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06-27-1979 \ u u CITY OF EDGEWATER BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT PUBLIC HEARING June 27, 1979 Chairman Millard called the Public Meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in Edgewater City Hall. ROLL CALL Mr. Millard r~r. Lupinek Mr. Poland Mr. Gnau Mr. Glaser Present Excused Present Present Present Also present: Mayor Christy Frank Opal ~1ason Ormsby The minutes of the Board of Adjustment meeting for" May 23, 1979 were approved by the Board. Mr. Millard welcomed Mr. Gnau as a regular member of the Board.. Mr. Gnau has just been appointed by the City Council to a three year term on the Board of Adjustment. The Board considered the application of Mr. Mason Ormsby for a variance to build a back porch on his house on Umbrella Dr. Mr. Millard swore Mr. Ormsby in and checked with the secretary to make sure the property had been advertised, abutting property owners notified and that there were no objections from neighbors. He congratulated Mr. Ormsby on the fine job he did in preparing the application. Mr. Poland said that he was under the impression that the houses in Florida shores faced on the lettered streets rather than the numbered streets. Mr. Ormsby said that four lots were divided and the builder chose to place the house facing the numbered street. Mr. Millard asked if the design of the addition would be in conformance with the rest of the house. Mr. Ormsby said that it would blend in with the house and also that he would provide adequate drainage off the roof of the added porch. There were no objections from any of the Board members to this addition. Mr. Millard called for a vote on granting the 10. variance to Mr. Ormsby for the purpose of adding a screen porch to the rear of his house. Upon roll call the Board voted to approve this variance 4-0. Mr. Millard declared the Public Meeting adjourned. , Q o Mr. Millard said that he would like to discuss the problem of buffer zones. Mr. Murphy wrote to the Council on June 5, 1979 stating that all owners that have been contacted by the Building Official in relation to buffer zones have complied. Letters have also been sent out to the used car dealers who received variances with conditions requiring them to install buffer zones. Also a copy of the Board of Adjustment letter to Mr. Murphy was mailed to Mr. James Cameron with a request to abide by the buffer zone provision of the ordinance. Mr. Poland said that he has not noticed any difference in any of the businesses that we referred to. Mr. Millard said that he was sure there have been some screening behind commercial establishment but it does not appear to be too evident that this problem has really been corrected. We are a voluntary board. and we are asked to make decision on difficult problems in relation to the 880 ordinance. We have tried to provide reasonable, fair and objective judgement on any case. The Board has maintained a unique record in that it has not been pressured by anyone individual and has been able to stay impartial in their decisions. It is difficult for the Board to understand why the Building Dept. is unable to enforce exactly the letter of the ordinances and the decisions made by the Board and the Council. This has been especially true in the special exceptions for used car lots. There was a clear understanding of what should be done, even set by resolution, but these regulations have not been carried out. It appears that certain people do not have to comply with certain requirements of the law. The Board members were given a copy of a draft letter concerning compliance with lawful decisions of the Board of Adjustment. Mr. Millard said that he would like this presented to the Council. He wishes to avoid personalities .and politics and just present the question which is when there is a provision in the ordinance, ~ a hearing has been held and the Board has stated what they believe should be done and this decision has been upheld by the City Council is it the intent of the Council to have that decision carried out and enforced? The Board should have a statement from the City Council if they want the Board to continue the work it is doing or would they rather we just drop the whole thing. He does not believe that the lack of enforcement is done deliberately. It may be lack of manpower to carry this out or a misunderstanding concerning these lawful decisions. The decisions carry the impact of law. The State Law upholds this and Mr. Woods certainly could show cases where this has been upheld by the courts. He approves of the idea that the City Council goes on record upholding the Board's decisions by passing various resolutions. Mr. Glaser said that there were provlslons in the ordinance relating to the separation of commercial and residential areas. If they are not going to be enforced then the provisions should be removed from the ordinance. Mr. Millard said that he believes that a community has the right under the law to require specific conditions for the public's general welfare and for the beauty and improvement of the community's appearance. The r~ght of privacy of residential areas, in effect, can be protected. A municipality has the right, under the general statement of the powers of the municipality, to require a screening between commercial and residential areas. It is a logical,"and rational solution to the problem of constant irritation between residential and commercial zones when people have to see the storage areas behind commercial establishments. Mr. Poland said that in addition to the general letter sent out by the Building Official there have been numerous specific regulations directed to individuals in connection with the granting of a special exception'or variance. These requirements were a legal part of the special exception or variance. They have not all been enforced. 