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Item 8F CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION MEETING STAFF REPORT AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 AGENDA ITEM: Request from Bestcon Homes to Allow Construction of Houses in Paradise Preserve prior to Completion and Acceptance of Streets and Utilities SUBMITTED BY: Jim Hanson, City Mana DATE: December 2, 2004 BACKGROUND: Paul Nichols, President of Bestcon Homes, has requested that the City Commission waive the provisions of the City Code requiring acceptance of streets and utilities in a subdivision prior to issuance of building permits for individual houses. See the attached letter dated November 11, 2004 from Mr. Nichols for more information about his request. Also, attached for your information is a letter dated November 12th from myself to Mr. Nichols in response to his letter. BUDGET: The streets in the Paradise Preserve PUD will be privately owned and maintained. As part of the PUD application and approval process, the City has received copies of the homeowner's association covenants that should provide for street maintenance. Assuming that the water and sewer systems are built in accordance with city specifications, then the only cost to the City will be the normal maintenance of the water and sewer lines that serve this subdivision. Other city services such as police, fire, etc will be offset by the ad valorem taxes paid by the new residents. RECOMMENDATION: See the letter to Mr. Nichols dated November 12, 2004. ATTACHMENT: 1) Letter from Paul Nichols dated November 11, 2004 2) Response to Paul Nichols from City Manager dated November 12, 2004 ~i i i~si ,~. II111~~~.. BESTCON HOME S 4400 Marsh Landing Blvd. ?~"' Suite 6 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32082 November 11, 2004 Mr. Jim Hanson City Manager City of Atlantic Beach, Florida 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, FL Phone: 904.246.3747 Dear Mr. Hanson: Fax: 904.246.7126 AGENDA ITEM #SF DECEMBER 13, 2004 CRC022365 As you may be aware, BESTCON of _Jacksonville is nearing completion of the infra-structure for Paradise Preserve, on Dutton Island Road. We look forward as I am sure you do, to having Paradise Preserve become an active neighborhood and an asset to the City of Atlantic Beach. Our success however can only be proven with :our ability to sell and complete houses. That being said, BESTCON Homes has been lucky to have made six sales in Paradise Preserve since we began to offer prospective buyers the opportunity to purchase from us. It is my goal as we near the completion of the subdivision to have these six pre- sales and two specs submitted for review and permitting by your staff, within the coming two month"s. It has however come to my attention that the Director of Public Works feels bound by the restrictions of Sec. 24-235 of your Land Development Regulations and as such, is unable to approve the second permit that we have applied for. In the past (Paradise Cove and Hidden Paradise), working in concert with both the Director of Public Works, and the head Building Official, we have been able to begin the process of construction when: 1. The plat for the subdivision had been .recorded. 2. Sufficient time had elapsed so as the conclusion of the house construction process clearly would stretch beyond the reasonable time expected to acquire a Certificate of Completion for the subdivision improvements. 3. The builder (BESTCON Homes) accepted fully the knowledge that a Certificate of Occupancy WOULD NOT be issued unless a Certificate of Completion had been issued. ~„ I have spoken with our coordinator of the development activities in Paradise Preserve. He told me that we .would be ready for a Certificate of Completion inspection, sometime within the next three ~ months. Our average construction time AFTER receiving a permit is ~* AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 !~ 150 days. I would suggest that this is well beyond the time sufficient to get this Certificate of Completion from Public Works. "' I would therefore respectfully request some consideration in granting us building permits for these 8 houses in Paradise Preserve. The houses will be built on Lots 3, 4, 13, 32, 43, 44, 45, and 47. As I said, we have not applied as yet for all the permits, but the ~"' applications are forthcoming, in the next 5 weeks. I look forward to your response. Si erely yours, ~ ~ c C"""'~ ~ Paul W. Nichols BESTCON of Jacksonville, Inc. -President BESTCON Homes -President cc: Mr. Don Ford, Head Building Official Ms. Sonya Doerr, Community Development Director Mr. Rick Carper, Public Works Director w• NOV-10-2004 WED 07 ~ 45 A1~ ATL, BCH, PUBLIC WORKS ._. __. .. FAX N0, 904 247 5843 AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 Dltil'ARTMENT OE PUBI.IC'~'ORKS 1200 SANDk'IPETt LANE ATLANTIC BEACH, FLO~RIDA32Z:i'3-431$ TELEPHONE: (904) 247-5834 rpx: (904) za~•ssas SCJNCOM: 852-5834 h lty://ci-atl~lndc-baach.fl.c~ PLAN gE•VIEVY COMIVIENTS FROM TAE PUBLIC VVOR~S DEPA.K'I1v1:ENT l,cation# a~ - 2263 Permit App Applicant: ~'~ ~~ ~~~-- ~ ~ Address: Project: q 31 'PA~~'D iS ~ c~o lh~~ N'~w 51N~t~_ FAME ~.y Q~ ~ ~.L1 ~ ~ `~" o Your application is approved as noted by the Public yYurks Dcp~~t~ Final application dpp1-oval must come from the Building Department """ your permit application has been reviewed by the Public Works nepartment and the following itarne need attention: _ prior to issuing building permits for individual o s, C;ertific:ate of Completion is required for publicly owned and maintained improvements (water andtionsrSec.C29y235 Atlantic geac21 Land Development' Requla lists requirements for issuance of Certificate oz ... ..... .. Completion. _ - _ ._.... ~"' Site plan,-topographical survey and drainage p an requ~. Provide erosion andlsed~mo~treferencesl931 ParadiseaCircle, Builclircq permit pp plan review comment sheet references 931 k~aradiae Court, and plans reference Lot 3 Paradise Preserve, Siesta Cove, Jacksonville Beach. ~• - Please submit these requirements to the Public ~7Jurks Department, 1244 sandpiper Lane, Atlantic BCach, I'L 32233 in order that we can approve your application. If you have any ~" lease call 904 247-5834. questions, p ~ Re~viaw b 'ck (".arper, P.E., Public Warks Director r~ Date ~l f ~ ~' Signature Controc;tor Notified Date .~ o,, ,,,, ~ „a r ~ ia,,,, ~ n o • ~onu ~• November 12, 2004 Paul Nichols Bestcon of Jacksonville, Inc. "~ 4400 Mazsh Landing Boulevard, Suite 6 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 RE: Paradise Preserve Dear Mr. Nichols; AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH 800 SEMINOLE ROAD ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA 32233-5445 TELEPHONE: (904) 247-5800 FAX: (904) 247-5805 SUNCOM: 852-5800 http://ci.atlantic-beach. fl.us This is to respond to your letter of November 11, 2004 requesting a waiver from the city ~ subdivision regulations requiring acceptance of streets prior to issuance of building permits. First, congratulations on your success in selling several of the lots in this subdivision. You are building in one of the last natural and beautiful areas of Atlantic Beach that is left to develop. „~, Undoubtedly the beauty of the land with the mazsh frontage, coupled with the proximity to Dutton Island Preserve, will make the sale of the remaining lots relatively simple as well as profitable. The City Manager does not the authority to waive provisions of Section 24-325 of the City Code requiring acceptance of subdivision streets. The authority to do this rests with the Mayor and Commission. If you would like to make an application for their approval, I would be glad to put it on the agenda for their consideration. However, you should know that I would not be inclined to support your request. Several problems have come up in the past when Atlantic Beach, or other cities, have allowed the construction of homes to begin prior to the completion of the streets and utilities. Your last subdivision, Hidden Pazadise, prouides some examples of these problems. During construction significant changes were made in the field to the approved design. The drainage and stormwater water treatment facilities were not built in accordance with the approved plans. We understand that your engineer is having ongoing discussions with the Water Management District about improvements that will be needed for their acceptance. There was also considerable discussion between your staff and our Public Works Director about other corrective actions that were required by the city to bring the development to an acceptable level. The streets and drainage system have still not been accepted even though almost every lot has been sold, homes built and families living in them. AGENDA ITEM #8F ~ DECEMBER 13, 2004 You offered to let the city withhold Certificates of Occupancy for completed houses until the ~' streets and utilities are complete and accepted. This tends to penalize both the new homeowners and the city. If, as in the case of Hidden Paradise, the development is not built according to plan and there are protracted discussions with regulatory agencies about corrections, then the homeowners are unable to move in when their homes are complete. Most new homeowners are anxious to move in and have made arrangements to move out of their old homes. They did not ~ create the problem and they should not be delayed due to someone else's fault. The city is penalized when this occurs because the homeowners often get the impression that this city or other regulatory agencies are being arbitrary. I understand one of your lot owners in Paradise Preserve has already called Public Works to ask why the city would not permit construction to begin on their house. The requirement to