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Minutes 07-11-83 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING AT CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, MONDAY, JULY 11, 1983, AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Vernon Thompson, Jr., Chairman Bert Keehr, George Ampol, Vice Chairman Deputy Building Official George Mearns William Doney, Joseph Moore Assistant City~Attorney Paul Slavin Li!lian Artis, Alternate ABSENT Robert Gordon, Secretary (excused) Harold Weinberg (excused) Leo Grossbard, Alternate Chairman Thompson called this special meeting to order. He introduced the Deputy Building Official, the Assistant City Attorney, the regular board members, and the Recording Secretary, noting that Ms. Lillian Artis was sitting in the place of Mr. Robert Gordon. He recognized people in the audience: Vice Mayor C~rl Zimmerman, Councilmen Joe deLong and Nick Cassandra, City Clerk Betty Boroni Attorney Gene Moore, and Mr. John Paul. Chairman Thompson announced that the purpose of this meeting was to de- cide whether or not they would schedule a re-hearing on Case ~33 which came up at their last meeting. Since there has been so much discrepancy surrounding this case that a stop work order has been placed on the property in question, the Chairperson thought it wise to meet at this time only to decide whether they will have a re-hearing on the case or not - at a later date. He said it is an unusual meeting, the first of his kind, and they do need a majority vote. Instead of a 5-2 it would be a majority vote. ' Chairman Thompson referred to information they received the previous two weeks about the case and what has taken place up to this point. He said his understanding is that the reason for the variance, and the Board granting the variance, was based on a hardship that the Pecorella family had - a daughter who is allergic to bites, and since that time, they have put their property up for sale. Again, he noted that there 'is a stop work order on it. So he felt there's a lot that the Board had to take into consideration before placing judgement on whether they should re-hear the case or not. At this time, Chairman Thompson opened the meeting to discussion. Mr. Ampol reminded the Board Members that, if anyone objects to the decision made, they have redress under the law b~ appea~ to the court of proper jurisdiction. Adhering to this rule, he started to make motion, and Chairman Thompson advised that the Chair was not asking for a motion at that time. - 1 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1983 Mr. Slavin stated that originally, a hearing was held May 9th and was for relief from a rear yard setback requirement of 8' to 6'9 rear yard setback at 2775 SW !lth Street; the applicant was Vincent Pecorella. Mr. Slavin further recalled that Mr. Keehr (the DepUty Building Official) made a statement that this request be cancelled as they were coming in with another request added, and~the Board voted in favor of postponing this case until June 13th. Referring to the minutes of the June 13th meeting (page 12, next to the last paragraph), Mr. Slavin noted that Mr. John D. Paul had said he resides immediately to the west of the property and believed he had an objection on file and that he had filed an objec- tion as of the previous meeting. Mr. Slavin quoted from the minutes, "Mr. Gordon stated that he had no record of it. Chairman Thompson sa~d he took everything out of the box on the way up. Mr. Paul had a copy and was asked to read it." Continuing his review, Mr. Slavin stated that he, as a member of the Board of Adjustment, then received several copies of letters from a Mr. and Mrs. Bogg/ld dated June 29th, sixteen days after the meeting; and he received a copy of a letter from Mr. John Paul and Mrs. Carol Paul dated June 24th, 1983, and then another letter from Mr. and Mrs Paul dated June 29th, 1983. ' Mr. Slavin said the facts state that a meeting was held by the Board of Adjustment, everybody who wanted to speak had an opportunity to speak, the Board rendered a decision, and all these extra things have come sixteen or fourteen days after the meeting, which to him is not right. He concurred with Mr. Ampol that according to law, if to a d~'~isi-on of the Board,'they have proper recourse. Mr. Slavin stated ~hat he honestly feelS't~at there is no need for them to have a re-heaping on this matter. Chairman Thompson said what makes this difficult is that~ in the past, when they granted or denied a variance it was always on the property and the property is never moved. He said they still do; however, he didn't know how technical it would be when the variance was granted on a child's health and now it has been or will be removed. He didn't know the legal point there, but he felt that when a decision was made by the · Board it should be carried our regardless of whatever happens. Mr. Slavin referred to a situation several months ago when a decision was rendered against an oil company and they went to the court for a decision. He said that this is the proper procedure. Mr. Slavin said furthermore, they only grant or deny variances on the property involved and what it needs. He referred to a comment on one of the letters about a fence, but he said a fence is not the Board's problem. The Board's problem is that there is a setback law and what can be done to help the people with their property. Mr. Doney offered a comment to clarify what he thought the situation is. - 2 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1983 Pro or con as far as rendering a re-hearing, Attorney Doney just wanted to tell them what he thought the legalities are and what they should be looking for as Board Members. If there was evidence that was not pre- sented at the June 13th hearing that should have been presented, and the Board thinks that evidence may have a bearing on the way they voted, they should re-hear it. If they think everythingwas presented that should have been and that there's really nothing new and this was all brought up at the hearinff, then there's no reason to grant a re-hearing. Concerning the fact that the house was up for sale or not is something that would have to be proven or disproven. Mr. Slavin said he doesn't believe that concerns them and is not their problem. He advised that they attended a seminar last year where Professor Hartley from Tallahassee outlined to them where they are in bounds and where they are out of bounds. The fact that a piece of property may be up for sale is not their problem, he reiterated. He felt that, if they had a request for a three-foot variance, that is what they are concerned with and not that the house may be sold He felt that had no bearing on them. ' Mr. Doney understood that but noted that evidently one of the points in granting the variance was that the health of the child was an issue, and if that is true then if