##VIDEO ID:q_22p_mIdgE## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e now that we're legal we'll we'll get started um if you don't mind I'm just going to call roll call really quick please do uh board member De La Sierra president board member Julia present board member leonio present board member Sanchez is absent Vice chairperson senra present you have Quorum okay all right let's stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance please I to the flag of the United States of America and to theu for it stands one nation under God indivisible lice may be seated all right on the uh order of things here I see that we have to hold an election yes to fill the vacancy of chairperson I nominate Fred our vice chair please don't please don't you're there already I second i' rather stay as the vice chair nominate I nominate Mr leonio for chairman he hasn't been chairman for you know for a long time so I nominate Mr lonio I make a motion to nominate him second it thank you you want to take a vote sure I'll call R board member De Sierra yes board member Julia yes board member leonio yes Vice chairperson senro definitely yes congratulations move over buddy I make a motion to approve the minutes from last meeting I'll second that call roll board member Julia yes board member De Sierra yes Vice chairperson senra yes chairperson leonio yes the motion passes coms so I think everybody hears the applicants but if there is anybody here for public comments just please come to the podium you have three minutes and state your name and address for the record and the same goes for anybody on Zoom I do see one participant on Zoom um if you do have public comments just unmute yourself and raise your hand so that it can allow you to speak I don't believe we have any public comments Mr chair if I may I see someone raising their hand now it can you please unmute Amy Martinez hello good evening ladies and gentlemen of the council how are you guys today can you hear me we can hear you but this is just public comments so I the board will most likely not comment back okay perfect thank you hi I just wanted to speak on an upcoming issue on the docket should I wait until after the applicant speaks or I'm just speaking as behalf of a neighbor if I Mr chair um right now all we're doing is public comments if you wish for your matter to uh be heard and given its its weight as test public testimony then you should wait until uh the item is called okay perfect thank you so much Mr chair if I may I think we're moving into the public hearing portion of the uh the agenda may I make a few comments okay so the next items I'm I'm going to give the disclosure that I do which is um the variance that we're going to be hearing tonight and I'm going to uh name all three of the variances just to put uh on the record if any of you have had any ex party uh Communications the variances we're going to be here are variance number 202 24280 uh this is with regards to Kevin and Tatiana Abraham location 8700 Northwest 153rd Terrace Miami Lakes Florida 33018 variance 202 2429 six uh this is with regards to R Ramon M uh address location 8510 Northwest 164th Street Miami Lakes Florida 33016 and variance number 2024 0332 uh this is with regards to uh Mr William waren properties um and there's no uh address it's folio number 3223 061001 0 all of these are going to be uh quas judicial public hearings and uh for that purpose I first asked the board if any of you have had any ex party uh communication with any of these applicants no okay the work reflects that none of you have uh I will give now the um disclosure please be advised that the following items on the board's agenda are Quasi judicial in nature an opportunity for persons to speak un to the items will be made after the applicant and staff have made their presentations on each of these items all testimony including public testimony and evidence will be made under oath or affirmation additionally each person who gives testimony may be subject to cross-examination if you do not wish to either be cross-examined or sworn your testimony will be given its due way the general public will not be permitted to cross-examine Witnesses but the public May request the board to ask questions of Staff or Witnesses on their behalf persons representing organizations must present evidence of their authority to speak for that organization any person presenting documents to the board should provide the town clerk with a minimum of 10 copies further details of the quasa judicial procedure Maybe we obtained from the clerk at this time uh all those that are going to be providing testimony on any of these three uh items uh please stand and to to be sworn in by the clerk do you swear to say the truth and only the truth so help you God I thank you you may be seated okay um so the first item uh on the agenda Mr chair is variance number 2024 Kevin and taana Abraham 8700 Northwest 153rd terce um if anybody who's going to be speaking on their behalf or the applicant can approach the podium and then the way that we will proceed uh Mr chair is we will have the town will make its presentation first and then you will be afforded an opportunity to hear from the applicant Susan alono for the planning department um this application is for a driveway on a single family home in an ru1 District not in uh not in a zero lot line um they are requesting three variances uh to retain a driveway that was built without permits um they're trying to keep the configuration that they had prior to uh the driveway that they constructed I'm going to let them explain uh the reasons why they had to do what they did and um and see what happens there's uh staff has a little bit of heartburn about some of these variances because it's very close to the next door neighbor uh there is no there's zero setback to the next door neighbor and that's a little bit of a problem and also it's it's hard to calculate exactly how much square footage it has because it has a you know a little bit of a weird geometry in several places so if we are doing an approximation of how much um open space they have and the calculations you have in front of you are approximations we do know that they're over and uh they're in front of you right now okay I'm going to let them yes sir you can you may please hand it to me if you don't mind thank you thank you you have to turn on the mic I think there's a little button on the bottom at the bottom there's a little button at the little base there's like a little button there you go and state your name and address hi my name is saana Abraham I live in 8700 Northwest 153rd terrorist M Lakes 33018 where we're here formerly requesting variant for a driveway in June of 2022 we purchased our home upon moving in the first few months we've had uh a lot of sewage um problems it persisted for the next two years we spent thousands of dollars in plumbing um this year January 18th we had a huge uh backage of our sewage we decided to hire a plumber to throw a camera to see what the main issue was we found out that fpnl had ran a missil a a line through our water sewage so basically we couldn't throw any paper down the toilet if not that was the cons consistent backage we were having after contacting fpnl uh we contact the Florida public commission service office we H we got sunshines to come out to make sure that it was fpnl fpnl finally came into our driveway and they made a massive hole there's pictures there in the packet um for weeks they were deciding what to do throughout those weeks we didn't have parking we were parking in our neighbors houses um basically yes they allowed they're very nice to us they said yes spark but after a certain time like our welcome is kind of overextended like we said we are Corner home we couldn't park on the corner of our houses cuz that would cause accidents coming in um we did it once that pnl came on I think it was February 7th around there they I had contact in Miami Lakes just to let them know hey is there something that like needs to be done because they're just coming in moving it 2 feet under um they said no that the utilities departments have special permits with the state they don't they don't require any permits okay the day that they moved it under two feet I guess more under the next day we went ahead and we did the driveway because we were just you know tired of parking our neighbors's houses we were concerned for the children next door constantly being curious of what the hole was with the they're just constantly or concern of our dog running into the hole that was