officer meeting. There are agendas for everyone on the back table and also on the back table are forms you can fill out if you would like to speak or receive a copy of the final decision on any case on today's agenda. If you think you might want to speak during the hearing, you will need to complete a speaker form. Once the form is completed, please hand it to our clerk. I'm Barry Buenaventura, an attorney with Kahn and Buenaventura PA in Tampa. I've been appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to be a land use hearing officer to hear variants and special exception cases. If anyone has a pending case in which I or my firm is representing you, please bring that to my attention now as we want to avoid any potential conflicts. I have reviewed all the cases and I don't believe that to be the case. During this meeting, please put all cell phones and communication devices on vibrate. The cases will be called in the order listed on the agenda unless there is a request for a case to be taken out of turn. These hearings are quasi-judicial, which means they require due process and the decisions are to be based on competent and substantial evidence presented during the hearings. County staff will present the county's review and recommendation on the case first and then the applicant will present any additional information they would like to provide. After the applicant has concluded their presentation, I will open the hearing up for public comment. This is the public's opportunity to provide information and express their opinions on the application. If you have any questions that come up during the presentation, you can ask them during your time to speak. Please do not ask questions or make comments from the audience while others are speaking at the podium. The county, the applicant, and I will note your questions that you raised during your comments and try to have them answered following the close of public comment. When it is your turn to speak, either for your case or during public comment, please state your name and address for the record into the microphone. These proceedings are recorded and it is very important that you speak into the microphone to ensure an accurate recording. After public comment closes, the applicant and the county will be given the opportunity to answer any questions or reply to comments that may have come up during public comment. They will also be able to make concluding statements. The hearing will close for each case following the concluding statements of the parties. My decision will not be given today, but will be provided in a written final order within 14 days of today. Again, if you would like a copy of my decision, please fill out the form on the back table and provide it to the clerk. For the record, I want to note that there have been no ex parte communications that I've been involved in. That means that nobody has contacted me about these cases outside of the hearing today. If anyone should need an interpreter, please let the clerk know and the county staff will try to arrange one for you. All testimony today must be given under oath, so I will now ask our clerk to swear in all speakers. If you are going to address the land use hearing officer on any case today, please stand, raise your right hand, and answer out loud to the following question. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you provide today? Is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Okay, the first item up on our agenda is approval of the minutes from the November 14th, 2023 land use hearing officer meeting, and if we can have the record show that I have reviewed those and they are accepted. And then we move into old business, and the first item under there is LDL SE 2023-16. I do want to note just for the record, there is a case that was continued to this month. It's not on the agenda. It has been continued again to January 25th, so just for the record. It was advertised, so we have to just put that on there. Okay, and could you tell us which one that is so that there is a record of that as well? Yes, it is LDL VAR-2023-54, the tiny terrace variance. Okay, and so that will be at the January 25th. Yes, 2024. Great, thank you. Our first case is LDL SE-2023-16, the Tabitha Way 2 Special Exception. The applicant is requesting a special exception to park a commercial vehicle on a residential property. For purposes of notification, 14 mailers were sent on November 21st, 2023. One board was posted on November 8th, 2023, and a legal ad was published in the Lakeland Ledger on December 1st, 2023. Staff has received one response in opposition, and Ian Nance is the case planner. Good afternoon, Ian Nance for Land Development. Staff recommends approval of this special exception request to park a 2006 Freightliner Semi with no trailer on residential properties south of Frostproof. Subject site is approximately 1.1 acres and a legal lot of record within an agricultural residential rural land use district. Typically, minimum lot sizes and ARR are five acres, and if this was the case, a special exception for parking this commercial vehicle would not be required. Likewise, there would be no cause for a hearing if this vehicle could be parked within an enclosed structure. Since these standards are not being met, a parking commercial vehicle here is subject to LDC section 216, which requires, with approval, these vehicles would be parked to the side or rear of a home, at least 20 feet from all property boundaries, with type B landscaping or the equivalent of natural landscaping. The applicant submitted the site plan shown here, which shows these standards can be met. The nearest home to the parking area to the south is to the south, but is the subject of the next special exception case you'll hear it under the same ownership. After this, the next nearest home is over 170 feet to the west and is screened by existing oaks and vegetation. The property has direct access to US Highway 27, a principal arterial roadway that makes this property very attractive to commercial vehicle parking. As such, the truck won't have to travel any local roads to access the highway. This is between Frostproof and Avon Park, with few legal places to park this vehicle. Here's a picture of the mobile home on site. The truck will be parked to the rear. On the top right corner is a picture of the driveway. Since US 27 is a state road, Polk County has no jurisdiction requiring driveways, but you can see that a commercial driveway is already here. Given the proposed location of the parking area, it is not anticipated to create a negative impact on the health and safety of surrounding residents. The other standards found in LDC section 216, shown here, can be met. Again, staff recommends approval, and I'll stand for questions. Will the vehicle be visible from outside the property when it's parked in the proposed location? It would be extremely difficult to see from the garage here, I'm sorry, from the garage, from the grove to the north. There are this ample number of oak trees through here that pretty well buffers the parking area from the nearest home is back over here, I believe. And again, this same property owner owns this property here and is planning to park in the truck behind that house. From the road, I doubt you'd be able to see it with the home in the way, and it's a good, I think I have the staff report almost 300 feet from the right of way back behind the home. It's well screened and short is what I'm saying. And there is room behind the house, it's kind of cramped back there, but there is room behind there to still meet the setback requirements? Yes, ma'am. I've looked at it a thousand different ways. There's room to get just the truck only. The original request was for a truck and trailer, but we can't do both there. There's not enough room for that. It's kind of an oddly shaped parcel given where the home actually is in the park back here. If the home is parked almost all the way up here, you can park in any number of spots back here. But there's limited room, but there is enough to meet the 20-foot setback. And do you know how long the home has been on the site approximately? I don't. It's been there for quite some time. It's registered as a 1960s mobile home, but that could just be when they bought the mobile home and not when it's been actually on site. I didn't have an accurate enough information on when it was actually placed there. You look through aerials, there's more canopy back there in the day too, so it's just too hard to say. Do we know about how long the applicant or current owner has owned the property? I think I had it since 2021. I believe that's right. I think it's in staff report, 2021. 