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03-14-96r CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD AGENDA 7:30 P. M., MARCH 14. 1996 Call to order Pledge to the Flag Roll Call 1. Recognition of Visitors and Guests regarding any matters that are not listed on agenda. NSW BUSINESS: Caa No_ 0105 - Don 1d T_ Mose4 - owner of property located at Lot 8, Ocean Breeze, in violation of: _ AFTER a SECTION 92 AN_D ~Si: C_u_APTER 1?, SECTION T -1 -6 ND 1 - -7 • CTLAPTRR 24. SECTION 24- 7F~(A)S• CHAPTIZR 21 ~ SECTION 2i-24 of the Code of the City of Atlantic Beach in that there exists on the premises located at_I~T 8_ OC AN 8 RR .E. ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, the following COnditiOri(S): CHAPTER 4: TNGT T,.nTION OF N OFF-SITE SAT.L•.IT. DISH IS NOT PERMITTED AY ATTANTIC BEA H OD . ApT .R 4. G .CTIONG 8 ND 't G1 _ DISH TS CONS D . .D N A CEGGORY GTR T 1R ONLY TO THF. PR NC`TRAT~ GTR T(`T'fTRE WHICH DO .G NOT .XTGT ON LOT 9: CTiApT .R 12: HA7.ARD FOR INQirIGITT MINORG: D .TRIM .NT TO P TALI G F .TY• CTT~$ 74 t OMMF.R T L F.QLTZPMF.NT TN RESIDENTZAT. 7.ONE: CHAPTER 21 : Tnm .~ FCTRF.D. AA O .D~tTNIDENTIFIARLE tTi'rL•ITY TRnIL.ER. L (/~'I `,j r ~~ /~ r 1 I CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH CODE HNFORCSMENT BOARD MINOTES SPECIAL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1996 Call to order: PRESENT: Edward Martin, Chairman Heywood Dowling, Jr. xen Rogosheske Richard S. Mann Theo Mitchelson AND: Suzanne Green Prosecuting Attorney Alan Jensen, Legal Counsel Karl Grunewald, Code Enf. Officer Trudy Lopanik, Secretary ABSENT: Kathleen Russell (excused) Lou Etta Waters (excused) The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ed Martin, followed by the Pledge to the Flag. 2_ Reccx:ni ion n Visi.o s nd C,~ s s eaard;ny.=ny matt_ers that_ ar no l;s -d nn aQenda_ No one wished to speak. NBW BIISINESS: Case No_ 0105 - Donald T_ Moses - owner of property located at Lot 8, Ocean Breeze, in violation of~ APTRR 4, SECTION A. ~s~: ~ 6~ (A1 ~; C_FTAPTHR ~i SECTION 21-24 of the Code of the City of Atlantic Beach in that there exists on the premises located at~.QT ~ OCSAN RRRRyR ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORTDA_ the following COnditiOri (S) : ('FTAPTF.R 24 a THE TNSTA_T.LATION OF A_N OFF-STYE SAT_F.LLTTR DISH IS NOT PF.RMTTTED A ATT.ANTTC A .A H COD . CHAPT .R 4. S .CTION4 8 ND ~ 57 . DZSH IC CONSID .RED N A .SSORY STRTTCTTTRF. ONT.' TO THF. PRTN TpAT. STR 7CTTTR WHICH DO .S NOT ST ON T.OT 8 a APT .R ~ FTA7.AR FOR INQNISTTIVE MINORS; DETRTMF.NT TO PTA .T 4 F .TY• CI~APTRR 74 ~ COMMERCIAT. F.O i7pMF.NT 7N RF.GTD .NTTAT. .O CNAPT .R T CTN_R_EC-ISTERED, AAA_NDONED. TN D .NTTFI A .. TTI •ITY A2 , .R_ Mr. Martin read the case hearing procedure for Donald T. Moses and all witnesses were sworn in. ~ Suzanne Green summarized the violations against the property, and Minutes, Page 2 March 14, 1996 she indicated that some of the violations had been brought into compliance. She indicated the antennae had been tied down and now complied with city ordinances; the trailer had a tag and was now in compliance. The question, she explained, was whether the satellite dish was being used for commercial use, and whether such use violated Chapter 24 of the code. Karl Grunewald passed out photographs of the site. After the board examined the photographs Mr. Grunewald summarized the events that had occurred this far. He explained the trailer on the property was now secured and that the trailer was also registered, and the tag would be placed on the trailer tomorrow morning (March 15, 1996. He indicated he was satisfied Mr. Moses was in compliance except that the matter of whether or not the dish was being used for commercial equipment needed to be resolved. George Worley, City Planner with the City of Atlantic Beach, explained when the antennae was in the ground it was an accessory structure, but when it was mounted on a vehicle it ceased to be an accessory structure. He added the property was in compliance with Section 24-151. ~ Michael Grossberg, 50 Ocean Breeze Drive, indicated he lived directly west of the satellite dish antennae. He indicated he disagreed with the intezpretation of Mr. Worley of Chapter 24-151, and that in his opinion Mr. Moses was in violation of the code. He added that satellite dishes were not allowed in the covenants and restrictions of the association where Mr. Moses resided. He added he would not want his children playing in the area of the antennae. Mr. Moses indicated the satellite dish was not used for commercial purposes. He referred to a letter written by himself to Kirk Hansen, President of Ocean Breeze Duval Association, dated February 15, 1996 (copy attached hereto and made a part hereof - Exhibit A) and he specifically indicated paragraph 2, page 5, was not correct. He indicated the purpose of the dish was recreational, only. He passed to the board the original purchase receipt of the satellite dish which indicated it was purchased by himself, personally, and not by his law firm. With regard to the safety issue, he indicated he would be happy to place a privacy fence around the area, and that the reason he had not placed the fence was because he had been in disagreement with the