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Minutes 11-09-87MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING HELD IN PINELAND PLAZA, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1987 AT 7:00 P. M. PRESENT Vernon Thompson, Jr., Chairman Lillian Artis, Vice Chairwoman George Mearns, Secretary Daniel E. Boyar Raymond Eney Henrietta Solomon Thomas Newton, Alternate (Voting) Janice Lewis, Alternate ABSENT Ben Uleck (Excused) Alfred Newbold Building Department Chairman Thompson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P. M. and recognized the presence in the audience of former Mayor Carl Zimmerman and Bob Fauser, interested citizen. Chairman Thompson stated that Mr. Ben Uleck had requested an excused absence. He introduced the Members of the Board and the Recording Secretary. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 14, 1987 Mr. Newbold requested that the following changes be made to the minutes of September 14, 1987: Page 5, paragraph 1, line 10 - Insert a period after agree, delete the word "that", and capitalize the word "it." Page 5, paragraph 4, line 4 - Change "Royal Palm" to read "Coco Plum." Mrs. Solomon moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Mr. Boyar seconded the motion which carried 7-0. Chairman Thompson read the six criteria the Board uses for approving or disapproving an application, and explained that seven members would be voting at this meeting. He noted there were 7 members voting. Secretary Mearns read the information from the application. -1- MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER '9, 1987 Case 9123 Applicant/ Agent: RequeSt: Proposed Use: Address: Owner: Legal Richard Welch, Realtor Associate, Michael J. Campbell Realty, Inc,, Lake Worth Relief from zoning requirement of 60 ft. lot frontage to be reduced to 50 ft. lot frontage and relief from zoning requirement of 7,500 sq. ft. lot area to be reduced to 6,625 sq. ft. lot area. Construction of single family residence 670 N,E. 9th Avenue Estate of Paul L. Maddock Paul L. Maddock, Jr., Co-Trustee Description: Lot 12, Block 4 LAKE ADDITION Recorded in Plat Book i1, Page 71 Palm Beach County Records Secretary Mearns noted that there are presently other homes in this subdivision which are built on lots with 50' frontage. Richard Welch, representative for Mr. Maddock, noted that this lot is presently in Mr. Maddock's father's estate. In order to clear the estate, the lot is to be sold. Mr. Welch stated that they have a person who is interested in purchasing the lot for the purpose of building a single family home on the lot as his primary residence. He noted that the lot was'platted in 1925 when it was zoned R-lA. The zoning requirements have been changed by the City since that time. Chairman Thompson asked if the intent was to sell the property and Mr. Welch stated that it was being marketed through his company (Campbell Realty) and he is the agent. The sale is pending upon the purchaser being able to build a single family residence on the lot. In answer to Mrs. Solomon's question, Mr. Welch replied that there is a home on the east side of this property which is built on a 50' lot.~ He also stated that on the south side on N.E. Tenth Avenue near the Intracoastal, there is new construction on a 50' lot. Mrs. Solomon asked about the safety factors if the Board decided to allow a home to be built on the lot. Mr. NewbOld stated that the structure would meet all setbacks and no -2- MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 9, 1987 safety hazard would be created. Mr. Mearns asked if any attempt had been made to purchase a small portion of the lot adjacent to this property. Mr. Welch stated that it had been very difficult to contact the owners. On the east side there is an existing dwelling and the land to the west side is owned by the party who owns the dwelling to the west. He noted that this piece of property is deadlocked between those properties. Mr. Welch referred the Board to his site plan which was attached to his application. There was more discussion regarding property in the surrounding area. Mr. Newbold clarified that only the lots which are adjacent to this property have been addressed as the other lots would be of no use to the owner of this property. As there were no other questions for Mr. Welch, Chairman Thompson thanked him for his participation. Chairman Thompson asked if anyone wished to speak in favor of granting the request. As no one wished to speak in favor, he asked if anyone wished to speak against granting the request. Walter Lace¥, 629 N.E. 9th Avenue stated that he has lived in Boynton Beach all his life, and at his present residence for the past 28 years. He stated that all the homes in his area are nice ones and all the lots have more than 50' front- age. Mr. Lacey stated that his home has 2,200 square feet. He noted that there is a vacant 50' lot adjacent to his prop- erty, and