2021. Is additional screening required or is the vegetation in the home enough? And you probably addressed this in the report, but I'm just... Yes, ma'am. There's a significant... It's an oak grove back there, so it should be enough on the property to keep it buffered to meet our type B landscaping standards, which is fairly minimal for canopy trees. In any case, any special exception permit holder has to abide by those rules anyway. Okay, so there was a proposed condition that they have to maintain the screening, but... Correct. Probably, at least for now, what they have there is adequate. Correct. Gotcha. Okay. All right. And I understand the applicant has a representative. Is she here? Can you come forward, please? If you could start off just by giving your name and address, please. My name's Nora Frayer, and the owner asked that I represent her today. Okay. Could you pull the microphone down just so we're getting that recorded? Great. Thank you. She asked that I represent her today due to language barrier. She did bring this to me, and I did kind of discuss the conditions of the parking permitting. I was listening to the gentleman here explain the property, basically, and he's correct. The property is very well surrounded by the orange groves and brush bushes, and they own both properties, and they park the vehicle there. That is their main source of living, so that's the reason why they're asking for the permit, the parking permit. And how do they use the vehicle as a source of income? They're a sod company, so that's what they sell. They deliver, they deliver. And as a deliver company, obviously, that's the type of vehicle that is required for such loads. And so you said you've reviewed the proposed conditions of approval with the applicant? Yes, ma'am. And they are aware that they cannot park the trailer on the site, and they're aware of the one-year time frame that they would need to reapply. Not to come back for a hearing if they meet that time frame, but that they need to renew it. Okay. Anything else you would like to add in support of the application? No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And I will now open up this application for its public hearing. Is there anyone who came here today to speak about this application, either for or against? Seeing no one, we will close the public hearing. Anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Okay. That concludes this item, and we can now move on to LDLSE 2023-15. Our next case is LDLSE-2023-15, the Tabitha Way 1 Special Exception. The applicant is requesting a special exception to park a commercial vehicle on a residential property. For purposes of notification, 12 mailers were sent November 21st, 2023. One board was posted on November 8th, 2023. An illegal ad was published in the Lakeland Ledger on December 1st, 2023. Staff has received one response in opposition, and Ian Nance is the case planner. For the record, Ian Nance, Land Development. This is going to look very familiar. Staff recommends approval of this special exception request to park a 2009 international semi with no trailer on residential property South Frostproof. Subject site is approximately 1.1 acres and a legal lot of record within an agricultural residential rural land use district. Again, typical minimum lot size is an ARR of 5 acres, and if this was 5 acres, a special exception for parking this vehicle would not be required. Also, if this vehicle could be parked within an enclosed structure, we would not need this hearing. Again, since these standards aren't being met, a parking commercial vehicle here is subject to Section 216, which requires these vehicles to be parked to the side or rear of the home at least 20 feet from all property boundaries with Type B landscaping or the equivalent with natural landscaping. The applicant has submitted the site plan shown here, which shows these standards are met. The nearest home to the parking area is to the north, but that was the subject of the previous special exception case under the same ownership. After this, the next nearest home is over 200 feet to the west and is well-screened by existing oaks and vegetation. This property also has direct access to US Highway 27, a principal arterial roadway that makes this property attractive to commercial vehicle parking. This truck won't have to travel any local roads to access the highway. This is between Frostproof and Avon Park with few legal places to park this vehicle elsewhere. Here's a picture of the mobile home. The truck will be parked to the rear. On the top right is a picture of the driveway on the US Highway 27, which is a state road. So Colt County does not require a driveway permit, but they already have a commercial driveway there. Given the proposed location of the parking area, it is not anticipated to create a negative impact on the health and safety of surrounding residents. The other standards found in LDC Section 216, shown here, can be met. Again, staff recommends approval, and I'll stand for questions. So this one is also, you're recommending approval, but again, without the trailer? Yes, ma'am. Okay. And is that because there wouldn't be room for the trailer to still, um, to park back there and still meet the required setbacks? Same situation. Yes, ma'am. I mean, I believe with the trailer and tractor, it was over 70 feet long and there's simply, you got a hundred feet of width back there. And if they tried to park it with 20 feet off the rear parking lot, it would extend into the front yard with both. You may have this in the staff report and I just, you know, don't recall. But do you know how long the applicant has owned the property? I believe since 2021 as well. And I do know that this mobile home was placed just this year. And that's kind of the holdup while we have, this is to have a throw away one. We were waiting for the building permit to be issued for the mobile home on this site, because we can't proceed with the, uh, the special exception unless there's a primary structure. Licensed there. So it's been here since 2023. This is, uh, an old one. This is 2020 aerial. So they bulldozed this or demolished this and put a new mobile home in the same location. Okay. So the location was selected because that's where the prior mobile home had been. That's my understanding of it. Yes, ma'am. And will the commercial vehicle be visible from outside the property if it's, or if and when it's parked, um, in the proposed location? Even less so than the last one, actually. It borders a vacant lot to the, um, to the south. And then there's a line of Oaks there. And then again, the Oaks are along the rear of the property. And then you have the primary structure blocking it from view of the road. And even more trees out there along the front edge of the property. So it's, it's going to be well screened if parked where they're showing it. Okay. And, um, Ms. Frayer, I think you're, you're up again. Yes, ma'am. Um, this property shaped a little different versus to the first, the first one we discussed. Um, the customer was wanting to know if my, um, the way it's shaped. We've, I guess you would consider the front of the house or the front of the mobile, um, mobile home. There is a very large area that's surrounded by trees. Um, there isn't any neighbors. Um, and I guess her question was, if it's kind of like to the side of the house, would