e e e e e e e e PE Beach we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance to of the United States of America and to the repic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all roll call member garok here member mohand here member small here Vice chair Chase here we have a quorum perfect um Clark could you swear those and I will be testifying anyone who will be speaking to the board today or making a presentation will need to be sworn in anybody who's going to do so please raise your right hand do you swear or affirm that the information or factual representation that you are about to give or present to the board is truthful yes thank you okay we'll move on to the approval the agenda Kristen are there any changes for today the only change um that there is which I did not include if you can recall I'm going to say back in our way back in our May meeting we did have um on the agenda uh board procedures I didn't include it on this one even though I said i' include it on the previous one because Matthew is not with us today rather him be in person so we're looking to a future meeting either the July meeting or August meeting to include that but I didn't forget it's just he wasn't here and can we get a motion to approve I make a motion to approve the agenda for the the June 20th 2024 Board of adjustment for the city of St Pete Beach a second roll call member moholland yes member small yes member Gara yes Vice chair Chase yes motion carries all right we'll move on to audience comments this would be the time if you're here to speak on something that's not on the agenda today we're happy to hear your comments is there anybody here today that would like to speak on an item that's not on the agenda no okay hearing n we'll move on to the approval of the minutes from our May meeting did everybody have a chance to look any concerns no do we have a motion I'll make a motion that we approve the minutes as published from May 15th 2024 I second great roll call please member small yes member Gara yes member moholland yes chair Chase yes motion carries all right we'll move on to the action items um first number case number 2426 Brandon Kristen it's going to be a group effort today between Brandon and myself I'm going to handle the first one which is variance case number 24026 located at 104 21st Avenue if if I may have the PowerPoint presentation while we pull that up can we um review of if there's any experte for this case I drove by the house I got you Matthew drove by the house okay J uh yes uh so I I walk by the house frequently uh I uh this weekend walk by the rear of the home uh where the request is uh applied to uh I do know the applicant uh he lives on the other side of the vena Bridge from me uh I have also had uh a couple emails that I've been copied on in a brief conversation uh when I got to the city building today uh with the applicant as it related to some uh parking in the alley issues that he was having and the conversation was as related to my capacity as a candidate for District 4 commissioner it had nothing to do with the matter before us today thank you thank you none for me and I drove by and through the alleyway and actually did observe the same parking issue there your driveway blocking issues okay okay variance case number 2426 located at 104 21st Avenue it is an uncessary undue hardship variance request Michael Khan on behalf of polar Foundation requests installation of a new portion of driveway that would exceed the maximum of 20 foot in width permitted with 40 foot proposed looking for relief from Land Development code section 23.11 B2 and I am Kristen keman uh community development director the St of exhibit iits uh subject property is outlined in red it is an interior parcel it contains a single family residence uh with a single family residence to the West a duplex and 21st Avenue to the north and a vacant lot to the East and an alley and duplex use to the South the property is located within the rlm2 P passag girl overlay Zone and also rlm residential low medium on the future land use map here is a current survey of the property which currently contains a three-story dwelling with existing paer driveway that has rear alley access to the garages here is that same existing survey with the proposed driveway expansion um that is located within the red box so the variance is required for the maximum driveway width at the property line for a total width of 40 ft or 20t maximum is permitted and 17 ft currently exists I did want to provide the board a little background um in April of 2022 ordinance 2022-23 of the Land Development code including section 23.11 to update parking standards to decrease the minimum driveway width from 12T which it was to 10t and maximum driveway width from 24 ft to 20 ft as the driveway crosses the property line and and bring you on to the property uh noticing was completed as required the legal ad and notices were mailed on June 6th and the sign posted on the property on June 11th so looking from 21st Avenue here is the front of the dwelling this is the adjacent neighbor to the west a single family residence and the vacant to the East and looking down the alley looking West towards the gulf or golf way if you popped over one of those houses and looking towards the rear of the property you can see the existing uh paper driveway with gate and fencing just another view of what is currently utilized as the driveway and the current ters and just another view of the fencing and gate at the rear of the the property and another close-up view of the paper driveway so this is just a representation of the configuration of the overhead garage doors um there is currently the drive paper driveway giving access to uh the Double garage door where the singular uh door does not currently have any access um I think I looked back as far as 2007 or no not 2007 but as far back as I could aerial wise it has always been in the same configuration it has not changed so here's the area that's utilized for parking that is not improved um it does appear to be parallel with the alley not perpendicular as you would think going straight out um but that was observation staff had as part of the staff uh staff visit and actually staff had the um observed the parking pattern where the car was not kind of um perpendicular with the the garage door but actually parallel so it's part of the staff findings report um with the criteria listed 1 through four and comments 5 through eight prior to the applicant coming in for variance he had applied or someone on behalf of him have applied several times for the driveway um each time it was denied being that it violated the the maximum width requirement um staff does have some possible layouts not requiring relief again we don't necessarily design um for the for the applicants that come in but there here is some design options that would not necessarily require relief um that I just wanted to put to the board that there are ways that it can be accomplished the applicant should be prepared to provide their own testimony and respond to staff comments um applicant should provide testimony regarding the need for the additional width of the driveway and reasoning as to why compliance could not be met and no information was provided if there would be any modification of the rear gate and fencing currently located at the rear of the property along the alley and the applicant should just discuss any changes staff finds the proposed variance relief s does not Advance the purposes of the Land Development code section 1.1 and finds the benefit of granting the variance from the Land Development code section section 23 11 B2 will be of substantial detriment and impair the intent and purpose of the zoning code staff does re recommend motion to deny variance case number 2426 as presented in the applicant's proposal and the variance relief sought as detailed in the sorry June 6 2024 staff findings report has not demonstrated substantial competent evidence that all criteria for hardship have been met and satisfied as per Land Development code section 3.12 as a relief sought can be revised to meet Code Compliance we did not receive any letters for or against with this application okay thanks does the board have any questions for Kristen uh for Kristen uh yes so was this uh run by the historic preservation board no sir it would not no need to no no no sir I know they like to be notified of anything in the passive girl overlay they do and they are notified if we have some kind of commercial um development or if there is a home within the um like a historic designation so there's certain criteria but for a driveway not necessarily so Mr City attorney I see that you nodded your head um did you have something to add to that I know you had some conversations at the last historic preservation board with them or I believe you were present for that you're on mute Matthew Matthew you're on M mute or we have a turn up the volume notice on our screen can you stand by okay let's try it no test matth testing yeah we're good real good just don't scream yes member m so we we prepared a took about a year but we prepared a resolution with that outlin some specific things that the city was willing to do this was not one of them to Kristen's point it is not just new builds in the pass overlay but in the historic district itself they come to them um depending on if the applicant suggest but driveways are not one of them right variances are not one of them now if it was a variance to a historic structure that's a little bit different um but this was not included in the resolution so when I shook my head I just wanted to clarify that point thank you yeah Kristen um is this area prone to flooding because I I would observe from the pictures it doesn't look like there's a lot of vegetation in General on that not to my knowledge no it's not not being impacted by any not to my knowledge okay I didn't observe anything on my staff visit okay then would the applicant like to present their case yes good afternoon board my name is Michael KH 104 21st Avenue I'm the petitioner and owner in this project I uh get my slides here Mr Khan if you'd like I can give you the click okay just ask for it back when you're done and would you like the presentation up yes please Jamie can we bring that up please very good uh I'd like to thank you for allowing me to speak today uh I'd like to speak to the characterization of this project um the code that's being applied and code that is being applied that's not written uh go over the current use of the space we have right now and then respond to some of the staff's uh answers on the application could should we be able to see sorry excuse me presentation there we go thank you Jamie can you bring up the applicant's presentation is this it is this your pictures this is my picture okay perfect just making sure okay I haven't had seen it so okay and the uh this is a picture of the rear of the house uh with the gates and I want to make it clear uh in the first page this is characterized as a driveway being expanded to 40 ft well now there is two driveways side by side that are at the 20 foot limit which as I'm going to discuss is not really a limit since it ends before the property line okay so we got two garages one driveway that I want to add a second driveway side by side the addition pretty much miring the first one I want consistency and um before we look at the code I also want to take note in your packet I have over a dozen examples of driveways that are around my block I didn't have to go to the far reaches of St Pete Beach to get this comp comparative group they're within two blocks I went out the front didn't even get in my car and I took my phone just took pictures of garage to double garage homes that had um the surface and actually it's rare to find any that are separated um so looking at the code and I know this has uh some bearing on it where I have the Highlight portion that's talking about the driveway as it crosses the property line okay and the survey and the pictures you're going to see the papers do sh stop short and I will do the addition in the