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Minutes 09-23-91MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, SEPTEBMER 23, 1991 AT 7:00 P. M. PRESENT Vernon Thompson, Chairman James Miriana, Vice Chairman Raymond Eney, Secretary Thomas Newton Henrietta Solomon Ben Uleck Kevin Michael Clair (Alternate) ALTERNATES Paul Slavin ABSENT Andrew Haynes (Excused) 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, and the Recording Secretary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Eney said at the bottom of page 1, the Minutes of the August 12, 1991 meeting state that he read the six criteria. He said he read the responses to the six criteria, not the criteria. Ms. Solomon moved to approve the Minutes of the August 12, 1991 meeting as corrected. Mr. Uleck seconded the motion which carried 7-0. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Newbold announced that Mike Haag, who is currently the Site Development Administrator with the Building Department, will be transfering to the Planning Department and replacing Mr. Newbold at the Board of Adjustment meetings. Chairman Thompson explained the purpose and procedures of the Board of Adjustment, the recourse of the applicants should their application be denied, and the six criteria 1 MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 which are taken into consideration when hearing a request for variance. NEW BUSINESS 1. Case #159 Address: Owner: Legal Description: Requested Variance: 1531 W. Boynton Beach Boulevard Winchester, Winchester, Zeiher & Schroeder, a Florida General Partnership A parcel of land in Section 30, Township 45 South, Range 43 East Minimum distance separation between service stations ~ecretary Eney read the application. He said the property in question is zoned C-3, formerly zoned R-1 under County Zoning. Denial of the application was based on Appendix A-Zoning, Section ll.L.1, Service Stations With or Without Major Repairs. The nature of exception or variance required is a variance for minimum distance separation between serv- ice stations. The permit was denied on August 9, 1991. Kiernan J. Kildal, 1551 Forum Place, Building 100, West Palm Beach, Florida, the applicant's representative, said the closest easterly property line to the Shell station located on Congress Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard is 545 feet, property line to property line. When the Boynton Beach Mall was being developed, one of the requirements was the construction of Winchester Boulevard to provide a connection between the mall and Boynton Beach Boulevard to the south. The criteria for the location of turn-outs fell into place at that time in 1974. In order to obtain proper signaliza- tion at the entrance to the mall there had to be a 1,000 foot separation from median line to median line between the roads. This created the small lot between Winchester Boulveard to the west, the City's Utility lift station to the east, and the Lake Worth Drainage Canal to the north side of the road. It is a small parcel of land with limited uses. The creation of this small property was a result of engineering decisions and was not caused by the applicant. The site ~s a signalized intersection and has median control on all corners. It is totally coordinated to serve all the parcels located around it. This site is surrounded entirely MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 by other nonresidential and commercial uses and as such would have no detrimental effect on any of the neighboring property owners. From a public benefit standpoint, locating a service station at an entrance to the mall is an ideal passerby site in that it will help improve the situation at the intersection where all the gas stations are currently clustered by diverting traffic. 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. In answer to a question by Mr. Clair, Mr. Kilday said the site is about 680 feet from the nearest residential area. In addition, this building was designed to provide landscaping behind it, so it would not be in any clear sight of any residential area. Mr. Uleck expressed concern regarding the number of service stations already existing in this area, and with the traf- fic at the post office. He did not think this was a hardship situation. Mr. Clair thought a persuasive part of Mr. Kilday's argument was that allowing the service station at that site would relieve the traffic pressure at Congress Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard. He was in support of granting the variance because special conditions and circumstances exist, the cir- cumstances regarding development of the mall were not the result of the actions of the applicant, and denial of this variance will deprive the applicant of reasonable use of his land. He also believed the granting of this variance would be harmonious with both current and planned future uses. Attorney Mussman reminded the Board to consider those ele- ments spelled out in the Code when determining whether a variance should be granted. Chairman Thompson read from Appendix A-Zoning, Section ll.L.1 and was concerned about the traffic created by the post office. Mr. Newbold