2 ,~ u Q Mr. Millard said that Edgewater is going to grow, attract industry to provide jobs for the young people and a broader tax base that will benefit all our citizens especially the retired people and we have to make it a decent looking City. One of the simplest ways of doing this is screening between commercial and residential areas. There can1t be a rational objection to this. Mayor Christy said that it was difficult for the Council to keep track of all these variances and special exceptions and the requirements that were attached to them. Mr. Millard asked what the next step was after the Council has approved a decision of the Board of Adjustment and signed the resolution? Mayor Christy said that the Building Official gets a copy and should see that it is fulfilled. Mr. Millard said that there probably should be more complete adminis- trative procedures to follow up these individual cases so that the City and the Board would have assurance the requirements have been followed. The Board members agreed that there should be administrative steps taken to assure the requirements have been met. Mr. Poland said that if we take the applicant that appeared before the Board at this meeting as an example then after the Council has approved the variance and authorized, read and signed the resolution granting the variance the next step should be that the Building Official would get a copy so that he can issue a permit. When the Building Official makes the final inspection of this addition then possibly a memo should be sent from the Building Official stating that the building has been completed in accordance with the variance granted and complies with the resolution. A file for this applicant should contain the application, notice of public hearing, the Board's decision,and recommendation to the Council, the resolution granting the variance and finally a statement from the Building Official that applicant had complied with all requirements. The question was raised whether or not businesses that were grandfathered in with Ord. 880 have to comply with the screening requirements. Mr. Millard said that this has nothing to do with Ord. 880 we are talking about the right of a City to improve the appearance of certain areas for the general welfare of the public. Mr. Millard said that he realized that Mr. Murphy was a very busy man and probably does not have the time to check on every business. Mayor Christy said that Mr. Murphy is under contract to the City and part of his job is Enforcement Official. It is his responsibility to see that this is done. This is one of the things that he is paid to do. Mr. Millard said that possibly the Board of Adjustment, the City Clerk, the Building Official and the City Attorney need to have a joint meeting to work out details of setting up an effective procedure for handling the regulations and requirements of special exceptions and variances. The Board of Adjustment members approved and signed the letter presented by Mr. Millard. They also agreed that a joint meeting would be advi~able if they get confirmation from the Council that there should be compllance with lawful decisions of the Board of Adjustment. The meeting was adjourned. Minutes submitted by: Nancy Blazi 3 -;. ../ t1! . o o CITY OF EDGEWATER BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT PUBLIC HEARING Mr. Millard I~r. Lupinek Mr. Poland Mr. Gnau Mr. Glaser Present Excused Present Present Present \ I ~ I i June 27, 1979 Chairman Millard called the Public Meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in Edgewater City Hall. ROLL CALL Also present: Mayor Christy Frank Opal Mason Ormsby The minutes of the Board of Adjustment meeting for' May 23, 1979 were approved by the Board. Mr. Millard welcomed Mr. Gnau as a regular member of the Board., Mr. Gnau has just been appointed by the City Council to a three year term on the Board of Adjustment. The Board considered the application of Mr. Mason Ormsby for a variance to bui.ld a back porch on his house on Umbrella Dr. Mr. Millard swore Mr. Ormsby in and checked with the secretary ,to make sure the property had been advertised, abutting property owners notified and that there were no objections from neighbors. He congratulated Mr. Ormsby on the fine job he did in preparing the appl ication. Mr. Poland said that he was under the impression that the houses in Florida shores faced on .the lettered streets rather than the numbered streets. Mr. Ormsby said that four lots were divided and the builder chose to place the house facing the numbered street. uL- I Mr. Millard asked if the design of the addition would be in conformance with the rest of the house. Mr. Ormsby said that it would blend in with the house and also that he would provide adequate drainage off the roof of the added porch. There were no objections from any of the Board members to this addition. Mr. Millard called for a vote on granting the 10' variance to Mr. Ormsby for the purpose of adding a screen porch to the rear of his house. Upon roll call the Board voted to approve this variance 4-0. Mr. Millard declared the Public Meeting adjourned. . o o Mr. Millard said that he would like to discuss the problem of buffer zones. Mr. Murphy wrote to the Council on June 5, 1979 stating that all owners that have been contacted by the Building Official in relation to buffer zones have complied. Letters have also been sent out to the used car dealers who received variancesw.ith conditions requiring them to install buffer zones. Also a copy of the Board of Adjustment letter to Mr. Murphy was mailed to.Mr. James Cameron with a request to abide by the buffer zone provision of the ordinance. Mr. Poland said that he has not noticed any difference in any of the businesses that we referred to. Mr. Millard said that he was sure .there have been some screening behind commercial establishment but it does not appear to be too evident that this problem has really been corrected. We are a voluntary board..and we are asked to make decision on difficult problems in relation. to the 880 ordinance. We have tried to provide reasonable, fai,r and objective judgement on any case. The Board has maintained a unique record in that it has not been pressured by anyone individual and has been able to stay impartial in their