same manner what gave me further uh belief that I was on to something is in a conversation on April 4th of this year with Mr McConnell and Miss colan when I was describing the fact that I'm not going to be encroaching on any setbacks or easements or rways in fact I'm not even crossing the property line and that g got a rise out of Mr McConnell and he posed to me the strangest question he wanted me to agree with the statement that well when I'm driving my car out of the driveway and or in from the alleyway I'm crossing the property line and the unfortunate part about that argument is that my car is not a part of this application the papers are and they do stop before the property line so let's look at the current layout and uh our current use so I saw the sketches that Miss Coman put on there and let's start getting a little bit more specific so the gate arms when they open up they're 8 and 1/2 ft each so from the home to the gate then you're talking about 19 ft okay so when you have a compact car 13 to 14 15 ft you have about 5 ft of play there and uh using the garage we can do that but you saw the um picture that Miss colan my niece she prefers to park there as opposed to trying to maneuver into the garage because that's a little bit of an undertaking uh I am the one who uses it mostly that way and the way I do that is I pull in to the existing driveway I do a U-turn putting the front of the car near the fence and then I back straight in which isn't necessary it's a very narrow garage and when we have visitors obviously then um besides the garage we can park two parallel and so that um is our use and the addition that we're uh proposing does use every bit of space and uh the hardship is obviously uh with an uneven and you were mentioned flooding yeah it gets pretty soggy and so the turf can be easily manipulated and so you get little rivets and divots that cause driving on such a natural Turf it can be a a little bit challenging okay so uh Miss Coman in our conversation she did discuss some ideas of of a a curv path of sorts and so forth and what I would uh Advance is that hers are just as um illegal under the code which I'm not sure applies to either proposal because they are not crossing the property line that's where the measurement is in this particular one and the ones that she showed before I would say that's probably 35 ft across and literally the only part that we're in disputing is the part just south of the proposed which is probably a third of the paving that's really all that's in dispute I would like to be able to do my turn and backing into the single car garage uh on a paav service and when we have extra visitors and we have to park parallel I'd like to park in pavement too and to get back to that point of you know soggy ground so forth you know the foot traffic it isn't the best uh for keeping your shoes clean so forth uh the other one that uh Miss Coleman spoke to me and gave me the example the one example in all passive grill of a divided driveway is not really a good comparison it's on major through fair and although it do have a separation there I'm on an alley I don't have a sidewalk this particular home has a sidewalk and so you have contiguous uh paved surface across the sidewalk as well as the space between the sidewalk in the street so really only about half of his driveway does have separation and that is something that's not in the code that is the reason why my contractors couldn't get past Miss com for a permit is that she was insisting on barriers which is nowhere in the code and separation which is nowhere in the code and that kind of WS back and forth when you don't have written code it went from anywhere from one foot separation to 5-ft separation to a fence or a wall or Hedges I'm trying to hit a moving Target and I just this has been a yearlong and I know know the date because I did the survey for this particular project and I think it's timestamped like April of last year and so this has been a long going um and I now want to answer some of the questions and response to what the uh staff answered uh question one is talking about special circumstances and conditions well I mean the special circumstances that we live in pass a grill near the beach parking is scarce and she in that question she said the situation is not unique well let's hold that thought I'm going to answer this question about six questions uh question two talks about condition no fault the owner well no there isn't any fault to be assessed here that's just uh the house and home and driveway that I have I proposed a project and driveway based on the house that I have not the house I wish I had question three is talking about lital literal interpretation yes give me the literal interpretation that's what I'm banking on it's this enhanced embellished interpretation where Miss Coman refers to at the property line or before the property line and that's not the uh what happened I lose we have his presentation thank you okay and so the uh I would prefer the literal interpretation as it crosses the um property line that would be because really I think the uh suggestions that she has um for possibilities violate the code as much as mine does and the one that doesn't where she has a driveway separation is nonfunctional because I don't have a gate at that part of the fence so I would require to put in a gate in order to accommodate that proposal so it's a non-starter um question five talking about or question four I ski the create own hardship uh I think the staff pretty much affirms that I didn't create my own hardship on this question five greater financial gain I'm just trying to be up with the rest in the comp group in Pages uh I think 15 through 28 on your agenda packet is all these homes that are very similar situated with contiguous surface among the two car garages or the two garages um looking at question six is the consistent treatment well and this is one that was brought up in the staff's response talking about the home being built at 108 21st Avenue as a comparison and in case you can't tell the difference mine's on the left mine has a driveway this home will not mine does not have a driveway apron this one will only have a driveway apron can we get the image he's referring to yeah can we get the presentation please on Jamie but I I will continue uh I don't know if you saw that but this home is two doors down from my home okay and the uh you know the eradication of eement and setbacks it's it's astounding this new home being constructed when you look at the picture it's spilling into the alleyway I'm keeping my project and I'm being crucified for staying within the property bounds not looking to encroach on anybody or anything and that's not giving me the same rights as my neighbors who are um okay this is one quick look before it disappears the uh this home here has been given every uh variance imaginable and they get this home which in talking to the Builder they say that this home is way too big for the lot it's practically the same size as the lot and yet um my project is being rejected um it's hard to imagine why but the um really the real comparison is not that home but it's the one across the alley 10 ft away and you'll see this one in my comp group on page 16 I think of the packet page two with the marker this one is a far better comparison it's a look I'm looking for with the contiguous uh surface it um the problem with it that staff has is 39 ft and the width and the surface and so um if we're looking for consistent uh treatment consistent relative consistence in the area this is it uh I find it interesting and I've heard Mr McConnell cite this in various hearings that oh you various hearings are Case by casee basis you can't compare well I find that interesting because four of the questions 13 six and8 are asking for a relative comparison to the surrounding questions four and five are asked in such a way that you really have to make a relative comparison to the surrounding area to answer it and so three quars of the questions are about the effect on the surrounding environment so I just find that odd and in question seven I am using the minimum space for the current use for as far as the variant uh the way I showed you that I back in and out of the single car garage as well as a twocc car uh parking there it's would be using all of that space as a surface and question eight asking about consistency with code neighborhood I'm just looking to be keeping up with the Joneses this is pretty much the same driveway that everyone else has with the two garage situation um I'm off an Alleyway I'm not really infringing on anybody as far as um Beauty and Aesthetics and so forth it's in the alleyway um couple other questions staff was asking about the need for a second driveway was the second garage obviously I think I've repeated this again and again uh fencing and gate um I'm after this project I'm in a reactionary mode the uh large swings in how the city this board has ruled on variances you know I really have to wait to see what the city does before I can make a move will I put a gate in that fence and so forth I can't say it depends on how today's go I'm going kind of one Miracle at a time but um and trying to saddle this project with more is the impervious service comment about wanting an as build if you should rule in my favor it's just something else saddled on this project trying to bog it down to where it stops and frankly that is about where I'm at this is my custard's last stand I will give up I will not put in a driveway that does not serve my use it just doesn't make sense this text is from my uh contractor before uh that I was anticipating that we were going to do a contract he had come out we had a meeting at 3:30 lasted 30 minutes and 30 minutes later he he broke up with me and I I thought we had a great first date I thought we made good but that's where it stood and so um looking at the comp group am I asking for something exceptional no not at all I'm just trying to bring myself up to the same standards so um that's all I have thank you Mr Khan any questions from the board Mr Khan I'm just curious the design that you showed versus what you want why is that not like especially looking at the design of your gate how how is is that not a really workable solution for you the design that I proposed or that who one that you showed with the red oh with that curve and so forth well I was showing the uh picture with the two cars that are parked horizontal yeah they the one would not be on a paved surface also when I go to park backwards into the single car I use all that space to get turned around in order to back into the single car garage so you know just trying to uh make the best of my situation where it is I don't think that this variance cause any harm or infringes on anyone else it's all with on my property I'm in a back alley whatever right go for it Mr K you mind if I call you Michael you can call me anything you want I answered everything so I've got a few questions uh two or three of them are standard questions that I ask everybody that comes before this board uh and then I have a few more questions that I think you've touched on them but I just want to get them clarified in my mind uh first of all uh have you had any previous variances for this particular home no this is my first time okay that I'm aware of I think there was some uh question as to the home was built in 2010 and I think Miss com was talking about back 2007 so the property was owned the land was owned before but the home was built in 2010 okay and I believe they got a the previous owner got a variance for the Elevator Shaft as far as the height restriction okay that's fine I mainly I was just questioning since you've owned it so thank thank you for going Above and Beyond on that uh do you have any open permits on the property right now any permit any type of building permits or anything okay thanks uh so you tou touched on this uh you you kind of led me to believe that you may possibly do something with the gate and the fence possibly like maybe another opening or widening the gate is that possible on