said the post office is not classified as a large gathering public facility. Mr. Newton thought if the Board did not grant this variance, perhaps this person would not have reasonable use of his land. 3 MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 Attorney Mussman suggested the Board read the justification statement into the record before the Board makes a decision. Secretary Eney read the applicant,s Variance Request Justification Statement. Ms. Solomon moved to deny the request of Winchester, Winchester, Zeiher & Schroeder for a variance regarding the minimum distance separation between service stations. Mr. Uleck seconded the motion. A roll call vote on the motion was taken by the Recording Secretary as follows: Ben Uleck - Aye Kevin Michael Clair - Nay Henrietta Solomon - Aye James Miriana - Aye Vernon Thompson - Aye Raymond Eney - Nay Thomas Newton - Nay The motion carried 4-3 and the variance was denied. 2. Case #160 Address: Owner: Legal Description: Requested 2107 S. E. 3rd Street Donald Fisher Lots 8-13, inclusive, Sunny Oaks Addition Vairance: Front and rear setback reductions Secretary Eney read the application. He said the applica- tion was made on August 1, 1991. The property is presently zoned R-3 and was formerly zoned R-3. There was a denial made on the existing zoning of this particular property for buildings under Appendix A-Zoning, Section 5.G.2.a. The nature of the exception was that the Code requires a front and rear setback of 40 feet. The applicant wishes to have a 25 foot front setback for both buildings A and B and a 15 foot rear setback for building B. Therefore, a 15 foot variance is required for front setbacks and a 25 foot variance is required for rear setback of building B. This permit was denied on August 9, 1991 by Mr. Newbold. Mr. Eney said the six criteria which the Chairman has read for the previous case also applies to this application. He read the applicant's response to these six criteria. George Davis, Architect, 1100 South Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, represented Mr. Fisher. He pointed out to the Board MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 that at one point, the narrowest depth of the land is 84 feet. With a 40 foot front setback and a 40 foot rear set- back, that leaves 4 feet to put a building on. At its deepest point, the property is 119 feet. With the 80 foot setbacks, this will only allow a 39 foot building. The apartments have to be a decent size in order to be rentable. He said since this application has been made, and the drawings presented, he realized an additional variance of five feet on building A is needed. Attorney Mussman advised that this issue is not before the Board and that the appli- cant would have to come back to the Board for that variance. No one from the audience wanted to speak in favor of granting the variance. Sam Montgomery, 411 S. E. 20th Court, spoke against granting the variance. He said his neighborhood is already surrounded by apartments. He was concerned with what kind of people were going to move into a house that is 15 feet away from the railroad tracks. He was concerned about keeping the neighborhood clean. John Yoder, 514 S. E. 20th Court, spoke against granting the variance. He said during the last three or four years he has seen every one of those apartment buildings on the street that Mr. Fisher wants to build on go down hill. He has seen abandoned cars there. He said ever since the City opened the road, a traffic problem was created. If the variance is grant, ed, there will be 16 more parking spaces. The street is not very big to begin with. Barbara DeBellis, 414 S. E. 20th Court, and Russell Case, 417 S. E. 20th Court, did not want the variance granted. Mr. Miriana wanted to know why the buildings were being placed on the two ends of the land, leaving an open area in the middle. Mr. Davis said the buildings fit better on the bigger ends. If it was done another way, there would still be a problem with the setbacks. Chairman Thompson asked Mr. Davis if he had looked at all possible ways of arranging the buildings on that plat of land. Mr. Davis said he had. The building plan that Mr. Fisher wants to use is 54 feet by 42 feet. It will not fit anywhere on the plat. The only alternative is to put a smaller building on the plat. 5 MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 Secretary Eney read a letter dated September 13, 1991 from Lillian Mayhew, Sr. addressed to the City Clerk, opposing the granting of the variance. Ms. Solomon moved to grant the request of Donald Fisher for a variance for front and rear setback reductions. Mr. Eney seconded the motion. A roll call vote on the motion was taken by the Recording Secretary as follows: Ben Uleck - Nay Kevin Michael Clair - Aye Henrietta Solomon - Aye James Miriana - Nay Vernon Thompson - Aye Raymond Eney - Aye Thomas Newton - Aye The motion carried 5-2 and the variance was granted. OTHER BUSINESS The regular November 11, 1991 meeting was rescheduled to November 4, 1991 because of Veteran's Day. ADJOURNMENT The meeting properly adjourned at 9:10 P. M. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Three Tapes) 6