the 19th Street sidewalk and the new concrete wall and in our
back yard between the new wall and where the old wall was previously
abutting a raised flower bed in the NEC of our property. Since
backfilling the funneled area, we have had no additional issues with
flooding.
We give you the above history only to illuminate our concern for the
referenced variance request. We would like to see 1966 Beach Avenue
developed with a home appropriate for the lot. We are concerned that
raising the base height of 1966 Beach Avenue could cause flooding again
to our property, flooding to 1960 Beach Avenue to the south and flooding
to other residents on 19th Street. Also, raising the base height of 1966
Beach Avenue and thereby allowing the construction of a home to be
taller than the current code standards allow would adversely impact the
sunlight and airflow to our property.
We respectfully request that the Community Development Board deny
ZVAR-20-0014 in accordance with Section 24-64(c)(1), (3) regarding the
uncertainty of flooding, (4), (5) and (7).
Collis & Debbie McGeachy
1961 Beachside CT | Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
C +1 904 662 1396
collisdebbie@bellsouth.net <mailto:collisdebbie@bellsouth.net>