it be an issue to use that area for parking? Um, simply because it's also easier to exit, um, since there is only one driveway. So you're proposing a different location than is shown in the site plan. That's the subject of, well, there is, I understand that it has to be parked behind the home, the mobile home. Um, there is some space. It's kind of tight, but they have parked back there. Um, to my understanding trees, it was cleared. Trees were removed in order to have even more space in order to park the, not just the, the, the truck, but also the trailer. Um, but I think they also wanted to know what, if they were, I don't know if you, if the county would take into consideration and parking towards the front on the, um, site there, the site location. Um, that's right there. That's, that's, there's a lot of room there. You can't see anything from the road because of the trees. Um, okay. So when you say to the side, you don't mean to the side of the mobile home, you mean. No, but I mean, it does fly to the side of the mobile home, but they also wanted me to question that area. So two different proposals, one directly to the side of the mobile home and one in front of into the side in what I think we might call a flag on a. Flag. Right. Well, I'm going to toss that to, um, staff to see if that's something you can consider, um, on the fly like this, or if in order to consider it, this would need to be continued for you to review that and offer. Um, on the flight to the, to the side of the mobile home, that's not an issue. And they, they have the room. They could park it there and have 20 feet, best of our measurements up here. It's, it's kind of a dead issue because it's still to the front of the, uh, structure and it's, it's called out very specifically and must not be parked in the front yard. And, you know, I, I understand where they're coming from. You can look at it. It's kind of a no brainer, but that's still a tenant of two 16 there that I can recommend approval for. Okay. Um, so that a waiver both understood that there's a absolute requirement in the code that it cannot be in the front yard. And even though it is to the side, it is still in front of the front of the home, which is my understanding is how the county applies that. If it's forward of the front face of the home, that's the front yard. Yeah. Um, so if from what I'm hearing is that it would be permissible. It would be permissible to park on the side, um, of the mobile home, as long as it's not forward of the front face of the mobile home. Um, that's not what's shown on the staff report. That, well, that's not what's shown on the site plan. I should say. That's part of the staff report. I, I, staff would have no issue. Like you said, as long as it's not intruding above the, uh, past the front of the home, it could be in the side or in the rear. It's, it's, it's all equally screened. You have the same property owner here to the north. So that there's no, it wouldn't change our, our judgment of this case, as long as it just meets the, the rest of the standards that aren't as negotiable. And a lot of it comes in code enforcement that they come out there and they have it parked, you know, within five feet of this property line, whether they have drawn here or drawn there. Then that's the answer for what fair enough. Um, do you understand what the, okay. So if this is approved, um, the location of the vehicle must be, you know, at or behind the front wall of the mobile home and at least 20 feet from all property lines. Um, and there would not be room for the trailer if it were parked there. Okay. So it's still going to, you know, if this is approved, it's still going to be without the trailer because I think the only place the trailer would fit is in the front, which is not allowed. I understand. Well, I've been out there. Um, it does seem like that here from the screen, but when I went out there, it was, they showed me where he backed up and there is enough room for him to fit the trailer back there. And it was a lot of space. There was 20 feet or probably more. Um, the, like I said, he cleared out some area there cause they had some trees and he did clean that out in order to, um, have more room to park the trailer there. Well, I, I, I, I'm not on the site, so I can't say, um, I think your option is to either, um, you know, present something here today that demonstrates that, that that can occur or accept a continuance and provide something to staff that demonstrates that the trailer can fit even directly to the side of the mobile home. So I think, you know, those are two options that you have. The third option is to proceed today, understanding that if this is approved, it would be approved without the trailer. I think we're going to ask for a continuance, um, and provide you with the, I guess, some photos and the footage that, that does fit back there. Is that, um. Yes, ma'am. I'll say for the record, this has come in, this came in, I believe in June and we've seen multiple site plans here. And the math just does not work out to have 70 feet worth of vehicle to the rear of the home here without going into one setback or the other, or to go beyond the mobile home. I, I know their intentions. I, I do. If this was a variance hearing, I would very much be in their favor of the hardship here, but it's not, you know, we can keep continuing this, but I just don't see how the math is going to work on it unless they get a shorter trailer of some kind or shorter vehicle. That's kind of where I'm at question. Um, when I asked the owner where the property starts and where does it end? Um, they showed me, um, I know sometimes I guess property appraisal, this is from property appraisal. I'm not sure how accurate they are on their footage. Um, but I will, I, I'll just ask for continuance and then provide something, provide photos or perhaps video or something showing where it does fit. Okay. Um, just a suggestion, if you're going to do that, that you provide something to staff that is verifiable in the distance, you know, that, that it can fit, um, with the required setbacks, you know, just the applicant making the assertion that it can fit without demonstrating that is probably not going to win the day. Okay. But okay. Leave that to you. Um, I would request no less than a deed showing where the structures are on there and the property lines. If we're going to go that route, a deed or a survey survey. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Survey. Okay. Go back to your client and they can decide if they want to, you know, incur the cost to do that. Okay. So then this will be continued to the January 25th, 2024, um, land use hearing officer meeting. That's a month, almost a month from today. It's just over a month. This is December 14th. Can we go into February? I'm not quite sure when it comes to a survey, what, um, the waiting period would be. Yes. Yes. We can wait. Okay. So I, the date then would be February 22nd, 2024. That okay. Okay. So we will continue this then until February 22nd, 2024. Okay. Next up we have LDLSE 2023 dash 24. Our next case is LDLSE dash 2023 dash 24, the Steven drive special exception for the record. Amy little with land development staff is recommending approval of this application to allow one commercial vehicle to park on a residential property, Northwest of Polk city for the purposes of notification. 