basically open you could see the wire you could if we would flush the toilet you would see our sewage right in the middle of our driveway um so we went ahead and did it now when we didn't we did not change the dimensions whatsoever of our property what we did was just exactly what we had I know that our house was built I think in 1993 before it was incorporated by the town so our what we were told is that our land is a classified as a non-conforming site so now it's just not in accordance to what code is now but back it we just did exactly what we had there was no no changes to Dimensions whatsoever I want to stress that this was not something we wanted to do financially we did not want to do a new driveway we the difference of driveway was because the stamping that that driveway had no longer exists it was more expensive to fill the hole and Stamp It Again than to do what we did to our driveway again this is not something we wanted to do something that was kind of forced upon us that's basically all I have to say through the chair got a question did you uh pull a permit for doing the driveway we did not so there's no permit that has been pulled for that no we we started the process after the fact yeah I see in the pictures but I can't see the I can't see the edge of the property it looks like you have the driveway all the way to the edge of your property the the thing is I never had pictures that was like the picture that was on Zillow um that I was able to pull up to to do I've never taken a picture the only picture I have of what the driver was was when we took a angle of what Sunshine um Mar how far how far away from your neighbor's property line does your driveway start from the our neighbors yeah we only have one neighbor so that'll be to the left can you can you say your name and address also for my name is Kevin Abraham 8700 Northwest 153rd Terrace okay I me record for the yeah um we we don't have a neighbor to the right side of us we only have a neighbor to the left to the left where we are on 87th half but where does your driveway start to your neighbor to your left would be your neighbor to your West there is about about six to seven feet of a difference we have rocks rocks the survey is the survey show you have the survey on five I don't have the exact numbers in front of me looking at it I'm looking at the survey yeah the survey looks to be right the proper yeah you're right at the property line pretty much through the through the chair I'm I'm familiar with that house because before you went to when before you guys bought it I I went to look at it because it was a foreclosure um property my understanding and I think the record is that you're saying is wherever the driveway starts today and this is your neighbor to the west is exactly where it was when you bought the property originally yes correct I it does look to me that it's was on I don't think there's any setback between the neighbor I think what he's referring to is because I did drive by the area between his driveway and the neighbor's driveway there's four or five feet which probably belong to the neighbor not to his house I think correct go all the way right what I can see from the uh from the survey pulling it up on my phone the actual so I can see the size it says four but I think code it says four feet to the edge of the of the residence and then they have the driveway like one foot away from the edge of the property line and you're really supposed to have five feet the side of the house can can you say it one more time I hard to listen yeah I'm look trying to see from the survey and you're a zero lot line house correct and I see that there's like a no sorry it's not it's an ru1 it's not a zero R1 yes correct the survey that shows the the house right on the property line this is not a zero lot line District though so I don't it's an ru1 but it's sitting on the on the on the property line from what I see by the survey and there and then there's there's a jog in that comes in four feet looks like for the interior walkway huh just discussing not you that's by definition is zline because I think if you if you were to move 5 feet from your from your neighbor that would mean that in front of your garage you wouldn't have concrete correct because I think your garage is about four feet off of your neighbor according to what I'm looking at the survey right the edge of the garage is 4 feet from the neighbor and there's a goes to the front door looks like we have we have a garage and then there's like a small walkway on the side and then their fence the walkway doesn't go through the the walkway stops the walkway stops because the house has a a window a window that blocks it and then their fence leads up to that window their fence touches up to up against your property yeah you're right on the property lineer correct so you actually your driveway should start 5T from that property line but I see you're into it and that's part of the 20.8 that you're asking to do there to approve there basically that it seems like this like this neighborhood was developed as an r1z even though is not an r1c so they seem to have developed it as if the county allowed it to be yeah even though the actual designation is R1 because I mean the whole area there is all concrete there's no no percolation whatsoever correct I don't have any questions any further questions the survey shows up papers around the the rest of the house are those those were the ones that were there before or these are the ones there before and the other work that you did on the house you did a roof and those for those things you did get permits so the only thing you did not get a permit for was this concrete replacement in the front in the front correct we did the roof back in 2022 when we first bought the house the question that I have is where is where is the water going to those those grass strips that you have they're they're the fake grass right correct but there's there's nothing so there're just slab concrete underneath the slab is just it's all slab no it's not there's a hole and then the the the grass is placed on top the uh the fake grass correct it's a it's an indentation but it's underneath that it's it's concrete that they they put the uh the they glue it so for all practical purposes it's all concrete there's no drainage the reason that you had to do the driveway was because fpnl with a uh what do you call it that's the the probe that they do went through your sewer lights yes and that's why you were having the problem the sewer there was a we had to well we there was a there was a back of of of sewer water coming into my home um right I I understand what you were saying is that the you had the pipes that were set up there and an fpnl came in later after your sewer lines were down whenever that happened while you owned it or prior to you owning it and FB came through with the probe and went through your sewer line and created the issue where then you had to tear it up and redo it yeah we did not what I understand correct yeah we weren't planning on doing a driveway we were just going to paint it you know eventually but you should have pulled the permit didn't we do absolutely no I understand but given that we were so many weeks without parking no absolutely but I'm a general contractor I have to wait a long time for permits I understand to the share how long have you owned the property since 2022 of June 22 and the two letters that you have uh from the uh neighbors is this from next door to you um from in front front door nebor in front the side both in front no one just one in front um the side is rented so the owner wasn't here so the other letter is from another neighbor of couple houses down across the street yeah the same way I have to say on my own you know I'm I'm not an architect I'm just a businessman but I have to say that looks much better than what you have before whether the compliance is there or or is not or something that could be work out with you so that you can comply with the town uh because the question of drainage is a is a serious question because when when the downpours that we've had you know you know or and we're going to have plenty more um you're going to have a problem you know where's that water going where's the water going to go um so we need to make sure that we you know we ensure that that that happens um so um some kind of a compromise is going to have to be uh worked out the way I see it um I don't think you need to tear down the whole thing but but part of it you're going to have to uh you're going to have to