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 buenaventura law 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 do not believe that to be the case but please let me know if you do during this meeting please put all cell phones and other communication devices on vibrate or silence the cases will be called in the order listed on the agenda unless there is a request to take a case 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 opinions on the application if you have any questions that come up during the presentations 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 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 come to the podium and state your name and address into the microphone for the record these proceedings are recorded and it is important that you speak into the microphone to ensure an accurate recording after public comment is closed 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 be able to make concluding statements the hearing will close for each case following the concluding statements and 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 our 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 today's if anyone needs an interpreter please let the clerk know and county staff will 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 today on any case please stand and raise your right hand and answer out loud to the following question do you swear or affirm that the testimony you provide today is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth thank you okay um the first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes for the november 12 2024 meeting and we can show those as accepted and now on to new business um the first case um up for today is ldl var 2024-54 eric peterson for the land development division ldl var 2024-54 jose cologne is requesting a reduction in the right of way setback from 15 feet to four feet for a porch the property is located at 58 north cactus circle west of thornhill estates drive north east of thornhill road south of thornhill estates court west of the city of winter haven in section 3 township 29 range 25 the property is designated residential low on november 18th 2024 uh 21 mailers were sent to area property owners on 11 uh november 15th 2024 one board was posted on the property and on november 27 2024 a legal ad was published in the polk sun news aliyah inglima is the case planner good afternoon aliyah inglima with land development presenting ldl var 2024-54 the north cactus circle variance the applicant is requesting a reduction in the right of way setback from 15 feet to four feet for a porch the subject site is located at 58 north cactus circle west of thornhill estates drive north east of thornhill road south of thornhill estates court west of the city of winter haven in section 3 township 29 range 25 the site is approximately 0.97 acres located within a residential low future lane use and in the urban growth area the applicant purchased the property in december of 2022 the thornhill estates plat was recorded in may of 1989 and the mobile home was set on the property in 1990 both prior to the land development code and the comprehensive plan the applicant was cited by code enforcement for building without a permit for the porch and seeks to come into compliance the code enforcement special magistrate has found it to be in violation the case is pending as the owner is seeking approval for the porch to be located four feet off the right of way the applicant has also applied for a building permit without this variance it would be difficult to add additions to the home based on the location granting the variance will not be interest to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare because the home is located along along somewhat of a cul-de-sac at the turn in road that is functionally unnecessary for vehicle travel although the home is approximately nine feet from the right of way it is 39 feet from the edge of payment and at least 65 feet from the drive aisle of the two cactus circle roadways the special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or building involved is the lot being along the cul-de-sac and the house being so close to the road that it affects adding additions to the home making it difficult to meet setbacks in place for local roads in the rl1 land use district special conditions and circumstances present that do not result from the actions of the applicant is the home placement that occurred 32 years before the applicant purchased the property and i'll stand for questions can you go back to the slide that um had the justification for approval please um tell me what you mean by that the home is approximately or at least 65 feet from the drive aisle of the two cactus circle roadways but what are the drive aisle it's approximately 65 feet 65 feet from the actual roadway so not from the straightaways is that what you mean by drive aisle just the i i don't know what you mean by a drive aisle of a road all right go to the uh aerial photo and again see how the uh cul-de-sac or it's not really a cul-de-sac it's like at the in the bend in the road but it's an extra amount of pavement that's not where travel that's not in the travel lane okay so okay from the travel pathway yeah the straightaways of the road and not the enlarged curve okay so am i correct then that even without the um porch addition the home was already non-compliant correct and there was no variance for that no ma'am the the home has been there um since the 90s okay are there any visibility or safety concerns with um moving a portion well not moving but placing the addition that would make it even closer to the right of way no ma'am is there a homeowners association if there is but i'll defer to the applicant is the applicant present okay you could come forward please okay so it looks like we have an interpreter okay why don't we start off by swearing you in raise right hand do you swear or affirm that you would truly and correctly translate english into spanish and spanish into english here today thank you good afternoon if we could start by having you say your name and address into the microphone please sarai fernandez and 58 cactus six cactus circles north winter heaven did you understand the presentation that staff just gave about your application they said yes they understood the presentation okay do you have any questions about it is your property part of a