e e yes ma'am e e e e e e e e e e good evening welcome we're here to present um for the board of adjustment meeting at commission Chambers it's February 22nd 2024 5:30 p.m. um Su can we do a roll call please chair ble here Vice chair bus here board member Nash here board member Reed here and board member Stanley will everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance United States um Mr baggot is is that you I've haven't met you before I'm Christina vogle nice to meet you the record Lee baget City attorney thank you you were not here last time so I have to administer your oath so if you would stand and raise your right hand I I repeat your name Chao am qualified under the Constitution laws of Florida and the code of ordinances for the city of Stewart am qualified have it in front of you honey chance I don't no okay oh I do yeah I Christina bogam qualified under the Constitution laws of Florida and the code of ordinances for the city of Stew Florida to serve as a member of the board of adjustment Florida to serve as a member of the board of adjustment and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of an Advisory Board member on which I am about to enter so help me God and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of an Advisory Board member on which I am about to enter so so help me God all right thank you thank you and um chair Boogle I just wanted to remind you that in the desk in front of you there's like a reddish pinkish laminated document that kind of spells out the the rules on going through the uh judicial it can help you it's like a guideline that'll help you I think I already have it okay all right yeah oh I see a little bit different okay um uh board members may I please have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting shall move second thank you uh may I request a motion to approve the minutes from January 25th could we get an all in favor sorry all in favor and may I request a motion to to approve the minutes for January 25th sure second all in favor board members are there any general comments that you would like to discuss before we start I have got the too okay okay um is there any comments from the public I don't have any blue cards no note cards okay thank you um okay so we can roll into the agenda item for tonight okay um action item we've got the order of a variance approval for 203 Southeast sailfish Lane um can I ask a question is resolution number petition number Mr bagot is do I read off that whole number just out of curiosity every time is that what I do yeah I would just for the record all right uh number Z 2311 00002 Varian petition from section 2.04 2.4.1 of the city of Stewart Land Development code to allow an attached carport to be constructed within the minimum required 10-ft side yard setback providing for a total sidey setback of 0.5 ft uh staff would you please report sure good evening chair and members of the board for the record my name is Michelle arbow planner one with the city of steart development department tonight I will be presenting agenda item number three for a variance petition submitted by the property owner Sally Sloan um before before we move on for the record uh City attorney Lee baget if we can just um have the board members disclose if there are been any expart Communications um before we get started and also I'll need to put people under oath who will be uh providing testimony okay that's new for me so I'm G drop that part down well if you look at the uh pinkish card I had uh mentioned to you it kind of goes step by step just so you don't miss stuff we make sure I'm just going off of my last meeting's notes okay um what number is the experte on here sorry it should be number two oh okay do the board members have any experte Communications to disclose have none none no I have none as well um please place any Witnesses under oath Mr baggot if anybody's going be providing testimony behalf of the applicant and staff please stand up raise your right hand the testimony that you're about to provide do you affirm that it's the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God you may be seated okay thank you uh the city staff may now present its case including any reports or other evidence and your recommendation regarding this case in accordance with the Land Development code section 8.05 letters were mailed out on February 5th 2024 to 322 Property Owners located within 300 feet of the subject property one public notification sign detailing the board of adjustment public hearing was posted on the premise the board of adjustment public hearing meeting is not applicable to advertise within the local newspaper the 0.07 Acres subject property outline in red is located at 203 Southeast sailfish Lane and encompasses the South one half of lot seven of the unrecorded plot of Fisherman's Paradise the duplex home was constructed in 1968 and includes an accessory shed in November of 2023 the applicant submitted the subject variance request to allow an attached carport to be constructed within a minimum required 10 ft side yard setback the property is Zone residential duplex R2 and is not within any subdistricts the surrounding properties are Zone resident residential duplex R2 and residential multif family office R3 according to the FEMA flood zone maps the subject site is located within an area of minimal flood Hazard and is identified as FEMA flood zone X the property's future land use designation is low density residential the surrounding properties future land use designations are low density residential and multifam residential in accordance with the Land Development code section [Music] 2.4.1 table five the minimum yard side yard setback for R22 family zoning district is 