the horizon tell you about since the home in 108 is g to basically uh destroy our view of the gulf okay so now everything goes back on the table my wife has been talking about additions and that's another concern is if I uh cow down and agree to a proposal by staff on the driveway we may want to change that up and then it goes back to the heart of the question did you create your own hardship yeah I would be stuck then my wife has talked about buying the empty lot next to us do a side exit so have we talked about a lot of things absolutely um until we start finding out what the costs are and what's practical and a way out I'm looking for the Here and Now what can I do right now um without but yeah anything is possible you know okay that's fun yeah uh and uh Miss Coman his uh impervious ratio is fine even if he were granted the full driveway as he's proposed it correct ISR is looked at with regards to driveways okay I don't know if that answered though just sorry Joe just to clarify what I think Joe said was not that whether it was looked at but based on what uh Mr Khan's proposing propal would that then it would not violate the ISR correct I look at that to make sure there aren't additional variances that would be necessary wouldn't want them to have to come back so I know uh in your proposal um so your current driveway uh to the east ends at the corner of your garage door and in your proposal you've asked to go essentially to the west of the corner of the house and I think part of that because one you do want more room to be able to negotiate with your cars so you can get out into a crowded alley uh and also parking uh I I will say this I I I'm speculating here I don't know the answer to this um but I'm not sure what you've requested is going to make it through here today are you if are you willing to consider narrowing that down a little bit and bringing the the the the new pavers where they stop at the West corner of the small garage door or you hard and fast you want the square footage you've proposed okay I'll make you a deal okay I'm only one vote so just bear that in mind no matter what that deal is I'm going to use the way I use it I can do that but if you if I find that it's not sufficient are you going to allow me to have those extra favers put in now that I want to serve my purpose that's why I'm doing the project okay to serve the staff's purpose or someone else's or what they want do it to their own homes not mine I mean I want to do what's serving my purpose and what's going to do something that's Half Baked okay that's fine so the your response is the proposal that you submitted is what you're yeah that's what I'm here for okay any other questions for the applicant uh I may have one more here no that was it no all right we might have some questions for you um in the future but we're good for now thank you okay is there anybody here today that would like to speak on behalf sorry can I ask one question because I heard um Mr Kan say that he claims that there's no code like in the presentation that's directing this would you want to comment on that because I'm not sure I understood that sure reference that he made sure so how we look at it from a Land Development standpoint um and reading it that the standard driveways and again it it changed in 2022 it was before I was here so I can only kind of um understand the intent of it was actually to narrow things down so people didn't have expanses and again this isn't just passag Grill this applies to every property within the city so I will say with some of the um examples that the applicant provided in his uh application package looking back in time I don't know when those homes were constructed because there was numerous um I can say that anytime there's a modification or in the new home that was at 108 it has to be in compliance right so we're trying to get people to be in compliance and currently he is he's 17 ft wide he comes straight out um and there in my opinion there are alternatives that he can do um whether he may have to modify his gate or his fencing in the back um but there is the Land Development code for a reason um and when they did it in 2022 they reduced they shrunk so that there weren't expansive um of garages or not of garages of driveways so how we have interpreted and I did provide the one on pass away because there were two garage doors similar to his he has a double and a single and there's two doubles but to meet compliance they had that landscaped portion in the middle and yes I understand that there is the sidewalk and everything but nobody's parking parallel with pass away they may drive over it to go straight out but I don't think that really my intent was the two driveway uh Lanes or you know coming straight out um and that's how we've interpreted do I wish that there was a set separation I do but in the case of 1401 or his there may be 7et in between there could be 14 ft in between if there's two garage Bays um but they just didn't want a contiguous portion and as it was shown by the applicant on his survey it would be 40 ft in width does that help explain a little bit more thanks okay so how much space that's why I feel like we're trading horses now how much space do you want what you mentioned about stopping the westward border if I stop at a couple feet sooner is that applicable because frankly what she's proposing about those you're talking about Paving 2third of what I request and you're almost there so that's what I I'm kind of understanding do you find hers in compliance with the code given the width across that I think the the problem is is that code changes in 2022 you're fighting that uh Mr City attorney am I allowed to uh suggest to him what I could support is that appropriate absolutely the only thing I would mention though is because I heard Mr Khan offer kind of a this doesn't work then you know he wants you to already agree you can't contract away zoning Authority so you can't say you will agree to something if it doesn't work out for him but can you absolutely modify this yes I mean it's going to be up to him to agree or deny um but that's that's the pleasure of of the board right now you can even add conditions that he's required to open the gate or not or you know I mean that's the whole point of this is you have to look at the criteria and you can Implement conditions that will allow him to meet the criteria so uh Michael from my perspective I could not support this if the driveway goes past the side of the house that's my position um so well we're talking about a foot or two then I'm sorry we're talking about one or two feet then I I I don't have the the scale of it but quite possibly I mean personally I would I would like to see it to be at the corner of the garage the same as the other the other side that's my personal reference I recognize the need I know where you live I understand the logistics of it back there um so could I support it as long as it was inside the West corner of the house I could but I'm just guessing here I'm not sure that would get through the board that's just my guess so does anyone else on the board want to chime in or they did set against it I have no comments at this point I'd like to hear from anybody else here that's here to speak but we can um have our own discussion and then if we have further questions we can ask you to come back well I remind you to look at her proposals they're pretty much we're talking a matter of feet here from the edge of the door to the edge of the house to where I propos so okay very well thank you one thing if if the proposal that they presented to you with the arch into it into the one driveway that goes through the only gate that's there right now correct so if you're not putting another gate why why would that why would that stop you from not pulling one car into your garage and using that space to park another car behind it well how I get into the garage when I was that diagram backing in is far less maneuvering and risky and so when I do that U-turn when from entering the current and then I do that U-turn and bring the front of the car to the front I mean you know understand the car is 14 ft I'm only talking about you know several feet and so I need all the space I can get and so that's why I would prefer uh more surface space uh staying on that it just uh will make a mess of the more artificial turf that we have to maneuver and so forth great thank thank you is there anybody here that would like to speak on behalf or against this application hearing none we'll close public comment and open to board discussion I think somebody's coming oh that's okay please state your name and address Robert suan 4506 Golf Boulevard so I'm not here on this behalf but I just had to chime in says I'm here for the half hour listening to it this is kind of a problem that we have on St P Beach where we're going over small little things to 2/3 of The Proposal that the staff already gave him is already there so he's only asking for just a little bit more and if he gets this permit that permit then is going to generate revenue for the city because he's going to do a job when he sells the house it's going to generate revenue for the city again all these little things are going to help the city out we're in a deficit right now the Mayor literally in the last meeting said that we have a deficit of the city we need to approve jobs we need to get jobs mov forward so that we can beautify the beach it's going to look so much nicer when he has the pavers there compared to what it looks like right now it almost looks like it's blighted in that section so the house is going to look nicer the whole Alleyway is going to look nicer I don't think he's really asking for all that much like I said 2third of it he's already there he just needs that onethird to get him there it's going to make him happy it doesn't bother the neighbors doesn't bother anybody in the alley so if this was my vote I'd say it's a it's a yes just my two cents thank you for your comments anyone else hi uh thank you for allowing me to speak my name is Mark Chelli I'm at 106 21st Avenue right next door to Michael uh I see what he goes through with his cars when he's trying to park them the cars are already there on the property really what is the difference if it's on dirt or if it's on a paper we've approved the board here has approved some colossal buildings in historic pass of grill that we're now making not so historic anymore what's the difference thank you thank you anyone else may I make a comment or you want me just not say anything um I think we we can discuss during our board discussion that's okay all right we'll move to on to board discussion go ahead well I think I think I've made my position clear on this and I I'll just say that I've been on this board now for I don't know six or seven months and one of the frustrating things is is that we're always chasing our Tale on precedence that has been set by previous boards um so I'll just say that at some point uh and those that uh know uh a little bit about me uh know that I believe that we need to uh make some modifications to how our board operate and uh I'm just of the attitude that you know at some point we got to say you know we're going to hold the line it's unfortunate that um you know people have been able to to put up 12 I'm being dramatic now but be able to put up 12T fences uh or 250 sqt sheds uh and then the whole neighborhood wants 12T fences and 200 50 foot square foot sheds uh and I have seen probably every single uh Board of adjustment meeting I've been to I've seen something that falls in that category so from my perspective when I took this job uh I made the decision that you know I was going to try to do something to uh not just be you know continued to allow whatever happened 50 years ago go to continue to happen now if it doesn't appear as if it's best policy for the neighborhood at this point so um and as it relates to the applicant I think I've already made my position pretty clear um you know I think he has a need for it uh I would support it at the corner of his house I would prefer to see it at the corner of