homeowner's association his knowledge no okay in your application materials it says that your property is in the materials you submitted it says that the property is part of a homeowner's association so he's he's not sure who submitted that information but he says that no there is not a homeowner's association okay he's sorry no it's okay he said that he owns a different home um but that he's going to be living in this one so maybe that was where the cross information came okay okay is there anything else you would like to add in support of your application any other information you want to share anything else you would like to add he said that he simply constructed it because he wanted to have a nice outdoor recreation area where him and his mother who is also a little bit older can enjoy being outside on the porch anything else you would like to add thank you so this is a public hearing and i will um invite um anyone who came here today to speak regarding this application to come to the podium if you have comments either for or against seeing no one we will close public comment anything else from staff no ma'am thank you uh there's no deed restrictions or anything for thornhill estates on in the clerk's office so it's probably not a hoa great thank you okay uh moving on to ldl var 2024-56 ldl var 2024-56 frank bachman is requesting a primary structure right-of-way setback reduction from 25 feet to 12 feet for a 13 by 25 foot garage extension the site is located in a rural cluster center residential designation the subject property is located at 5113 sunshine drive north of highway 638 south of highway 640 east of highway 27 the west of scenic highway south of the city of lake wales and section 35 township 30 range 27 on november 18th 26 mailers were sent to area property owners one board was posted on the property november 15th and a legal ad was published in lakeland ledger or legal ad was published in the polk sun news on november 27th kyle rogas is the case planner good afternoon kyle rogas with land development presenting ldl var 2024-56 the bachman variance the applicant is requesting a reduction of the primary structure right-of-way setback from 25 feet to 12 feet for the construction of a 13 by 25 foot garage extension the subject subject site is located at 513 sunshine drive north of highway 638 south of highway 640 east of highway us 27 west of scenic highway north south of the city of lake wales in section 35 township 30 range 27 the subject site is located in the rural cluster center rx land use district in the southeast polk village center selected area plan in the rural development area the lot is 0.36 acres which is below the 20 000 square feet tier one average residential lot area in the rural cluster center rx land use district because of the small size of the lot and placement of the home the setback restricts further development without impeding on the 25 foot right-of-way setback the site was developed as part of the crooked lake park subdivision in track number three approved on january 25 1957 prior to the adoption of the land development code there are no easements on the front of the property according to the plat all of the utilities and drainage are provided within the 50-foot right-of-way the subject site is located near the neighborhood cul-de-sac resulting in minimal traffic circulation and there's ample room on the roadway shoulder for guests to park for limited periods of time the garage will be located 26 feet from the edge of pavement there are no sidewalks along sunshine drive that would be blocked by a car in the driveway when the garage door is closed a canal runs along the rear property line of the subject site per the land development code 50 foot surface water setbacks make building to the rear difficult placing homes closer to the right-of-way setback the home was built in 1957 and the original homeowner remodeled the garage to allow for storage not vehicle parking the current garage is approximately seven by 25 feet the dimensions of the garage extension will be approximately eight feet in height 20 feet across and 13 feet in length from the existing garage with the extension there will be little room to park vehicles in the driveway without being in the right-of-way therefore it is the applicant's intention to utilize the garage for vehicle parking and not storage here's the site plan submitted note the garage will run flush with the existing home structure not impeding on the west property line to the site west property line side setback the request is for a garage rather than a carport to match the surrounding properties and to keep the integrity of the neighborhood this photo is taken north of the property from sunshine drive in this photo you can see how shallow that existing garage is making it difficult to be utilized for vehicle parking and staff recommends approval the request will not block or limit the view of traffic there are no easements on the front of the property the reduced setbacks distance will not diminish the safety of the public and area involved garages unlike other accessory structures are permitted in the front yards and with that i will stand for questions would parking in front of the garage if this were to be built be prohibited because of its proximity to the right of way not prohibited no it would there's no sidewalks in that area so um and it wouldn't be impeding on that roadway um they would just be you know outside of that crossing that property line but restricted no do you know if there are any other homes in the neighborhood that are well that encroach on the right-of-way setback to my knowledge no and looking at this aerial i would say there aren't really any um but i don't have that information researched and and available to you today okay um is the applicant present if you could come forward please and start by giving us your name and address please frank bachman 513 sunshine drive okay um so you heard the presentation from staff is there anything um there you would like to add the house directly across the street got a variant and you can see in the one photo their carport is eight feet from the road and i'm asking to get like 25 feet from the road it still allows plenty of room for parking before the garage to the street they got their variants approved i think four years ago and did you purchase the property in february of this year yes okay and i believe i heard it's