10 ft with a zero foot setback permitted for the common wall of a duplex unit as denoted on the table to the left and the submitted survey on the right the existing duplex unit is currently located 8.6 ft from the southern side property line however according to the city's supplemental building setback standards outline under Section 2.0 4.04 to accommodate residential growth while maintaining the character of older neighborhoods the side yard setback requirements excuse me for additions to existing houses on Lots 50 ft by 125 ft and smaller which is our lot may be lessened to a minimum of 5 ft therefore the requested variance would allow the proposed carport to encroach into the minimum sidey yard setback by 3.6 ft providing a total sidey yard setback of a half a foot or 7.6 in from the south side property line please note that further research was done after staff report was published the staff report do not have information regarding the lesson sidey yard setback staff will amend the staff report to include section 2.4.2 for historical purposes and to state that the setback required is 5 feet due to a smaller lot size as depicted in this Slide the petitioner previously had an awning installed in this location however it was difficult to roll back by herself so it was eventually removed according to the applicant submitted pictures of adjacent properties on sailfish Lane there appears to be various structures constructed within the minimum sidey yard setback including utility sheds awnings and carports as previously mentioned the petitioner mailed letters to 322 adjacent Property Owners located within 300 ft of the subject parcel the development department did not receive any correspondences from the public regarding these mailers or to sign posted on the parcel the city of Ste development department has reviewed the variant petition and does not support the request to construct an attach carport structure within the minimum sidey yard setback act due to the strict interpretation of the Land Development code section 2.4.4 which grants a less than sidey yard setback of 5 ft for additions on a smaller lot the sidey yard of the subject property is 8.6 ft wide the proposed carport will leave a 7.5 in of space from the Southside property line therefore staff is recommended the board of adjustment deny the proposed variance petition this concludes my Pres presentation staff is available to answer any questions the board may have the petitioner Sally saloan is also present if the board have questions thank you Michelle okay um the petitioner may now present its case you may come up and you are the petitioner okay who was who was oathed in isn't that who needs to speak Mr bagot okay are you the petitioner okay all right I don't think you uh were under oath when we started I think no because I thought the gentleman he's my neighbor who shares the common land between houses okay U are you going to be providing any testimonies you going to be asking any questions okay I I don't know my house was built as she said back in 6869 and at that time when they built the houses this was the land a lotted in between the two and so I that's all I have to work with I'm sorry I'm just gonna have Mr bagot uh oath you in swear you in yeah in regard to any testimony that you may provide to this board do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so I do um thank you and will you introduce yourself please please will you introduce yourself my name is Sally Sloan I'm the person looking for the variance to put the carport at the side of my house uh the pictures showed that I did have a um Anning there and it was there since 19 I mean 19 since 20 2010 or 11 it's been there for 10 years my husband since passed and when he was alive we were able to roll up the yawning and put it away in storms and whatnot I can't do that myself so I was looking to put a more permanent roof uh on in place of the awning so I can protect my car and and just it's would look nice at the side of my house I don't see why um I don't understand the 10- foot thing because I only have eight and A2 fet there um my neighbor Mr callus is in agreeable if he would say a few words to have it there to have I only have to put two posts on the line the rest would be a roof going over um and I was just hoping you'd agree to let me do it okay um do could I ask are you going to have a contractor put this up yes Pioneer screen has been to to my house and and you know looked at the thing and they said that at the point time they said you won't get to pay because of the offset on the side of the house so this is why I've filed the variance see I had the the the awning before and I before all this started I came down when he said you're not going to be able to do this you're not going to be able to do this so I came down and I spoke to somebody at the office in there and explained my co and said what was happening and uh they said we'll get back to you Mrs Sloan in a couple days well a couple days went by and I got a telephone call from the planning office that said hey you're all set you don't have to worry your guy can go and get the permit for your thing being stupid as I was I didn't say what is your name please who you're calling could you give me confirmation and you're telling me it's okay and I didn't I was just so happy to hear that it was okay right so from then on I couldn't do anything and I had to do what we're doing today I've just been overwhelmed with this whole idea um do any board members have any questions for the petitioner I'm sure we have a lot but who would like to go first mine would be more for the contractor but U Pioneer screen is the contractor they're well known in in this city of Stewart well