22 mailers were sent November 21st, 2023. One board was posted on November 28th, 2023, and a legal ad was published in the Lakeland ledger on December 1st, 2023 staff has received no response. Subject site is approximately 2.77 acres and is a lot of record in a residential suburban X land use district. The site is developed with a mobile home, which the operator of the vehicle resides in. Minimum lot size in this land use is five acres. And if the site, um, met that they would not be required to come in for the special exception. Um, if it were also parked within a structure, the special exception would not be required. The subject vehicle is a 2018 international semi truck with the trailer. The parking area will be to the south of the home meeting the 20 foot setbacks from the property lines, which is required by section 216 of the land development code. An opaque wooden fence or type B landscape buffer will be required to screen the vehicle on the north, east and south boundaries. The nearest home to the site is over 200 feet to the east. This is looking to the east. The home is to the north and the truck will be parked further to the south over in this area. There is vegetation along the roadway that will largely block the truck from view. As shown in the aerials, the truck travel path to highway 33 north passes approximately 30 homes. As part of the conditions of approval, the driveway, um, which would need to be billed to commercial standards, um, and confirmed with the building division that that was done prior to parking the vehicle there. Staff is recommending approval. We find that the request meets the standards in 216 D of the land development code. No more than one commercial vehicle would be permitted with this approval. And the site plan shows an adequate area that allows the vehicle to be parked while maintaining the 20 foot setbacks from property lines and minimizing the visibility from the road or elsewhere off site. And with that, I thank you. And I will stand for questions. Do you say that commercial driveway is already there? No, it is not. It will need to be constructed. Yes. And you said it's approximately 30 homes that it passes. Yes. And that's once it gets off of highway 33. Correct. Yes. Is the applicant present? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Sofia Mercado Hernandez, the house owner. Okay. And your address for the record? 10231 Stephen Drive, Park City, Florida 33868. Okay. Um, you've heard the presentation from staff. Do you have anything you would like to add in support? Yes. Yes. Um, my property is big enough. I don't believe that I need a driveway in my property. I have two entrance. Um, yes, I just need, you know, my brothers, um, they park the truck like twice a month, not every day. Um, and I really need the permit to have my brothers, you know, allowed to be in my property like four times a month. Before, they were packing two truckers, I was not aware, you know, how was the law and with the parking and everything. But now I do understand that it's only for one truck. Um, yes, I just need your help. So you've indicated that it's your brother's truck? My brother's, yeah, my brother's truck. And who operates the truck? My, my brother. My brother, yeah. Um, oh, the, can you repeat? What do you say? Sorry. Is it your truck or your brother's truck? My brother. My brother. Okay. And you operate the vehicle or your brother operates? No, I do not. They do. Okay. So the, the owner operator is required to live on site. Does your brother live in your home? Yes, they live in my house. Ah, okay. Can you tell me how your brother uses the vehicle? I, is it for his business? And if so, what type of business does he have? He drive all over the 50 state. And, um, he just come home to rest, eat, and then go back in the road. But the truck is not always, uh, at home. Can we talk about the requirement for a commercial driveway? Yes, you will be required to have a commercial driveway accessing a county road. That is a requirement to park the vehicle there. That's not something that can be waived. Okay. Is there anything else you want to say in support of the application as to why it's needed or? Yes, um, my brothers are very, um, I do understand that it's a residential area, but they are very, um, respectable. They don't make noises, um, they do understand that it's a residential area, and they are the only one who support me as a single mother with my child. I do not receive any child support. Um, they are good people. Okay. Um, we do have three individuals who have, um, asked to speak during public comment. Um, you will be given an opportunity to speak after them if there's anything you want to say. Sure. Um, but unless you have anything else to say now, then, um, you can have a seat and you will have an opportunity afterwards to address any concerns that they raise. Thank you so much. Okay. Thank you. And I am now going to open up this application for public comment. I do have, uh, three individuals who have signed up to speak, um, and I will call you up one at a time. I would ask that when you do come forward that you start by giving your name and, um, address. And it might help if you were also to say, you know, approximately how far from, um, the subject property, you know, you live. That would be helpful. So we will start with Zarina Allred. Yes, please. If you could come forward and take your time, um, to the podium. My name is Zarina Allred and I live at one Oh three, four, nine Steven drive approximately at least 250 feet or 40 feet. I think it is. And we live at a residential area. The semis coming in and out of there will tear up the roads and we impossible for us to get in and out. The roads are narrow as to begin with for cars and regular pickup trucks to pass by there. And we don't need semis coming in and out tearing up the road. It's off of 33 where we live. It is a total residential area. Okay. Um, you've indicated the road is narrow. Do you know how wide the road is? No. Okay. Anything else you want? Pretty hard to pass a semi coming in or there with a trailer. It would tear the roads up totally. Okay. Are there any other commercial vehicles that go up and down that road? No. Unless they're going back there to that plant that's back there. It's not a plant. It's a, what's it called Steve? It's a treatment plant of some kind, but there's no semis going back there unless they're delivering stuff. But it's not an everyday occurrence. Okay. Thank you. Um, I will call Molly Boyette. Molly Boyette, 103-55 Steuben Drive. Do you know approximately how far from the subject property? Fixed houses. Okay. And what did you want to say? We do live on a narrow road. We have enough speeders and all going up and down there as it is. Semis coming through there will destroy the road. They just repaved it after 30 years last year. We don't need it being torn up by semis coming and going. We don't need the extra traffic from them because, believe it or not, we may not have many kids there, but there are elder adults who get out and go for walks on there. And people don't seem to understand that, and it does, they don't care. Not just the semis, but trucks or cars in general. It's mainly the road, though, that I'm concerned about because they don't come out there. It's a county road out of the area. They don't want to repave it every year because the semi is driving up and down it. And right now they've got two of them parked there, and you can see it from the road. I don't know how they're going to hide them without totally redoing their yard. To me it's going to be an inconvenience for everyone. That's about all I have to say on it. Okay. Thank you. Okay. And our third individual who was requested to speak is John Boyette. Boyette, 103-55 Steuben Drive. And as they previously stated, our road is narrow. It's barely big enough to get two cars through. Getting past even the school bus that runs down through there is kind of hard at times. Especially on Thursdays when our trash men run, they set up cans out in the road. If there's anything close to the edge of the road, you have to stop, pull over, let whatever's going by go by. And like she said, they just repaid that road after 30 years. We don't need it torn up with extra traffic, especially the weight of a semi coming down through there. Whether loaded, unloaded with a trailer, without a trailer. Now there is a county something way in a back back there that does some kind of processing. They do have a delivery truck that comes back there. But like they say, it's not a semi. There is others that come through there that do have semis. And it is difficult to get by them because there's quite a few people out there that