Polk County Land Use Hearing Officer on 2024-11-12 1:30 PM

November 12th, 2024, Land Use Hearing Officer Meeting. Do we have our recording going? I don't see it. Okay. There are agendas for everyone on the back table. 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. My name is Barry Buenaventura. I'm an attorney with Kahn and Buenaventura PA in Tampa. I have 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 don't believe that to be the case, but please let me know if you think it is. 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, 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 opinion on the application. If you have any questions that come up during the presentation, you can ask them during your time to speak from the podium. 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 questions you raise 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 important that you speak into the microphone to ensure an accurate recording. After public comment closes, the applicant in 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 have the opportunity 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 the decision, please fill out the form on the back table and provide it to the clerk. For the record, I want to note that I have received no ex parte communications. That means that nobody has contacted me about these cases outside of the hearing today. If anyone should need an interpreter, please let the county clerk know, and 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're 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. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you provide today is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Thank you. Okay. The first item on our agenda is the minutes from the October 24th, 2024 meeting, and if we could please show those as accepted. And then we will move to our only item under old business, which is LDLVAR 2024-39. Good afternoon. Eric Peterson for the Land Development Division. On LDLVAR 2024-39, David Cochran, on behalf of Amy and Franklin Anglin, is requesting a reduction in the primary side setback from 15 feet to 2 feet for a covered dock. Property is 0.2 acres. It's located in the Rural Cluster Center District. At 172 Catfish Street, north of Bowie Street, east of Bass Street, south of Lakeview Drive, east of the City of Dundee, in Section 19, Township 28, Range 29. On October 4th, 36 mailers were sent to area property owners. One board was posted on the property on September 27th. A legal ad was published in the Polk News Sun on October 9th, 2024. Aaliyah Inglema is the case planner. Good afternoon. Aaliyah Inglema with Land Development presenting LDLVAR 2024-39, the Catfish Street Variance. The applicant is requesting a reduction in the primary side setback from 15 feet to 2 feet for a covered dock. The subject site is located at 172 Catfish Street, north of Bowie Street, east of Bass Street, south of Lakeview Drive, northeast of the City of Dundee, in Section 19, Township 28, Range 29. The site is approximately 0.20 acres located within the rural cluster center, future lane use, and in the rural development area. This request is associated with building permit 2022-77-26. The permit failed inspection for not meeting setbacks after being reviewed by the building official. According to the permit, the applicant shall resolve the discrepancies before the permit can move forward. This lot is part of the Lake Hashten Hall Resort and RV Park, which started developing in the 1960s prior to the adoption of the Polk County Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code. The parcel size of 0.20 acres is significantly smaller than the rural cluster center, future lane use, lot size of 20,000 square feet. Since 2020, eight homes within the subject development have received approved variances for additional structures on their lot, and one of those previous variance approvals in the community was for a dock. Here's a picture from my site visit. A condition of approval has been added that the structure shall include gutters designed and constructed to channel or capture stormwater runoff and prevent it from draining onto the neighboring residential properties. The special conditions and circumstances present in the request that do not result from the actions of the applicant is the lot as part of the Lake Hashten Hall Resort and RV Park, which started developing in the 1960s prior to the Polk County Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code. The parcel size of 0.20 acres is significantly smaller than the rural cluster center residential lot size of 20,000 square feet. The RCCR lane use requires a 15-foot primary site setback. The size of the lot significantly limits the amount of usable space without necessitating a setback relief. And I'll stand for questions. There is a note somewhere in the staff report that the dock was built in 1994. Is that a former version of the dock and this is a new replacement for that dock? Was there a dock previously there? Yes, there was a dock in 2020 aerial photo. Okay. This is a replacement. Is it in the same location? Or have we encroached into a setback that we did not encroach into before? I believe that it wasn't covered prior, so that's kind of where, since it's now covered, the covering for the dock is not meeting the setback. So the covering is what triggers the need for a variance? If it was uncovered, it would not need a variance? Yes, it's vertical structures are what we measure setbacks from. In the 2020 aerial photo, it's there, so it's probably been over two years after the dock has been removed, then their grandfathering expires. Okay. I don't think I have any other questions for staff. Is the applicant present? Okay. If you could come forward, please. Aye. Aye. If you could start by giving us your name and address, please. David Cochran, 1521 Newport Avenue, Lakeland, Florida, 33803. Okay. So you've heard staff's presentation so far. Is there anything you would like to add in support of the application? No, ma'am. The only request I'm making is there's two poles that are encroaching on the setback. The poles that are down in the water are not encroaching at all, so really we're just talking about two support columns. The two that are shown there on land, I take it? Two on the concrete pad. Okay. And the support poles will be two feet from the property line? Yes, ma'am. With an overhang? Yes, ma'am. Okay. The overhang doesn't go past the property line. Okay. And you are aware of staff's proposed condition to require gutters to capture and channel the stormwater? Yes, ma'am. Are those? There's no gutters at this time, but I will recommend the owner add some, and they will be added. Okay. And that won't, the addition of the gutters will not put it over the property line, I assume? No, ma'am. The gutters would probably be even with that slab, as you can see. One of the criteria that staff and I have to consider when reviewing variance applications is hardship, something unique to the property or circumstances that justifies deviating from the code, relaxing the setback. Can you address that criterion, please? The hardship would be if the poles were moved in, it would encroach on traffic flow around that corner of the, there's a mobile home on this property, and the corner of it is just out of that picture, and it would encroach the traffic flow around that corner of the house. Traffic flow of? Not cars, I'm just talking about just the flow of people walking around. Okay. The owner next door is putting up a fence, I believe, so that kind of makes everything closer together. Okay. It's a single-family residence, correct? Yes, ma'am. Okay. I didn't mean traffic light, vehicle traffic. Anything else you would like to add? No, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Do I need to stay or can I leave? You can have a seat. Okay. And I will now open up this application for public comment. Is there anyone who came today to address this application, either for or against? Okay. Seeing no one, we will close public comment. Is there anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Cochran, if your question to me was whether you needed to stay beyond this discussion of this application, you do not. We're now done discussing this one. So that's up to you. Okay. I think that takes us to new business and LDLSE 2024-8. LDLSE 2024-8. Rick Mahias is, on behalf of Rafiak Mahias and Judith Hernandez, are requesting a special exception to park a commercial vehicle and trailer on a residential property on 1.09 acres in the Agricultural Residential Rural District. The property is located at 2720 Brook Road, north of Stokes Road, south of Garfield Road, west of Lake Hendry Road, east of Fort Meade, in Section 17, Township 31, Range 26. On October 23rd, 16 mailers were sent to area property owners. One board was posted on the property on October 22nd. A legal ad was published in the Polk News Sun on October 30th, 2024. Kyle Rogas is presenting. Good afternoon, Kyle Rogas with Land Development, presenting LDLSE 2024-8, the Brook Road Special Exception. The applicant is requesting a special exception to park a 2013 Freightliner and trailer on the residential property within the Agricultural Residential Rural Land Use District. The subject site is located north of Stokes Road, south of Garfield Road, east of Fort Meade, west of Lake Hendry Road, in Section 17, Township 31, Range 26. The subject site is 1.09 acres, located in an Agricultural Residential Rural Land Use District, with ample space for parking. Per Section 216D of the Land Development Code, commercial vehicle parking is allowed on residential properties. The mobile home was built in 2006. The applicant bought the property this year in May. U.S. Highway 98 is approximately three miles to the south of the subject site. The property has direct access off Brook Road, which is classified as a rural minor collector roadway. A commercial vehicle driveway will be required to protect Brook Road from the intended use. According to the site plan, the parking area will be to the east of the existing home in the rear yard, where there is a six-foot wooden fence along the property line. It will be parked between the home and a utility shed that will screen the vehicle from the road and from the properties to the east. Large trees further surround the screen and parking area from off-site and should suffice for meeting the Type B landscape buffer. Staff recommends approval. The approval is for one commercial vehicle and trailer only and is subject to the criteria specified in 216D of the Land Development