compromise okay because you need to have some grass area in order we do have grass area on the side I maybe not sufficient not not enough on the east side not enough you need more you need more than that and and and that's the reason why they they we know the town ask for so many feet uh from the property line so that you can you know so that you can have proper we're well we're well aware of the flooding because on 87th AV it floods up and cars pass by and the water splashes into our property so we're well aware of the flooding right so you get a you get a double whammy there too correct yeah through the go ahead no I don't I don't I don't have a problem with with with point one and point two but where I have a problem is on on on the request on point number three where you are 10% short on on the on green area in the front and that's that's where it creates a problem of uh uh flooding you you don't have drain well if you if you have them re reach that 40% that it's required it's going to have to change number two the 20 feet 8 Ines it'll have to go and remove at least two or three feet of concrete that whole length to correct that issue to the West yeah west of the property here what people don't understand is that 5,000 sare ft of grass will percolate 2,000 to 3,000 gallons in an hour of rain and everybody wants to put in concrete and that doesn't allow the rain to go anywhere and we need the rain to percolate down the grass takes the pollutants out of the water and and allows the water to go down fresh to our aquifer think um to staff how is the um because one thing what you have there on the side of the house towards the back is Brick papers to the back of the house yeah correct how much are they within the guidelines for the back or has anybody taken a look I'm just thinking if if overall it may be if they would be inclined to reduce compared to other houses in the neighborhood they are the better of the neighborhood I I don't know if you driven through the neighborhood most of the houses are non-compliant on the front and non-compliant on the back it's and it seems like this is an neighborhood that was developed as an r1c which is much more densely packed than the ru1 that is supposed to be uh the size of the Lots is uh consistent with r1z everything about it is consistent with r1z so it it's sort of and yes as as a difference two other homes in the neighborhood they do have some green areas right now both on the front and in the back yeah that I mean I drove by the there's homes in that same block that their entire front yard corre is concrete from side to side in the rear yard if you see that there's a little bit of uh see I don't want to brush it to the side there's a little bit of uh uh of the pavers are a little bit encroaching on the on the side but but they do have some open space it's it's not horrible no I'm just thinking if we can because I I'm just thinking from their perspective it might be more difficult costly to actually cut off a piece of this driveway in the front if perhaps they would remove some of that uh the papers that are in the back uh on the west side of that would be something that Thinking Out Loud how we can work with your situation but by the same time try to maintain as much possible of retention within technically speaking your lot should retain the water there's a 100 Year three-day flood all these different calculations that when these houses were originally designed they should have at least taken that into consideration because at least they make me do that no over the years everybody starts expanding on that and that contributes to then you call the town and you go hey the street is flooding well there because some of the overdevelopment was not originally accounted for um in the design so I'm just throwing things out you know thinking out loud um because I do I do recognize I mean I I did go see the property you guys have done a great job with the property it's a nice corner there thank before it was at isore and and you know so that's my own personal thank you so to the Sher keeping in mind that the Improvement that they have made I see it as an improvement U it looks much better how can we compromise with them how can we help them out well we have to close the we have to close the public part in order to right we can have the discussion so I think that is there anything else you guys want to add or so that we can discuss it among ourselves that was basically it is the person on the line for this Amy Martinez what item are you here for is it this one or a different one yeah she's still there but she's not unmuting Amy Martinez participant on Zoom which item are you here for no she's not on muting she said in the chat box the last item on the agenda if you want you can be seated thank you guys for your time Mr chair you should at this time close the a public hearing portion of the meeting just close it say just say you're Clos so noted yes so the problem that we have here may you speak into the microphone yeah through the the problem that we have here is drainage right I mean Aesthetics is not not a question that's you know that this one looks better than than the other one than the other one yeah right yeah and looking at the whole neighborhood it's uh it's a horror and U I don't know for us to make them remove two feet of concrete like 20 I don't think it's necessarily going I was thinking more than four I understand I'm just saying to be as Fair as possible there I don't know that we're going to make much of a difference you're talking about four time 20 ft because that front yard is is small to begin with because of the C mhm eight you we going to add 80 square feet of grass there something something where were you at where were you at it in the front you'd have to do it across the side there yeah along across the side that side there you can't do it in the front because you right right this is not a in and out it's just an in right right it's just an in yeah it's just a driving in and they pull in and they can back out no I just want to clarify something about what what what did Florida Power Light do looks like Florida Power Light was doing one of these they go through the ground with the uh with the probes to bur their lines and then they come up at a certain place it looks like they went through their sewer line like like happened over here through the water line right here in front of in front of Main Street they yeah with but that was the gas company that did that that went through the water line instead they went through a their sewer line but am I seeing correctly is there on East right there in front of the propert there should be an Eastman in there in the driveway area so the utility companies have the the right to go in and work there I mean if they they damage something they they they have to fix it correct they should have to fix it I don't know in the in their case that they did or not if they made a I didn't ask that question during the time I know that the gas compan is going through the properties over there and they're repairing whatever they have broken not in my house they just did that a month ago and I'm still waiting you're still waiting no Lake Martha they're they're repairing I know that they're repairing there so what would you like to do what would you like a type of motion do you want to do I'll make a motion to um um remove four feet on the west side of the of the property um the full length from the property line to the U the edge of the house I'll second the motion for discussion so so we would still be granting a variance because I think the code says five feet correct so be a variance correct of one foot is that the way we should say one foot right the thing would be for them to have from the property line to the edge of the concrete four feet they may have two there right now and and by virtue of that all the the both the other ones would be not needed because that would BR 20.8 would that would bring them under right it would it would correct all the other issues that they were trying to correct in their zoning but even even the percentage because you're going from 30 what what's required 40 40 requireed 40% so that's four by that according to the survey is 4 feet by 50 is uh 200 square fet that would be enough to bump into the 40% let go back to my calculations give me a sec it's 50 all the way to the back but it's really about 25 from the property Edge that 5070 is all the way to down that sidewalk all the way to the to the house in the back all right but their motion is to take the