are truck drivers. At one time we had signs up on that road that was put up by FDOT that said no truck parking in that area at all. But those have since disappeared in the last 30 years. Thank you. Thank you. Questions for staff. Is there a weight limit on the road? No, there was not a weight limit on the road that I could find. And I did not see any signs when I went out there for the site visit. Semis prohibited on the road? No. No, ma'am. Is there anything else you would add based on the comments that you just heard? I would just note that the roadway inventory indicates that the pavement width is 20 feet, which it is below standard for a residential, a local residential. But we would imagine that that's, you know, due to the age of it. I know it was just recently repaved. And there is 70 feet of right of way just to have that measurement on the record. So 20 foot wide paved travel path, what is, you said that substandard, what is standard? I believe it's 24 feet if we were to build it to current standards. At the age of the roadway, they probably just paved it to what was existing, what was there. Sure. Is there a shoulder of anything other than grass? It's just grass. So the remaining 50 feet of the right of way, which is probably approximately half and half? Yes. I would believe so. Is grass on either side? Correct. Sidewalk? There. There's no sidewalk. Anything else? No, ma'am. Okay. I will give you an opportunity to come back up and say anything else that you might like to say in response to the comments that you've heard. You're not required to, but I'm giving you the opportunity to. I'm going to express myself. I do understand the concerns. We all work very hard in this country. We all pay taxes to have this road to be repaired. And I want to give the opportunity to, you know, to my brother to be with me. I have 2.77 acres and that's it. Thank you. Okay. I do just want to make sure you understand, ma'am, if I can have you come back to the podium. I just want to make sure you understand that if this does get approved, there are certain conditions that would be placed on the approval, such as you would have to install a commercial driveway where your driveway connects to the road, the paved road. You would have to park in the area that's designated on the site plan, at least 20 feet away from any property line. And you would have to make sure that your, that the vehicle is screened and buffered from view. So if your current vegetation that's out there doesn't meet the county's requirement, then you might have to add some buffering that would screen the view of the truck. Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Um, if it's approved, it would be valid for one year and sometime before that year comes to an end. If you want to continue having the truck park there, you would have to come in and request that it be extended. As long as you do that before the year expires, you wouldn't have to come forward for another hearing like this. But if you wait too long and the year has passed, then you would be starting all over again. Okay. Um, and it's only good as long as you own the property and as long as your brother lives there and it's his vehicle. If any of those circumstances change, then the approval is no longer valid. I do understand. Okay. Thank you. Um, is there anyone else who came here today to speak, uh, regarding this application? Okay. Seeing no one, we're gonna close, um, public comment. Anything else from staff? No ma'am. Thank you. But you'll send me a copy of them. I think I've got the names, but just to be sure. Okay. Next up, we will move to LDL VAR 2023-41. Our next case is LDL VAR 2023-41, the third street variance. The applicant is seeking a primary structure right of way setback reduction from 15 feet to eight feet for a front patio and primary side setback from seven feet to four feet for an addition to the rear of the home. For the purposes of notification. For the purposes of notification. For the purposes of notification, 15 mailers were sent November 21st, 2023. One board was posted on November 22nd, 2023. And a legal ad was published in the Lakeland ledger on December 1st, 2023. Staff has received no response. And Melissa Celestine is the case planner. Good afternoon. For the record, Melissa Celestine with land development presenting LDL VAR 2023-41. The applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the right of way primary setback from 15 feet to eight feet for a front patio and a primary side reduction from seven feet to four feet for the construction of an addition to the rear of the home. Staff recommends approval. The subject site is located west of Sniperly Avenue and east of US 27. The subject property is approximately 8,700 square feet located in the residential low four land use district. According to chapter two, table 2.1 of the land development code, the minimum density by right is 6,000 square feet. The applicant intends to construct both structures with solid roofs attached to the primary residence. Therefore, the structures are considered to be part of the principal residence and is required to meet the principal structure setbacks of 15 feet for the right of way and seven feet for the interior primary side setback. The subject property is identified as a portion of lot 25 and 26 in the South Winter Haven extension subdivision. The 649 square foot residence was acquired by the applicant in February of 2015. The proposed request is associated with a code violation CMA 2022 1171 for building without a permit. Since then, the applicant has applied for a building permit BR 2023 6268, which is on hold by the building division until the variance is approved. Approval of this request will be the next step in remediating the issue. Here are some of the code enforcement case photos showing the applicant building without the permit. According to the submitted site plan, the rare addition will include a secondary patio, a bathroom, and a laundry room. Both structures are proposed to be attached to the primary residence with a solid roof. The site plan provided by the applicant indicates that the structure will be set back five feet from the eastern property line. However, the provided survey indicates the existing home is four feet from the eastern property line. Given the applicant has indicated the addition to the rare will be in line with the home staff is recommending the reduction to be at four feet. While the applicant could possibly construct a detached accessory structure to the rear of the home or utilize the western portion of the property to comply with the setback requirements for the district, this would not result in the highest use of the property. Denial of the request will limit the applicant's ability to construct the additions for their expanding family. Here are some site visit photos. This one is going to be where the front patio is going to be. And this one is going to show the distance from the neighboring property and the fence location. Staff recommends approval. Granting this variance is not anticipated to be injurious to the surrounding properties or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare of the neighborhood. The owner of the subject property desires to renovate the current residence, which has existed in the same location since the 1950s. According to the applicant, approval of the request is necessary for the expanding family. Staff finds no issue with the request. The setback reduction for the intended structure with civil intended structures was still allowed for maintenance between said structures and the property lines. Staff found no easements under subdivision plat and the structure will remain approximately 10 feet from the neighboring structure, which satisfies fire and building code requirements. Additionally, the home is located towards the western terminus of the road. So traffic is limited to the neighboring property's vehicles. A fence is also located on the subject site to ensure the proposed structure does not encroach into the