Code. The request adheres to all requirements, and with that, I will stand for questions. Okay. So it's staff's position that the shed and the existing native vegetation at this time are sufficient for the buffering? Yes, that is correct, ma'am. As long as they stay? Correct. If they end up tearing down any of those structures or removing any of that vegetation, they would be required to have it meet the Type B landscape buffer requirements, right? Do you know the height of the vehicle? I think you provided the length. I don't know if the height's in here. I do not know the height of the vehicle at this time, no. Okay. Okay. Is the applicant present? If you could come to the podium, please. If we could start with your name and address, and then we will hear from Ms. Bustos and get her sworn in as well. Hi. My name is Judith Garcia Hernandez, 2720 Brook Road, for me. Okay. Thank you. And I see we have some interpreting assistants. Can we swear in our interpreter, please? Can you raise your right hand? Do you swear or affirm that you will truly and correctly translate English into Spanish and Spanish into English here today? I do. Thank you. My name is Juana Bustos. You've heard the presentation so far from staff. Is there anything you would like to add to support your application? This is just regarding about the reason for the use for the truck is due to her husband's work. Okay. Can you tell me how he uses it for work? He uses it daily? I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. He uses it daily. What does he do for work? Okay. He just transports wood. If the special exception is not approved, where would your husband park the vehicle? I'm not sure what is going to happen because I'm not sure where we will park it. You just have to look into that. If this is approved, staff has recommended a number of conditions of approval, and I just want to make sure that you understand them. That if it's approved, it would only be approved for this one vehicle, not more than one. That there can't be any maintenance to the vehicle performed on site, that the vehicle can only be parked there when empty, and that the approval is good for one year, and you would have to request re-approval before the year expires, or renewal of the approval before it expires, in order to not have to go through this process again. Anything else you would like to add? No. Okay. Thank you. I know we have at least one person who has come today to speak about this application, so I'll open up public comment. David Hawley, you could give us your name and address, please. David Hawley, 2683, Brook Road North, Fort Meade. Okay. So, the property is not really conducive for a tractor-trailer in the wet season. It really floods, and it's very wet. I've seen the previous owners had to pull vehicles out of there before. Secondly, the neighbor next door to them, this committee granted a variance two years ago to park one tractor-trailer on the northeast corner of that property, bordering Lake Kendry Road, and that variance is not being policed right now. That owner is parking multiple tractor-trailers behind the house. They're doing maintenance on it. Essentially, the house directly across the street from me is turned into a truck stop. So, I've been listening to the noise pollution daily, and the maintenance on the truck with the impact wrenches and changing tires is a week-every-weekend occurrence. It's very annoying. I didn't move out there and buy 20 acres of farmland to live across the street from a truck stop. I work in trucking every day. I've been doing it for 20 years, so I know exactly what it takes to put a truck and trailer in there. I know what it takes to listen to those things all day, in and out, 52 weeks a year at work. I don't want to listen to it at home. Every morning I walk out the front door, I hear trucks idling across the street when they're warming up their trucks to leave every morning. So, the nice, peace, quiet, serene, you know, Brookrow that I moved into six years ago has turned into a commercial property, and I'm here to speak against it because I'm tired of it. Nobody polices it. Nobody cares about it. You grant the variance, and you walk away, and nobody does anything about it. So, and I've got some pictures here of this property with two tractors on it already, and the property next door, or the one that you grant a variance on two years ago, and then somebody's parking tractor trailers on the side of Lake Henry, so it's blocking the view when you're pulling out of Brook Road onto Lake Henry, so it's causing a hazard there. I know that people have called the police and had the trailers moved, and they're parking them back behind this other neighbor's property. So, by granting this variance, you're just granting another person the ability to park commercial equipment on Brook Road, so, thank you. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to take a look at what you've submitted here. It'll become part of the record of the application. Thanks. Actually, I'm sorry. If you could come back to the podium, I want to make sure I understand what you've provided to me. The photo here, is that this property? Yes. Okay. So, there's already been multiple trucks on it already before a variance is even added. Understood. Okay. If this does get approved, it would only be for one vehicle. Should there be more than one vehicle, code enforcement is the avenue for dealing with that. Right. That means I get to police it. That means every time I see a violation, I get to call and I get to complain to code enforcement, which my name goes on record. So, now the neighbor's fight becomes with me, not with the proper authorities, which is code enforcement and you guys. So, not my job. Okay. And then, the other document that you've provided is? That's the variance from two years ago, right next door. That'll be this person's neighbor. That one's directly across the street from me. Okay. And you can see all the violations that are there now. So, the photos here are of that property, which is not the property we're here on today. Okay. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else who came today to speak regarding this application? Seeing no one, we will close public comment. Ms. Hernandez, would you like to respond to anything you have heard from Mr. Holley? Okay. Okay. At the beginning, we were not aware that we could not park two commercial vehicles. That's why it did happen. But now she's aware of it. And so, if this gets approved, you would not park anything other than the one that is? And you understand that there, as we discussed earlier, there could not be any maintenance performed on site? I understand. Anything else you wanted to add? No. And just a couple of questions for staff. So, if there is an approval on any property for this type of special exception and someone is not complying with the conditions, what is the process for dealing with that? That would be a codes issue, and there is currently no codes violation on this site currently right now. Okay. So, this didn't come here today as a result of a code enforcement matter? No, that is pointed out in number three, the very last sentence of the staff report. Okay. Does code enforcement in the county rely exclusively on reports from neighbors, or do code enforcement officers patrol the county or portions of the county? Due to statutory changes, code enforcement can only work on complaints by neighbors that go on record. So, code enforcement today is, as the gentleman stated, that he has to go on record if he was to complain about their code violations. Anything else from staff? No, that's all. And then, next up is LDL VAR 2024-40. LDL VAR 2020-2024-40. Lisa Hammony, on behalf of Anna-Lisa Hammony, is requesting a reduction in the primary side yard setback from 15 feet to 2 feet for an attached carport. The property is .83 acres. It's located in the Agricultural Residential Rural District at 9500 West Lake Marion Road, west of Edwards Shores Street, east of South Bay Drive, south of Lake Marion, east of the City of Dundee in Section 8, Township 28, Range 28. Thirteen mailers were sent to area property owners on October 23, 2024. One board was posted on the property on October 23. The legal ad was published in the Polk News Sun on October 30. So far, we've had no response from the public. Aaliyah Anglima is the case planner. Good afternoon. Aaliyah Anglima with Land Development presenting LDL VAR 2024-40, the Lake Marion Road variants. The applicant is requesting a reduction in the primary side setback from 15 feet to 2 feet for an attached carport. The subject site is located at 9500 West Lake Marion Road, west of Edwards Shore Street, east of South Bay Drive, south of Lake Marion, east of the City of Dundee in Section 8, Township 28, Range 28. The site is approximately .83 acres, located within the agriculture, residential, rural, future lane use, and in the rural development area. The carport in question is 27 by 23, will be within the side yard of the parcel. The overhang of the carport is one foot. The open carport will be far away from other structures and will be screened by the trees. These lots are smaller than the ARR minimum lot size standard of five acres. The shape of the lot, along with the depth of the setbacks required in ARR, creates a burden on placing structures at this location. Here is a picture from my site visit. The special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or building involved is the lot was created prior to the comprehensive plan and land development code. The parcel does not meet the required minimum lot size, and the setbacks are too restrictive. The width of the lot is narrow, creating a hardship. And the request will not be injurious to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare because the open carport will be far away from other structures and be screened by the trees. The neighboring property owner most affected by the carport, their house is set further back. And I'll save for questions. Approximately how far away is the closest structure to the proposed carport? Probably maybe like 100 feet, maybe. Probably about 50 to 100 feet if the carport was there. Okay. So it's not that the neighboring house is set off from the adjoining property line, it's that it's further back towards the wall? Yeah, it's further back. It's approximately 80 feet, the house, the neighboring home. Does the home have a garage or other storage? There is a garage there. Yes, there is a garage. Okay. Is the applicant present? We could start with your name and address, please. I'm the husband of Annalisa Hammamy, who's