I assume he's going to apply for a permit well yes to that point he he already applied for it when I was told that I could do it that's why I took my warning down because they said they would do it I said okay I took it down and now it's nothing there assuming I was going to be able to install my Cort so the contractor applied for the permit and and they said no and then went in for the permit and the they denied when was it they denied the permit yes he said they denied the permit that was probably back the early fall so it's taken all this time to to rectify the situation and I had you um I had a driveway installed uh back in 2021 and had my house surveyed and um I had to do a new survey survey they told me that my survey needed to be updated and it was only 2 years old nothing has changed so I had to spend the money to do that I had to spend a great deal of money sending out 322 letters it's a complicated process it sure is yeah again I'm not sure it's a question really for the contractor but maybe Steph could answer it one uh one and if they apply for a permit will drainage off the carport roof be addressed where the drainage goes and now it's that would be taken into consideration regarding the um the C the impervious calculations and drainage yes okay so it's nothing I have to cover at this point um for all I know this is a variance if to allow the carport or not all right okay just if I can add to that that is part of the permitting uh review or the zoning review we do have to look at drainage and they will be give us a calculation based on what the code says thank you I I don't know what you were saying I'm sorry Mrs Sloan um whenever you if the board is inclined to Grant the variance and you go in through permitting uh you will have to address the drainage meaning the rain that comes off of the uh carport Port area and going into the ground to make sure that you're not over your drainage calculations uh so you're not flooding your neighbors it is a typical but um I think we've already looked at your your uh attentively and they'll just have to address that whenever you uh get the permitting okay um I I'm just wondering why this um should the drainage should be effective because as you can see with no awning there now the rain just goes into the ground I have stone and stuff there just to explain what I was thinking of when you have a metal roof uhhuh all the water will collect on that roof and shoot downhill off on the neighbor's property unless there's somehow addressing drainage with gutters and downspouts and so forth because it's all even it's my may I inst oh it'll be covered during the permanent process so it's not an issue at this point with me um do we know more about the construction of um of the you know is it metal is it yes it's a metal roof metal roof metal structure what size of the columns the The Columns are um 4 foot square columns only two one at each end it's 20 feet long 4 inch square what S three in three in squ the roof is is got insulation in it and it can have a has a gutter that will go across and have a down spout and and all my yard there is got Stone so it absorbs you know it'll go into the ground easily enough I just want to ask what was the setback on the former AI was it 8 point it's 6 feet or was it 5 feet or what was the setback on the formal on before it came down the um well because that was attached to the um property and there were no that was not permitted right do the poles there those that structure was not permitted you know at that time probably 10 or 11 years ago I had no idea you had to get a permit right so most of maybe you didn't have to or did you I you know we just ordered it and my husband installed it uh regarding the pictures that were submitted by the petitioner I looked to the building permits to see if any of those were pulled and none of these awnings or structures were pulled permits were pulled can I ask about why if lots of neighbors seem to have a similar awning why are they allowed to have that and they haven't been told to take them down they were probably put up 15 20 years ago and I don't know what the permitting status was at that time right I'd love to hear what Jody says about this because I it's a it's a permitting and is this allowed why is this allowed uh chair I I can't answer why the other awnings are installed uh that would be a Code Enforcement issue right um in this case typically the way code enforcement works today you would have to have a neighbor complaint and we would go out there and look at it and uh address it from there um but that typically would be a Code Enforcement issue have there ever been complaints about these in the past have is there any code enforcement records that date back and say that people are upset about these awnings uh I don't have that information in front of me thank you so from the photos uh can we tell it doesn't appear that that awning is only a half a foot from the property line or is it the former awning question from the photos it doesn't appear that that awning the former awning was was um a half a foot from the property line it was right on the property line so those two poles are right on the property line yes well maybe an inch or two in uh the line being here and the post being probably like this it wasn't over the property line so the new awning will be right in that same yes yes approximately the same size I guess yes see they told me that I only have eight and a half fet and originally they said I needed to have a three foot um offset well three and offsetting 3T only gives me 5T I wouldn't be able to put my car in okay right that's true that's the case well aside from setbacks I assume everything that gets built will be accordance