his uh second garage uh but that's where I stand on it thank you comments my belief is the code was changed for a reason back in 2022 there's a way to design this um so while that wouldn't mean alter um altering the way he currently uses his backyard and driveway it's um not a hardship that he couldn't continue to use both driveways um so I would be in support of um him needing to comply with current code do we have a motion I'll make a motion to approve get the number [Music] here St P Beach Board of adjustment case number 2426 uh with the modification with the modification 24 you 26 thank you with the modification that uh the conditions be that the widest driveway could possibly be would be the West corner of the applicant's home a second I'll second that motion we have a motion we have a second roll call member ghaw no M yes member small yes Vice chair Chase no that's a two2 vote Matthew guidance motion okay you need three votes as a board pursu a code do we have a second motion I make a motion to approve case number 2426 as it's stated have a second you can second second are you seconding it okay roll call please um do don't I need a second can I make a second yes can any yeah okay member moholland just so I'm clear the motion was as presented meaning the driveway as the applicant has applied as it was applied for correct no member small yes member Gara no member Chase no motion fails that was a 31 vote correct I'm sorry no no that's if I may chair Chase so we've had one motion to approve with an added condition and then one motion to approve as is and that last motion was a 31 right go ahead that last motion had a 3-1 vote correct no you didn't say yes on it we had three Nos and one yes on the last motion correct my apologies I heard a motion to approve and I heard three noes that is correct so both motions die the point I was trying to make is in this type of proceeding initial you need to have three a dispositive motion to deny as well I didn't understand that okay okay can we make a new motion was that in the interpretation of the of the motion that vote it was but we need to re um position okay so it needs to be restated yes yes as before not not to interrupt may I make a motion go ahead please I make a motion to approve case 2426 with the condition that the driveway be no wider than the West corner of the small garage you already did that did that one no West corner of the house is what I previously motioned is that going is that going to change our path here guys not sure I I'm not hearing a second for that do we have an an alternative Mo motion so if I understand it I'm going to make a motion to deny case number 2426 as Michael KH has requested we have a motion do we have a second all second just to clarify real quick before roll call you were denying it based on the fact that you don't believe it has met the criteria I don't believe that it has met the criteria correct of undo hardship correct roll call please member moholland yeah this is a yes correct yes for denial motion deny yes member small yes member Gara yes member Chase yes motion carries all right moving on to case number 2 434 got it okay good afternoon Brena Barry planner if we could pull up the staff presentation we are this is practical difficulty Varian case number 2434 for property address of 3601 Casablanca Avenue the applicants Mike and Kimberly Clark are requesting to install a 12-ft diameter pool of 52 in in height at a 4ft setback from the rear property line where 20 ft is otherwise required this is a variance from Land Development code section 6.13 c1b here's a listing of exhibits an aerial map of the property it's located at the northeastern corner of 36,00 Avenue and Casablanca Avenue property has a zoning of R2 residential district this is a single family residential district and the use of the property is single family to detail the request uh the applicant is coming forward to install as I mentioned before a 12T diameter pool typically under the Land Development code pools of no more than 2 feet in height in an interior lot are allowed to have a rear setback of 5 F feet the applicants proposing 4 feet which under again if if the pool were no more than 2 feet above grade could be installed with an ad ministrative variance would need not need to come forward to the board of adjustment however because the pool is taller than 2 feet above grade it does need to beet the typical primary structur 20 foot rear setback the applicant is proposing a setback of 4 feet from the rear property line they are compliant to the setback on the North side which is considered a side 10t is required they proposing 18.5 and you can see that on the site sketch here a 4ot rear setback from the Eastern property line and 18 18.5 foot setback from the northern property line which is compliant here's some photographs of the site this is a corner property as sign was posted at both Corners here is a view of the property standing at the southern side of the property looking to the north staff had originally asked the applicant if the pool could be located to the vegetated area at the rear of the property um it is fairly heavily vegetated when visiting the site it was clear that um without clearing out vegetation it could not be accommodated in this area this is looking um interior to the site to the right side of the photo to the east side that is where the applicant is proposing to install the pool next to a vegetated area he does have some arka Palms that he's planted there um in in the recent past and then to the north you can see a shed that was also recently installed and here is another view this is looking to the east it shows those Palms staff has responded to the variance criteria in your staff report I won't go through these now but just to summarize staff finds that the applicant has adequately supported the Practical difficulty variance request criteria finding the request to be minimal in scope it does preserve the Landscaping in the area that I mentioned previously which is the only alternative location that I could identify and it does locate the structure in an area of the lot that is already utilized for outdoor passive activity um the applicant does have other existing structures in the vicinity garages sheds um that are generally close to the rear property line as a proposed structure the garage is a little bit closer um the pool is not significantly elevated it will be generally blocked through direct line of sight via fence and the orka Palms that I mentioned previously um this is not a pool with a significant number of features it's not elevated doesn't have a lot of active uses it's it's very much a bathing pool and the pool is of limited size it doesn't contain any accessory features like a diving board or other elements that could cause significant nuisance to abing properties staff recommends approval with two conditions the first is that the approval will be granted for an above ground pool of 12T diameter and 52 in in height to be located 4 feet from the rear property line any request to install a pool structure of greater area or height or with additional features such as waterfalls or diving boards at this location shall require subsequent variants effectively the pool should be limited to what the applicant is applied for with the product specifications that were included in the packet and the applicant shall maintain the three installed Ora palms or other Landscaping of similar mature opacity in the planted location for the life of the pool just to provide that additional screening for the residents to the east staff's recommended motion is to approve the Practical difficulty variance case number 2434 with the two conditions recommended you have any questions for me any questions for Brandon did we receive letters for this I believe we did receive one letter of support that was in the packet I haven't received any correspondents since then and was that a proximity neighbor they were neighbor to the South okay yes thank you Brandon how does this uh it looks like where it's being put would be the one area that actually does have uh a perious surface it's yeah correct and and on the survey that was submitted this was Pavers at the time um they are they are completely compliant with the impervious surface ratio even after installing the pool okay questions for Brandon yes I was going to wait and ask the applicant this question but since uh Mr Barry commented on it I thought I'd ask him so the the detailed letter that we received from Mr Tuttle uh who lives at 3520 I couldn't find a 3520 I drove around the house like two or three times and could find no address I don't know if that was a typo or what do you do you know the answer to that or the applicant can maybe clarify that they might be able to clarify that let me pull up the it's a neighbor to it's not directly adjacent to the property I believe but we can let the I believe it's East maritana but the applicant can confirm that yeah okay be sure to ask him that but no letters in opposition no none all right thank you br would the applicant like to present their case oh we need to disclose oh thank you exp parte no none from me our leaders letting us down uh yes I drove by the property walked around it um and I searched for 3520 and didn't have much luck but it's pretty narrow over there and I didn't want to rip the mirrors off my pickup truck none for me and um of course I walk by the property um probably every day because I live a couple doors down so thank you y go ahead and your pool's nicer than mine it's not full of anything yet so the uh tuttles um to you say your name and address oh I'm sorry Mike Clark the applicant with my wife Kimberly Anne uh 3601 Casablanca the uh tuttles live to the south towards the water on the corner lot there thanks for clarifying um so it's hot outside and we do not live in our house because we were tossed out last August by Hurricane came idalia herine Jasmine whatever her name was and we live in the in the garage which is actually a very small cottage and we have uh a huge living room consisting of about the square footage of a card table and so we spend our days uh hanging around and we're either in the very small little cottage as you know with our little card table living room space or we're outside on the deck sweating it out and when we're outside on the deck sweating it out we're looking over at that you know little spot thinking to ourselves yeah you know the 12T pool would be pretty nice to fall into right now and so I got to get going on the bricks there and then I found out that I was in violation of the uh of the zoning code and I went to see Brandon to straighten that all out and so here I am with the request uh it's just myself and my wife uh we don't plan on having any uh large parties uh the people to our rear uh just purchased and renovated that house uh I don't know what their intentions are to rent or I haven't met them yet maybe you have I haven't uh the other house to our to this to the other side has been purchased and it is going to be a rental uh the house on the north uh the unfortunate uh terms the resident passed away suddenly the family had to relocate the house is currently being renovated I don't I believe it'll continued to be a rental it has been a rental now for almost 20 years um and we live on that corner lot you you walking your dog you would have a very hard time seeing the pool you'd have to actually know it was there and maybe you could catch a glimpse of it you would not see it at all from the front and it' be very difficult to see it from the south do you have any concerns with the conditions that the city has no the conditions are fine we'll keep the pool the way it was we've already planted the pond palm trees we've actually planted three additional um and we've uh gone to Great Lengths to try to keep the Ambiance of the neighborhood uh and you can see we have over 150 trees and shrubs on the lot it's a it's rather heavily vegetated area and I think uh I think just kind of fits in at least it'll fit in with us and I don't think it will be a detriment to any of our neighbors thanks