Association as to where to place the dish. When asked if his dish was different than other dishes, Mr. Moses ~ indicated he dish was smaller than some dishe§. Minutes, Page 3 March 14, 1996 Following discussion: Donald T. Moses was found to be in violation of the Sections referenced above. No fine was levied against the property because the property had been brought into compliance. If the property is found to be in non-compliance of any of the sections referenced above in the future, the property will be considered to be in non- compliance from the day the violation occurred, and the violation will be treated as a second-offense violation. The board found that Mr. Moses was not guilty of using the satellite dish for commercial purposes and was therefore not in violation of city ordinances. There being no further discussion Mr. Martin adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p. M. G. E. Martin, Chairman Code Enforcement Board A T T E S T: Trudy Lopanik, Secretary Code Enforcement Board ~xh;b, fA . . LAW OFFICES 3I~~I / 6 DONALD MOSES & ASSOCIATES • PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATNJN 2222 FIRST UNION NATIONAL BANK TOWER DONALD MOSES 22°S WATER STREET THOMAS M GREENS JR • JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202 JEFFREY D SOLID DF COUNSCL TEL 904 359 fl000 STEPHEN H. FIELDS FA% 904 359 9999 ADMITT[D IN NCW PORN -ROCTOR IN ADMIRAIT JOHN G DERUSSY A'MITT`D IN F`DRID" ANO LOUI31ANw Februa 15 1996 -ROCTOR IM AOMIRAIT\' ry 1 •ALIO AOMITTCO IN GCOROIA VIA HAND DELIVERY b CERTIFIED MAIL Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association 2393 Ocean Breeze Court Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 ItE: Satellite Dish Dear Kirk: TRIAL PRACTICE LIMITED TO MARITIME ACCIDENTS AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS PERSONAL INJURY W RONGFVL DEATH WORNERS'COMPENSATION I am in receipt of and thank you for your hand-delivered letter with enclosures dated December 29, 1995, the same which via certified mail. This letter shall serve to follow our telephone conversation on November 28, 1995 as well as the aforementioned letters to me, Mr. George ~Yiorley and Mr. Karl Grunewald. I was somewhat mystified upon reading those letters and therefore thought it wise to allow a period of contemplation before responding. Initially, I wish to address the timing and tenor of those letters. Your letter to Mr. Worley objects to a zoning variance that had not yet been sought. How did you know exactly what I intended to ask for from the Community Development Committee? Are you clairvoyant? Or would you object to any request no matter how reasonable and acceptable to others it might be? If your objection was based upon a conversation you had with Mr. Worley, how did he know exactly what my application for variance would contain before I actually submitted it? As the "President" of our association, I would hope that you might display more restraint in prudently evaluating the request after it is made ~ rather than before. ~ Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15, 1996 Page 2 As for your job performance as Association President, allow me to request an explanation to two other matters involving "our" association. Last year when the association embarked upon a roadside beautification project it is my understanding that each property owner was asked to contribute. I was not contacted by you or any other board member. A chance encounter with Michael Grossberg informed me of this plan. During the conversation, Mr. Grossberg expressed impatience with you on another project involving the securing of the access gate to the beach. He asked me to write to you and take up the issue of association liability which I did, also enclosing a check representing my unsolicited contribution to the beautification fund. I requested the combination to the lock when it was placed. Again, you did not contact me with the r' combination. And a ain I had to rel u on rennin $ y p g into Mr. Grossberg who provided me the combination. As the president, are you not vested with the responsibility of informing us of the comings and goings of association activities? And when a member requests the combination to a community lock, are you not obligated to respond promptly? Regrettably, you did not respond at all to any of my requests, not to mention brushing aside the roadside issue. A few weeks ago, my secretary called requesting the names and addresses of association members. You were gracious to return her call promptly with names. However, you did not provide her with the addresses stating that you did not have them as you do not communicate by mail. Shouldn't you have the addresses, Kirk? While it might not be viewed as a responsibility, would it not be at least wise to have them on hand in the event a crisis like a satellite dish should arise? Worry not, however, as I now have most of the addresses and thank you for at least trying. I have enclosed them herewith for your future needs. n Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15, 1996 Page 3 Let us recapitulate for a moment. You did not contact me about the fund. You did not contact me about the lock. Then, you failed to contact me, even after I asked you to. Now you