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Minutes 04-11-83 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING AT CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1983 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Vernon Thompson, Jr., Vice Chairman Bert Keehr, George Ampol Deputy Building Official George Mearns City of Boynton Beach Joseph Moore Harold Weinberg ABSENT Robert Gordon, Secretary (Excused) Paul Slavin (Excused) Lillian Artis, Alternate (Excused) Leo Grossbard, Alternate (Excused) Vice Chairman Thompson called the meeting to order at 7:50 P.M., as they did not have a quorum until that time. He advised that the Organizational Meeting would be held at the end of the meeting, after the Public Hearings. INTRODUCTIONS Vice Chairman Thompson introduced Bert Keehr, Deputy Building Official, who was there to advise the Board regarding technical information. He also introduced the Members of the Board and the Recording Secretary, Virginia Jackson. Vice Chairman Thompson explained that he is the acting Chairman as former Chairman Carl Zimmerman is now Vice Mayor. Mr. G~ossbard ~and Mr'. Slavin were unable to attend because they were out of town and Mr. Gordon was in the hospital, The presence of Councilman Joe deLong in the audience, was recognized by the Vice Chairman who said that he really appreciated his continual presence at meetings. MINUTES OF MARCH 14, 1983 Mr. Ampol moved, seconded by Mr. Mearns, to accept the minutes of the March 14, 1983 meeting as presented. The motion carried 5-0. MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURE Vice Chairman Thompson announced that there were two applications for variances before the Board tonight both received on the same date. Case Applicant: Michael R. Ferrara Request: Relief from 7,500 sq. ft. lot area requirement to 7,250 sq. ft. Proposed Improvement: To build a home Location: N.W. corner of S.E. 34th Avenue and S.E. 2nd Court. 319 S.E. 34th Avenue E½ of Lots 1 & 2, Block 14, GULF STREAM ESTATES PLAT NO. 2 as Recorded in Plat Book 13, Page 51, Palm Beach County records Acting Secretary weinberg read from the application as follows: "Property is presently zoned:' R~iA Formerly ~Zoned: Denial was made upon existing z-~ng requirements from~ which relief is required: R~/A~zoning requires~ '7,500 feet miD~ lOt area. · "Nature of except/on or variance required: Owner's property has 7,250 square feet, therefore a variance of 250 square feet is required. Case ~31, Meeting. Date April llth, 1983 Name of Applicant: ~ichael R. Ferrara Address of Applicant: 3045 North Federal Highway Del~ay Beach, Florida 33444 Phone Number 734-9156 Date: 3/15/83 Signature of Applicant /s/ Michael Ferrara Permit Denied: /s/ Bert Keehr Date: 3/!4/83" Before the applicant came forward, Vice Chairman Thompson announced that he wanted the applicant to know the criterias that would be used in judging the application. He read the fo 1 lowing: "a. That special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land, structure, - 2 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 or building involved and which are not applicable to other lands ~ structures, or buildings in the same zoning district, b. That the special conditions and circumstances do not result frc~ the actions of the applicant. c. That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this ordinance to other lands, buildings, or structures in the same zOning district. d. That literal interpretation of the provisions of this ordinance would deprive the applicant of rights conmDnly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district under the terms of the ordinance and would work unnecessary and undue hardship on the applicant. e. That the variance granted is the minimum variance that will make possible th~ reasonable use of the land, building, or structure, f. That the grant of the variance will be in harmony with the general intent and purpose of this chapter (ordinance) and that such variance will not be injurious to the area involved or otherwise detrimantal to the public welfare." Vice Chairman Thompson explained that the Members of the Board face these criteria when making a judgment and that they have seen ~from visi~%~ng .the property, whether they talk to the applicant owner or not. Vice Chairman Thompson said, hopefully, the applicant owner can show the Members of the Board that these are hardships due to those reasons. Mr. Michael R. Ferrara, the applicant, 3045 North Federal Highway, Delray Beach, Florida 33444, explained that at the present time the circumstances exist and the property is only 250 square feet short of conforming to the bUilding site. That is why he is asking for this variance. - 3 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 He said there is no way he could buy the extra land. Mr. Ferrara referred to the criteria (b) and explained that this did not result from his actions. 