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Minutes 10-14-91MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1991 AT 7:00 P. M. PRESENT Vernon Thompson, Chairman James Miriana, Vice Chairman Raymond Eney, Secretary Thomas Newton Henrietta Solomon Ben Uleck Paul Slavin (Alternate) ABSENT Andrew Haynes Kevin Michael Clair (Alternate) Alfred Newbold, Deputy Building Official Jay Mussman, Assistant City Attorney CALL TO ORDER Chairman Thompson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P. M. and introduced the Board members, Jay Mussman, Alfred Newbold and the Recording Secretary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Miriana moved to approve the Minutes of the September 23, 1991 meeting. Ms. Solomon seconded the motion which carried 7-0. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chairman Thompson explained how the Board of Adjustment reaches a decision when hearing a request for a variance and he read the six criteria which are also taken into con- sideration. NEW BUSINESS 1. Case ~161 Address: Owner: Legal Description: Requested Variance: 3030 S. W. 13th Place Mike Verochi, VRT Corporation A parcel of land lying in the West one- half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 5, Township 46 South, Range 43 East, Palm Beach County, Florida Parking space reduction MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 14, 1991 Secretary Eney read the application. He said the applica- tion was made on September 8, 1991. The property is pre- sently zoned M-1 and was formerly zoned M-1. There is a seventeen digit identity number for the property which per- tains to the Tax Assessor's Office. Denial was made upon existing zoning requirements, Appendix A-Zoning, Section ll.H, Provision of Off-Street Parking Spaces. The nature of the exception or variance required was that the Code requires fifty-one parking spaces. A previous variance was approved for forty-two parking spaces. Applicant now wants to eliminate three more parking spaces. This permit was denied on September 12, 1991 by Milt Duff. Mr. Eney read the applicant's responses to the six criteria which the Chairman read. Efram Pesyna of 108 E. Ocean, representing VRT Corporation, said the property was purchased in 1985. When the building -was reconstructed and brought up to City Code, and the applicant originally asked for a variance for nine parking spaces to be eliminated, it was anticipated that the center driveway would be able to be closed up. It turned out a 48' tractor could not be maneuvered into the loading docks, which would make 6,000 square feet of this property unac- cessible and unusable. There was discussion regarding whether sufficient parking spaces exist. There was also discussion regarding why the applicant originally asked for the elimination of only nine parking spaces. No one from the audience wished to speak in favor of or against the granting of this variance, and no communications were received regarding this variance. There was discussion why the applicant waited a year from the granting of the original variance to request this addi- tional variance. Mr. Uleck moved to grant the request of Mike Verochi/VRT Corporation for a variance regarding parking space reduc- tion. Mr. Miriana seconded the motion. A roll call vote on the motion was taken by the Recording Secretary as follows: Thomas Newton - Aye Henrietta Solomon - Aye Ben Uleck - Aye Paul Slavin - Aye MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 14, 1991 Raymond Eney James Miriana Vernon Thompson - Aye - Aye - Aye The motion carried 7-0 and the variance was granted. 2. Case ~162 Address: Owners: Legal Description: Requested Vairance: 2802 S. W. 8th Street Mark and Andrea Spradling Lot 1, Block 9, Forest Hills Rear setback reduction Secretary Eney read the application. He said the applica- tion was made on September 6, 1991. The property is pre- sently zoned R-l-AA and was formerly zoned R-l-AA. Denial was made upon existing zoning requirements, Appendix A-Zoning, Section 5.C.2.a, R-l-AA minimum rear yard 25'. The nature of the exception or variance was that the Zoning Code requires a twenty-five foot rear yard setback. Survey shows proposed addition to be 9.3 feet from rear property line. Therefore, a variance of 15.7 feet is required. This permit was denied on September 12, 1991 by Milt Duff. Mr. Eney read the applicant's response to the six criteria which the Chairman previously read. Andrea Spradling said her yard fades and it is only for about nine inches that the edge of the addition would be 9.3 feet from the property line. It fades up to twenty feet, which is only 5' less than the necessary setback. There is only 3 feet that goes anywhere near any part of her neigh- bor's house where his living space is