the applicant. Okay. Robin Hammamy, 9500 West Lake Marion Road, Haines City. Okay. So you've heard staff's presentation so far. Is there anything you would like to add in support of your application? Other than the comments that I made with the application itself, the hardships, we just need a covered area for parking. Okay. And also for gardening equipment and supplies. It's all open and exposed without that carport. Okay. Do you not park vehicles in the garage? Our garage is home to things other than cars, like most people. And because of the narrowness of the property, there's a challenge turning into the garage and coming out of the garage so the carport will be utilized for parking. If the application is approved, staff has proposed a condition to require gutters designed to channel and capture stormwater runoff to prevent it from going on the neighboring property. Yes. Is that currently in the design plans for the carport? Yes, it is. Okay. There's an existing gutter over the existing garage and it will be tied into the new run of gutter. Okay. Okay. Anything else you would like to add? No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And I will now open up this application for public comment. Is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application, either for or against? Seeing no one, we will close public comment. Anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Thank you. Move next to LDLVAR 2024-43. LDLVAR 2024-43. Jacqueline Shem, on behalf of John and Diane Shem, is requesting a reduction in the primary structure right-of-way setback from 15 feet to 7 feet for the development of a double-wide manufactured home and an RV port. The property is 0.19 acres. It's located in a residential low district. Subject property is located at 5017 North Shore Drive, north of Interstate 4, south of Commonwealth Avenue, east of Highway 33, west of Berkeley Road, surrounded by the city of Polk City, in Section 06, Township 27, Range 25. Thirty-two mailers were sent to area property owners on October 23rd, 2024. Two boards were posted on the property on October 23rd. A legal ad was published in the Polk News Sun on October 30th. There's been no response from the public. Kyle Rogus is the case planner. Good afternoon again. Kyle Rogus with Land Development, presenting LDLVAR 2024-43, the Shim Variance. The applicant is requesting a reduction of the primary structure right-of-way setback from 15 feet to 7 feet for the development of a double-wide manufactured home and attached RV port. Subject site is located north of Interstate 4, south of Commonwealth Avenue, southwest, east of Highway 33 north, west of Berkeley Road, surrounded by Polk City, in Section 6, Township 27, Range 25. The subject site is 0.19 acres, located in a residential low 1X land use district, the Green Swamp area of critical state concern in the Polk City Special Protection Area. The subject site is below the one-acre minimum residential lot area in the residential low 1X land use district. The site was developed as part of the Mount Olive Shores Phase 4 planned unit development. The Mount Olive Shores planned unit development allows for 15 feet primary structure right-of-way setbacks, 6 1⁄2 feet side setbacks, and 15 feet rear setbacks. Unlike the previous variants requests to the north of the project site, the applicant does have HOA approval. The subject site is a corner lot that has road frontage off North Shore Drive, a private road to the north and west of the property. The corner lot in orientation of North Shore Drive creates a non-uniform right-of-way setback. This lot is 0.19 acres, which is below the one-acre minimum residential lot area in the RL1X land use district. Because of the small lot size, orientation of North Shore Drive, and being a corner lot, the setback restricts further development without impeding on the 15-foot right-of-way setback. The subject site is surrounded by similar lot sizes with RVs and mobile homes. The attached RV port meets the setbacks where it is currently located but is included in the request because it is attached to the primary structure. And here is a site plan submitted. Note that the site plan indicates the 15-foot right-of-way setback in red. The site plan does not include the 15-foot utility easement from the right-of-way. And then this photo is taken looking east to the property from North Shore Drive. In this photo, you can see how only a small portion of the mobile home on the southwest corner will encroach on the utility easement dedicated to the HOA outside of the right-of-way. And staff recommends approval. The mobile home will not block the view of traffic, and there will be no fire hazard or encroachment on public easements. The reduced setback distance will not diminish the safety of the public and area involved. And with that, I will stand for questions. So the 10-foot easement is an HOA easement, and there are not county utilities? No. The county utilities are going to be within the right-of-way. The HOA-dedicated utility easement is outside of that right-of-way for 10 feet. And you said the HOA has approved this application for their internal regulations and requirements? Yes, that is correct. Unlike the other one that we had last month, this one does have the HOA approval. Okay. Do you happen to know if there are any utilities in that 10-foot utility easement? I am not sure. I would need to give that question to the utility HOA. And I believe you said the RV port that's there meets setbacks, but it meets not the primary structure setback, but it's... Yes, it does meet the setbacks where it stands. It's only included in this request because it is attached to that primary structure. But within the site plan, it does meet that 15-foot setback from the right-of-way, and it will meet the... There was a minor modification to the planned unit development to go from 7-and-a-half feet side setbacks to 6-and-a-half feet, and that RV port is actually measured right now at the 7-and-a-half feet right-of-way side setback. Okay. Was there a home previously on the site that's since been removed, or no? No, there was no home on this site previously. Do you know how the size of this home compares generally to nearby homes? I don't have the square footage specifically, but within the surrounding areas, the size of the home that they are proposing is going to be fairly similar and compatible to the surrounding areas. And like I said, they also do have car ports as well. So this would be similar to what we've seen around in this planned unit development. All right. Is the applicant present? Okay. If you could come forward, please. If you could give us your name and address, please. My name is John Shim, 5017 North Shore Drive, Port City. Okay. My name is Diane Shim. I'm with him. Okay. I see the applicant was Jacqueline Shim. That's my daughter. Okay. But she's not here today, so it's... Right. And you two are the property owners? Yes. Yes. Okay. So you've heard the presentation so far from staff. Is there anything you would like to add in support of your application? No, ma'am. It's a nice neighborhood. That's all I can tell. Okay. So one of the criteria that staff and I have to consider when reviewing variance applications is hardship, something that is unique to your property that justifies deviating from the code's requirements. Can you address that criterion, please? Not really hardship, but we have a grandson, and we need at least two bedrooms. And, you know, and maybe if, like, when they're coming to maybe Disney World, we have, you know, a place to, you know, provide them. That's the only thing I should have. I'm only taking very little space on the back, so I hope you all can help us. Thank you. Is the home similar in size to other homes nearby? Is it... Yes, ma'am. Some of them single, some of them double, but this is going to be around about 1,480 square foot. Okay. Anything else? No, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, I will now open up this application for public comment. We do have one individual who has signed up already to speak regarding this application, Lynn Newman. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Lynn Newman. I live at 5045 Manoa Shores Drive. I'm the current architect chairman for this association. I work with these people in coming up with a home that he felt what he gave me. I do want to make one correction. The RV port that's on there was something that I drew on at a standard 17-foot wide RV port. It's not what's currently on there. The only thing that's on the property right now is the shed. Anyway, when I was working with him, I told him that we have had another homeowner get a variance similar to this and put a house on it. This was done in 2015, and the property address was 5165 Shoreline Drive. After further research, and somebody talked to me about it, that particular phase, it's in phase one, does not have a 10-foot utility easement in it. So the 7 1⁄2 feet could easily be gotten without interfering with that utility. I also will say that there's other people that have put houses on property like this. They have adjusted the house by cutting it angles at certain things to get it to fit onto the house. But since I told him we've done this before, I thought he could do it, that's an option that eventually is something else we could look at if the board decides not to approve it. Do you have any questions? Well, I see on the comment card that you filled out that you are neither in support nor in opposition for the application, so I just want to clarify. The only thing the architect does is say whether it meets our requirements. If it doesn't, I will submit it to the board, and it's up to the board to decide whether they will approve or not approve. Okay. That's for your HOA's internal procedures. Yes. Do you have a position as far as the county's variance process goes? Are you taking a position one way or the other? Well, I do have concern with putting anything into the utility easement. And like I said, we have done it before where they have put it in an angle to reduce the size to get it within the setbacks. Okay. Anything else you would like to add? Nope. Thank you. Is there anyone else who came to speak regarding this application, either for or against? Seeing no one, we will close public comment. Anything else from staff? No, that is it. Okay. Thank you. Next up, we have LDLVAR 2024-45. LDLVAR 2024-45. Marie Heikinen is requesting a reduction in the primary side structure setback from five feet to two feet for the construction of a patio cover. The property is 0.06 acres. It's in a residential medium district. And it's also in PUD 81-22, the Citrus Ridge PUD. The property is located at 180 Citrus Ridge Drive, west of Mineola Road, east of Dancy Road, south of Tangelo Road, east of the city of Hane City, in Section 20, Township 26, Range 27. Eighty-five mailers were sent to area property owners on October 23rd. Two boards were posted on the property. Excuse me. One board was posted on the property October 23rd, 2024. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun News on October 30th, 2024. Aaliyah Ngleema is the case planner. Good afternoon. Aaliyah Ngleema with Land Development presenting LDLVAR 2024-45, the Citrus Ridge Heikinen Variance. The applicant is requesting a reduction to the primary side structure setback from five feet to two feet for the construction of a patio cover. The subject site is located at 180 Citrus Ridge Drive, west of Mineola Road, east of Dancy Road, south of Tangelo Road, east of the city of Hane City, in Section 20, Township 26, Range 27. The site is approximately 0.06 acres located within the residential medium future lane use and the transit supportive development area. The subject property is within Phase 1 of Citrus Ridge and is lot 180. While the RM requires a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet, the development was established with significantly smaller lots through an approved plan unit development intended for recreational vehicles. A modification of the PUD was later approved to permit the placement of mobile homes and reduce site setbacks from 7 1⁄2 feet to 5 feet, but did not increase the lot sizes. Since the modification of the PUD, the development has seen increased in mobile homes being placed on lots within Citrus Ridge development. Additionally, many property owners desiring to construct additions to their homes within the PUD realize the need to request a variance because of the limited space setback requirements and easements relative to the small lot sizes. Shown is the site plan. Screen rooms, carports, and open covered patios are common in this development and variances are typically needed for their construction. Staff found 20 other variance approvals in this subdivision since 2020. And here's a photo of the site. The request will not be injurious to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare as the two-foot site setback will leave adequate space for property maintenance and will also ensure no encroachments into the neighbor's property. Building and fire code separations will still be met as the proposed structure is not for habitable purposes. The special conditions and circumstances present in the request that do not result from the actions of the applicant is because the development was originally intended for RVs, but later evolved into a mobile home subdivision. And I'll stand for questions. Do the support poles for this structure encroach into any easements? No, ma'am. The easements are on the front and on the rear of the... Not on the sides. Not on the sides. How large is the overhang proposed to be beyond the poles? I believe it's one foot overhang. It's on the site plan, one foot overhang. And I assume open sides since it's a properness. Okay, is the applicant present? Hello. Good afternoon. You can pull that down so it's at the appropriate height view, okay? And if you could give us your name and address, please. Marie Hakenen, 180, Citrus Ridge Drive, Davenport. Okay. So I see your property is controlled by a property owners association. Has that association given its approval for your structure? Yes, they have. And the staff report that I have says that the, I think this must have come from your application, that the purpose of this is to prevent sun, rain, and debris from entering your sitting area. What kind of debris is this preventing from entering into your sitting area? I am not familiar with that phrase, debris. Okay. I mean. That wasn't from your application or from your justification? No, I don't believe so. Okay. It doesn't even sound familiar. It was probably from a previous staff report within this community. So I apologize on, it's an error on my part. Okay. And is there anything you would like to add in support of your application? Just that, that's a pretty sizable area I have on that side of the house that most of the time I cannot be out there. It's constant sun. I have no trees to provide any shade, so I'm unable to use that outside area of my home for entertainment or doing, working in my shed or barbecuing. It's just, it's, it's just very, very hot and I don't like to be out in the sun like that for, I don't, I don't want skin cancer. You know, I just, I fear for that. So I don't use it. Okay. Anything else? I don't think so. Thank you. And I will now open up this application for public comment. Is there anyone who came here today to speak to this application, either for or against? Seeing no one, we will close public comment. Anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Thank you. All right, and then next up we have LDLVAR 2024-46. LDLVAR 2024-46 is a request for, by Kevin Reddy, on behalf of WMG Exchange 3 LLC, request of variance to allow separation distance reduction for beer and wine and alcohol, alcohol consumption, beer and wine, alcohol consumption, on premises, a 2 COP license within a thousand feet of a kindergarten through 12 school in a town center district. The property is located at 49539 U.S. Highway 27, east side of the U.S. Highway 27, south of Sand Mine Road, north of Student Drive, west of Osceola County Line, north of Haines City, in section 13, township 25, range 26. 16 mailers were sent to area property owner on October 23rd. When board was posted on the property on October 25th, and a legal ad was published in the Polk Sun, Polk News Sun, on October 30th. This is a sign, submitted for a record, is our staff report application. The applicant has a separate justification, and an interior plan is submitted. This is located in the northeast part of the county. It's an area of very intense development. The land use categories are rather high relative to the other parts of the county. One of the things we have is a lot of multifamily development and fairly intense single-family residential development in the area. The commercial area is starting to form, as you can see. A school was built not too long ago, relatively speaking, in the last decade. Citrus Ridge School, it's a K-8. It sits behind an apartment complex, and the applicant's property is approximately 790 feet, property line to property line, from the school. The distance requirement is 1,000 feet. The travel distance from the school to, or from Chipotle to the school, is over 1,800 feet, if you were to walk there using the sidewalks or drive there. It's a smaller restaurant than what would be exempted. If it was 2,500 square feet, it would be exempt from the requirements and had at least 150 seats. They would not need this variance. However, they're 2,300 square feet and less than 150 seats. Therefore, they fall under the standard variance criteria. This is the site. As you can see, you can't see the school directly from the Chipotle. There's to the south. It's more commercial. From the back side of that commercial strip, I was sitting on a vacant commercial property, and this is what the school would look like from that site, if you were actually standing behind and to the south of Chick-fil-A. So you can see it's not really in any proximate distance from the public perception across the street. Of course, it's more and more intense residential development. This is the school. The staff recommends approval. The restaurant is just slightly below the threshold. It's really close. The distance is very close, too, just a few hundred feet off the distance requirement as it is. And in reality, it's not that close. It's over 1,800 feet from the school from a functional standpoint. So therefore, we recommend approval. That'll stand for questions. Could you put the aerial back up that showed the whole scene? Yeah, that'll work. The entrance to the school is off of Sand Mine Road? Yes, Sand Mine Road. I also want to mention that the area is very high in tourist residents that are actually tourists visiting the local theme parks. This is fairly close to the Disney theme parks in this area. So most of the residents are itinerant. In the single-family homes, it's a high short-term rental use or Airbnb, VRBO, those things. And there's just the one school within the distance? Yes, ma'am. There's only one school. The next closest school is about three miles to the south. Okay, is the applicant present? Good afternoon. Kelvin Reddy, attorney with the firm Gray Robinson in Lakeland, representing WMG Exchange, who's the landlord for Chipotle on this property. Looking at staff's report, may make the case that we would make. I would just add that having spoken to Chipotle and the property owner, Chipotle has obviously seen a business need with their customers in this area for serving this. The property owner is very much wanting to meet the needs of the tenant. And given that, the school access road being where it is and it being over actually 1,800 square feet, as staff points out, to actually reach the school rather than how the crow flies, we think that that really lends its support towards this being granted, the hardship being, of course, that if it's not granted, there would be other entities that might actually be 1,002, 1,003 in travel distance and actually as the crow flies. But they would be able to proceed with this kind of an operation without having to get a variance. We're actually 1,800 feet away from where they would otherwise be. I'm happy to answer any questions. And I take it not every Chipotle serves beer and wine? That's not my – yeah, my understanding is they only do it when they see the business need based on the type of individuals that are coming in. And this area being tourists in particular I think really is what's causing them to decide that this is the most reasonable use for their Chipotle. And I believe there's Applebee's in the vicinity as well, so it's not introducing alcohol consumption through restaurants like staff points out. I think if we're just a little bit bigger, this wouldn't have been an issue. So that also, I believe, lends support for this variance. So the Applebee's is farther away than the – It's to the north of the intersection of Sand Mine Road in 27, if I recall on the map I was looking at, just to the north of it. Okay, but it's not so close to the school that it needed the – No, no. It's just beyond it. Okay. Anything else you'd like to add? No. Thank you. Thank you. And I will now open up this application for public comment. Is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application, either for or against? Seeing no one, we will close public comment. And anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Thank you. We will move next to LDLVAR 2024-47. LDLVAR 2024-47. Abigail Rivera Pacheco requests an accessory structure larger than the primary structure in a residential low 3 district. The property is located in 1952 Meadow Oak Circle, south of DeRosa Road, south of Mount Olive Road, east of Marker Road, west of Berkeley Road, and Phase I of Meadow Oak Acres Subdivision, west of the city of Auburndale, east of the city of Lakeland, and Section 8, Township 27, Range 25. 