does anybody have any questions for appan yes Mr Clark I've got uh just uh three standard questions for you uh how many previous variances have you had on this property we have a variance for the uh FEMA rules um when the uh house was demolished if 4 feet down throughout the entire structure um the way that I intend to bring the house back is a more waterproofed flood prooof version of its previous so I'm not using drywall I'm using ceramic I'm using tile I'm closing up two of my four door openings um I'm elevating all of my appliances and all of my Cabinetry a foot off off the floor all of my wall sockets electrical will be 4 feet off the floor so I'm I'm taking every possible measure I can think of to flood prooof that house if it ever gets wet inside again then it'll be more of a hose down I and I as I discovered all the tile is gone but I have a terasos uh concrete floor and so uh from 16 in down the entire house the closets the walls the interior everything is completely waterproof uh when I'm finished and those materials cost more than just regular drywall and wallboard thank you so uh that would lead me to believe that there is uh one open variant SL permid on the property currently I do not have a permit I've been patiently waiting now for over 45 days at some point in time I do hope to get back into the house before the year is up and any uh building code violations none thank you that's all the questions I have any other questions for yeah Mike um so it's I was hearing Brandon say that it's a foot off or it would have been approved without coming here right is that right a four foot rather than a f the variance is 20t I'm sorry and it was 2 feet high instead of 52 in or is that I understand okay so just curious is the one foot like you it doesn't it can't shift over though to give you a 5ot variance there no you're you're you're talking about height height no I'm talking about I think off of what I understood is there was a 5 foot setback no 20 is what the code says if it was a um inground pool it would if it if it was at greed and it was inground pool it has a different setback because it's greater than 24 in above grade it's required to meet the principal building setback okay yeah because because my own home two doors down I think you have a 5 foot setback off of from my neighbors behind me right but you have an inground pool not an above ground correct so once you get 2 feet or greater above grade that's when a different setback it bumps to 20 exactly but let's just say for this I mean but even if it was in ground you'd still be looking for a variance of a foot is what I'm hearing because it's 4T 5T so I'm just asking still my question I think is the same which is why not go 5et I know it still isn't meeting it but at least it gives some distance from your neighbors you know your abing neighbors that I know aren't speaking because well one just rented and the others aren't there and then the other people don't have any it's vacant I'm just curious is the one foot adjust adjustment so that it's more in alignment with everyone who has more in ground pool is that a hardship as well uh we do have one large mature Palm that kind of would sit sort of at the at the corner of the pool um I I can certainly give it a shot I think we can get really really close and I'm perfectly happy to do that like I'll move the pool as close to the base of the Palm as I can to avoid killing it right okay I'll just do that voluntarily if it's not a violation I'll just slide it over as much as I can and and it gives the ureas a little bit more space to grow MH any other questions no thank you Mike thank you is there anybody here that would like to speak on behalf for against this application right hearing none we'll close public comment and open to board discussion yeah I think vice mayor Chase if I could real quick just because member Gara lived within uh a notice period so I usually ask um because obviously it's a small town and people do live next to their neighbors at times um just a one question can you can you be impartial in your decision today with regards to the variants in front of you uh absolutely thank you so my only concern is the one neighbor not the one that bought to rant but the one that refurbished um I I just would have liked to heard from them um other than that I don't have a problem with this but it would have been nice to have heard one way or another how they felt about it because it's going to be close to their property lot um I agree it's always nice when we can hear them and that's why we do the notices but we can't we have to move forward with the information that we have and hearing no opposition um I feel like is the information that we have to go off of I see that picture again or was it yours with the um the oras and just the Landscaping to kind of get that sense of both privacy for the pool bathers as well as the neighbors this one here there's I think there's a new another one too there you go those so those are the three new ones he think that he mentioned he just planted and then as you like look o so I see how that those will grow up with the one neighbor and then there's a the fence keeps going I don't know Mike or Brandon maybe you can speak but is there anything else happening down the fence line or was that part of what your staff recommendation was that those stay and you need to add more it was effectively just maint the recommendation was to maintain those for the life of the pool just to provide that screening they do tend to get fairly tall and they should provide a pretty opaque of course um but for the rest of the fence no I it was spe specifically because they have that that balcony walk out there um we just wanted to make sure that that was maintained but um there is some screening to the north as well because of the shed so to the South Mike would you have any issue with just continuing some natural screening down that fence line for the other neighbor too that would give some distance so if we go back to the the other picture that's to the north there we go to to the right of the picture so that fence ends about five or 6 ft off of the off the picture okay the fence after that is actually an open RW iron fence it's not solid all at at that point okay and the uh the territory there Narrows down pretty significantly from the edge of the deck to the fence itself it's only about 3 and 1/2 ft and um just for just for reference the balcony is actually a bedroom and I happen to know that because I used to in that bedroom um the previous owner Jee trogan not uh unfortunately passed away about a week ahead of the hurricane and uh her family allowed Kim and I to actually live in the house uh while we were busy looking for a condo to move into before we moved back into the to the garage and so I had a pretty good view of my own yard so I think the oras when they reach maturity in about two or three years uh will do a fine job and like I said it is a bedroom and the small window is actually a small bathroom Okay so that's that's their view so it's not okay very big View and that new tech Travel rental that's going to be the next one over you don't have any concerns about no I've talked to Brandon teberg who's managing it he doesn't have any concerns okay thank you all right um we'll close comment again any additional discussion I have no questions I I think that with what you were saying kath is I mean he's can't he's not going to change the diameter of the pool so they've done their measurements I think that it falls in line pretty much do we have a motion I make a motion to approve the St Pete Beach Board of adjustment case number 2434 with staff conditions I second VOC call member small yes member Gara yes member moholland yes Vice chair Chase yes motion carries en Jo your pool right moving on to the last case for today 2430 let's review experte prior to the city presentation none drive by it every day but I actually uh went to the site uh and I it it was kind of served a dual purpose I checked out the uh playground at the adjacent Park so uh uh it serves a dual purpose for me but I actually walked around the entire site just uh try to get the lay of the land um so that that's my exp Park I live at the on the adjacent Street and frequent the park um but nothing specific to this case I have nothing to disclose you pull PowerPoint so this is Varian case number 2430 for the property address it's an unaddressed property at zero Golf Boulevard it's the Gulf Beach water booster station this is a four-part unnecessary and undue hardship variance Michael Hoffman for penel County Utilities requests request variances to exceed the 20 foot maximum front yard setback along 45th Avenue with new construction with 43 ft provided this is a variance from Land Development code section 38.9 reduce the buffer along the Leo Park Side from 6 feet to 4 feet 3 in this is a variance from Land Development code section 22.7 V1 I just wanted to clarify with this one on the plan itself it shows between 3.9 and4 feet that was a measurement to the outside of the curb that I'm providing here it is the same as what the Apple has presented in the in the U packet there there hasn't been a change to the request of the variants I just wanted to um clarify that that 3 to 4 in discrepancy variance number three is to eliminate the requirement that the street level facade be at least 50% transparent with 0% provided this is a variance from Land Development code section 39.7 and along the western Southern and Northern sides reduce the percentage of the facade that must be covered with architectural decoration or Windows below the 60% minimum with approximately 40% provided along the Gulf Boulevard which is the west side front edge and 0% provided along the southern and Northern sides this is a variance from Land Development code section 39.8 B here's a listing of exhibits an aerial map of the property it's located along Gulf Boulevard to the northeastern side of gulf and 45th Avenue the property has a zoning of AC Activity Center government structures are an allowable use in this property um they are secondary to typically a medium to high intensity commercial structures is as is known by the uses in the vicinity so uh the there was a table in your staff report but I felt that given how uncommon these variances are it would be better to present them through the site plan and through the facade uh going through variances number one and two because of the size of this site because of the width of the property along 45th Avenue in Gulf Boulevard this site actually has a front yard that fronts along 45th Avenue the city when they adopted the activity center uh zoning District required that buildings be built a certain distance off the property line so instead of this being an encroachment toward the property line the applicant's actually requesting to construct a building further from the property line than what the code would allow for the setback is compliant on the western side the Gulf Boulevard side where 10 ft is required they do just meet that 10 ft but on the southern side typically for new development the building would need to be within 20 ft of the property line they are requesting 43 ft uh going on to the Landscaping buffer requirement on the east side and this only runs for a portion and specifically the portion um adjacent to the parking area they're requesting that the buffer be again between between four and four three four feet three inches where a six feet would typically be required they do meet the total planting minimums it's just the width of the buffer is a foot and three4 less than what it would need to be under the the new development standard moving on to the request for the facade variances in this zoning District the city requires that at least 50% of the ground floor be transparent the applicant is not proposing any windows or any mirrored glass or anything like that on the lower level so this is request for 0% ground floor transparency and they are also requesting that the architectural facade decoration be reduced to approximately 40% that is inclusive of the window requirement