adjacent lot. With that, I thank you and I'll stand for questions. So the aerial that I'm looking at that's included in the staff report, I think shows that this lot is near a cul-de-sac, but the, um, uh, locational arrow runs right over the end of the road. This one right here shows it. Okay. Okay. So they are, they're just two lots from the end. Okay. Um, the, the western portion of the lot is, is that a separate lot or is that all one lot? This would have been the portion of one of the lots. So it's not the full lot of lot 25, I believe it's just a portion thereof. Okay. But the, the full property that's shaded in blue is considered the lot of record. Correct. And altogether that's about two tenths of an acre. Yeah, it's the, um, well it's the eighty seven thousand square feet. Eighty seven. Eighty seven hundred. I'm so sorry. That's okay. I'm just making sure. Okay. Huge. So the staff report indicates that I guess that initially there was thought that the existing structure encroaches, encroached into the neighboring property. But the, the boundary survey satisfies staff that it does not. Correct. And that's also why we decided to go with the four feet. Um, because that's what it's showing here on the boundary survey. What is the distance between the eastern edge of this structure and the structure to the east? This right here? Well, between structures. I didn't measure the exact distance, but I know it is ten feet because, at least ten feet, because as you can see right here, this is the house and then this is the fence that's gonna separate it and the neighboring property. And then the rest structure is gonna be in line with the building right here, so. Okay. And I guess we assume that driveway is at least approximately ten feet wide. Yeah. Okay. Is the applicant present? Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Buenas tardes. Buenas tardes. Um, I take it we're going to have a translator with us. Yes, you are the translator. Okay, if we could have the translation swear in, please. Do you swear or affirm that you will truly and correctly translate English into Spanish and Spanish into English here today? I do. I do. Thank you. For the record, you are? My name is Juana Bustos. Okay. Thank you. My name is Juana Hernandez. Okay. Two Juanas. Got it. All right. So, Ms. Hernandez, you've heard the report from staff this afternoon. Did you understand what was said about your application? Is there anything you would like to say in addition to what you heard today in support of your application? Do you want to show something else in your report? Do you want to add something else? Not a mistake. Most of that čist uh et ma lo Well that state speak lo okay so she just wanna make sure asking for for the setbacks yes okay in order to evaluate a variance application we have to consider hardship something that is unique about the property or your circumstances that justifies deviating from the code can you elaborate on that in this case she wants to just asking if it's gonna affect the front or the rear she had to explain go both okay la parte enfrente es muy pequeñito y cuando llueve o hace demasiado aire es o sea que moja mucho okay so in the front of the property where she wants to put if it rains it rains too hard and it floats through it por eso estoy pidiendo tres pies se pidieron tres pies pero yo no sé cuántos me puedan dar okay so she's actually thought that she's asking only for three feet but she's wondering how much you are allowed to give her but I get on that in order to get bigger from the door that's a question for staff the application was to reduce the front from 15 feet setback from the right-of-way line to eight feet so if you are asking now for something different than that we need an understanding of what it is you're asking for and I need to hear from staff whether that changes their recommendation the stormwater or whatever you want to do is they are asking what they're asking for or if they are asking for it they need to do the same thing and what they are asking for 15 feet? is it no necessitas eras ocho yo tengo entendido que la persona que me me dio me me dio de la calle para dentro es por eso queda 15 pero de la casa para acá es de la puerta para acá no da los no no da 15 paya okay so she just understood that when they measure was from the street to the house was 15 but then she thought that it was only from the line of the property into the house which would have been eight de la puerta para acá yo tengo entendido que da creo ocho so she thinks it actually was just eight okay so she's not really sure if it was then 15 the correct number but she thought it was just eight gonna let staff take that yeah so I think for clarification the right-of-way setback from a local road is gonna be 15 feet so she's asking to reduce that to the eight feet in order to build a front patio closer to the road so the pictures on the screen in this site plan that you submitted it shows that from the house to the property line is 18 feet but with the with the extension that you're gonna be doing it's gonna leave eight feet from the patio to the property line so it is in the middle you think it's a semi-dance on kinsett a la propiedad a la niña para dentro pero entonces lo que usted va tiene solamente despacio en vez de quince van a ser ocho susurro que tan diciendo oh okay okay and then the sides instead of it being five right here it's just gonna remain in line with the existing residents but it's gonna be four feet based on the survey showing that the house is four feet from the property line so everything if approved will continue to go north this or you know go up this way and remain in line with the existing house at four feet okay so in a lado solamente lo que está pidiendo diferencias son cuatro normalmente son cinco is five is it can't be five feet it's four feet per the um survey boundary so you're supposed to be okay no solamente entonces son cuatro pues lo ahora este yo estoy de acuerdo lo que ustedes me aprueben si me lo me aprueben los yo pe tengo entendio que pidieron tres pero si me aprueben ahora si yo les dejo que me aprueben lo que ustedes me quieran aprobar para poderlo sería no mucho de donde está sería un poco más así okay so she understand whatever is she's they're gonna be approving to her she will find she was just asking for a little more change differences to this amount okay I think we have that clarified for the applicant but I don't think I got an answer to my question about hardship okay so ella lo que quiere preguntar otra vez que como esto va a afectarte si no te lo prueban pues me voy a seguir mojando okay so pero eso para el frente so she's just saying okay so I'm just gonna continue getting wet pero el frente lo quiere para que para es que a veces uno se sienta que le gusta uno ver la lluvia okay okay so the front I actually just wanted the front specific just to sit out and enjoy the weather sitting outside and if it rains then she will get wet so the rear I want to explain to you it now no tengo lavandería las lavadoras están al interperie entonces por esa razón yo quise hacer una lavandería atrás y un baño extra porque nada más tengo un bañito okay so for the rear the purpose is to place the washing machine and so on because they don't have it it's out exposed and then she wanted to add a bathroom because they only have one bathroom in the home and I would also like to add for the applicant that at 649 square foot that is pretty small for typical houses especially right now so I just like to have the applicant put on the record their demonstration of hardship but I do recognize that the house is very modestly sized okay thank you is there anything else you would like to add that's all for today thank you she said thank you for everything I will now open up the public hearing for this application is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application either for or against seeing no one we will close uh public hearing is there anything else from staff no ma'am thank you and we will now move to