'He stated that he is, (d), being deprived of the right to built a home on the property due to the existing shortage in footage. This was a minimum variance requi~ed', ac¢ordin~oA~criteria ~), Regarding (f) Mr. Ferrara noted that this~variance would not be injurious ~to._the public welfare, as far as he was concerned. Vice Chairman Thompson noted that the property dimensions were 72.5'x 100' arriving at the 7,250 square feet. Mr_, Weinberg asked about the statement in which the applicant is going to use the first half! of: Lo~s 1-' 'a.~'d ~,2~ ~'He asked~ i:f Mr. Ferrara builds on the first half, what he planned for the second half. Mr. Ferrara explained that the previous owner had just those two lots and divided them as he had a house on those two lots. He expressed that, "Sometime along the line he must have been allowed to divide them. So he took the half of 1 and 2 and left this other half of 1 and 2 and this is the half that I have purchased," Mr. Weinberg expressed that all the applicant has is 50'x 72'. Mr. Ferrara explained that there are two 50's; 50' on each one by 72~on each one. He said he owns half of the two lots; half of Lot 1 and half of Lot 2. If he was correct, Neil Frank owns the other half of Lot 1 and Lot 2 in which the original owner sold him the house and then Neil Frank had the other lot available. Vice Chairman Thompson noted that it was confusing to most people. He asked the applicant tke f~ll0wing~- Chairman Thompson: Looking at the survey, we see two lots right? ' Applicant Ferrara: Yes. Chairman Thompson: They are numbers 1 a~d' 2. Deputy Building Official Keehr: This is north, This is 2nd Court. This is 34th Avenue. This gentlemen owns this half of Lots and 2. There is a house on this side. There is a house back here. There is a house back here. Okay?" - 4 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11~ 1R83 Mr. Weinberg said that in other words the entire property is 72.5 x 100 and that there will be no building on the latter part of the lot. He stated that it was just the one building. Mr. Weinberg further clarified that the whole property was 145 x 100 at one time. Mr. Ferrara explained that his neighbor Neil Frank is 7.,5 feet away from the boundary. He showed the Members of the Board a diagram pointing to surrounding properties, In other words, Mr. Weinberg explained that the applicant would be building from 34th Avenue back along S,'E. 2nd Court, Mr. Ferrara concurred and added that it woul'd be facing 2nd Court. That was how he got th~ 50 feet that he is allowed, He said he has power lines on one side and then two streets and that means he has to be back 25'~, 25', 25' and 7,5'.~ and in order for him to get the 50' width x 40' that is all6wable he has to get the 50' wide on 2nd Court and go 40~ deep, Mr. Weinberg clarified that although the applicant's address would be 3019 S.E, 34th Avenue, the entrance and~ front of the house would be on S.E. 2nd Court. The applicant concurred~ Deputy Building Official Keehr stated that there was no problem with that, Vice Chairman Thompson commented that it was a case where (it wasn't really grandfathered in) the applicant is landlocked and under the law a person cannot be denied the use of. the property. He asked Mr. Keehr if he was correct that the whole area was platted with 50' lots. Mr. Keehr said he was right and that it was platted in 1926 with 50' lots. Mr. Ampol asked the Vice Chairman if they got any written Objections when they notified the people within the 400' radius of the property. The Vice Chairman had not received any written objections. Mr. Weinberg had spoken to the man owning the house west of the subject property, (~he guessed that would be the other half}, who had no objections and as a matter of fact said that building on that would enhance the value of all the property because it is just an~o~erg-rown lot now. As there were no other questions of the applicant, Mr. Ferrara, he was thanked by Vice Chairman Thompson, MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11~ 1983 Vice Chairman Thompson asked if there was anyo~e--gishi~g to speak Who was IN FAVOR of granting the variance. No one responded~ The Vice ~Chairman then asked if there was anyone who wanted to speak AGAINST the granting of a 'variance. There were no responses. It was ascertained that .no communications were received either way. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. Vice Chairman Thompson pointed out that the property is land- locked. Regardless of who owned the property, at the timer it was platted. He doubted if the City had a Code then~ and called attention to the fact that since that time~ it had been accepted (even in 1975 , which was the time the new. Code came into effect). Vice Chairman Thompson just wanted to point out that there is no way to buy the property and to place a house on it which would meet all of the requirements. It would certainly be better than an empty lot standing there. Mr. Ampol moved that the variance be granted. Mr. Moore seconded the motion. Mrs. Jackson, Recording Secretary, took a roll call vote on the motion, as requested by Vice Chairman Thompson: Mr. Mearns - Aye Mr. Weinberg - Aye Vice ~Chairman Thompson - Aye Mr. Ampol - Aye Mr. Moore - Aye Motion carried 5-0. The variance was granted. Case ~30 Applicant: Andy Burnham Request: Relief from 10' side setback requirement to 8'9" Proposed Improvement: To construct a screen enclosure Location: 2507 S. W. 4th Street Acting .Secretary Weinberg read from the application as follows: "TO: BOARD OF ADJUStmENT, CITY OF BO~fON BEACH DATE 3/16/83 The undersigned owner(s) hereby respectfully petition the Board of Adjustment to grant to Petitioner(s) a special - 6 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTmeNT BOYNTON BEACH,~FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 "exception or variance to the existing Zoning Code of said City pertaining to the property hereinafter described, and in support thereof state: Property involved is described as follows: Lot 12, BlOCk 2, S/D RIDGEWOOD ESTATES, Plat Book 37, Page 98, or otherwise described as follows: Property Address: 2507 S. W. 4th Street. Property is presently zoned: R~AA Formerly zoned:- Denial was made upon existingzon--~g requirements frcm which relief i~ required: Section ll-F All screen enclosures shall cc~ply 'with building side yard setbacks, Frcm June 1975, the R-/AA side setback is ten foot The nature of exception or variance r~red: The owner is requesting to construct a screen enclosure 8'9" f~c~ side property ] ~ne', therefore a variance of one foot three inches (l'3")is required. Case ~30, Meeting date April ll, 1983 Name of Applicant: Mr. Andy Burnham Address: 2507 S.W. 4th Street, Business Phone 99_.8~6175 Home Phone 736-.0306 Dated'March 16, 1983, Signature of Applicant /s/ George A, Burnham Date: APril 14, 1983, Permit Denied: /s/ Bert Keehr ' Building. De partmen t" Mr. Weinberg noted that the date the permit was denied should read March 14, 1983. Vice Chairman Thompson agreed that it should be changed. Mr. George Andrew (Andy) Burnham, applicant, 2507 South West 4th Street, came forward at the request of the Vice Chairman. Mr. Burnham made reference to his letter to the Board of Adjustment, City of Boynton Beach, dated March 17, 1983. He said the City of Boynton Beach requires that an application for a building permit for a swimming pool be submitted along with the. application for a screen enclosure or a fence. Both the screen company and the pool company, who he chose to do this construCtion, submitted an application to the City for a building per,it. Building permits were issued by the City to begin construction. The pool began construction and was actually in the ground before he found out from one of the inspections that the pool was fine but he could not put a screened enclosure out where he wanted to. - 7 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11~ 1983 Mr. Burnham advised that .the permits that were submitted to the City included a layout of the actual location and he thought everything was fine until they went ahead and had the pool put in. Now, Mr. Burnham is requesting the variance so that he can have sufficient room between the water and the screen enclosure so as to walk around it and do pool maintenance. The entire design of the pool Mr. Burnham has chosen is such that it has a balance with planters in the back. If he had to move it over, then he would have a planter that would be offset with the house and offset with the pool itself. Over eight and one half feet of unobstructed land exists between the proposed screen enclosure and the property line. Mr. Burnham fur.ther advised that the whole design of the pool is in good taste and is in no way detrimental to ~the subdivision or the area at all. Mr. Burnham-has contacted his immeidate neighbors and no one has objected to this one foot three inch variance. In fact, he said he has a list of signatures of all the neighbors who are immediately adjacent to his property, He