because they aren't meeting the ground floor transparency requirement they're also not meeting the architectural facade decoration requirement they're proposing approximately 40% or 60% would be required based on the new development standard here's a project rendering this is looking from Gulf Boulevard this is the most recent proposal for the facade of the structure that's that's proposed here's some photographs of the existing site again this is a corner property so signs were posted on both frontages uh this is looking from the Gulf Boulevard side to the east the existing building that will be completely taken down and replaced with the new structure the water tank is not being removed or or altered it will remain uh this is standing to the South looking to the north again that water tank will remain and this is looking at the park to the east this is the general area of where the variance to the Landscaping buffer is um requested staff went through the variance criteria in your staff report I will skip through these unless you have questions but overall staff finds of the request are reasonable will not have adverse impact in the neighborhood the request results from the applicant's attempt to mitigate challenges of the site posed by the remaining existing water tank location and modern storm water and utility requirements as well as mitigate future wind and storm impacts and may result in additional hardships to The Cider Community if inadequately addressed this building has a clear public purpose it is not a typical commercial structure that you may see newly developed in this zoning District in which there is public accessibility even a city hall you would expect there to windows for it to be open to the public uh this is not in any way open to the public and it's even infrequently accessed by penelo's County utilities which the applicants present they can speak more to the use of the structure but it's just not a typical um public facing building in that regard uh the variance requests are largely design oriented in nature they reflect the expectations of new commercial development rather than government service buildings that are not open to the public the applicant does need to uh um provide for significant storm water improvements on the site at the time that the site was originally developed back in the 1960s the city did not have any storm water requirements under the new code under this Redevelopment they do need to provide for storm water as if this were a vacant site of course the uh the existing water tank is present so they do have some challenges to contend with that aren't necessarily ones that are faced by a completely undeveloped site and for the Landscaping buffer reduction the applicant has provided sufficient additional Landscaping to mitigate the impact they are actually exceeding the Landscaping requirement in this area based on volume and based on the quality of the Landscaping it's just the width of that buffer um due to the parking area they're asking for that 1 foot 9 in um reduction staff recommends approval with two conditions uh the first is that the portion of the Eastern side buffer for which a variance is requested shall contain at least the density of landscaping shown in the landscape plan dated April 30th along with a hedge of at least 2T in height at time of planting this was shown in the plans that were sent to you that was what I was alluding to the applicant has since resubmitted they have increased the density of the Landscaping so they would meet it based on um what they have submitted since the publication of this agenda and condition two to mitigate visual impact along the western side of the structure compared with the present development the applicant shall prioritize Landscaping as follows installation of canopy or understory trees that will not impact the sidewalk building or inhibit drainage facilities and then this was the default to what was in your packet um installation of palms or other Landscaping that meet minimum planting requirements under the Land Development code the applicant unfortunately needs to remove the Oaks that are along the western side we worked with them we worked with their Landscaping AR architect to see if any pal or sorry any Oaks could be retained um due to the size of the building they will not be able to do that in the Landscaping plan that was submitted with your pack they had shown all palms they have since revised that as of a few days ago they are looking to install I believe crep myrtles um along the inside of the building so they were replacing a number of the Palms with crepe myrtles they will also be installing an oak at the northern and the southern side of the property not immediately adjacent to the building but they will be able to at least plant some new Oaks out of the out of the path of the building staff recommends um a motion to approve this un necessary and undue hardship variance all four items um under case number 2430 with the two conditions recommended by staff I did also want to mention I've talked with the applicant this they are currently at the site plan stage uh this is the two-dimensional layout of the site if this is approved based on the site plan they will then move on to the building permit I understand that they are planning to apply for two building sorry one building permit related variant it's a green building standard requirement the applicant may be able to speak to that more we've we've talked in the past about this that is not under this scope but it may be returning to in the future only for that request so I just I just wanted to mention that do you have any questions for me I do so one of the conditions is already been met what I understand they they've both already been met um I am working with the applicant on the the trees um you know with the crate myrtles they're they're not Evergreen so we would like to see some kind of um you know Evergreen planting at the frontage but they do meet the the variance criteria that or the sorry the two conditions that we recommended any other question Brandon thank you thank you applicant like to come forward good afternoon my name is Michael Hoffman I'm with Wright Pierce and we're here on behalf of panow County U utilities I'm also joined by Chris baggot who is Right Pi's project manager should I comment to any road procs and explaining some of these P portions of this project um I'd like to give a brief background of the project just to kind of summarize the the building what's inside of it the purpose of the project and other elements that may have not been mentioned by Brandon Brandon did a great job at summarizing everything so far um so the Gulf Beach water booster station is a critical facility that treats and distributes pable water to its servic area this service area generally extends from the city of St Pete Beach to Fort doto Park uh the existing P pump buildings a single story structure it houses two different booster pumps electrical equipment chemical analyzers bathrooms and a small amount of chemical storage and feed systems in separate rooms it was constructed in the late 1960s like Brandon mentioned and currently the existing station is vulnerable to gaps and Service as a result of several issues first the building was not designed to withstand the current wind and flood loads required by current building code in addition much of the building's equipment needs to be replaced due to age or deteriorated condition for reference typical service life of facilities such as these are around 50 years lastly additional equipments needed to improve the overall stations for reliability and the water quality output so the additional equipment that we would need that's contributing to the size of this building being bigger than what it is currently today is an a iium sulfate storage and feed system for improved water quality an emergency standby generator this generator would enable the station to continue operating during a power outage a fire suppression sprinkler system a mechanical house to host components of the fire suppression system and a standby booster pump which would allow the station to satisfy the surface area's designed Peak drinking water and the firef flow demands while one of the two operating booster pumps is offline so addressing those vulnerabilities is requiring this new two-story building to comply with the current building code requirements um in addition to those building code requirements we're raising the Second Story floor to be above the design flood elevation of the Year 2070 from what current data is showing and that's where most of the critical equipment is going to be housed um the critical equipment on that second floor will also be adequately protected by building code compliant flood actually excuse me the equipment on the first floor is going to be appropriately protected by building code compliant flood proofing measures so that's a little redundant so as a result we're building this facility to hold the equipment that we need and also meet the current criteria of the building code and also satisfy additional criteria to increase the resiliency of the system um Us in the county have worked diligently to make the proposed footprint of this site as compact as practical while meeting the intent of the code and as many standards as possible thank you for the history any questions for the applic know what's the timeline for the project construction what would you guess it will go to bid middle of next year so the middle of next year it goes to bid so when do we uh bidding can take a few months and then so this project to actually see come to for yeah the construction would commence likely late next year and it would take two and a half years roughly estimating maybe 2028 all right thank you for the history appreciate thank you for your I do just have a few more things um so you I know there was some comments about the design on the facade of the building MH so I guess there was I don't know if you have act corre ring so I know you're going from six uh well the recommendation I think was 60% of the facade is required by code but then I don't know that anything has been shared about what the plans are to make that kind of aesthetically unified around the building sure um so I'm not the architect I am the civil engineer of record I have talked to the architect about this and tried to get his information in terms of how he would describe it um first of all on the first floor the reason why there's no um transparency there is simply the design flood loads we simply couldn't construct it and maintain that structure if there was that 60% openness in regards to the facade uh the facade was chosen to mirror the ground storage tank and provide the overall look of the storage tank on the front as well so as more of an artistic decision um some ad goal was to right yes Brandon had one rendering maybe we could bring that back up that would be helpful there we go sure okay so that's intended to be consistent all the way around the building so it's along the front facade of what would be viewed from uh Gulf Boulevard in a portion of 45th Avenue um their design process for The Architects was to honor the established water tank through the color pattern material the approach was also to aim to create this balance by fostering the visual Cadence between the window placement and the surrounding negative space they added additional Art Deco elements characterized by the incorporation of those textured waves and fins to Echo the aesthetic of the area um they believe that maintaining a restrained approach to added decoration deserves the contrast between the old and new thereby amplifying the station's visual impact within its context okay and then in terms of the parking area the Landscaping buffer WID so we I I just I guess I just don't understand why the uh six feet couldn't be met and but you're requesting the 4.25 uh 3.9 foot and could you go back to the landscape plan okay I'm looking at a packet of information that's I apologize there's oh no um so it says 4 foot so 3 in of buffer versus six so we we were