Exh 3AAGENDA ITEM #3A
JANUARY 28, 2002
January 22, 2002
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Honorable Mayor
and Members ofthe City
FROM: Jim
SUBJECT: Follow-up Re¢ort
Historical Society Request for Funds; The City Commission heazd a request for funds from the
Beaches Area Historical Society during the December Commission meeting. No action was
taken at that time. Historical Society representatives have since advised that their deadline for
fmalizing the grant application is February 1~`. The request will be on the. City Commission
agenda for a final decision on January 28` . The request is for matching funds to prepaze an
inventory of historic properties in the three Beaches communities. The City's current (1990)
Comprehensive Plan outlines some City obligations for historic preservation, ahhough little has
been done since the plan was adopted. Objective 1.2 of the 1990 Plan states "Sites and structures
identified and documented as having historical. or azcheological importance shall be protected
from damage or destruction and their preservation shall be encouraged by the City." Policies
defining that objective further state "Sites and structures within the City which are determined to
have historic or archeological significance...shall be protected by performance standards and
other provisions included in the City's land development regulations..." and "the City shall
encourage preservation of significant historic and archeological sites through public information
programs, incentives and recognition of preservation efforts of individuals and organizations."
Contributing to the Historic Society's project would be an efficient way for the City to move
forward with this portion of the Comprehensive Plan, and might not be considered as giving
money to a chazitable cause:
The Historical Society is requesting $2,146.00 from Atlantic Beach.
Cost of Paint; At our last Commission meeting, several Commissioners asked about a letter
received in connection with a recent bid from the City for painting a City water tank.
Authorization for the work to begin will be an item on the January 28a' agenda. The bids for this
project range from $41,580 to $85,000. The cost of the paint itself, which was the subject of the
letter, is $4,500. The bid invitation also gave bidders the opportunity to specify another brand of
paint.
Interaretation of Beach as a Public Street; During the last Commission meeting, some
discussion was held about whether or not the City officially recognized the beach as a street
AGENDA ITEM #3A
JANUARY 28, 2002
frontage for the oceanfront lots on Beach Avenue. See the attached staff report from Sonya
Doerr dated January 16`h for information on this question.
Radio Station Re-zoninE; At the last Commission meeting, staff was asked to meet with radio
station representatives concerning the proposed re-zoning ordinance. Staff has scheduled to
meet with their representatives and hopes. to accomplish the Commission's request in a timely
fashion. However, the attorney for the radio station has requested to hold the zoning ordinance
until March because he will not be able to attend any ofthe Commission meetings before then.
Neihborhood Meetin¢: Dewees/Coquina/Shell Streets; Commissioner Waters was appointed
to work with residents in the Dewees/Coquina/Shell Street neighborhood to consider vazious
requests for improvements presented at the Commission meeting on January 14~'. A
neighborhood meeting has now been scheduled for Saturday, February 2°d at 9:OOa.m. in the City
Commission Chambers. Area residents will be invited to present their views. Other
Commissioners as well as the news media will be welcorne to attend.
AGENDA ITEM #3A
JANUARY 28, 2002
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
AGENDA ITEM: Interpretation of the beach as a Street
SUBMITTED BY: Sonya Doerr, AICP, Community Development Director
DATE: January 16, 2002
BACKGROUND: In response to the discussion at January 14th Commission meeting
regarding the treatment of the beach as a street, the following information is provided. Past
interpretation has apparently resulted in the consideration of the beach as a Street. It is unclear
whether there was in fact a provision within past codes or ordinances that supported such an
interpretation, but under the currently effective City Code, there is no definition or provision
that would deem the beach as a Street. There are, however, numerous provisions of the zoning
regulations that require special treatment of oceanfront lots, and have the similar effect of
considering the beach as a Street. The provisions relevant to this issue are as follows:
Chapter 24 definition of Street
Street shall mean a public or private thoroughfare, which affords the principal means of access
to Abutting Property. This includes lane, place, way, Alley or other means of ingress or egress,
regardless of the term used to describe it.
• In that the beach does not provide the principal means of access to Abutting
Property, it cannot be considered a Street under this definition.
Chanter 24 definition of Corner Lot
Lot, Corner shall mean a Lot abutting two (2) or more Streets, or at a Street intersection or at
a Street corner having an interior angle not greater than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.
The exterior Lot Line of the narrowest: side of the Lot adjoining the Street shall be considered
the front Yazd. The exterior Lot Line of the longest side of the Lot abutting the Street shall be
considered a side Yard and shall have a minimum setback of fifteen (15) feet. The opposite
side Yard shall conform to the minimum side Yard requirement of the Zoning District in which
it is located. The rear Yard shall have a minimum setback of twenty (20) feet.
• Most all oceanfront lots that are. adjacent to a beach access would in fact be
considered as Corner Lots in that these lots are "double frontage" lots extending
from Beach Avenue to the beach.. These lots havefrontage on two streets;
therefore the minimum setback on the beach access Street side is IS feet. (The
oceanfront lat that was the subject of the recent Variance denial: was very unique
in that it was not a double frontage lot. That particular lot had frontage only on
Sixth Street. It appears that there are only about five such oceanfront single-
family residential lots in the City that would not be considered Corner Lots.)
AGENDA ITEM #3A
JANUARY 28, 2002
Sec. 24-84. Double Frontage Lots.
(b) Special treatment of oceanfront Lots on Beach Avenue. For these double frontage Lots
having frontage on the Atlantic Ocean, the front Yard. shall be the Yard which faces the
Atlantic Ocean, and the Required Front Yard shall be measured from the Lot Line
parallel to or nearest the ocean.
• 'This is the provision that designates the oceanfront side of double frontage lots as
the front, requiring a 20 foot setback on the ocean side regardless of the shape of
the lot.'
RECOMMENDATION: No change needed to current regulations related to this issue.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
REVIEWED BY CITY MANAOEIL:
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