your intention to park in the garage rather than in the driveway which would have your car or vehicle right right now it's only seven feet deep it's like 25 feet wide there's a garage door that goes to seven feet and then on the other side it's like a storage area so they got 25 feet of seven feet depth i just want to extend it out 13 feet to make it a normal two-car garage okay um anything else you'd like to add no i don't think so okay thank you thank you again this is a public hearing so i will open up this application for public comment for anyone who may have come 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 that is all uh that case he mentioned was ldl var 2021-113 yes it was across the street uh it was a variance for a 25 reduction from 25 feet to six feet for a carport thank you okay we will move on to ldl var 2024-58 ldl var 2024-58 cecil teasley is requesting a right-of-way reduction from 35 feet to 15 feet and an accessory structure interior side reduction from seven feet to three feet for the construction of a 30 by 45 foot car uh detached garage a four car detached garage the property is located in an agricultural residential rural district at 2000 north scenic highway north north of highway 630 uh south of scenic highway north east of highway us highway 27 west of scenic highway north in uh south of the city of lake wales in section 19 township 30 range 28 on november 18th 2024 13 mailers were sent to area property owners two boards were posted on on november 15th on november 15th a legal ad was published in the polk sun news on sorry i read the wrong one start again 18 mailers were sent on november 18th to area property owners one board was posted on the property on november 15th a legal ad was published in the polk sun news on november 27th kyle roguis is this case kyle roguis is the case planner good afternoon again kyle roguis with land development presenting ldl var 2024-58 the t-sleeve variants the applicant is requesting a reduction of the right-of-way setback from 35 feet to 15 feet and an accessory structure interior side reduction from seven feet to three feet for the construction of a 30 by 40 foot detached four car garage the subject site is located at 2000 north scenic highway north of highway 630 south of scenic highway east of highway us 27 west of scenic highway south of the city of lake wales in section 19 township 30 range 28. the property is located in the agricultural residential rural x land use district the average lot size in tier one of the agricultural residential rural x land use district is 0.92 acres although the property is larger than the average in this designated land use district geographical features and land development code requirements limit total development land on the property their crooked lake subdivision was mapped in may of 2 1928 prior to the adoption of the land development code per chapter 4 section 401.08 of the land development code agricultural residential rural x land use district in the southeast polk village center selected area plan requires right-of-way setbacks of 35 feet off urban collector roadways accessory structure side yard setbacks of seven feet and rear yard setbacks of 10 feet the surrounding properties are located in an area of polk county where there is a significant decline in topography towards crooked lake limiting development to the front yard their properties are the properties that share lakefront access to crooked lake similar in use and size the location of the single family dwellings to the properties to the east and west of the subject site are located further to the rear of the property offering more development opportunities to the front yard without the need for a variance and then here's a closer look at those uh properties to the east and west of the property the subject property at hand that are closer to the lake than the front elevations on the property changed from about 120 feet from the shoreline to 149 feet at the rear of the house so that 29 foot change in elevation limits further development on the site in the rear the elevation in the front yard where the detached garage is proposed is the flat portion of the property elevation change in the front yard is five feet spanning an approximate distance of 100 feet here's the site plan submitted and then this is the view of the property looking west off north scenic highway a 100 opaque fence runs along the entire right-of-way concealing structure from traffic and then this is the view of the property looking south down the driveway where the proposed garage will be located to the right hand side staff recommends approval the request will not block or limit the view of traffic within the fenced property the elevation change to the rear of the single-family dwelling further limits development of the property to the front yard garages unlike other accessory structures are permitted in the front yards and with that i will stand for questions okay so there are other nearby properties where they've built in the back area that is i guess steep correct um so it's not impossible to build back there i mean given the slope um and how you would be accessing that back rear property for and for car detached garage um it would be extremely difficult and for you know development to be um easier within the front yard where garages are you know able to be developed it would be easier to develop that property in the front yard where it is the flattest portion of the property okay um so most of the presentation and the staff report are focused on the um the right-of-way setback issue um there's very little information on the side yard right so the main emphasis on the right-of-way was just having it being concealed within that 100 opaque fence the side property setback is going to go from seven feet to three feet there is a fence line there that does have some concealment from further view of that neighboring property to the west and you can see in the site plan that they do emphasize that there is that fence that runs along that western property line do you have a photo of the fence that shows them the closest photo of the fence would be you can see here just to the right it looks like it's a black chain chain link fence that has some sort of um opacity to it there's something other than just chain link to to what i can see from the photo i didn't step directly on the property and take the picture of the fence but