with today's codes building codes correct board member and is there any Jody or Michelle is there any fire codes that we need to be aware of I know that they're already adjoining duplexes but putting up a structure right on the property line and let's say The Neighbor comes back and also wants to do the same and now the roofs are those roofs are touching uh during the permitting process the fire department will review okay and obviously if it's metal that's not going to be a really big Hazard but something to consider so yes that is correct so um with I sat with Mrs Sloan and talked to her about Pioneer screen um she's looking to do like a a metal roof with a 3-in insulation it'll be slightly uh have a slope to it so it will drain properly with the two two pole structures that will have the Footers that will instead of having a canvas awning like she currently had previously where it winds get up to 70 70 miles per hour they have to remove that canvas awning and the frame you know could be damaged or not damaged um so she will um properly permit this and it will be a metal roof type structure just like you see on your screen enclosures okay thank you any other questions from the board yeah I have a question so they're here in order to do a car is for staff for a carport what if they put another awning up or an awning is not allowed in stepb back either an awning is an awning is allowed um and it can go out to the property line however with the carport the problem is those those rods that are coming down okay because this is an awning now with the the rods coming down right is it correct so this is actually a structure um it has Footers if she was to just add a CER lever awning without the Footers or the post um that would be accepted however most of those structures are a they're built as a a frame and then they have a canvas awning on top of that and there's certain speed requirements uh during windstorms that they are required to remove that awning and Mrs Sloan is not capable to be able to get up there and remove that awning so she's asking more of a permit structure that's a really good question so now you pointed out that it's actually better because it's not fabric it's not something that's going to catch fire it is a metal structure that's going to be put in rather than that's the fac canopy that right right yeah and if if I had a question for staff too so all these addresses up here with awnings and stuff I mean is it safe to assume I mean I don't know if anyone did research if which ones are permitted and which ones are not then I did none of none of these are permitted and you don't need a permit for the fabric awnings or you do do you do there is an awning so it's just an unnown known to go back in there and try to flag everybody with the code of ordinances and all of those are up against the property line of their neighbors y all of those all of those are up against the property line of their neighbors correct foot uh with the awning it can go because it's attached to the house it could go out to the property line these are without the legs sticking down so is that the definition of a carport versus an awning something that has legs and something that doesn't or is a car Port considered to be enclosed so our definition of of what you're seeing on the screen today what their adjacent neighbors have those are what's called a caner leave awning they don't have legs they don't have Footers they really just are structurally sound and attached to the main house and they just can't leave her over um typically they are supposed to have a building permit because of the structure needs to be engineered to make sure it meets certain wind loads um and also that um canvas that wraps around there has to be fired rated um and then there's certain stipulations of when that should be removed based on wind speed the awning that Mrs Sloan or or the carport that Mrs Sloan is is requesting is the definition of a carport it's open interior it is it's not enclosed it has Footers on it has a a poles stuck in Footers with a a true roof line so it's almost like if they engineered it like you know how they do the awnings how they make them out of aluminum they wrap them with mavick it's couldn't they fabricate a car port very similar to brace it if you didn't have the legs going to the ground it'd be considered an awning so uh I don't believe that's what Mrs uh Sloan is requesting she so the awning uh typically a lot of them are retractable you know you see them on TV where you know uh I think a lot of them have them to protect their cars however Mrs slone is requesting an actual carport that it's like a screen enclosure I was just thinking like if you didn't have have legs on it right support legs that'd be considered an awning correct and we did speak to Mrs um son about that but again her um her concern is when there's storms um she would not be able to remove the canvas on that could affect her neighbors um it could blow off it could damage the structure and damage other properties so uh she's requesting to put in a carport that will be per the floor to building codes with the proper footings and in a real roof line that will drain properly typically they have the super gutters that come down um so it would be a it's almost like a screen enclosure with the with the roof line yes and there's no HOA no we have no no HOA it's very interesting that there's not an HOA in that neighborhood oh um I think you can only speak if you're in is that correct Mr baggot oh is that public comment are you okay are you was GNA tell you about our association oh are you um speaking on behalf of Miss loan yes yes then please I'm a neighbor as well okay please uh Mr bagot that's correct right