he did not want to see a precedent set by allowing the applicant to build on the 50' lot. He felt that the property values would depreciate in the subdivision if people were allowed to build on the 50' lots. Mr. Lacey stated that he lives northwest of the property in question. He noted that there are no homes built on 9th Avenue on 50' lots, but he was not sure about the other streets in the subdivision. Chairman Thompson stated that there are some homes on 50' lots south of Mr. Lacey. They were built some time ago and he was not sure if any construction had been done recently. As there were no more questions, Chairman Thompson thanked Mr. Lacey for his interest. Mr. Lacey was the only person to speak against granting the variance. Chairman Thompson also noted that he had received no written communications regarding the property in question. Mrs. Solomon asked if building smaller homes in the same area as larger ones would reduce the value of the homes. Chairman Thompson stated that he had not found this to be the case. He noted that in all developments, there are -3- MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 9, 1987 homes of varying sizes. He felt there would be other requests such as this to come before the Board and they would have to be decided on a case by case basis. Mr. Boyar referred to the list of residents in the neigh- borhood and noted that most own rather substantial lots. added that he hesitated to allow someone to build on a smaller lot on a street with mostly larger lots. He referred to the code noting that there was a purpose in changing the code. Mr. Mearns noted that no correspondence had been received from owners of adjacent property. Mrs. Solomon noted that this piece of property is land- locked since the zoning was changed. This came about through no fault of the owner. She noted that the structure would be built within safety guidelines and setback require- ments. She felt that this would cause a hardship for the owner if the request were denied. Mr. Eney noted that this is an older neighborhood and there are other homes on 50' lots. He referred to the fact that the piece of property in question has been in Mr. Maddock's family for over 40 years. The zoning has followed rather than led in the type of development desired for this area. He added that 30 years ago, it would have been acceptable to build a house on the 50' lot, but not by the code today. Mr. Eney noted that there is still much land in the sub- division which is for sale. He noted that a home built on the lot should fit into the neighborhood. Vice Chairwoman Artis stated that the lot was in conformance at one time and that should be taken into consideration. Chairman Thompson noted that a hardship has been created for this property owner. He noted that in order to upgrade the older sections of the City to allow the new sections to build up in a particular way, some problems have been created. These problems have to be worked out. In the case of a piece of property which is landlocked, something has to be done. Mr. Newbold stated that with R-iA zoning a home must be at least 1,500 square feet in size. Chairman Thompson stated that there should be no problem building a 1,500 square foot home on this piece of property. Mr. Welch stated that the prospective buyer was proposing to build a 1,500 square foot, single story home on the property. He noted that the home would meet all the setbacks required and the garage/carport would be on the front portion. -4- MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 9, 1987 Mr. Newton had no additional comments. Mr. Eney moved to grant the request for variance. Motion was seconded by Vice Chairwoman Artis. Mr. Eney stated the reason he wished to approve the request is due to the fact that the proposed home would be in conformance with other homes in the area and would not detract from them as there is no set pattern of structures in the neighborhood. Vice Chairwoman Artis stated that the property was at one time in conformance and came into nonconf~ormance after the zoning change. She noted that the property is landlocked. At the request of Chairman Thompson, Mrs. Cressman took a roll call vote as follows: Mr. Newton - Aye Mr. Boyar - Aye Mr. Eney - Aye Vice Chairwoman Artis - Aye Chairman Thompson - Aye Mr. Mearns - Aye Mrs. Solomon - Aye Motion carried 7-0. Chairman Thompson announced that the request was granted. CASE NO. 124 - OPEN Case 124 is open at the present time and will remain open for another week or so. BOARD DINNER Chairman Thompson asked which of the Members were planning to attend the Board Dinner. He stated that he would call in the 18 reservations for the Members and their guests. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Mearns moved that the meeting be adjourned. Motion was seconded bY Mrs. Solomon and the meeting adjourned at 7:50 P.M. Peggy Cressman Recording SeCretary (One Tape) -5-