17 mailers were sent on October 23, 2024. One board was posted on September 25th. Actually, October 25th, 2024. A legal ad was published in the Polk News Sun on October 30, 2024. This is the request for an accessory structure larger than the primary. The site is located between Auburndale, Polk City, and Lakeland. It's in an RL3 district. The lots are typically larger than the typical RL3 district. It's close to the city of Auburndale, which has much more intense development now that water and wastewater have been provided to the area. This site, the parcel is larger than many, and in the staff report, I mentioned the upland area is the largest of the subdivision. There's larger lots, but most of them have portions of wetland on them. You can see the applicant has a need for storing their recreational vehicles within an enclosed structure. This is the approximate location and size of the building, as best as I could scale it. This is the site plan, as you can see, the proximity of the building. This is a building elevation. It will have three bays, 14 feet doorways, and the structure will be approximately, it will be under 25 feet. It shows 21 and a little over three feet, sorry, 21 feet, three inches. This is the site with all the vehicles. You can see the slab, which the structure will go on top of, is what the applicant is now using. It will look approximately like this, scaled as best as I can. It will be higher than the mobile home sits at about 16 feet off to the crest of the mobile home. This will be slightly higher, five feet. This is looking from the west side of the property, from the road. It will be mostly masked by the home. This is looking from the neighbor's fence. There's a neighboring fence, and this is a lot like that will be the space. Staff recommends approval. It won't be, we find it won't be injurious to the area, because storing the applicants, many recreational vehicles within the enclosed structure will actually look a little, a lot better than they currently look right now. Another thing I'd like to point out is that the applicant's home is relatively small to most of the homes in the subdivision. The larger homes in the subdivision wouldn't need this variance for a shed of this size, because it would actually be smaller than square footage. So they're kind of in between. And I think I touched on those two issues in the recommendation. With that, I'll stand for questions. So in the first aerial that you had up on the screen, those items in the back, those are all the recreational vehicles that would go in the garage? Yes, they have a number of different recreational vehicles. Okay. And those would all be within the enclosed area. Even in our, they have a camper that could fit in there with a 14-foot high doorway, as you saw in the elevation drawings. So it would all go in there. And in that aerial, I don't think I see the slab that you pointed out. So that's a relatively new structure or new improvement? Yes, within this year. And it was put in in anticipation of this structure? They originally began applying for the building permit. They poured the slab, and then it was found that it was too large for the single-family home. Or that is there, the double-wide or single-wide home that's on-site, which is approximately 900 square feet. What is the minimum lot size in this district? RL3 is a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet. This subdivision was created long before there were any water or wastewater service to the area. So the lots are a lot larger. They're close to an acre, most of them, about two-thirds of an acre or better. Some of the lots are larger than an acre. But as you can see, the wetlands and floodway in the rear of the property kind of consumes the bulk of those areas with drainage easement. So this is actually a larger usable area than most of the lots in the neighborhood. And as I mentioned, some of these homes, I believe this one across the street would be at the same size as the structure. Actually, it's larger than the accessory structure they're requesting. So this lot could have the same request on it without a variance. Are there any other garages or storage structures on this? Not of this size, but there are other garage structures. I believe I mentioned in the staff report they come close, but not this large. This would be the largest in the neighborhood. On this property, are there any other garages or storage structures? They have one shed. I'll go back to the photo. But it's a small shed right here. With the colored door? Yes. They're not capable of keeping any of their, even their smallest recreational vehicles doesn't look like it would fit in there. But this camper and all the other vehicles would go in and provide an ample amount of space. Even if they just wanted a two-car garage, given the size of their single-wide mobile home, a comfortable two-car garage with enough spacing to open the doors would be more than the size of their home. So either way, they really would need this variance to just have a modest-sized garage. Okay. Is the applicant present? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. If we could start with your name and address, please. Look at it. Okay. So here we are. Good afternoon. Woo. Okay. Big SPEAKER. Good afternoon. Hello. Go also. Who's that? What's wrong? Okay. I buy in the. Yeah. He better. put jacket. and the address 19 52 middle middle circle Polk City Florida 33 8 0 3 3 8 68 okay Francisco Salles Ortiz 19 52 middle circle Polk City Florida 23 8 0 3 3 8 0 Francisco Salles and the same address as previously I'm sorry could you say his name again please I didn't catch it Francisco Salles how do you spell the last name Z A Y A S Z A Y A S okay thank you so you've heard staff's presentation so far yes we understood is there anything you would like to add in support of your application okay so this is for my equipment so we can have them under protection and secure okay okay so the reason about this equipment and items is that we want to cover because of the damage to for the sun or weather and also to keep them protected under lock-in for anybody to steal or vandalize them how long have you owned the property about two years anything else you would like to add so I just want to make sure that you understand that it's nothing to do with commercial uses for this building only for personal uses thank you thank you thank you thank you I'll open up this application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application either for or against seeing no one we will close public comment anything else from staff no ma'am all right thank you we will now go to LDL VAR 2024-48 LDL VAR 2024-48 Ryan White on behalf of Alvaro Aguilar is requesting a reduction in the accessory rear setback from 15 feet to one foot for a shed and a pool on 0.65 acres in a residential suburban district the property is located at 120 west 5th street west of rifle range road east of avenue a north of 6th street west of the city of winterhaven at section 17 township 29 range 26 october 23rd 30 mailers were sent one board was posted on the property on october 23rd a legal ad was published in the polk sun news on october 30th so far no response from the public alia and gleeman is the proper is the planner good afternoon alia and gleeman with land development presenting LDL VAR 2024-48 the 5th street west variance the applicant is requesting a reduction in the accessory rear setback from 15 feet to one foot for a shed and pool the subject site is located at 120 west 5th street west of rifle range road east of avenue a west north of 6th street west west and west of the city of winterhaven in section 17 township 29 range 26 the site is approximately 0.65 acres located within a residential suburban future lane use and in the suburban development area the applicant was cited by code enforcement for a building without a permit for the pool and seeks to come into compliance the case is pending as the owner is seeking approval for the pool to be located one foot off the rear property line the applicant has also applied for a rebuilding permit the size of this parcel significantly limits the amount of buildable space without some relief from the setbacks several other homes in this area also have accessory detached structures that do not meet setbacks due to the narrowness of the lots and here's a picture from my site visit as you can see the pool is located to the east and the shed is located right next to it the request will not be interest to the area involved otherwise detrimental to the public welfare because it is in character with the surrounding developed lots many have accessory structures and special conditions and circumstances present in the request that do not result from the actions of the applicant is the law is smaller than the residential suburban lane use designation and i'll stand for questions so the request to reduce the setback for one foot is to the pavers for the pool or to the screen structure because it's shown in the site plan as one foot to the pavers if i'm reading that correctly it's an elevated pool i think it's an upper deck okay um the site plan says pavers so i think that's my confusion that's an elevated deck or it's pavers yeah they the it's an above ground uh pool okay so um perhaps there's uh the applicant can explain if there's pavers or something behind it but there there's steps going up to it and uh it's above ground pool here's okay so okay we'll get to you ma'am okay we deal with one speaker at a time um okay so the one foot that's shown here in the site plan is one foot from the property line to a vertical structure correct okay and then the shed is how far from the property line it i don't see a distance on the site plan we we just included the shed in the request since it isn't it's not meeting the setback as well um so we just included it in with the