decisions. It is difficult for the Board to understand why the Building Dept. is unable to enforce exactly the letter of the ordinances and the .decisions made by the Board and the Council. This has been especially true in the special exceptions for used car lots. There.was a' clear understanding of what should be done, even set by resolution, but .these regulations have not been carried out. It appears that certain people do not have to comply with certain requi\ements of the law. The Board members were given a copy of a draft letter concerning compliance with lawful decisions of the Board of Adjust~ent. Mr. Millard said that he would like this presented to the Council. He wishes to avoid ,personalities .and politics and just present the question which is when there is a provision in the ordinance, ~ a hearing has been held and the Board has stated what they believe should be done and this decision has been upheld by the City Council is it the. intent of the 'Council to have that decision carried out and enforced? The Board should .have a statement from the City Council if they want the Board to continue the work it is doing or would they rather'we just drop the whole thing. He does not believe that the lack of enforcement .is done deliberately. It may be lack of manpower to carry this out or a misunderstanding concerning these lawful decisions. The decisions carry the impact of law. The ~-_I State Law upholds this and Mr. Woods certainly could show cases where this has been upheld by the courts. He approves of the idea that the City Council goes on record upholding the Board's decisions by passing various resolutions. Mr. Glaser said that there were provlslons in the ordinance relating to the separation of commercial and residential areas. If they are not going to be enforced then the provisions shculd be removed from the ordinance. Mr. Millard said that he believes that a community has the right under the law to require specific conditions for the public's general welfare and for the beauty and improvement of t~e community's appearance. The r~ght of privacy of residential areas, in effect, can be protected. A municipality has the right, under the general statement of the powers of the municipality, to require a screening between commercial and residential areas. It is a logical"'~nd rational solution to the problem of constant irritation between residential and commercial zones when people have to see the storage areas behind commercial establ i shments. Mr. Poland said that in addition to the general letter sent out by the Building Official there have been numerous specific regulations directed to individuals in connection with the granting of a special exception'or variance. These requirements were a legal part of the special exception or variance. They have not all been enforced. 2 ~ .. (.) o Mr. Millard said that Edgewater is going to grow, attract industry to provide jobs for the young people and a broader tax base that will benefit'all our citizens especially the retired people and we have to make it.a decent looking City. One of the simplest ways of doing this is screening between commercial and residential areas. There can't be a rational objection to this. Mayor Christy said that it was difficult for the Council to keep track of all these variances and special exceptions and the requirements that were attached to them. Mr. Millard asked what the next step was after the Council has approved a decision of. the Board of Adjustment and signed the resolution? Mayor Chri.sty said that the Building Official gets a copy and should see that it .is fulfilled. Mr. Millard said that there probably should be more complete adminis- trative procedures to follow ~p these individual cases so that the City and the Board would have assurance the' requirements have been followed. The Board members. agreed that there should be administrative steps taken to assure the requirements have been met. Mr. Poland said .that if we take the applicant that appeared before the Board 'at ~his meeting asan .example then after the Council has approved the variance and authorized, read and.signed the resolution grantin~ the variance the next step should be that the Building Official would get a copy so that he can issue a permit. When the Building Official,makes the final inspection 6f this addition then possibly a memo should 'be sent from the Building Official stating that the building has been completed in accordance with the variance granted and complies with the resolution. A file for this applicant should contain the application, notice of public hearing, the Board's decision,and recommendation to the Council, the resolution granting the variance and finally a statement from the Building Official that applicant had. complied with all requirements. The question was rai sed whether or not businesses that were grandfathered in with Ord. 880 have to comply with the screening requirements. Mr. Millard said that this has nothing to do with Ord. 880 we are talking about the right of a City to improve the appearance of certain areas for the general welfare of the public. Mr. Millard said. that he realized that Mr. Murphy was a very busy man and probably does not have the time to check on every business. Mayor Christy said that Mr. Murphy is under contract to the City and part of his job is Enforcement Official. It is his responsibility to see that this is done. This is one of the things that he is paid to do. ~-~ Mr. Millard said that possibly the Board of Adjustment, the City Clerk, the Building Official and the City Attorney need to have .a joint meeting to work out details of setting up an effective procedure for handling the regulations and requirements of special exceptions and variances. -. The Board of Adjustment members approved and signed the letter presented by Mr. Millard. Th~y also agreed that a joint meeting would be adVisable if they get confirmation from the Council that there should be compliance with lawful decisions of the Board of Adjustment. The meeting was adjourned. Minutes submitted by: Nancy Blazi 3