asking for a 3.9 foot landscape buffer I Brandon briefly mentioned that during his presentation I understand that the material says this um instead of the 6 foot the reason being is that we need to be able to have access around the tank for maintenance this area to the Northeast in that corner it's not built for vehicle traffic however there is the space there in case they need to get a maintenance vehicle back in that area if we were to maintain that 6 foot that brings over that wall an additional twoot and makes that area quite cramped in order to get a vehicle back through there okay anything else no great thank you so much thank you all I appreciate it is there anybody that would like to speak on behalf for against this application Robert isan 4506 Golf Boulevard I actually love the project I actually own the properties to the west to the north and to the east yeah three sides of the property so I've got no issue with the property I think they did a great job it's got as they mentioned the art deco contemporary look love the Tiffany blue colors to match the existing building my issue is if we can bring up that plan again the variance request detailed plan my issue is only with the Landscaping all the Landscaping on the I guess you want to call Leo park side or the North side with all those oak trees I despise oak trees Unfortunately they are messy they are maintenance you got to trim them so I a big fan of Roy palm trees date palm trees Christmas Palms I love what they're doing across the front of Gulf Boulevard by removing those oak trees and putting beautiful Royal Palms and I'd love to see Royal Palms down the side of Leo uh side as well which is a north side uh eventually we're going to be redeveloping that Park and we're going to be going with nice contemporary design very West Palm Beach very Naples which will all have royal palm trees so that will actually match what we're planning on doing here in the future so putting oak trees there is going to completely mess up the design we have um said other than that I'm happy to approve this but I definitely don't want to see any of those bushy the Cabbage Palms all that needs to go in my opinion all the stuff they this try just royal palm trees Royal Oaks or dat Palms those are classy they're nice we're trying to beautify St P Beach that beautifi St P Beach like said the the facade that they showed on front Golf Boulevard was perfect I would love for them to continue that just around the corner if they want to put stuff on the east side more palm tree or more oak trees there or from the 45th side go for it but on my side I'm requesting that you guys if you do move forward approve it with none of that shy stuff there I'm all about zero landscape less noise all of our properties are zeroscape it's the trend now where less weeds less uh guys out there mowing lawns so helps with noise pollution helps with irrigation as well you're not putting all the pesticides in the plant so it's much more Echo design that we do all our properties that we own so I'm hoping that the city can see that and respect that and uh approve it without all that Landscaping uh bushy Landscaping World palm trees are fine with me as many actually if you want to put 20 down there I've got no problem with that so I'm big fan of royal palm trees and a big fan of update Palms other than that love the project they've actually reached out to me panel's county has reached out to me to see if I would help them with staging and I said yes I'm Pro business and pro trying to get things done in St b beach so yeah I'm in favor of the project 100% thank you if there's nobody else here to speak we can close public comment and PR to board discussion I don't know if it's question for Andrew or not but I mean can we can we change the landscape on that I'd like to hear from the city I do like what Robert had to say about that Brandon would you like to comment on the Land Development sorry I was just going to say legally you add a condition um but I'm happy you're calling up Brandon because I know we have very high landscape requirements right um so hopefully he can speak to that okay sure so we could pull the PowerPoint back up it's the Landscaping along the front edge so along Gulf Boulevard and the southern side there will be some Duke equipment there on the southern side that needs to be screened and that there's actually an updated plan from this I just received it the other day um they'll be adding some new some new Hedges at the front there but it's the highlight portion in the red box on the east side by the park the west side and the south side that is required by code to the north and to the east outside the parking area um that's you know anything the board would like to see or the applicant would agree to would be fine there's no specific requirements so if they wanted to substitute for Royal Palms that wouldn't be an issue okay so just to be clear because I'm not sure if I know this map so the number two item on here is that in that red box is what would be the landscape buffer to is it Leo Park yes okay and currently I'm not sure what they're showing on here but you're saying oh treat preserve silver button wood cabbage palm and cocoa plum I'm sorry if I'm tiny font this this is entirely the new proposed vegetation plan I I don't have in the PowerPoint the what they're removing from the side but the the O that's the border to the to the park correct yes that is and I believe what's in question is to the the north of the building is where the neighbors requesting that be focused on Palms as opposed to the top of of our picture where the silver button wi isage Palm in the upper left yes the two where it says Southern Live Oak two so not bordering the Palm or not not about the park then where I thought we were having a conversation about the impact of The Oaks on the on the park itself but I don't believe um that was his concern I believe his concern was this Northern side of the um the property that is adjacent to his property um which is not where the variance is being requested anyway so I mean I could see that anything bordering our Parks we would love to see have pretty clean Landscaping MH so would you are more enjoyable than having lots of things to step on in um could we get a response from the applicant as to your thoughts on the Landscaping proposal no sure go ahead just your name and address again Roberts is on again yes so I see where the confusion I did say Leo park because that whole area used to be called Leo Park so my concern is what you're looking at the top portion where you see the one two 3 four five uh silver or Southern Live Oaks those Five Oaks there and then you see the Cabbage Palms there so that entire top portion of you're looking at at the top of the screen applicant would like to respond hello this is Michael Hoffman again um if we're talking about the area for that we're requesting the variants on in the southeast side um we're open to suggestions I mean they are the P plans are brought pretty far along but in terms of a change to the Landscaping um I think that's something we can accommodate with additional direction from the city uh the only thing I would ask is in terms of selecting those trees in that area that we're wary of selecting trees with uh large root systems in that area area we are planning a gravity wall in that area which is essentially just a retaining wall to help meet our storm water requirements um briefly going back back to that just give you an explanation why there's a retaining wall there to begin with uh underneath the parking lot is underground storage so stone rock that we're going to keep clean and that will help with infiltrating the runoff from the system as it goes through these permeable pavers that we have in the parking lot and in to the the northern side of the property with where there's currently like the number two Southern liveo Cabbage Palms landscape buffer and then the number three Southern Live Oak is that something you guys would be open to exploring alternating to um Palms uh we're we're certainly open to it as of now this is an an older plan but as we've been going through the site plan revision process I have the latest landscape plan in front of me um this area it's it's changed a bit um is that something you could put on the sure on the oh oh that's perfect we're [Applause] prepared I'm trying to get it so it doesn't go all right so I know this is this Northern Edge yeah woke lioke 12 cabbage Pals and then another lioke in the corner see there's typo there so two in the Northwestern Corner 12 cabbage Palms another Live Oak in the northeastern Corner the change has shifted since then from having those Live Oaks in the middle just from concerns with the county in terms of navigating a maintenance vehicle back there should they have to access the storage tent okay and if rather than having Live Oaks in cabbage Palms the request from the budding neighbor was to see um a date and what was the other type of B roal Palms is that something that you would explore certainly well certainly Christmas Pals the Christmas Pals don't grow very tall or right no they don't that's true V Palms don't grow that tall either so you but yeah the Royals are potentially going to be a could be a Roots problem though they're massive as they grow I would think that the goal it sounds like would be your neighbors would like to see more clean like Landscaping so I'm thinking that that's the goal versus dictating which type of of palm is necessary so you can decide based on what would keep the Integrity of your structures and I think that's the dialogue of just clean Landscaping certainly a fair assessment we'll look into that more and try to balance all those concerns okay thank you no problem ask a clar clarifying question real quick are these new plantings all of them yes okay thank you all right Mo over to board discussion well I guess we just need the legal definition of what we can how we could provide that they won't put those Live Oaks in there because they are they're messy and kids playing in the park and me just I'd rather see something else so I mean I think we can make the condition that the Landscaping um does not include Live Oaks and is in accordance with you know City requirements on well in that case um in the other two conditions we're already met so if I may I do believe and again I couldn't see the uh landscape plan but were there currently eight Live Oaks proposed from what I could see from the latest plan what are we talking about across the whole site y just total So currently one two if you look in the plan schedule on the right hand side I can't really see is it six or eight six okay and can you lay that back down sorry um do believe that along the frontage of Golf Boulevard there are some that are proposed so I don't know about eliminating all um because there currently are some just from an aesthetic kind of I think they're looking for Nostalgia a little bit um just for consideration there are six but along that Northern property line perhaps maybe the one to the East and the the one to the west but not on the corner just because I think it does and I'm not a landscape architect but um there is some continuity with the frontage um on that um but maybe possibly those two being removed at the North rather than just eliminate them all together just to so minimizing um The Oaks to the Gulf Boulevard the two North Oak is that how we want to turn that uh the the one towards yep that one that one not not the one on long golf because you have one directly south to that this that one in the one at the corner yes yeah highlight if you highlighted those if we could remove those then I think I mean I think it might just be that any new plantings be focused on clean um type of palm Landscaping trees versus adding additional Live Oaks I don't think we're talking about those are proposed pardon me those are proposed new ones with the total of six I'm going to say I think what we're discussing is anything new would be a correct me but I'm I'm I'm any any new plantings on at least I'll say the east west and North sides be