LDL VAR 2023-56 our next case is LDL VAR-2023-56 the Belmont Woods Drive variants the applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the primary side setback from 15 feet to 5 feet for a carport attached the existing single-family home for purposes of notification 18 mailers were sent November 21st 2023 one board was posted on November 9th 2023 and a legal ad was published in the Lakeland ledger on December 1st 2023 staff has received no response and Aaliyah Nglema is the case planner good afternoon Aaliyah Nglema with land development presenting LDL VAR-2023-56 the Belmont Woods Drive variants the applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the primary side setback from 15 feet to 5 feet for a carport attached to the existing single-family home and staff is recommending approval the subject site is located at 1565 Belmont Woods Drive west of Belmont Avenue east of Belmont Woods Drive south of Dean Street Mulberry and section 11 Township 30 range 23 the property is located within an agricultural residential rural land use and in the rural development area the property is lot 20 and is within the recorded Belmont Woods subdivision the lot was recorded on October 6th 1989 this property is located within the ARR land use district and is approximately 0.68 acres according to table 2.2 of the LDC the density in ARR is one dwelling unit per five acres and the property is approximately 29,620 square feet which this lot can be compared to an RL2 a land use which has a minimum lot size of 15,000 square feet Belmont Woods plat shows the owner's lot having a 20-foot drainage easement to the rear of the property the applicant wants to store vehicles under the carport to protect them from weather damage the carport will be built within the side yard of the property off Belmont Woods Drive which is a local residential road the small lot size and the property slope does not result in the actions of the applicant and creates a hardship when developing the parcel the subject site has a power pole to the south of the property and the south side is also used as a pathway to the rear of the property the south side of the property slopes the lot size and the slope of the property creates a hardship when development when developing staff finds that the variance if approved will not be interest to the surrounding homeowners or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare the neighborhood is the single-family home will meet all other all other setbacks for this parcel and will stay out of the rear 20-foot drainage easement special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or building is at the property slopes of the south and the small lot size and I'll stand for questions could you tell me again where the power pole is on what side I don't think it's shown on the site plan the power pole is over here so it's on the to the south of the parcel yes north going in two different directions on the on this slide so I'm just trying to catch up you tell me approximately how far it would be to the closest structure from the proposed structure to the nearest house yes um ballpark is fine I'm just uh maybe probably 100 feet the carport will be to the nearest home to the north lastly I think the um staff report has an um outdated last name if you could spell your last name for me please um inglima i-n-g-l-i-m-a thank you okay is the applicant present hi my name is william ramirez good afternoon good afternoon so um you've heard the presentation from staff is there anything you would like to add in support of your application okay is there anything you would like to say to support your application other than what you've heard today yes okay is there anything else you would like to say no only parking for my new car okay um is there another um park covered parking location on your property is there a garage or a carport already no hey anything else okay thank you thank you i will now open up the uh public hearing for this application is there anyone who came today to speak regarding this application seeing no one we will close the public hearing anything else from staff no ma'am okay thank you and that now takes us to our last item for the day which is ldl var 2023-57 our last case is ldl var-2023-57 the walk and water road variance the applicant is requesting a variance to construct an accessory structure larger than the primary structure and to reduce the side setback from 10 feet to 2 feet for the purposes of notification 12 mailers were sent november 21st 2023 one board was posted on november 21st 2023 and a legal ad was published in the lakeland ledger on december 1st 2023 staff has received two letters in support and melissa celestine is the case planner good afternoon for the record melissa celestine with land development presenting ldl var 2023-57 i wanted to make one correction before i started and that's the right-of-way setback um is actually 25 feet in the arr not 15 as i stated within the report so i'll adjust those before i upload it okay but they're not requesting a no variance to that no okay very good the applicant is requesting a variance to construct a 3040 square foot garage that is larger than the 2115 square foot primary residence in addition the applicant proposes a side setback reduction from 10 feet to 2 feet for the construction of said structure staff recommends approval the subject site is located south and west of highway 60 east along walk in water road the site has an agriculture residential rural land use designation according to chapter 2 table 2.2 of the land development code the accessory structure setbacks in the arr are 10 feet for the interior size and interior rear property lines the right of the right-of-way setback along a local road in this district is 25 feet the applicant acquired the property in may of 2004 the subject parcel is approximately 0.70 of an acre although this is below the required five acre residential lot size for the district the parcel is a lot of record and the home was constructed in 1974. the applicant here you can see how the lot size width and location of the existing home is a hardship for any additional structures to be constructed without a setback variance and approval by the land use hearing officer according to the submitted site plan the proposed garage will be well over a hundred feet from the right of way the owner wishes for the garage to be in line with the existing driveway and an enclosed two bay garage which which has remained in the same location since the 90 since the 90s to the right is what the property will look like if the applicant request is approved according to the applicant's justification denial of the request will cause the applicant financial hardship because the deposit was already provided for the structure here are some of the site visit photos the neighboring structure is here to the left and then this is where the proposed structure is going to be to the right here is a close-up to show that there are no structures on the adjacent site that will be affected by the applicant's request staff recommends approval according to the pole county properties appraisal website the existing accessory structure was constructed in 1993 under an approved building permit no issues of its location has been discovered there are no structures on the adjacent site that will be affected by the applicant's request because the closest structure is approximately 100 feet away the applicant was also able to acquire a five foot maintenance agreement from the adjacent property owner consequently no evidence was found to suggest that approval of the requested variance will be injurious to the surrounding properties with that i thank you and i'll stand for questions oh i have the wrong picture there i'm sorry so there are there are no structures on the adjacent property to the south that's completely vacant or there's just nothing on that side nothing right here the house is much further to the back i see okay so it's over here and how far do we know how far off the property