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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.