clean tree type Landscapes ideally The Palms like a Christmas tree Palm fox tail Palm uh varietal is that am I saying that now not from my understanding with the applicant like what is currently there they trying to give that Nostalgia that we do have those Oaks and we had tried to work with them to try to keep them just because of Aesthetics um so any existing one stay which I don't believe there is any that are are staying okay so none would be able to stay is what you're suggesting so replacing those correct so because none could remain we suggest it just for what the property currently looks like adding them around to kind of keep it a similar Vibe I guess you could say so that's where you have at the most Northwestern corner there's two side by side there's one that anchors the most southern side along Gulf so I I mean I can picture it there because they're trying to keep with the same aesthetic that they have now um but those other two along the northern property line just inset from that corner in the most Northeastern perhaps but I'm just now we're becoming landscape architect okay I I just wanted to give you background I mean the board has its own but as far as we've been working with the applicant for some time that that's kind of just the background of where it came from that's all okay no thank you I can comment thank you so this design is actually very different than the variance on that we actually got in the mail because the one we actually received and the one I liked the one we actually the picture actually had Royal Palms going all down here so if you look at the variant request detail it's got Royal Palms going down here and that's why we want to match with the raal Palms going here now they got rid of all these Roy Palms here so now that art deco cool look that we were proposed is not that design anymore so I'm quite disappointed now so I'm glad we're actually looking at this because this is not that this is not what I received in the mail and that's not what was actually presented in that picture that picture actually had beautiful raal palms and that's what I'm looking to see there that's the art deco look that we're trying to go with so my proposal is Royal Palms the way they were crossed here Royal Palms cross here whatever else you want to put here and whatever else you want to put here that's mine with me but I think along long Golf Boulevard Royal Palms is the look that we want or they could be Fox tailes as well I mean that look very similar so you don't want to go with the F go with Fox tailes but beautiful Fox tailes here beautiful Fox tailes here but that's the Miami Art Deco look if that's what we're going for that's also the Naples look that's also the West Palm Beach look oat trees are up north look and that's not what they pull down St P Beach looking for um just for some general guidance Kristen Matthew given that we're here as the Varian support and there are two variances that we're looking to um make a decision on today is this Landscaping discussion really something that should be tabled and had separately between the city and the applicant as they get further down in the project I would say so I mean because they aren't specifically asking for that um and I mean they are as long as they're in compliance they can plant they want I mean is their property so yeah I mean looking at the variance requests as we have now you're looking at the buffer the width of it um but that is something we can take into consideration and possibly work with the applicant but I don't know if a civil engineer would feel comfortable with that and not knowing pricing and things and budgets that they have um probably a sidebar would be best I mean I really appreciate you bringing the conversation and I think it's great that you've had such you know great dialogue with the project already and I would encourage you to continue to do that I just think that component is beyond the scope of this support agree and I don't know if you want Matthew to weigh in on that as well this is this is a tough one because I I do agree with what Krist is saying because we do have code standards but at the end of the day they're applying VAR they're applying for a variance and if if you think some of the conditions related to Landscaping are appropriate to give to grant them approval then you have re right to do so thank you could I make a comment well I mean getting into types of trees is a little bit different than some of the conditions that you've seen before which is you know need to comply like if you're doing appropriate surface need to comply with certain landscape standards um so just keep that in mind I go ahead we are missing a couple key components here as one is the the landscape architect who's signing and sealing the plans and also continued communication with our client the count so originally we did have those palm trees on the west side but there was concerns about the Palm FR falling onto the sidewalk those type of Maintenance concerns and directly adjacent to the building so we would love to discuss the decisions on what type of vegetation where um outside the variance process since it doesn't directly involve the variances that we're looking for yeah understood thank you I have I have a question it has really has no bearing on this hearing I guess but at the same time if we don't address it at this particular Jun then we're we're not having any say in the matter I have a question just so I'm clear who's presenting here the gentleman and the Corvette sh what's your relationship to this project I I I missed that somewhere I own the property to the West directly across streight on Gulf Boulevard the plaza Beach Hotel I own the park or the what was the park over here where it's all fenced in now and I own a house on the other side as well so I'm three sides to it okay thank you any additional discussion or is there movement to make a motion well I I I think that we would like we would like to see the Landscaping be something that has minimal impact on its AB budding neighbors to say it in the most most simple way so in terms of clean Landscaping I don't know if that's even an expression that makes any sense but um I think that's what we okay so what what is the correct verbiage to approve this case what no Live Oaks no I don't I I think that wouldn't be the case but to suggest that um I don't know if we have to apply a percentage or we need to provide just a uh um a approval contingent on Landscaping plan that that may be something that needs to come back I'm I'm not sure I don't know if there's a recommendation uh for how we could proceed but knowing we're uncomfortable right now with maybe the Landscaping plan Direction I'm looking at the attorney I think now we CL for public comment I wouldn't make anything contingent because if you think about it a condition is a contingency right um so right now stats recommended that condition based on the density included in a landscape plan submitted on April 30th um you can modify that a little bit um but I wouldn't make a condition that you want to see a landscape plan prior to issuing this approval because if that's the case then maybe you should continue it and get a landscape plan and then make your okay so we probably remind you that the request is not for you know Landscaping it's it is for buffers and other things right buffers being reduced it has potentially more overlap into neighboring properties I mean I think this is a critical project so we probably don't want to kick this can down the road so I think we need to resolve whatever we need to resolve to it get it approved so they can get going on their bids and the like you know we're not talking about a parking lot here we're talking about our water supply so I would agree and valid point I think the the variance requests are very straightforward and that's ultimately you know our main goal is to um make sure that those are in compliance I think given the nature of the timeline of this project where Landscaping is so far out that I'd like to get the variances approved and have their understanding that they need to continue working closely with the city and the neighboring um owners to review Landscaping um as they have I agree thus far it sounds like they'll they'll do some work so that's that's fine and the other two conditions of that have been met so I think we should though edit I I would like to propose that the Leo Park variance area um a budding area is with is landscaped with I would like to make it a clean Palm Tree Line there so it's not impacting that Leo Park area you guys are open to that motion I'd like to at least say that section where the variance number two was but I don't think I don't think he can can grant that right now right he that's okay what I'm sorry what were you gonna say Krist you were saying the so looking at the property to the east side so not but I think yeah I understand we're talking North is what the okay I'm saying that's where the variance is and that's where the area is that I think directly ties into our community's Park area so that would be the one section that seems to me that would Brandon do you by chance know the the where you showed the variance request detail it's only like halfway through that property line that they're looking for that yeah that's correct if we can bring the overhead back up um that is approximately oh yeah actually that worked fine um that's approximately 70 to 80 feet I believe so they only need three trees there um substituting what's shown for palms would be perfectly fine there's no prescriptive okay if we're ratifying it based on this does the applicant have the authority to do that today well this is this looks good the the updated one has okay has that okay okay so then based [Music] on so then I will make a motion that uh we approve case number 2430 based on this updated landscape plan shared today and the conditions and the conditions we met based on staff recommendations second yes welcome so Qui question Kristen is the landscape plan that was presented today the one that you April 30th no that would not be the one I don't know if staff has had the opportunity to fully review it at this point as well okay uh the only reason I'm mentioning that is because you added a condition about you don't want two conditions referencing two different landcap [Applause] PL if they've already met the other conditions are those somewhat mute anyway Brandon could we just I I think you can leave out the conditions because they met it with the new plan and um I I think staff has pretty clear direction from the board on how to move forward with the discussions but those are discussions that we'll have with the applicant unless you'd like to make it okay okay so my modified motion is then is what I stated less the staff recommendation let me just state it again okay so I'll make a motion to approve case 2430 based on today's June 20th 2024 landscape plan that you shared okay do we have a second I'll second roll call yes member moholland yes member small yes me uh Vice chair Chase yes motion carries any other items for discussion Kristen Matthew um Matthew do you have anything I don't um again I apologize these these last two months we've moved dates and um probably should have been paid more attention for confirming but I appreciate the Indulgence and letting me appear virtually next week we'll be back or next month we'll be back to regularly scheduled so you will see me in person thank you and to that point we do have a couple of incomplete applications um however I do not have any that have been deemed complete there is one that may be deemed complete however they do need historic preservation Board review also TRC um so since they required that we will most likely not have a July 31st meeting and will be resuming on August 28th just to allow for both of those uh reviews to occur but I will be in touch plan an extra summer vacation everyone all right do we have a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn the St Pete Beach Board of adjustment meeting for June 20th 202 24 I'll second all in favor I I I thank you