request but it's probably about two two and a half feet from the property line the shed is okay so if this were to be approved the shed is approved for its current location or it could be moved to one foot from the property line what i'm not clear on what the proposed approval is i guess i can um yeah the shed the shed could be moved to one foot um if it was approved in this request okay it'd have to be uh below 400 square feet and less than 10 feet tall to be exempt from the setback requirements i think the the shed is larger the shed larger or is it exempt i mean i assumed it was not exempt because you've put it in the approval it's about 600 square feet okay okay is the applicant present i'm danielle romero aguilar homeowner okay and sir you are my name is michael white her husband works for me i'm a general contractor and i will say this it is a one foot it's five foot the pool is actually five foot four from the property line so we're not looking for a one foot we're looking for a five foot and that's what i didn't understand it's an accessory structure and i didn't know why we were here anyway if it's less i thought of according to some of my other sources they told me that five foot would work for an accessory structure but i don't know asking so but the one foot is not right it's not an elevated pool the building is farther back than than the pool away from yeah apparently nobody's been in there they haven't been in my yard well who prepared the site plan uh we did but that's why i'm looking for where that one foot came from i don't see five foot's what we're looking for five foot to to what to the water to the water and there's there's only i to to get to the structure there is like a little wall at the end of the pool there i'd have to get you that dimension it's probably four foot something there's no it's not one foot okay so it's an in-ground pool oh yeah okay is it going to be screened no originally it started out the pool we're in the concrete business we do a lot of pool decks one of the pool contractors told him if you put something in less than two foot deep you don't even need a permit so then he put it in and it's about three foot deep three foot four so now it makes it a pool and here we are okay and both are already there i take it the pool and the shed and how far is the shed from the property line i don't know that we measured that man because i thought we were just talking about the okay but it's farther back than the pool i just know that from walking back there any comment from staff given that what we've heard is different than what's in the staff report how does that change your um recommendation how does that change where we are given that it's not one foot it's five feet it's not above ground it's below ground which it doesn't change the recommendation um since it's further back but um based on the land use and it's the rear property line it requires a 15 foot setback um and so the the request would then now be 15 feet to the five feet so we would just have to update um the request to that to five feet five feet not one foot correct and that's for both the shed and the edge of the pool yes ma'am we'll double check that when we get home well i measured the pool we're we're either going to act on it today or you're going to let's act on it continue that's correct okay we're that's correct okay we're not coming back to get a report on what you found um how deep is the property it seems to me it runs um at the back about 80 feet 83.6 okay about 400 one of the requirements that staff and i have to consider when evaluating a variance application is hardship something that is unique to this property or its circumstances um that justifies in this case reducing the setback from 15 feet to five feet can you address that requirement in your case the typical hardship why it went there or as to why the reduced variance our reduced setback should be approved hardship would be so we won't have to tear the pool well that's a hardship that you create so i'm looking for something else i don't know what to say okay ma'am i don't really have any hardships i just know that i um try to do what i needed to do to protect my children um that's what this pool was built for to teach them to swim um other than that you know that's all i i have about it okay anything else you'd like to add in support of the application a great employee for 25 years he's one of the ones that's legal and he's gone through a lot to have his children he's a good man so i'm just trying to help him before i have to quit thank you we'll now open up this application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak about this application either for or against being no one we will close public comment and anything else from staff i will update the staff report and get it to you thank you and then we will move to ldl var 2024-51 ldl var 2024-51 patrick duggan on behalf of ronald and leslie mount is requesting to reduce the rear accessory setback from five feet to four feet for an accessory dwelling unit the property is 0.31 acres in a residential low three district the property is located at 116 pasco road south of vocala drive north of okaloosa drive west of overlook drive east and north of the city of winter haven in section 34 township 28 range 26 28 mailers were sent to area property owners on october 23rd 2024 a board one board was posted on the property on october 22nd a legal ad was published in the polk news sun on october 30th no response from the public kyle roguess will present the case good afternoon kyle roguess with land development presenting ldl var 2024-51 the pasco road adu variants the applicant is requesting a reduction of rear accessory setback from five feet to four feet for an accessory dwelling unit the applicant wants to convert the existing attached shed to an accessory dwelling unit staff recommends approval the subject site is 0.31 acres located in a residential low three land use district in the urban growth development area the minimum residential lot size in the residential low three is 10 000 square feet with five feet accessory setbacks accessory dwelling units are allowed as accessory structures and the request meets the standard set in section 206a of the land development code the original structure was permitted in 2017 as a 24 by 40 metal garage prior to the applicant's ownership the property is 80 feet wide but the depth decreases from 175 feet on the northern property line to 161 feet on the southern property line the lack of uniformity in depth likely resulted in the incorrect replacement of the original structure the nearest home from the proposed adu is approximately 60 feet to the west based on the site plan provided the adu will be expanded slightly towards the home the overall height of the structure will be 13 feet which does not change what was originally approved the proposed structure will meet all setbacks on site and only requires the setback reduction reduction as its closest point to the rear property line rather than along the entire vertical plane of the structure a six foot pvc fence surrounds the rear yard providing screening and adus are allowable accessory uses in residential low three land use districts it is smaller than the primary structure and is situated to the rear of the home as required by ldc standards staff recommends approval adu setbacks are the same as any other accessory structure windows will be located on the side and rear of the building but will not exceed the height of the surrounding six foot pvc fence to create a privacy issue for neighbors granting it will not detract from the ability of the neighbors to add accessory structures onto their properties without creating issues with the fire code aside from this reduction in the rear setbacks granting this variance will not allow anything else that would otherwise violate rl3 residential low three standards adus are regulated as accessory uses in lec section 206a and with that i will stand for questions okay so the fire code would require a 10 foot separation between this and any other habitable structure yes that is correct okay so currently there is not another habitable structure within 10 feet but um if the next door neighbor wanted to put in something similar in their lot it would have to be 10 feet from that structure yes that would be correct okay so normally that's five and five in this case the neighbor would bear the larger burden of that 10 foot separation uh yes that is that is correct and i assume the neighbor was noticed of the application and the hearing i assume they would have perceived they would have been noticed they would have received yes okay and the structure is already there it's just being expanded yes so the structure is already there they're just going to be converting it from a storage uh shed to a accessory dwelling unit um and within that reconstruction or that repurposing it is going to be expanded slightly to the north uh of the um of the existing dwelling unit so it will be getting closer from the right-of-way setbacks prior versus the side setback that we are reviewing today okay so the expansion is in the direction of the home yes that is correct okay um is the applicant present good afternoon good afternoon dcr tampa uh i think expanded is the wrong word to use the existing dwellings not going to change the size is not going to change at all the only reason we're here is when we applied for the permit we discovered the previous contractor in 2017 encroached about three inches into the setback so that's why we're applying to move from five foot to four foot but we're staying within the footprint of the metal building okay that is different in the information that i have been provided but if you're yeah i never saw that on any of my emails or or documents that i okay okay but you're staying in with within the existing footprint working within that structure just um repurposing it and doing whatever interior changes would need to be done that's correct to make it a yes an accessory dwelling unit okay um what else would you like to add in support of the application uh we were talking about an undue burden on the neighbor i normally would be five and five would change it to four and six so i'm just making sure that that was clear in the record um if it um was a concern they had the opportunity to come here and address that obviously it's uh we felt for the mounts because you know they purchased the property with this in mind and then we get all the way you know they're already living there we get all the way to the permit process and they find out the structure