four feet all the way from what from all the way to the back or from or next to the garage to the edge of the garage the edge of the garage yeah the edge of the garage because you would need some type of walkway to walk back there right W there okay so it's only basically 4T by whatever if it's we may have to give them a variance for percentage of yeah it's 50 there and there's 25.7 and it's 50.7 leaves 25 ft from the corner of the garage to the edge of the property right so it's 100 square feet Yes that may not be enough to get them so we would it it may not be but it certainly makes it better like it brings it closer to compliance right in our motion we should address that so that they don't have to come back for a variance for that no well you would be granting it at this point at the same time because they're already requesting a variance for additional square footage that's what that's what they're requesting right now A Change okay it all will be granted together again it was kind of um because of the geometries involved because there was one curve two curves yeah because it's it's a corner property on 87th Avenue so they lose a lot of so it was kind of difficult to calculate exactly how many feet over the required they were and that's why it's written a little vaguely just to give them a little leeway but you would be approving a configuration as shown on so there's uh there's no departure from what they're proposing right now okay so is that what we're going to do so you I think so ready to call the RO board member Julia yes board member deerra yes Vice chairperson senra yes chairperson leonio yes the motion passes okay all right so you know what you have to do so you you have to you're going to have to cut your driveway that you have done right now from the sidewalk all the way to the edge of the garage where the garage door is at you're going to have to leave grass from your property line to the edge of the concrete four feet of grass if you have to cut three feet or driveway I don't know how much driveway you have to cut whatever to get four feet clear in that area that you can plant grass in there or bushes or bushes not grass necessary yeah you could plant bushes or you can plant the make it look pretty you know they have those tall grasses that you don't have to mow they're real tall you can plant them in there but at least you can keep most of the driveway yeah probably what you should do is maybe I don't know if you could have your server Mark exactly where your property line ends and then what there what what was approved is four feet from there any Concrete in that area you need to cut it basically C remove up to your garage only not all the way so you have you know how you did where you had like where you put your trash can or whatever it is back there they've approved for you to keep that area that Concrete in that area so the only part that you need to remove is in from where your driveway from the sidewalk to basically where your garage starts four feet from your neighbor wherever that line is is four feet so you may have to remove three feet of concrete two feet it's hard to tell because we don't know exactly where your line is compared to the one that goes to Nowhere to remove that instead we have to make a new motion and open it up re You' have to make a motion he's he's speaking about removing of square footage pretty much the concrete slab that runs along the edge of the house to nowhere and add add that as grass and keep the driveway apart would that do that would it's the same is the same square footage it's actually 70 ft more turn make make per case I think we can go along with that yeah so we were talking about but what we're talking about now is this do he's he's asking can he remove this hatching instead he wants to see if he can remove this keep the driveway part with the same square footage it's actually 1.7 more according to rul yeah it's 7 or more 7 or or more yeah in the back area as that leaving that as grass from the the front concrete okay procedurally you've already voted and the item is closed correct so you would have to I'm you'd have to make a motion to rehear the item and and amend it I make the motion to rehear the item I second okay we don't have to rehear them say it again do we you would have to put the motion that you're suggesting on the record and then vote on it have somebody second and vote on it okay I'll make a motion to change it from being the concrete in the front by the garage to do it on the side past the garage all the way to where the property jugs out so he would be doing they would be doing 25.7 feet by the 4 feet uh in that area rather than the 25 by 4 feet in the front of the driveway is my motion to change it to that I'll second that board member De La Sierra yes board member Julia yes Vice chairperson senra yes chairperson leonio yes the motion passes you got what you want there you have it see we're not here to hurt you we're here to help you work with you as long as you work with us we'll work with you Mr chair I I'd like to take a matter out of order and I should have done it from the very beginning I was very disrespectful to my predecessor merera uh she's here representing uh William Warren prop properties uh it is um item v 2024 0332 and we'll hear first from the city and then from the applicant yeah you have to see if anybody wants to well no because no their comments would be part of the record so we'll hear first from the the city then the applicant then we'll hear the the public comment s Alonzo I got go to that page sus also from the planning department um um the applicant is request requesting signage variances um they're requesting three variances uh one of them has a mistake on the staff report and on the and it will be corrected um one of the SC footages is wrong they're requesting as signage variances in order to be able to put um signage consistent with their branding in a in a new building and a new uh storage building in 59th Avenue in the um in the industrial area um the the building is in an area that looks like it's surrounded by two streets but it's actually uh just one street and a driveway um therefore their signage is reduced because of that um they are requesting three signs plus one uh sign for their uh entrance door which results in the configuration that you're seeing on the variances I'm going to let Miss Sarah do her presentation and she can get through it um staff is recommending approval this area is very consistent with this kind of signage they have very large signs on most of the buildings in the area there's several variances that have been granted for other buildings including Office Depot um and other business in the area that have much larger signage than this one um and so staff is recommending approval for all these variances and some of these will be corrected on the final version of this okay good evening members of the Planning and Zoning Board Town staff Town attorney Adam Deputy cler uh congratulations chairman lonio on your new role um my name is Heidi Sarah and I'm a partner at the law firm of weer Roa Hal and colen Beerman offices located at 2800 pontoon boulev Ard sweet 1200 Coral gaes Florida I'm proud to be here on behalf of my client StorQuest who is requesting these variances from the town sign code in order to better serve our community StorQuest began its project here in Miami Lakes three years ago and today is nearing completion of the s Construction of their self storage facility it's already improved a previously underutilized site in the town's Industrial Area um if you're familiar with the site it's immediately um south of the Miami Lakes Auto Mall uh complex uh just east of Costco for for reference for for us as a local community um the site does have an unusual shape and because of its Frontage um on a private road that also adds to some more complexity for the site it's on a curved Road it's it's certainly not um by any standards a square lot or a typical lot um so for many years this site was vacant and it was not visually appealing um I'm personally very proud of how it looks um it has a fresh look to the area um so you do have uh a recommendation of approval from your town staff we've been very happy to work with Miss Alonzo and her team um so if you would like for me to go to the present through my remarks I'm happy to do so um but I'm also I can also answer any questions you may have um if you're not familiar with the site I'll take you through this so as you'll see in your agenda packet um you will see that there are four signs that