complete the streets and utilities prior to beginning house construction is common among other cities. If you are going to begin selling the lots well ~ before the streets are accepted, then it is your responsibility to explain to your buyers what the rules are and why they are in place. There are many subdivisions in our city that were built well before your time where Atlantic Beach has had to invest large. amounts of public funds to correct ~„ poor construction practices. While your work has been very good, one doesn't have to look far to see why we have these rules. ~,,, Last, it is clear that you are not far from completion of the streets and utilities. You have already put the base down for some of the streets in your subdivision and the water and sewer lines are in the ground. Consequently, the completion of these items should be in the near future. We hope ,~„ that the requirement to complete the streets and utilities prior to house construction would impose little or no delay to your eager residents. Paradise Preserve will ultimately become a positive addition to Atlantic Beach because of the location next to the marsh, the strong reputation that Bestcon Homes has for quality construction, and because of many other desirable factors in Atlantic Beach. We stand ready to work with you to review your plans and inspect your construction quickly. If you have any problems with these, please let me know. I am, Very truly yours, J' anson rty Manager cc: Rick Carper, Public Works Director ~"' Don Ford, Building Official Sonya Doerr, Community Development Director AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 ~' T f~3 J' '''r~ ~\\\ J : _ / ,'ll li~. "~~~Ji it >'' APPLICATION FOR .SUBDIVISION WAIVER City of Atlantic Beach S00 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 Phmie: (904) 247-5800 FAX (904) 247-5805 http://www.coab.us Date / ~ - CD ~ ~ ~ File No. 1. Applicant's Name 2. Applicant's Addre! 3. Property Location rZ.~ 4. Property Appraiser's Real Estate Number 5. Current Zoning Classification ~~ ~ G. Compr'e(hensivre Plan F/uture Land Use designation ~~ 7. Requested provision(s) from which waiver is sought: aY' 05 Ua (C 8. Size of Parcel ~ ~ ~~,~~ 9. Utility Provider .J ~~ 10. Statement of facts and any special reasons fo'r the requested Subdivision Waiver, which demonstrates compliance. with Section 24-191 of the Zoning and Subdivision-and Land Development Regulations and specifically describins how the request complies with the Conditions necessary for the City Commission to approve this request. (See attached Section 24-191.) 11. Provide all of the following information: a. Proof of ownership (deed or certificate by lawyer or abstract company or title company that verifies record owner as above). If the applicant is .not the owner, a letter of authorization from the owner(s) for applicant to represent the owner for all purposes related to this application must be provided. b. Survey and legal description of property. c. Required number of copies (4) d. Application Fee ($250.00) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED WITH THIS APPLICATION IS CORRECT: Signature of owner(s) oya~thorized person if owner's siithorization form is attached: Printed or typed Signature(s): ~_ 'r~ ~~ ~/(~ ADDRESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION OF PERSON TO RECEIVE ALL CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING THIS APPLICATION Mailing Address: Phone: _p?~(p c~~~ 7 FAX: a~Uj 701 ~D E-mail: '.(Y)(~~ I ~~l Cyr) ~Q~'~(°S' Receipt ,~• m• AGENDA ITEM #8F DECEMBER 13, 2004 Statement of Facts: It is acknowledged by BESTCON of Jacksonville, Inc. (Developer) and BESTCON, Inc. (Builder) that the City of Atlantic Beach through its subdivision ordinance (Sec. 24-235) ~, disallows the procurement of a Building Permit until such time as a Certificate of Completion has been issued. Both the Developer and Builder would let it be known that: ~. 1. Developer is within three (months) of applying for its Certificate of Completion for Paradise Preserve a planned unit development in Atlantic Beach. 2. The average construction time of a house by Builder in Paradise Preserve is projected to take no less than six (6) months. 3. It is the expressed interest of the Developer to allow sufficient time to properly certify the completion of the improvements. 4. Builder recognizes that the City of Atlantic Beach will not issue a Certificate of Occupancy until such time as a Certificate of Completion has been issued. Builder respectfully requests that building permits for the construction of single-family residences in Paradise Preserve be issued by the Head Building Official given the difference between the time necessary to apply for a Certificate of Completion and the ""'" minimum time necessary to complete the construction of a house. ~J President, BESTCON of Jacksonville, Inc. President, BESTCON, Inc.