have serious concerns about my satellite dish and you certainly have not failed to contact me after the fact. Such self-righteousness as a "community leader" wears thinly when you consider such a track record as recited above. Is it fair that an association president does not bother to contact me until he does not like something I am doing? I don't think so. As for the tenor of your letters, I can only say that if it was neighborly cooperation and genial compromise you were looking for you had an interesting way of putting it down on paper. Rather, I get ~ the idea that you and the others on your committee are more inclined to confront me in the interest of "property value preservation." I am unfamiliar with the protocol at IBM, but the corporation that bears my name generally encourages compromise, even though we are lawyers who get paid to fight for a living, every single day. Since you broached the subject, let us break down the "property value" issue so to adequately address your concern in perspective. As for the term "property value preservation", I wonder if you could please define that term for me so that it comprehensibly applies to this situation? Can you honestly tell me that a $3,000 satellite dish on a $300,000 oceanfront lot diminishes adjacent property value? If so, are you able to provide me with documentation to that effect? If you are unable to do so, would you then be willing to admit that your statement is wrong and, accordingly, withdraw your premature objection? What would happen to property values if, because I did not appreciate your inaccurate and unfair characterizations of me, I was to build a house and move a couple of "crack" families in? Or perhaps I ('~ might move one of my 500 disabled, indigent, Caucasian- or African- ~ Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15, 1996 Page 4 American clients in so to provide him and his extended family with shelter during a difficult time. How would your "hard line" position square with the property value issue then? Of course, I do not contemplate such foolish retaliation at this time. Instead, all I am asking for is a little, seven-and-a-half-foot dish to be temporarily left in place pending construction, hardly the kind of thing to cause property values to plummet. A satellite dish, Kirk, not a nuclear reactor. In the past, did I ever concern myself with your house or your variance requests? Your wife will tell you that when she would call me to review the intended plans of other neighbors, my response was always, "Bonnie, it's their property, let them put up what they want." r` I regret that I have to respond to you in this way, but you have left me little choice. You have cast me in a bad light, Neighbor. I am compelled to set the record straight. Those letters were ill-timed, unkind and, I think, improvident. I have as much interest in preserving the values of our properties as you do, but I cannot allow you to malign me and mischaracterize my actions without an exhaustive retort. I was not unkind to you during our telephone conversation. I expressed the desire to work things out without resorting to the denunciations I have read and am now writing. Bui ;you apparently felt it necessary to preempt my proffered diplomacy without even hearing me out. That was not right. Dr. and Mrs. van Cleve, my neighbors to the south, gave me their blessing a long time ago. They even permit[ed me to run cable across their property. John and Bill Towers, whose grandfather (Sarah van Cleve's father) once owned this entire beach, allowed me to do the same, no questions asked. You refused to discuss it. I think we should discuss it, not after the dish is removed, right now. ~ Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15, 1996 Page 5 By now, I am certain you believe that I have burned what tiny bridge existed between us. Nevertheless, allow me an attempt to rebuild it without resorting to anymore rancor. I wish to "clear the air" so that all involved will know exactly what transpired. The purpose of the dish is not entirely recreational. As a maritime lawyer, it is helpful and important for me to have access to worldwide events as well as specific maritime-related information available only on a C-Band Satellite Dish. I am now plugged into channels in Tokyo (NHK), Berlin (Deutsche Welle), Montreal (CBC), Toronto (CBC), Mexico City (XHGC, XEIPN, XEWM, XHIMT, XHDF), Dubai (EDTV), Rome (RAI) and London, home of Lloyds and West of England, the ~' world's largest maritime shipping clubs. As you now know, I have significant ties to South America generally and specifically to Brazil. This month a new satellite called Brasilsat has become available, opening windows in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago. Additionally, I now have access to a multitude of channels in the port cities of Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Miami. Finally, hundreds of network feeds and unscheduled feeds (wild feeds) offering pertinent information are transmitted every month. As I told you during our conversation, my intent was not to upset anyone and certainly not to ignore any rule as it is written. I do not know how you have portrayed me to the others in the neighborhood, but it is not my