are identified uh we believe that three of the four signs are allowed by write and I'll explain in just a moment but I want to provide you with some additional context as you'll see in the plans signs a B and C are all Store Quest branded signs StorQuest is the entity that runs these self uh self storage facilities sign D is assigned to direct customers to the leasing office so the first Varian is as to the number of signs for signs a b and c um arguably D could be included uh and we've had some debate over that uh with with our town planner um but we do agree that a variance is required um however way you look at it so um as I mentioned we do have three store quests signs two of which we believe are permitted by right the store Quest signs need minor variances which I'll explain momentarily and the fourth sign is the leasing office sign um which again is allowed by wri um the town code at section 13904 sub3 provides the regulations for signs in the IU District which is the which is where this property is located again it's an industrial area of the town and the regulations for this District allow two wallmounted signs um in addition to the two well-mounted signs the code authorizes an additional sign for a leasing office so what we are really asking for is one additional sign we agree with the town staff that a variance as to the number of signs is needed however the staff reads the code conservatively uh to require two variances uh while we believe that the code already permits three of the four signs at most under the staff interpretation we need a variance to allow four signs where the code permits two under our interpretation we need a variance to allow four signs where the code permits three um so we'd respectfully request the board's approval to allow four signs as presented on the plans the second variance is as to the letter height for the signs um for signs a b and c um sign a uh to put in context where these are located uh S A is located on the western side of this building it is the side that faces the Miami Lakes Auto Mall garage uh which has the digital billboard that faces North uh sign B is located on the Northern side of the building which faces also the a different part of the auto mall and the paletto expressway finally sign C is on the Eastern side of the property and faces Northwest 57th Avenue all three of these signs a B and C are well within the maximum sign area requirements of the code which authorizes a maximum square footage of signs of 10% of the face of the building to which the sign is attach attached in this case the area of these signs are 1.57% of the facade 4.96% and 2.66% so they are very much well within that 10% limit um the words self storage in each of the signs are also under the allowable size of 30 in in each of the three signs the letters for Self Storage are as small as 15 in and as large as 20.75 5 in despite being well under the maximum area limits and within the letter height maximum some of the letters in the word Store Quest like the S and the Q exceed 30 in and therefore a variance is needed the letters are otherwise mostly within the allowed 30 in it's worth noting that the total sign area of the three Store Quest signs combined is below the 10% maximum area of the face of the building to which one individual sign could be attached so therefore as to signs a b and c we're seeking a variance from the maximum letter height requirements of section 13-1 19043 B1 of the code to allow the letters as reflected in the plans which go up to 59 and a/4 in which is the Q in Store Quest it's a little more artistic than the rest finally the third variance is as to the leasing office maximum area um sign d as I said is the sign for the leasing office which appears just above the doorway you can barely see it on the plans um and it does need a variance because of the maximum area and height of the sign um and when I say height I mean where it's installed the code provides that um what's allowed are two square feet at a height of 8 ft above the ground uh because of the way that the building is designed we're requesting that the sign be 9.54 square ft in area uh the letters are within the the height limitations they are 12 in um but the signs proposed to be installed at 12 ft above the ground instead of the 8 ft um and that's due to the height of the doors and the windows for the leasing office to sort of provide some more architectural uh interesting architecture for this type of use um so as to sign D we're requesting a variance from the maximum area and installation height limits of section 13-1 1904 sub three of the code to allow the sign to be installed as reflected on the plans um as part of your staff report um staff has gone through the seven practical criteria practical difficulty criteria um we believe that we meet all seven our letter of intent there's a supplement to it which was also uh put in the record um we've gone through the seven practical difficulty criteria the only one that was pending were letters of support from Neighbors which we have and have submitted to the town um so all seven have been addressed as Miss Alonzo noted the signage in this area as well as other parts of the town is similar to the signage um there are plenty of other examples throughout the town where there are multiple signs on different faces of the building um so I'm happy to answer any questions and Reserve time for any robotto if needed um after the public hearing portion of this hearing has concluded I would encourage the board to move to approve this application uh there is a few uh scrier things to to adjust um and I do want to point one of them out if you're taking a look at the resolution that you have in your agenda packet um there is an allowance for the letter Heights it has 50.7 five I think that was a reference to one of the three signs the actual letter height on one of the signs is 59 and a/4 in um so I just did want to point that out and I think that is all if you if you have any questions you you may ask now if now you can close the I hear any questions I understood what she was saying yeah yeah I don't either believe that we had one applicant that wanted to she seemed to have logged off the zoom so there's no public comments chair you can close the public hearing and then have a discussion I'm Mak a motion to approve the Varian as noted by staff I second that motion I I would add that if you're going to do that I would add the changes that Miss Sarah said mentioned and to just put that on on the record the the scribers errors scri oh yeah yeah so just to put them into the records very quickly in the resolution title um where it says 50 and 3/4 Ines it should be 5925 in um there's a few references to the code that should be 1904 in the title and then the property is located um the address that's listed is 5875 Northwest 163rd Street that is not this property it's 16401 Northwest 58th Avenue which has a it recently had its 875 ISS I didn't want to say whose it was but um this site has updated its address more recently as a result of the platting replat process um so we're happy to work with staff still not showing in the property appr appraisers yeah there is no address showing because I just looked I just looked at it to we'll work on that with the PA's office folio number is right and then I did also want to clarify to make sure that the leasing office sign can be installed at the 12T height as presented on the plans and these are uh the plans consist of nine pages so the motion will be as noted and I second it also if there's no discussion I'll call the role board member Julia yes board member the Sierra yes Vice chairperson senra yes chairperson leonio yes the motion passes thank you board members thank you for the courtesy very good good job good [Laughter] job okay all right so Mr chair we have one remaining item uh and this is variance 2024 0296 uh and this is for Ramon Mel and we'll hear from the city Town first and then from the applicant Susan Alonso for the planning department again um the applicant is requesting variances to retain a canopy uh perola that was uh built without permits in his rear yard uh they're requ they're requesting u a setback of 1 foot and 8 in on one side and a variance uh on the other side for 2 feet and 7 Ines from the rear property line where 5T are required on both uh as I said this is a um a after Thea variance two two after Thea variance um and staff is recommending denial I'm going to let the St the applicant explain question's photograph shows the property correct correct yeah you have