2004-11-16 (meeting minutes) vMinutes of the November 16, 2004 meeting of the Community Development Board
MINUTES OF THE
REGULAR MEETING OF
THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BOARD
November 16, 2004
A regular meeting of the Community Development Board was held on Tuesday, November 16,
2004, in the City Hall Commission Chambers. Present were Lynn Drysdale, Robert Frohwein,
Sam Jacobson, Carolyn Woods, Craig Burkhart, Steve Jenkins, David MacInnes, Community
Development Director Sonya Doerr and Recording Secretary Amber Lehman.
1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
The meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes of the Meeting of October 19, 2004.
Mr. Frowhein stated that Ms. Woods' request that her typed written comments be submitted
for the record were not in the minutes. Ms. Woods requested that her typed written comments
be submitted for the record and be made part of the minutes. Mr. Burkhart made a motion
to approve the minutes with corrected amendments of the November 16, 2004 meeting,
seconded by Mr. MacInnes; motion unanimously approved.
3. Recognition of Visitors. None.
4. Old Business.
a. ZVAR-2004-10, Fiore. Request for Variance from Section 24-151 (b) (1) (ix) to
allow an existing storage shed to remain in its current location at 1-foot, 8 inches
from the side lot line and 3-feet, 6 inches from the rear lot line for property within
the RS-1 Zoning District, and located at 412 Whiting Lane.
Tim Fiore, 412 Whiting Lane thanked everyone for their time and effort in considering
his variance request. Mr. Fiore stated that he had discussed moving the shed with
building movers and concluded that the cost far exceeded the value of the building. One
of the builders recommended that Mr. Fiore shave off one-third of the building, which
would leave a distance of 3-feet and 7-inches from the back lot line. Mr. Fiore presented
the Board with a drawing of his shed, which is 14x16 feet in size. Mr. Fiore requested
that the Board grant approval for his request for a variance due to him being willing to
reduce the size of building. He also stated that he believed his lot was a substandard size
lot.
Mr. Frowhein stated the building is still illegal and that a permit was never obtained for
the building. Mr. Frowhein asked Ms. Doerr to confirm if there was or was not a permit
obtained for the original shed. Ms. Doerr replied no.
Ms. Woods asked if a permit had been applied for, would the building have been
approved and a permit issued. Ms. Doerr replied no, because when the building was
Minutes of the November / 6, 2004 meeting of the Community Development Board
"` likely constructed, the 5-foot setback was in place, but that the storage shed does not
meet the 5-foot setback that was previously in effect. Ms. Woods stated that she was
concerned about the aesthetics of the neighborhood. Does Atlantic Beach want,
aesthetically, to have sheds containing stuff, or do we want carports containing stuff?
Mr. Frowhein asked Ms. Woods if she see grounds for approval of the variance request.
Ms. Woods stated that she felt Mr. Fiore does have a hardship in that he has a need for an
accessory building for storage, and she sees Mr. Fiore's proposal as reasonable.
Mr. Jacobson asked Mr. Fiore what he does with the shed. Mr. Fiore responded that he
stores his yard equipment, coolers, and grills in the shed.
John Fiore, 9950 Deer Creek Club Road, stated that a 25-foot set back on the lot does not
allow much room to do anything on lot. He also stated that it would look a lot worse if
there were no sheds for people to put all of their stuff in. Common sense would be to
allow this small variance.
Mr. MacInnes asked what the square footage of the building would be after the change to
its size. Mr. Fiore replied that it would reduce the building to about 154 square feet. Ms.
Doerr stated that the maximum for storage sheds is 150 square feet, but that this was
likely within the 5% administrative waiver amount.
Ms. Woods asked if Mr. Fiore's request for variance was granted, Mr. Fiore would still
need to bring the building up to building code standards.
Ms. Woods made a motion to grant a variance of 1.3 feet on back property line,
subject to the building meeting building code requirements and with a side setback
of 5 feet; motion seconded by Mr. Jacobson.
Discussion followed. Mr. Jacobson stated that he believed there are exceptional
circumstances for this particular property, and he felt that the circumstances were not Mr.
Fiore's fault. He also gave credit to Mr. Fiore for being willing to move the shed. He
noted that he was not satisfied with the "clutter" justification.
Ms. Woods stated that the motion is based on approval Condition #3 for clarity.
Mr. Frowhein stated that he very much appreciated Mr. Fiores concessions, and that the
approach of reducing the size of the building has merit. However, the structure is still
illegal and never was legal. To legitimize a structure that was never legal is wrong. He
also stated that the other properties that do have sheds were all legitimate and permitted,
and they all met the 5-foot setback.
Mr. Fiore replied that 483 Whiting Lane has a 4-foot setback on the back property line.
The vote was called and Mr. Jacobson, Ms. Woods, Mr. MacInnes voted in favor of
the motion, Ms. Drysdale, Mr. Burkhart, Mr. Frohwein, and Mr. Jenkins voted
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Minutes of the November 16, 2DD4 meeting of the Community Development Board
against the motion. The motion to approve failed to carry by a 4 to 3 vote, and the
Variance was therefore denied.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:Slpm.
Signed
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