we can swear her in now okay in regard to the T about to provide to tell theuth truth so direct come come up and speak at the microphone please it's very formal here I'm on the board of directors for Paradise of Stewart Incorporated can you say your name again Judith burkart thank you and we are not a homeowners association we are not a condo association we are a private Corporation um our Articles of Incorporation are filed with the county and that was from 1969 they were restated in 2018 our association only controls our community property at the riverfront which includes a clubhouse and some land okay each individual owner we have no control over what they do what they want to do what color they paint their house what they put on their roof we have no control over that we're responsible for our private Street and the waterfront property and Clubhouse so as far as we're concerned Mrs Sloan can do whatever she would like okay as long as it doesn't infringe on you know other neighbors or whatever that sounds like the I'm two houses away and I think she needs it oh I this sounds like the best kind of HOA I like this it's not an HOA right well yeah exactly we have rules and bylaws but we have no teeth to really we can't put leans on property we can't do any of that stuff so thank you Mr could could I ask Mr Callis to speak he's my neighbor who adjin has the adjoining Le to my house yes you may you please come on up yes and just repeat your name for us Alan Callis thank you um yeah she's she joins my driveway I have no problem with it she's had that awning up there uh as long as I've lived there and uh you know it's not a problem the in with the legs coming down that was not a problem either and we have uh both have gravel driveways and we don't have any problem with um you know drainage um if there's a car there or an awning I I don't know what difference that makes okay as far as drainage thank you okay any other questions from the board no I'm just really trying to wrap my head around the whole aw and carport thing because I think there's ways to construct it to where it wouldn't be considered a carport it's just a ro coming out with two poles that I back my car underneath right yeah just Logistics so correct like there's ways to yeah there's ways to build it in my opinion I mean I'm not an engineer or anything but without the legs to have the support where it can of levers off and what can levers off would would be covered with an awning h i mean that I don't know I I don't and those caner lever uh structures that have the awning on it the ORS would deteriorate in the sun it would can rip and whatnot where the metal roof would be much more uh effective in um keeping itself in place right okay thank you Miss slan um does the city staff any have any or are we done with the board the board members have any more questions okay I'm going to move on to does the city staff have any questions for the [Music] petitioner we do not um does the petitioner wish to offer any rebuttal testimony does that make sense I'm going to skip that one okay uh and does any member of the public wish to comment if so you have three minutes if you are here no I have a question this is for staff is there any Awning or carport that's permitted in that neighborhood at all I did not check every home in that subdivision but the pictures that was submitted uh we check I checked the addresses and there were no are there any car ports in the neighborhood not like no car ports at all or not what I what okay so there's no one with post coming down at all that exist right the 294 sfish Lane there is a structure oh it's hard to tell looks like a shed or a screened in porch maybe yeah on 294 yeah that's almost like it's hard to tell is unless you got a side picture and that's made of wood and a little scary but I guess there's no there's the there's a difference with that one though because there's no um adjoining property on the left correct uh but not not within with the same oh it has the same um structure similar repeating structure I think 294 is built to the property line and then the one west or east wherever it is of there probably doesn't have a structure then in the setback I'd imagine if I had to guess looking at the picture line yeah yeah yeah and there's a neighbor home okay okay does staff know if that's like screened in or it's almost like it's enclosed with door the structure was not permitted yeah okay are we okay we're good okay we can move on all right I am now closing the hearing and we'll ask the board members to consider the evidence and state their position on the case I'd make a motion to approve the variance that's requested uh subject to any structure going through proper permitting and meeting present codes of ordinances think AO should do approve for yes I'm looking for a second I'll second it and I mean you guys are going through the permit process right I'd imagine most of those neighbors haven't um they might be in the same situation as you are right now eventually with permitting and correct or if people start calling code enforcement and stuff I mean there's one structure that's fully enclosed so I'll second it okay is there any discussion on the motion is Nash anything Dr Nash no we're good that's my questions already um uh will uh Su the clerk please call the role is there any public comment on the motion oh is there any public comment on the motion saying none I'll call the role no okay now let's call the role please board member Nash yes Vice chair BS yes chair vle yes and board member Reed yes all right congratulations hey you followed the process so yeah right that means a lot and is there's no other cases so we can adjourn right I mean you're following the prop