and that is 20 feet from her property line. The rest of the addition is side by side by his garage. She showed the Board photographs of the property in question. Kim Dellastatious, Architect, 94 17th Avenue South, Lake Worth, referred to the photographs and pointed out that the front part is fading away from the street and away from the front corner of Mr. Dean's house. A--drea Spradling said the way her lot is configured, she has to have 25' setbacks on three sides of her house. All she was asking for is one side yard. She felt she was in no way hemming in anyone, and said if her house was on a normal MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 14, 1991 rectangular lot, the area in question would be her side yard. No one else from the audience wished to speak in favor of the granting of this variance. Mr. Eney read a letter, dated October 8, 1991, from Obren L. Dean, opposing the granting of this variance. Mr. Eney also read a letter dated October 14, 1991, from Jose and Mary Rodriguez of 2810 S. W. 8th Street, Boynton Beach, in favor of the granting of this variance. Michael Manning of Delray Beach, Attorney retained by Obren L. Dean, said the problem is one of those unfortunate situations where you have a corner lot and a determination has to be made at some point in time which side of the lot is going to be the rear. He said that decision is generally made at the time the property is originally constructed, and the side line of the lot that was determined to be the rear happens to be on the other side of the fence, the side of Mr. Dean's property. He felt Mr. Dean is going to be the neighbor that suffers the most consequence of this addition and said that Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez are on the other side of the property and are no where near the addition. He felt there was really not a hardship that has not been self- inflicted by the present owners of the property. He stated the properties, at their closest points are 38.1 feet apart. If this variance were granted, the two properties would be 20.6 feet apart, a difference of 17 ½ feet. Attorney Mussman advised the Board that during their con- sideration of this application, only the six elements that the Chairman read at the beginning of this meeting should be considered, and the evidence and facts presented this evening. No one else wished to speak against the granting of this variance. In response to the reading of Mr. Dean's letter, Ms. Dellastatious stated there would be no danger to the heat pump well, the structure has to maintain the floor/area ratio, and the value of Mr. Dean's lot would go up because the neighborhood value has increased. She thought this case was a hardship because it is an irregular lot and the road curves. 4 MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 14, 1991 Chairman Thompson pointed out that on every City block that has a house on a corner has three 25 foot setbacks, unless they are back to back properties. He said when that house was built, it was built according to the shape of the land. There was discussion about the possibility of the house being expanded upward instead of outward. Mr. Newbold said the house was built on the lot with the proper setbacks. It met those requirements at the time it was constructed. If the lot was platted prior to 1975, Mr. Dean could build to within 7.5 feet of the property line, which is Mr. Dean's side yard and the Spradlings' rear yard. The Spradlings are required to stay 25 feet away. Mr. Uleck said in his community the homes do not have set- backs of 25 feet. Chairman Thompson felt if a family is enlarged, it is a self-imposed hardship. Attorney Mussman pointed out that the Board should only con- sider the six criteria, the property in question, and the information provided tonight. He said each case is on its own merits, and he read from the Code in Appendix A-Zoning, Section 10, 3.a. through 3.f. With regard to 3.a, he said this is applicable to other lands. Mr. Miriana moved to deny the request of Mark and Andrea Spradling for a variance regarding the rear setback reduc- tion. Mr. Eney seconded the motion. A roll call vote on the motion was taken by the Recording Secretary as follows: Thomas Newton - Aye Henrietta Solomon - Aye Ben Uleck - Nay Paul Slavin - Nay Raymond Eney - Aye James Miriana - Aye Vernon Thompson - Aye The motion carried 5-2 and the variance was denied. OTHER BUSINESS It was the consensus of the Board to hold a workshop with the City Attorney before January, 1992 for the purpose of ironing out some of the problems of the Board. MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 14, 1991 ADJOURNMENT The meeting properly adjourned at 8:24 P. M. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Two Tapes)