handed the list to Vice Chairman Thompson, With Mr. Burnham was Mr. Buchanan of Buchanan Screen who Mr. Burnham said was planning on doing the work. Mr. Burnham did not feel he was asking for a whole lot. He said there was one other thing that the plat survey did not show. He called attention to a "wing wall" on the side of his house going out 4 ft. Mr. Burnham replied to a question saying his pool size was 15'x 30~. Mr. Burnham continued to say that the screen enclosure would be exactly in line with the "wing wall", 4' x 3'. In defense of the Building Department, Vice Chairman Thompson advised that they do have a right, until the project is complete, to always file a complaint and this is one of those cases. Mr. Ampol read the communication submitted to the Board by Mr. Burnham as follows: "We, the undersigned property owners, have no objection to a 15" variance from the 10' side setback for the purpose of constructing a screen enclosure at 2507 S.W. 4th Street, Boynton BeaCh. ,, Mr. Ampol said it contained six signatures of neighbors. - 8 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 In confirming the pool size of 15~x 30~ to a question asked by the Vice Chairman, Mr. Burnham added that if he had known about t~he 10' setback instead of 8', he would have made arrangements to cut the pool down or move it. In reply to a question, Mr. Burnham said he did not have children. Vice Chairman Thompson noted that there is a problem in that the pool is under construction at this time and it is almost ~--~*Ampol impossible to make a shift on it. *To a question posed by *See 5/9 said his Mr. Ampol, Mr. Burnham replied that the concrete within the Minutes. question gunite was done and they were getting ready to lay the Ampol said ~as foundation for the deck when Mr. Burnham put a stop to it. his question whethergunite Mr.concurred.Ampot asked if it was about 70% complete. Mr, Burnham was whether ooncrete gunite concrete was being It did not seem feasible to Mr. Weinberg to take the pool out was being poured and move it to the end inasmuch as the actual pool was in the poured into into the ground with all of the cement, work and gunite. He thought it the pool. pool. was also not feasible to put the screen right on the edge of Gunite high See the pool so' that you cannot walk through for maintenance, pressure 5/9 Dispite the fact that the City retains the right to deny a concrete Minutes. permit because of the fact that it was not built properly, went into the or within the zoning requirements, still and all this has pool. See reached a point Of no return. It was Mr. Weinberg's thinking 5/9/83 that inasmuch as Mr. Burnham has received permiSsion from all Minu~es. of the surrounding owners in that they do not .find it in any way inconveniencing to them, and it was Mr. Weinberg's assumption that no correspondence was received objecting to the screen, he could not see any real reason'why the Board could not grant a variance. With no further questions for Mr. Burnham, Vice Chairman Thompson '~ ~ thanked him noting if he had any further questions before the Public Discussion is closed, the Board would be glad to hear from him. The Vice Chairman called for anyone from the audience wishing to speak in favor of the variance. There was no response. Mr. Weinberg asked Mr. Keehr if there was a case which may have set a precedence on this particular point whereby the City refused the applicant a permit. Mr. Keehr replied negatively saying that each case that the .Board hears is an individual case. The City of Boynton Beach Building Department, advised Mr. Keehr, like any other department, on occasion, - 9 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 will make an error. He said they had made them before and hopefully they won.'t make very many. Mr. Keehr continued to say that in this case the error was that the screen enclosure contractor was not informed of the side setback requirement of which he himself should know, but naturally they lean towards the Building Department to inform them of this, and.he wasn't. Mr. Weinberg asked, "In your opinion, would the Building Department object to the granting of the variance?" Mr. Keehr answered, "No sir. We have nothing to say in that matter. This is a case on its own merits. Whatever you gentlemen decide, we accept." Vice Chairman Thompson asked if there was anyone else wanting to speak on the variance. There was no response, He stated that the Board had not received any communications and therefore there were no objections either present or absent. However, that really does not determine a case, pointed out Vice Chairman Thompson, as people who live