to say your name and address before you talk to us make sure the microphone is on there's a little button the there my name is Ramon meller 8510 Northwest 164th Street Miami Lake 33016 and we brought some plans uh with the specifications of the uh location of the perola uh uh it's not fully built yet it has the PO the main poles only that are the ones that we are discussing we can um we were trying to utilize the maximum space in our backyard um we have some signature from the neighbors surrounding neighbors and um they are agree with the uh our construction I mean is the doesn't is not bothering anybody and um is on the side of the uh um tile area that we have close to the fence that's um I mean self-explanatory in the the um drawings our um utility alley is in front of the property so it's not bothering anything that you guys may have to do or anybody have to do in the future um that's why we thought there was no problem with that I mean that's it pretty much Ian I don't have anything unless if you have questions you mentioned that you did get signatures from your neighbors neighbors yes he's in the plan he's in the U big plan site yeah all the names that are over there top top right hand corner says Daniel toi George Alexi caras uh Christina Perez Laris albarez so if I understand correctly through the chair uh board member do you mind turning on your microphone please is your microphone on yeah mine is on okay thank you yeah mine is on yeah so if I understand correctly so right now you have the four posts only three polls three of the four are in not it's only going to be three it only is going to be three polls on for the pig for the yeah it's on the back the front of the is not going to have anything we don't it's going to be on the uh we have all the calculations and everything here too if you want to see them but uh the p is going to be floating like she says it's a canopy I'm trying to understand because I don't see a picture of the actual framing that you're going to do there here anywhere I can I can I have it but uh it's a regional plant you'd have to have 10 copies of it for us to accept that now so I'm trying to understand what you have what you have there now the from the back the three poles from the back it's the only thing that's the only how are you going to support the other areas it's a square the poles from the back are supporting the whole prog it's going to be like U yes like an L all of them like the uh traffic lights for example three of them together on the so it's going to be an overhung like this like that yeah that's what you're do you're doing an overhung yes perola and how far away are those posts now from the edge of the property there um that you have in there how far away from the edge of the property of those post it's 2 feet and 7 in and uh 1 ft and 8 we're right on the edge of the U uh tiles that we have to the in order to utilize the whole space in the back the backyard as we can and what's going to go on top of these uh Canon lever FES light structure holding uh like uh French or Italian uh are you going to but I'm trying to what's going like a p p like I I understand what a Pur is but my what my question is what material are you putting on top are you putting 4in foam are you putting just a aluminum roof aluminum roof with a 4 in foam uh covering so you're going to put in 4 in insulated roof on top of that yeah and what type of Foundations do you have there now it's like 5T down 5 by five by five with um uh is in the pl Su with the concrete uh on and re bars I do you have plans of the I don't have a plan I don't have a plan you you have you have a plan he says he has a plan I don't have a plan he say s the any we don't we don't know what was being built huh yeah we have the two this is just his copy we have to have 10 to in order 10 copies in order the regular the uh original plans I have two but I make copies of the uh to give it to us we and not only that but if you give give her that she's got to keep it if you give her that she's got to keep it so don't give it to her don't keep it I have another one I can find more but I didn't know that I have to bring the whole set of plan I thought we were going to discuss the position you have to bring enough for each one of us to see and I'm trying to understand what you're doing because there's uplift in the in the system that you're proposing to put in there's an incredible uplift because you're Canever and if the wind comes from here it's going to lift it from here you got four in solid panels that are then going to rip out of the ground and I don't know what you're doing there I really don't know so like in order for me to prove something that I don't know I won't I understand that I like like I said I thought we were we were going to discuss today the position of the Pega the five ft and all that I mean after that I would have to submit the plans and bit of proof and everything of course and we have submitted before it wasn't approved for that let me explain to you sir you have work done that has not been inspected by the T to to actually understand that you have that five by five that you're saying you have you may have it you may not I don't know there's no way for me to tell you you have to drill there and find the time when not to find it we have pictures and uh we have everything that we submitted before and and they have it too but I understand what you're saying is this is this structure being is is is it being permitted is in the process or it's in the process of being permitted at this point I see but it's already been the foundation they started they started without a permit without a permit yes they started without a permit so you don't know what's there so to to allow and I'll tell you honestly to allow you to be encroaching in the setbacks and have installed something that hasn't been inspected and we don't know what's there I don't know how I could approve I couldn't I I wouldn't be able to approve the setbacks for you so you understand because don't know what it looks like right me as a general contractor I have to submit plans get them approved open the hole have them come and see it that I have everything correctly in there and then P concrete okay I thought that I thought that you guys had this that's why we didn't make copies and this is what to look like and pictures too I pictures see and I see it I understood I don't even I don't have to see it once you explained it to me it's in my brain I have I understand that as the GC yeah I'm just going to have the but uh I send pictures but um I didn't know that I have to bring in yeah it just makes it so you understand it makes it difficult for me I don't know about the rest of the board to approve what you're asking for because I don't see it I can't it's that's something I see and and right now a lot of people have done that type type of work and encroached on the setbacks in town and it's getting to be ridiculous what what's being done that I understand people are not people are not uh respecting the setbacks for the enjoyment of the property of the people around you you know you don't want right on top you're like eight feet between the people with with between the people that you're having a party on this side you're having a party on that side and you're not so close to each other is the idea that your setbacks are for I don't think the uh the uh I mean if we're going to be fighting about a party both at the same time I don't think if fit is going to Define who's going to have a happy party or no but uh my respect for everybody was asking them first if they bother if they being bother if I put a structure in there or not told me all and I respect everything that you said before of course I mean we are we work with quotes all the time so you understand the code is there to try to mitigate between what people want to do and what they have a right to do and they make these decisions of the setbacks not basically because it's the correct setback the correct setback would be probably 20 ft to to get peace of mind from one neighbor to the other but in order to because of the amount of square footage of the of the lots that you have they've made them closer and then you come in and you just say well I even want it closer and you do it ahead of time I can justify I mean what it's done I cannot turn it back right now I mean I can bring everything that we brought that we did and we got we have documentation about that of what we did already and uh we can retake it from there I didn't know that I have to bring all the pictures