line the existing home is i will defer to the applicant for that okay that was about 200 that's 200 maybe about over 200 feet it looks like i think you must be answering a different question i asked i think i meant to ask how far their home is from the property line what's the setback i'm sorry from the sides or from the front i apologize from the side i should have been more clear my apologies the survey shows um 2.69 feet okay in looking at the proposed conditions of approval you had one that the applicant had to obtain a recorded easement and you're saying they've already obtained that that is correct and has it been recorded yes um lisa has is it in here the maintenance agreement okay okay so it hasn't been recorded yet or at least this copy is not a recorded copy but you're going to require that it be recorded yes okay and they could just take it over to the property um to the clerk of course i'm sorry so get that gosh was it friday okay well this actually indicates their intent to prepare another agreement at least as i read it that's what the intention is i guess we'll we'll get to that when i speak with the applicant but i mean i'm asking staff i mean have you looked at this and you find this acceptable i did look at it when i read it i didn't see that they intend on creating an additional maintenance agreement though okay all right in that case we'll turn to the applicant good afternoon hi joseph and sharon mcgin okay 4435 walk on water road 1519 southwest mockingbird circle port st lucie's our primary home okay could we adjust the microphone down just or or you've got a handheld wonderful great i didn't see that i'm so sorry um okay well let's start with my questions about the um the letter of agreement that you've provided that's dated december 8th um it's a letter from you sir to mabel mary barnes right so as i read the letter um if she signed the letter you were then going to move forward with having a formal agreement drafted that's what your letter says so is that what you're going to do no that was the letter of agreement there okay well i'm just reading what's here it says if you agree that all the terms stated in this letter of agreement are correct please sign this letter of agreement and return it to me and i will move forward with having a formal agreement drafted well that i tried ma'am i tried to get i called three attorneys okay i was advised to get an attorney okay i called three attorneys about this here and no one had any interest in taking care of this for me so i did it myself and all that was that was a uh format that i got off a line okay and then filled in the bottom there okay that she was giving me the right of way the five foot right away okay and then we took it to the bank and had it notarized and that's what i brought and that's was what i thought i needed okay i'm not i'm not an attorney but that's what i thought i needed okay well um let me just say that if your application is approved the county has um included a proposed condition of approval that you would have to provide a recorded easement granting access rights to that five foot strip of property on your neighbor's uh property um i'll leave it to the county to decide if this meets their requirements or you know something else would be needed but um i suppose this is um at a minimum a first step um let me see if i have any other questions for you so if you could tell me a little bit about how you intend to use the new structure okay um i've got a rv sitting outside that i paid a lot of money for it's used but it's a lot of money to me okay i've got a few trailers sitting there okay and i also show and i maintain uh some antique and nostalgia cars that i show and the building is to store these items so they're not out in the weather in the sun here in florida the the rv is built like everything is now plastic and fiberglass the sun's very brutal on it uh it's an it's an older vehicle but i paid a lot of money for and that's basically what the building is going to be used for and then the um structure that's already there which is a is it a garage or a carport it's it's a pole barn garage yes okay and um i take it that's not enough to meet your needs you need another structure in addition no on one side of that i have two lawnmowers in there i have some storage in there and any uh mechanical work that i have to do on any of the cars okay is done in the other bay my other issue ma'am and that is that i took and i signed a contract i thought this was going to be pretty easy to do okay i signed a contract uh with a building manufacturer and they're manufacturing the building and installing it okay i was under the understanding this meeting originally was going to be on the 12th okay so i told them i was going to get the variance that it was that i thought was required okay and that i would know on the 12th to move ahead with the building okay now if i've got to wait the cost of the building is going to go up because i guess there's some things that have changed in the county uh at the first of the year uh so that's my other issue number one i gave him a deposit i put one foot in front of the other too soon obviously okay and then i came over here and i asked if there was anything that i needed okay to have this building put up and that's when i was told about the variance okay and that's why i moved ahead trying to get the variance get that handled uh for this meeting okay so uh if i don't do the building or can't get the variance okay i've got i've got a couple issues okay and that is number one i'm going to lose my deposit okay number two uh where am i gonna where am i gonna put this stuff at am i gonna leave it outside uh and that's not what i want to do is that where it all is now outside the trailers and everything i think you can see in the picture the trailers and uh toter home the rb they're all sitting outside and i'm doing just the opposite with most of the other people that were here today okay they all want to park stuff outside and in their yards and this man i'm trying to do just the opposite i'm trying to get it out of the yard yard okay and out of view of the people okay and get it inside okay um just another question for staff any issue with an accessory structure being in the front yard not this type of accessory structure just because it's a storage okay what type of accessory structure is it an issue for one more time you said it's not a concern for this type of accessory structure what type of accessory structure is it an issue for like if they wanted to put an accessory dwelling unit or something like that but anything for storage storage is fine okay but for the storage of parking vehicles yes okay but to park an enclosed structure to park a vehicle is permissible okay including an rv and anything else gotcha that's a ma'am that's the reason why the building is as deep as what it is okay is because it's 36 foot long okay to put it inside the building okay i had to have a 38 foot building that gives me a foot in the front and a book put in the back of the building for the vehicle to go in there anything else you would like to add no okay thank you okay oh i do have one more question and you can answer it from there um um how tall is your existing home story home i don't don't have the answer to really okay um the height of your proposed structure is shown to be nineteen and a half feet okay so not dramatically different one way or the other from keep everything lined up okay the building that's there okay the garage the other garage or pole barn that's there and this building that i'm putting up i'm kind of anal about stuff like that okay it's i want it all in one line okay thank you i'd like to anyway okay so um this is a public hearing and so i'm going to open it up for anyone who may wish to enter the room and speak uh regarding this application either for or against seeing no one we will close uh public comment close public hearing um anything else from staff no ma'am okay thank you that uh concludes everything for today thank you