near and approve should have no influence on the vote. As Mr. Keehr. pointed out, Vice Chairman Thompson mentioned, it is the builder's responsibility also because that person should know all the Codes of the City before they get involved in any type of contract. Vice Chairman Thompson~liked to think of them as oversights aHd not mistakes because when you look at a print, you look at so many things and many times there are things that you overlook, even though a lot of time is spent reviewing a print. In a case like this, Vice Chairman Thompson continued, it is unusual in that the applicant was granted permission to build and he was only doing what he was granted to do. It was Vice Chairman Thompson's feeling that this should carry some weight too. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. Vice Chairman Thompson pointed ou~ that it was just an example of an oversight on several people's part. He said that in this case, there seemed to be no objection from the neighbors and it is a hardship on the owner simply because it would cost a fortune to move the pool over. From Vice Chairman Thompson's view of the area, Mr. Burnham had enough~room~ if he had known about it in time, but it was not a question of - 10 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11~ 1983 room to shift the pool but he thought Mr. Burnham was just moving it out as far as he could, There being no further comments from the Members of the Board., the Chair entertained a motion'to grant or deny the request. Mr. Weinberg moved that the variance be granted to the petitioner as requested. The motion was s~conded by George Mearns. No discussion. At the request of Vice Chairman Thompson, irginia Jackson, Recording Secretary took a roll call vote ss follows: Joseph Moore - Aye George Ampol - Aye Vernon Thompson - Aye Harold Weinberg - Aye George Mearns - Aye The motion carried unanimously 5-0, and the variance was granted. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING Vice Chairman Thompson delcared nominations open for the position of: CHAIRMAN~ Mr. Ampol nominated Mr. Vernon Thompson, M~. Moore seconded the motion. As there were no other nominatLons, Mr, Weinberg moved that nominations be closed. Mr. Mea~3ns seconded the motion. The chair was'now open for the position of ~TICE CHAIRMAN for the Board of Adjustment for the year i9,3, Mr. Mearns nominated Mr. George Ampol for tie office of Vice Chairperson. Mr. Moore seconded Mr. M~arns~ nomination, With no other nominations coming before the Board, Mr. Moore moved that nominations be closed, seconded ~y Mr. Weinberg, Mr. Ampol was elected Vice Chairman of the ~oard of Adjustment for the year 1983. - 11 - MINUTES - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1983 Chairman Thompson said the floor was now open for nominations for the SECRETARY of the Board of Adjustment for the year 1983. Mr. Weinberg nominated the present incumbent, Robert Gordon, for the office of Secretary. At this time, Mr. Weinberg made note of the fact that Mr. Gordon's absence was due to the fact that he was in the hospital. Mr. Weinberg was asked if there was. any Chance that Mr. Gordon would decline the nomination to whiCh Mr, Weinberg replied that he doubted it. Chairman Thompson was asked what can be done if Mr. Gordon declined. Any member can always decline, advised Chairman Thompson and he was sure that ~f Mrs'. Gordon felt he-could not function, he Would decline. Even if a Board Member were well, he could not miss more than three meetings with unexcused absences: as it is a case where the Board must function. Right now, it seemed to Chairman Thompson, that building permits were picking up and they would, be having regular meetings. Mr. Joseph Moore seconded the motion. As there were no further nominations for the position of Secretary, Mr. Ampol moved that nominations be closed. Since there was only one name to consider, Chairman Thompson pointed out that it was not necessary to have a vote. The results were as follows: CHAIRMAN ...... VERNON THOMPSON, JR. VICE CHAIRFLAN . , . GEORGE AMPOL SECRETARY ....... ROBERT GORDON For the benefit ofl the new members, Chairman Thompson reminded them that their financial statements are to be turned in. He explained how they are to be filled out. Chairman Thompson asked if the Members of the Board had received all the materials that were needed He was advised that they had. ' ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Ampol moved that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was properly adjourned at 8:43 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Vir/~nia T. ~_D~kson, R~drding Secretary 12 -