the house is up for sale it would seem relevant. Chairman Thompson advised that the attorney brought up a point that he had in mind about whether they received all information concerning the case in time. He recalled that he did pick up all mater/als from his mail box for the last meeting, and s/nee thaE time he understands that there was some information placed in the box for the firsE hearing that was held by the secretary and not given back to the Board before the last meeting. Chairman Thompson stated that he did ask Mr. Paul that night to read into the minutes his letter which he had in his hand, and it is in the minutes. Chairman Thompson understands there was another letter that he did hot know of. He bored that he now has a copy of the ~i - dates of all letters received by the City Clerk. Other than the one that was read, there was one he understands was not found, they say was there and it was not there, according to the City~Clerk, s records. He said he has to take the City Clerk's word because she types everything up for the Board. He reiterated the Board's usual procedure that they -~ go to the mail box every month prior to a meeting. Mr. Slavin repeated that Chairman Thompson granted Mr. Paul permission to read his letter into the minutes, therefore the letter is a matter of record regardless of whether the letter was received or not. Attorney Doney said that letter would have no significance because he spoke and was able to read his letter. The fact that it was not handed out wouldn't make any difference. Mr. Slavin said that is what he was - 3- MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1983 saying, "the letter is a matter of record". Attorney Doney advised that evidently there is another letter ouE. Mr. Slavin said this is all he knows and this is what he's going by because of the minutes~ and again Mr. Slavin referred to the m/nutes regarding Mr. Paul's letter. Mr. Ampol said he has been in that area about four different times, and there has been variances issued by the Board of Adjustment for situation almost the same. Chaimman Thomnson felt ~ .... ~ ........... s another member ~elt it was not relevant. -, Chairman Thompson was trying to go through the dates to see if there were any other letters received. Chairman Thompson reaffirmed with Attorney Doney that he was right to allow both sides to speak. The Chair then recognized Attorney ~oore. Mr. Moore said he would like to rise to a point of order. He f~lt the Chairman had a procedural problem. He said he thought if the Chairman voted on the losing side on this particular issue as a 5-2 vote .... Mr. Ampol interrupted to ask Mr. Moore to identify himself. He said he was Gene Moore, 639 East Ocean Avenue, representing Mr. Peeorella who was absent at this time. Attorney Moore continued. It was his understanding that, if this body is governed by the Robert's Rules of Order, what they had before them was a motion for reconsideration and he believed he was stating the rules correctly that the only way that can be considered is a non-debatable motion. It would have to be made by one of the members of the prevailing g/de, which would be Mr. Moore, Mr. Slav/n, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Ampol, or Mr. Grossbard. Failing that, he thought all the discussion was out of place. He thought they were barred by the Robert's Rules of Order from reconsidering any petition to reconsideration. He said it has to be an affirmative motion to reconsider by a member of the prevailing side, which is one of the five gentlemen he alluded to. Chairman Thompson felt they had to follow the decision of Attorney Doney - if he feels at this time that a motion of one kind is in order by the right person, then they would do that. That is why he asked that Attorney Doney be at this meeting. Whether or not it is strictly Robert's Rules of Order, Attorney Doney felt they were okay discussing it, give their opinions, get it out in the open, let Mr. Moore speak, and decide what they want to do - whether they want to re-hear it or not. Attorney Moore said he would not participate any further in this meeting and asked them if they are going by Robert's Rules of Order or not. Attorney Doney felt they were not strictly bound by it. Mr. Slavin said they had never been faced with that problem. As far as Attorney Doney knew, the Board does not strictly follow them. - 4 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1983 Attorney Moore thought they should follow the RoberT's Rules of Order, and there are technical requirements that before they can reconsider a final action taken by a legislative body, there has to be ~ method of getting to that issue, and unless a member of the prevailing side moves to reconsider then he didn't think there's any standing to even reconsider the issue. Mr. Slavin asked what happens if nobody makes a motion Attorney Moore answered, "That's it; itTs dead!~, ' Once again, the Chairman asked the Assistant City Attorney what rules ~hebdard should follow as it is totally new to the Board. Attorney Doney thought the Board was proceeding properly and there was nothing wrong with it. He thought what they wanted to do was to discuss it and get input from whoever wants to speak concerning whether they want to re-hear it or not, have a motion to grant their re-hearing or a motion to not grant a re-hearing, decide it and go from there. When they have their vote, they have their vote, and that's it. Mr. Mearns noted that Chairman Thompson and he had voted against this issue, and he detemmined that, if they stayed out of it they still had a quorum. The Chairman was concerned that they follow the proper pro- cedure, and Mr. Doney reaffirmed that it is fine to have their discus- sion and then have their vote. Following the advice of the Assistant City Attorney~ Chairman Thompson entertained a motion to hear or not to hear Case Mr. Ampol said, "Adhering to the rules that have been set under the law, I hereby.move that the request for a re-hearing on Case Mr. Slavin seconded. · Under discussion, Mr. Slavin repeated that, if Mr. Paul feels he is not getting justice per se, he can always appeal to the court. Chairman Thompson advised that the request was to deny a re-hearing of Case 33, and asked the Recording Secretary to give a roll call for the vote: George Ampol - Aye George Mearns - Nay Joseph Moore - Nay Paul Slavin - Aye Vernon Thompson - Aye Explaining his vote, he felt it would set a precedent; he felt the Board had made decision with all facts presented; even though he disagreed with the reason for granting the request, he voted in favor of the motion at this time. Lillian Artis - Aye - 5 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1983 Chairman Thompson announced that the vote is against the re-hearing 4-2. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Lois Bee Recording Secretary (1 tape ) - 6 -