they bought uh that the building apartment approved was done incorrectly so it's not much they can do about it now and they bought the property when i believe the beginning of the year in february okay um do you know if there's a property owner's association for this community i don't believe there is anything else all right thank you and i will now open up this application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application either for or against seeing no one we'll close public comment anything else from staff no ma'am that is all all right thank you and next we will go to ldl var 2024-d2 well i'm getting oriented i did find through researching in the code swimming pools are only required to be five feet off the property line when they're at grade we just assumed it was up on a deck that's why they were asking for the variance okay so the only reason why swimming pools if unless they're going closer uh are coming in for a variance is because they either they're elevated or there's a screen enclosure that is what they're actually seeking the variance for it's in section 208f of our land development code so took me a while to find that sure so are you telling me that they don't really need an air uh variance no not if it's if it's a below grade or at grade uh the swimming pool set back according to one uh 208f is five feet from the property line okay so what do we do about this now that they're no longer well they still need the variance for the shed shed that's why we made the assumption that it was above ground so if they were if they were told in the in the building department that they needed a variance for pool that would have meant it either had an enclosure or it was elevated okay but they've um provided testimony that it's there's no enclosure and it's not yeah they they actually have a fence that surrounds it and the fence can go on the property line uh opaque fence all right so then i will address only shed in the order and is somebody going to tell them yeah so that they don't um aliyah will correct it in the staff report that they didn't need the uh variance instead very good moving on ldl var 2024-52 esther chavez lopez is requesting an accessory structure that is larger than the primary residence in a residential low four district uh the site is located at 25 laura court south of lone pine court east of grand reserve drive south of ronald reagan parkway east of i-4 west of u.s highway 27 or sorry used of east west of highway 1792 in the lone pine subdivision uh north of the city of davenport in section 11 township 26 and range 27 on october 23rd 18 mailers were sent to area property owners one board was posted on the property on october 25th a legal ad was published in the polk new sun on october 30th this is this site is also in the northeast area of the county where development is a lot more intense and this is an older subdivision uh like much like the last one the lots are bigger uh they're uh they don't have the access to water and sewer that the other developments had more recent developments had uh this is the subject site and as you can see there is a slab on the property and the applicant which is to enclose that slab with the pole barn so the approximate size based on scaling uh reese not too long ago uh in 2022 uh a similar uh structure but an enclosed one was approved on the same street lower court um just two doors down and that's it there in the aerial photo proposed pole barn is going to be 30 by 60 it will extend over the slab and as you look from the site the site sits up on a on a knoll or you know relative to a high area relative to other uh parts of the subdivision and uh it would the pole barn in the rear yard right now over the slab they're using temporary uh canvas structures to provide cover and they want something a little more permanent and that covers the entire slab and it would from off street it would look approximately like this in the space from the north property owner however from the south or the sorry from the north that was the south from the north uh the structure would be a little bit larger because they sit up much higher and so it might look like that but it'll be an open air pole barn um to uh enclose not only their patio area but as you can see in the previous aerial photos they'll they'll probably use it for cover for vehicles as well as there were vehicles parked on the slab before so it'll have dual purposes of both uh being an area for uh entertaining and an area for parking vehicles and keeping other equipment out of the way staff recommends approval because the structure one serves multiple purposes under one roof they could have multiple pole barns if they wanted one for the vehicles one for entertaining and it would need the variance and it would still occupy the same amount of space um there's a similar accessory structure size of this size in the neighborhood of course they might not have needed the variance because their dwellings are much bigger this is also a single wide mobile home and it's not very large relative to other mobile homes in the subdivision and with that stand staff stands for questions what is the minimum lot size in this in rl4 at 6 000 square feet and like i said these these uh lots had to uh act independently they needed their own well and uh septic tank to support at the time this is a this subdivision was developed long before the the expansion from the theme parks that caused a lot of development in the area is there any other garage or carport on site no there there's a uh tent structure is all i could see from i didn't get to get to the very rear of the site it there there could be a structure there but it doesn't register on the property appraiser's database as being there uh the uh the other structures you see are actually canvas pole tent poles like we show in the ground photos and are those staying once this is built or is this replacing i i do not know they would still be usable so i don't think they would necessarily go away but this would provide a permanent uh weather resistant structure whereas those tent structures wouldn't hold up in winds or much longer in rain they have a limited shelf life there's a height restriction here included of 25 feet 25 feet is all they would need uh and that's that's being a little liberal it's probably not going to get to 25 feet it'll probably be somewhere around 20 the uh once it gets elevated too high the the support structures have to be bigger to hold it in place so the higher you go the more lateral right resistance you need okay is the applicant present all all my name is esther chavez a me direction is 25 laura court and davenport florida tres tres ocho tres siete and you sir buenos tardes mi nombre es tomas soy el esposo de esther chavez ah 25 laura court davenport florida okay and i see we have an interpreter if we can have your name please hi my name is crystal morales i'm interpreting for the owner's address 1669 crystal view trail poke uh lakeland florida three eight one zero i'm going to ask our clerk to swear you in the interpreter please would you raise your right hand do you swear more firm that you will truly and correctly translate english into spanish and spanish into english here today yes thank you okay um mr and mrs chavez um you've heard the presentation so far do you have anything you would like to add in support of your application she says that no she has nothing more to add to it she just wants to have it so that way she has something to protect her vehicles when they have to do any kind of minor repairs and to have a safe space for the children to be able to freely play outside while they're kind of hot okay so they just want to park the vehicles to protect them from the sun so no repairs no repairs good okay anything else he said the only other reason that he wants it is because he likes classic vehicles and the paint type that he uses on the classic vehicles it's not good for the sun so it needs to be shaded while it's drying or else it will fall right off or come right off and just that you know he likes to barbecue and be outside with them so to protect themselves from the sun okay thank you okay i will open up this application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application either for or against seeing no one we will close public comment anything else from staff no ma'am thank you and that takes us to ldl var 2024-53 ldl var 2024-53 test stencil test stencil on behalf of troy and billy jean brown request a rear uh primary setback reduction from 10 feet to five feet for the construction of a new screen room with a solid roof and a planned development pd 98-12 that's the sola vita development this is phase five uh it is within the point siena development of regional impact uh it's located uh at 1400 lombardi court of the solo vita subdivision phase five d south of cypress parkway north of village center road west of milano road east of via galupi street south of osceola county in section 16 township 27 range 28 16 mailers were sent on october 23rd one board was posted on the property on october 25th a legal lab was published in the polk news sun on october 30th no response has been held from the public this is the classic sola vita variants we've had a lot of these in our northeast part of the county again it's in a development of pre-development of regional impact that dates back to 1965. this was a redo in 1998 of that development in a different pattern as you can see the site is very close to two institutional districts this is the site and it is so new this section of uh sola vita that even our most recent aerial photos still show it unconstructed so this this is what it looked like in 2023 it didn't even have a road but as i mentioned before there's the dupe power transformer station and the county fire department is right next to the cul-de-sac this is the lot they're wanting to increase the uh building setback or the encouragement into the setback to no further than five feet because there is of course the five foot drainage easement on the rear of the property this will give them a little more room this is looking at from the neighbor's home to the west and it might actually be a good thing because it does block out portion of their view of that lovely electric substation to the rear uh this uh expansion would give them a nice screened area with a hard roof up to the drainage easement occupy that much space and extend their patio this is how it would look from the east side and uh would take out the landscaping there and as you can see where the drainage easement begins so does the conservation