I thought we were going to discuss only the position and then I we will submit everything and and prove everything that we've done to you guys uh my my whole intention was not to um throw away the money and try to to work with you I mean and and make it real make it uh legal yeah but um what what what should have been submitted with with the U not not with this because this this was something that was just brought in at the last minute right with the package was a the plans that he has there y uh but for for for staff to to to be able to look at to give it and to give it to us because the structure that he to do it's it's a very U it's a huge question it's complex very complex yeah it's complex kind of it's complex it's pretty it's pretty I know it's pretty but it's complex I I look at it and I'm just I went back to look the staff is saying it does not comply a does not comply B does not comply C does not complies D does not comply e doesn't there's no point that they comp so I don't know what to say I'm done except anybody else have any questions if I have to do it let's say that I would could do it the same way five feet it's not going to be a problem I mean I I'd rather to bring everything and you for you to be sure that what we've done is I mean is it's in the calculations and everything is Right which I said I wanted to have it in that position because of the space again again through the chair I feel bad because people do work without investigating what they really can do and then they get somebody to come out to do the work that's not licensed it's not pulling permits it's not doing drawings and that's all wrong well we did the drawings and everything just I see you have them now I see you have them now I see you have them now you showed I saw him but this is what happens you know they just well I'm just going to do it and we'll see what happens and unfortunately you're the one that is here before us you know we have to look at you as one individual I understand that you know it's a tough job we have I understand that you know because we want to make you happy but sometimes it's impossible I I don't think anything is impossible in life I mean I think everything has to get to a concern I made a mistake not submitting the permit first I understand that and I apologize for that but I would like to work and show you that we did everything right and and and we calculated everything and everything is calculated by engineer by an engineer and uh I I don't like to do things backwards I mean sometimes you make mistakes everybody make mist takes uh humans but I would like to correct everything and that situation show you that what is done is right and the calculations like we can bring you everything the pictures and everything that we did and uh start from there again if you want if you would like to do it I have a question to staff um he's proposing a 13 by 13 Pera from what I gather mhm if he's 5T from if the code if we just say you don't get any variants he can't does he have enough room to build a 13 by 13 perg he can have up to 350 square feet yeah but he has to well I'm thinking widthwise because doesn't he have to be 10 feet away from the house correct and 5T from the back correct and I don't know how wide that yard is I guess it should be 25 ft but it does look tight it looks like he's 16 ft back 16 ft to from what I'm looking at this drawing to the edge of the percula it's hard to tell that5 there's a 22 measurement from the pool to the edge of the ferula but I can see 22 ft 22 I see that one going from uh I would be going from east to west from the pool over to the perg he's got 22 feet so he can go that direction and meet the code and the other way he's got 16 to so he can go in that direction and meet the code he just has to move you think with wise between the of his house to the back he has enough room to do the 13 leaving the 10 an indentation on that corner huh the house has an indentation here it has an indentation right there see right there has an indentation and it says is 16 ft2 so if he moved in that direction yes it's like a terrorist in there that is cut and then it gets to the wall of the master to the master bathroom master bathroom right there it's it's not Square you have a tear ter there underneath that roof or there's no terrist it's open so you don't have any do you have covered terrorist now in your house the edge that edge is like a terce on there under underneath your house and 13 by 13 is 169 Square ft so it's well no my concern was I figured square footage he was fine I just didn't know if there was 10 ft from the house so that he could start it do 13 and then five because that would be 28 ft normally the back yards here are 25 ft and that would be a different variance that he could request if he needed to that's what I was going to bring up if we wanted because he could the variance could be a m bit closer to his house instead of 10 ft but s feet and then we are still with the side and the rear setbacks are still good sure so again I'm just throwing things out there to try to figure out right but what I see here well we can make a motion where he would end up applying and not have to come back and and file a new uh request a new petition right but from what you said he's if you look at it this is the house it's a covered you can see it it's a covero okay it's right there so that area there is open he would be encroaching into the corner there that corner so would have to do less than so he would have to re remove the this laab that is right now because it's not going to comply whatever he's got there is going to have to be removed well the 13 is not going to happen yeah well you know says here 22t right right so he can move it he can move it I mean he can move it three feet and comply with the side set back of 5 right if he moves it closer to the pool yeah that's not a problem that's the easy one that's the one that's closest to the house that's it looks like the edge of the roof including the pool area there there's about 22 feet in there so if you got five set back on one side and 10 on the other 15 you only have sevenet good only be seven ft so You' we'd have to allow him to get within 5T of the in order to put the perg and that would actually align with this pool kind of I mean I'm right it would align with this pull there yeah and it would only be in that one corner where it would get close to uh would be short would be a shorter area than the 10 ft is that correct Suzanne we say what again we're talking about moving in 5 ft and moving over and then giving them ability to be 5T from that corner of the house there this corner of the house that would be fine that would be a that would be a a variance you have granted in the past I think the minimum that you have granted on one of those has been six maybe five been yeah think we have one of those last correct so basically before we close the hearing what we're saying is that you're going to have to move your foundations you don't have to redo them those three columns and move them over and we can help you getting closer moving it closer to the house you be 5 feet instead of the required 10 feet so you can have your 13 by 13 per G 5T from the uh you have to be 5T from both fences and 5 ft from the house which is required to be 10 now in order for you to have a 13 by3 perg there but you're going to have to move the columns that's what I wanted to do hey unless you reduce the size of the perg I can reduce the size of it's not done yet Al yeah but you still then are encroaching on the side side you're going to have to be moved from the setback now as it is he he he can he can he can move closer to theol yeah move closer to the pool move Clos to the pool I mean right now you're at make it 19t and you you will have your set back at 5T right and then move the move the perula to the north closer to the house 3et it's just going to encroach right at the corner it'll be right at the corner the corner of this and the corner of the per would be right here like that one from the other so that so then he will only need one variance one variance to to that little corner corner of the house to the corner of the house and he will also have to bring us the the the shop runs right well he that's he has to submit to the building department they'll figure out the calulations on that but anyways you'd have to close the hearing for us to finish talking about that but are you willing to do something like that like we're suggesting if I lose that I mean it's thought over Choice yeah you have to remove we