intent to bother anyone. In preparing for this project, and as part of my "due diligence", I consulted Mike Akel, the developer of Ocean Breeze, who understood the "Covenants and Restric[ions" to ,LQ(address satellite dishes. Vince Barbera, architect and designer of your and the Pohls' residences and, as ~'` you know, an honest and straightforward person, had no recollection of ~ Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15,1996 Page 6 such a restriction. Mr. Barbera further consulted Mr. Donald Ford, Building Inspector for The City, who informed him of no code restricting the installation of a satellite dish. Your understanding is that there is a covenant which prohibits this dish. At your earliest convenience, kindly favor me with a copy of the specific provision of prohibition. I met with Mr. Worley and Mr. Grunewald several weeks ago. Mr. Worley felt that while Mr. Ford may have answered Mr. Barbera's inquiry correctly, the question as posed did not include the issue of primary and ancillary structures as Mr. Worley interprets the Code, a misunderstanding I view as innocent. ~' I wish to reemphasize that "due diligence" was my intent at all times. I contacted Mssrs. Akel and Barbera right away. I then spoke with Michael Grossberg, Ann Pohl and Bonnie Hansen before undertaking the installation. Mr. Grossberg asked me to deliver any plans I had drawn. He seemed to me to be non-committal, a position I interpreted as "unopposed." Since I had no plans, none were delivered. What he did not tell me was "No." Ann Pohl was very kind and deferential, feeling I should be able to do as I pleased on my land. She did recommend that I further check with you as the President of the Architectural Review Committee, so as to not infringe upon any rules, . should any be in place. As you know, we have had difficulty reaching each other by telephone, but I did speak with Bonnie and explained my intentions to her. While she did not seem enthused with the idea, I did not ascertain the outrage you feel she imparted to me. She promised to speak to you and pass our conversation along. Please understand, that, at that point, I thought I was speaking to these parties out of courtesy, as it was my understanding at the time that such an installation was permissible. Having not heard from neither Bonnie nor you for two days, I authorized installation. Please also bear in mind that ~^ ~ Mr. Kirk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15, 1996 Page 7 I had not heard from you on other occasions, so I had no such expectation in this instance either. During our talk, I hope I allayed your impression that the installers had received instruction from me to continue their work in the face of your protest. I was not consulted at the time. I was not at home. I understand that you called the police? To the extent that I have misinterpreted any conversation with anyone who now feels offended, I apologize. If anyone else is upset at my actions, I also wish to extend my apology. ~ Accordingly, I ask for atonement from The Association for any misunderstanding and ask for your Committee's permission to leave the dish in place until such time as T am able to construct a dwelling as the primary structure. Therefore, I kindly request your Committee to reconvene and reconsider it premature decision demanding rejection of my variance request. To this end, I am officially requesting a covenant waiver. I further request that you and the others kindly allow me the opportunity to meet with you during your meeting should you decide to reconvene. Should my request be denied, I shall kindly ask for a full, personal and adequate explanation as to any and all reasons therefore. However, I feel confident that the situation can be ameliorated and an harmonious solution found. Inasmuch as the variance hearing is scheduled for Tuesday of next week, it may be taken off the calendar. As of last week, I received permission from Mr. ~Yiorley to place the dish on wheels, thereby converting its classification from "structure" to a "vehicle." A copy of my letter to him is enclosed. While this conversion will alleviate the need for a variance, it will not alter your committee's role relative to my I1 waiver request. ~ Mr. Birk Hansen Ocean Breeze Duval Association February 15,1996 Page 8 I have expended a great sum of money on this installation, and would very much like to keep it operational. I hope you and the others in our neighborhood will be able to make allowance for any innocent mistake or inadvertent misunderstanding and consequently grant me your leave. If anyone wishes to contact me further, I hope she will not hesitate to do so at the above number, or at home at 249-9999. Thank you. Sincerely, COO p~ Donald Moses DM/slf Enclosures cc: Abraham I. Bateh, Esquire Ross T. Clark, Esquire Alan D. Henderson, Esquire Marisa D. Ajmo, Esquire Edward Akel, Esquire Mr. George Worley, II Mr. Karl Grunewald Mr. Michael Akel Mr. Jeffrey Mooneyhan Dr. and Mrs. Robert van Cleve Mr. and Mrs. John Towers Mr. and Mrs. William Towers Mr, and Mrs. Amos Almand Mr. George Carter Mr. and Mrs. Michael Grossbc:rg Mr. and Mrs. David Marco Dr. and Mrs. Robert Pohl Mr. and Mrs. Paul Theofan Mr. and Mrs. Larry Walshaw All with Enclosures