easement begin as well so there's no homes to the rear that would be infringed upon by this expansion into the rear setback and of course they would avoid the drainage easement staff recommends approval uh it's the lots at the end of the cul-de-sac bordered on uh on a signage recreation drainage utilities and open space tract uh the uh the this encroachment because of the width or the angle of the cul-de-sac lot being a triangle lot it's actually farther away from the neighboring structures than it would be if it was on an interior lot so this is a really good opportunity to uh extend into the setback without encroaching them upon anybody's else's uh benefit with that i'll stand for questions okay so there is a five foot drainage easement across the back that this is not going to be allowed to encourage into and there are no other easements that this would run afoul of okay as you see because of the shape of the lot the distance from the neighboring properties is actually farther on on a wide lot like at the end so it's it's really to the side lot owners it's really uh minimal encouragement is the applicant present good afternoon arturo mendez uh sales professional white aluminum windows all right good afternoon so you've heard the presentation so far from staff is there anything you would like to add uh no at this point i mean everything is pretty you know spot on um homeowners um 100 disabled and they have little tiny dogs they like to take them out and you know one of the things they want to do is be able to enjoy the elements outside with having without having to uh uh run away from the rain or you know pull the furniture in if it starts pouring down rain as it does in the summertime here in florida is the owner required to get approval from the hoa it's pending pending approval pending the variance approval okay it has been submitted the hoa will of course yes okay okay anything else you would like to add that's that's pretty much it okay trying to keep the lizards in i guess yes um okay i will open up this application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak to this application either for or against seeing no one we'll close public comment and anything else from staff no ma'am thank you thank you and i believe that takes us to our last application of the day excuse me ldl var 2024-55 ldl var 2024-55 jeffrey scanlan on behalf of visca corporation requests a variance to allow for a separation reduction for a private club liquor service license 11c with 25 within 2500 feet of religious institutions in a school in a residential low four district the property is located at 1527 rear road west of us highway 98 south of banana road east of chase road in north of the city of lakeland in section 11 township 27 range 23 38 mailers were sent to area property owners on october 23rd one board was posted on the property on october 25th and a legal ad was published in the polk's news sun on october 30th we've had no questions from the public as i mentioned the request it's rather unusual for an alcohol distance variance of this type typically the subdivisions that request them are large enough where their their boundaries are so far away and they're typically not one property they're subdivided so that interior parcel parcel line to parcel line is uh you know not ever going to be within so many feet of a church or school but that is not the case here in north lakeland there is a number of religious institutions in this area and this is a mobile home community as you see it's similar to other mobile home communities in the area uh the it's in the beginning stages of development and at their clubhouse the a private clubhouse they would like to serve uh both beer wine and liquor and to do that they need 11c license and our code requires them to be at least 2500 feet from a church or school going back you see that uh there is a uh church even though this uh one church is in a commercial district and not uh part of the requirements so we thought when they first measured the distance oh since they're in the commercial district uh they they are exempt however there is a church of god retreat which i know is a quasi judicial or quasi church religious institution so we thought just for safekeeping we had to measure that and of course it is within 2300 feet by as the crow flies to churchwell elementary school and as you can see where the property how big the property is relative to this is where the alcohol will be served so if we actually measured from the building or let's say it was subdivided it was a parcel it it would be far enough from at least the school and this religious institution uh probably would still be within 2500 feet of the church retreat which we're really not sure where you draw the line is it a church or a church retreat it goes both ways and they hold religious services there so just to be on the safe side we threw them in that's why the uh recommendation is once once this alcohol beverage license is established even if they were to stop serving for a while maybe you know it lost popularity and then you know many years later came back they would not have to come back in for another uh variance request in this situation so um you know once it's established it's established uh that's how we condition this approval and here's the how the development lays out the the uh community center is kind of equidistant to the the two phases of the development and those are those are spaces not lots this will not be platted so the perimeter will always be where we measure the alcohol distance from this is uh going into the subdivision or not the sub sorry this going into the development the mobile home park and this is the clubhouse as you enter and turn to the right like i said it's an 11c license that's very unusual usually we're looking at four cop's or two cop's this is a license that's typical of a private club and we don't often get them because like i said usually the developments that use them are are subdivided and therefore the parcels are farther away from anything that might be off-site so that i'll stand for questions so normally with um this sort of application maybe not this specific kind of license but with this sort of use you would include a um a duration that you know if it was inactive for a set period of time 24 months something like that then it would lapse but you're not proposing that in this instance because this is always going to be a mobile home park and you know sometimes these things go in and out of favor in in the community and and uh it would be a shame to have to keep coming back you know if if the uh license were to lapse for more than two years in this staff report you uh compared the proposed use to like a golf course clubhouse but it's essentially that without the golf course correct yes we exempt golf course uh private clubs that are on a golf course but we don't accept private clubs just on a residential development okay typically golf courses are so large you don't they they're a district in and of themselves true you've provided the travel distance via roadways um to grace point church into the elementary school but not i don't think it's in here to the other no we didn't it would probably be somewhere around uh 1500 feet it would have to beat the the alcohol distance even if it was a you know a travel distance it would be within the 2500 feet of that and like i said it was kind of on the fence uh we didn't really know what to call it uh whether it was because we we define religious institutions kind of open um but the the retreats and things of that nature it's a little nebulous in the code as to whether they're a religious institution or just a religious institutionally owned property so so we for safe measure we threw that in okay so it's a retreat meaning the religious institution uses it occasionally for gatherings gathering summer camps and stuff like that okay i take it you are the applicants okay you've waited a long time now it's your turn well we do well we'll see uh jeffrey scallen i'm the applicant i own swiss valley estates the community and development i live at um what's our new address 7910 davos drive uh lakeland 33810 um we're trying to build a nice community um active adult community for 55 plus seniors we've got a bunch of amenities and it's a swiss themed clubhouse my heritage my family comes from switzerland and we have nice alpine vistas on the clubhouse wall and we've got a little stage in there and we would like to be able to celebrate things like octoberfest with um custom beers some wines and uh i don't know if you know this kirschwasser it's you kind of take it after you have some fondue so things like that it's not um something like we want to open up a bar or anything we actually have church groups that are interested in renting out the clubhouse from time to time and they would like to have that available to them as well okay um and you said you are with visca corporation i'm the owner of visca corporation have you developed other communities like this or this the family has yes this is the one the first one that i've taken the lead on but yeah your um entity or a related entity has built other yes yeah it was actually my father that started this one he passed in 22 and i took over the lead are there um currently residents occupying the yes we've got uh four homes on site now uh we've got one sold we're we're in the other one uh most of the time where we're uh well right now we've been cleaning up from the hurricane but we try to manage it ourselves kind of a mom and pop type thing and we've got two homes for sale and uh we're looking forward to opening up the next phase shortly where we're going to bring in another six to eight homes and we were moving forward like that very good um anything else you'd like to add um maybe just a quick note on the golf course reference um uh we will we do have a golf green if that helps so yeah no that's it all right and ultimately you know what is the total build out how many homes right now we're at 53 um we've talked about maybe uh applying for a zoning change at some point to try to increase the density but i'm not sure we'll go down that road we're we're waiting to see how the economy goes a lot depends on that okay thank you thank you i do have to ask um since this is public hearing if there is anyone who came here today to speak regarding the application either for or against seeing no one i will close public comment and anything else from staff no ma'am okay thank you very much thank you and then i think we are done here today all right next meeting december 10th okay yes thank you