have anyways if we have to remove them that's like starting from zero for us so we're trying to save it on that side I mean if I had to do it a little bit more over here since it's only three polls I was trying to save the foundation I know but if you would have came here to begin with you wouldn't have done the foundation be that and you wouldn't be in that position you know what the difference right now if I show you and I prove you that everything is right so we're trying to help you if you don't want us to help you we don't have to I guess no I don't want to it's not that I don't want to help I I want to I want to get that and then I I can move away from the house if that is a purpose because that corner is not used for nothing and I'm only one V don't look at no no no I'm looking at everybody it's just that I have to focus on somebody going to be like playing ping recommendation that Mr deer is making I think that you'll be right there where you need to be and you'll have your the size of Pera that you're looking for and comply with the you know with the city's uh with the town's ordinance he he will need one VAR from the house right right which will which will approve now I have to think about it I mean I I I will have to think about something else not the per because once it's going to be too close to the house I don't like that and uh second it's going to be something in the middle it's going to be ugly the way that we set it up right now is symmetrical unless I mean not for the back set backs which understand we thought that since we don't have anything on that corner nothing important no problem but the thing is so if we if everyone starts encroaching there's there's a reason why you try to leave at least five feet which really the coach should probably be more than that but we recognize that the Lots Miami Lakes especially this area in Royal Oaks and I live in the area so I know exactly your situation we have big homes on small Lots at the end of the day um so that doesn't leave a lot of room for us to be in the back there the reason why we the city code allows uh this is maintain at least 5et so that at least your roof your your pergola doesn't hit your neighbors perow if feed decides because if we Grant you a foot and a half or two feet we don't have to but it would be the right thing to do uh approve your other neighbor and your other neighbor and then we gets to the point where no there is no backyard there is no open area there's nothing in between one because at the end of the day that Perle is going to be there you're probably eventually going to put a speaker or two or three or your neighbor will and then it it becomes an overbuild and we are trying to maintain a certain character in in the in the town trust me I would love to say wa I'm you know you already did it I'm sorry you know okay go for it I typically try to work and that's why I was trying to figure out what other variants we would be in a position to to give you the only one that I feel comfortable giving you to be quite Frank is the one that we've discussed about getting it closer to your house because that doesn't affect the neighbor um the neighbors are affected and maybe today the neighbor is fine but tomorrow maybe not and it just goes on in a Cascades um this is a new build I did not realize that it would had already started um but honestly you know it's too close there could be other issues that you have with the existing your pavers are not supposed to be that close to your neighbor either U so you have a a floor there that may or may not be as close as it's supposed to be because I don't know that so I think at this point at least as I am and I want to be completely up front with you because I still consider you my neighbor and we may disagree but what I would be willing to do is what we discussed with u my board fellow board member deerra the reason why we're saying this also you may think aesthetically my recommendation to you is maybe accept the variants that we're willing to give you and see if you work with that because that would allow you to whatever you spent architecturally whatever you spent on maybe some of the materials you could still use it just move it a somewhat I understand that that's how to recalculate the material I me the vase but you may and what we're thinking is from aesthetically speaking it may actually not look bad because I think you're going to be aligning it kind of with your pool um because your pool is about six and a half feet away you you would be about you know it might work out for you so my suggestion to you but it's your decision I think the board would be you see me here I'm brainstorming right now no I understand I know I know it and I can you know it's easy for me to say oh pull out those three things and move them I understand I've been on your side many of times so I I get but I just want you to explain I want to explain myself why I I will suggesting this um and again you know our job and and obviously this is a volunteer job by the way uh what we're looking for is to try to maintain the overall community so we help the trees please I know and and I've been waiting 60 days to get the trees that there are 5et from my roof I know and and you and we have right now uh the town is looking for an Harbor from what I understand because I saw it the other day and I've been I I know how that goes because I've been I'm requesting some things regarding that on a commuter and and it happens to me too okay so the variance uh that you you guys are giving us this the one we haven't given you anything we're just Ramon this is our choice you can accept what we're discussed or we say no and then you go figure it out and you pay again to come back no I understand you know you have that's that's the choice I don't want to be mean but you got you can accept what we're discussing here to try to help you or I'm going to just say make a motion to deny and I go home so uh 5T and 5 ft Y and then you'll be closer to your house but you'll have your 13 by 133 Pera to enjoy with your family same size just the location that's all okay okay I'm trying to okay yes I'm going to set it it's better not it's better something I mean I'm a businessman I mean it's better something than nothing Cub we Cubans on this side of the I like push all time man that's myob we're Cubans on this side of the table too okay and you're a very good Pusher so sometimes you have to bend yes I listen I I'm 74 years old I've learned to bend okay we we Bend all the time yes perfect I mean I we ac said that so in in order to move forward you need to close the uh you need to close the hearing and then make a motion you don't have to hit the thing you just say close hear he's enjoying I like he he's going to take that home but different conversation the gabble it's his first time all right I did okay learning process he's a he's a new man at this point okay so we close the hearing if you want you can sit down and let us finish okay yeah so I'm going to make a motion to uh approve a variance so that the perola can be built within 5 feet of the existing home but denying uh these two requested variances so he has to be five feet away from each property right so the rear and side set back has to be from the home 5T from the home I I second that motion by the way boss I think that he may be a little bit more than 5et but just to give him a room maybe a little L maybe he could Salvage something there so have move the yeah all the three the three columns will have to further closer to the home closer to the home closer to the home right yes sir and I second the motion so and if there's no discussion I can call the RO yes board member Julia yes board member the yes Vice chairperson senra yes chairperson leonio yes the motion passes I do have to advise the applicant that the code also requires that the perola have the appearance of wood structure so just uh it we have to be able to see like the structure of it like look like it would structure perola so yes and and they'll explain that to you when you go get your permit but just so that you know that the just uh this the roof with this with the supports is not going to be approved you're going to have to show like the the rafters on it that make sense you want to show me and I'll tell you if it meets just so that you don't like waste your time with that too bless you for enjoy sir enjoy done yes sir yeah motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn you're going to have to go home and practice and you guys are so wise you guys are so wise EXA what I