from what i can tell from this photo there is some sort of opacity to that chain link fence could you pull up the site plan please yes the aerial photograph shows um some structure between the right-of-way and the proposed structure what is that it's not shown on the site plan this i'm not sure what that would be i would defer to the applicant for that question do you know what the structures are um on the opposite side of the parcel i would believe that would be more storage but again i would defer to the applicant for more justification on those questions okay and i believe you said the average size lot in the area advertised parcel was around 0.9 acres yes so in the tier one designated land use district the average property size per our code is about 0.92 acres and the property at hand the subject property is about 1.12 acre so although it is larger than that average minimum residential lot size because of those elevation changes that steep slope in the rear it does make it quite difficult for development being closer to the front front property to avoid those elevation change is there an actual minimum lot size you've given me the average but is there a code-based minimum lot size i don't believe there is a minimum but i would have to confer with staff for five five acres would be the minimum lot size all right so it appears that most of the lots are substantially less than that yes okay is the applicant present good afternoon hello if you could start by giving us your name and address please uh cecil teasley okay 2000 north scenic highway babson park florida 33827 okay and i'm amy teasley and 2000 north scenic highway babson park florida 33827 okay i'm going to start with some other questions that uh staff directed me to you um so let's start with um what the structure is that is between the right of way and the proposed um garage if you could tell me what that is i believe it's a temporary shed i had put there to hold storage i can't really tell if it's one of my job trail i want a construction company i can't tell if it's one of my construction trailers or if it's one of the building containers so no it's not the containers because they're beside that but it's a temporary shed is it or container is it there now yes okay okay and it's well i was gonna say it's we actually called yesterday to have it moved because it has to be moved if this if this does get approved it has to be it actually has to get removed regardless has to be moved or removed it's being removed it was never intended to be there it's it's holding materials we're doing a whole house remodel so it's um temporarily holding materials okay and then the um structures that are on the east side of the the parcel to the east of the driveway those are also temporary structures that will be torn down once we build the addition on the front of house which is another phase in our remodeling plan the house was built in 1948 so it does not have hardly any storage there's there's a garage that was changed into an interior storage unit so we we everything has to be parked outside placed outside so we really could use the garage space okay well that uh leads right into my next question which is that the garage that is appears to be from this aerial part of the home is not actually a garage it no no longer no okay it was it was a single car garage i believe at one time that's someone but it was converted into a room so then the structure that you're proposing would be the only enclosed garage space okay well we are it doesn't show this because that's a different um our plans are being built we are building a master bedroom on the back side i want to be and underneath our master bedroom will be a single car garage but that's going to be mainly used for pool equipment um our golf cart to bring stuff up and down it's not really meant to put a car in if you look at the i think that's the west side of the house to the property line it's it's narrow i think it's only 20 feet it's very hard to back down it's not practical to your everyday car to back down the hill or drive down the back into the backyard it slopes both ways it slopes towards the lake and then it slopes to the east so but that proposed one on the front will be the only ones for our vehicles when did you purchase the property 20 june of 2020 does the fence on the west side of the parcel you know is it anything other than chain link is there something else mixed into there uh it actually has um it's a fake ivy it goes all the way across but we also are planning to put a i think it's roughly about what six to eight foot tall uh hedge all the way down landscaping um we're just waiting for the construction to be over and we eventually are planning on going all the way down that fence line uh with landscaping to kind of conceal us okay is there anything else you would like to add in support of the application other than just the difficulty it would be to place it in the rear it would be it'd be a huge undertaking to go back there along with the plans eventually we would like to have we're doing it would like to do a couple of additions back there which would even push it further if you look at the other homes in the area they're a lot newer that's why they're so close to the lake again we were built back further so we're trying to get a little closer to the lake um it just it would make it difficult if you could go back to the there's a page that had uh the proposed plan you're talking about your hand the hand drawing if you look at the back of the home see how you'll see a pool and a retaining wall that's currently not there we are in the process of getting our permits to build those additions in the back once they're like what she was saying once those are done that sorry that would push us even further to the lake um probably i think once that's done we're only going to be about 75 feet from the lake so we would actually have to drive all the way down to the lake for garage if that's where we have to put it okay that's it anything else okay thank you thank you open up public comment on this application is there anyone who came here today to speak about this application either for or against seeing no one we will close public comment and anything else from staff no that'll be it all right thank you and that takes us next to ldl var 2024-61 ldl var 2024-61 yvette colon arroyo is requesting a variance to allow an accessory structure to be larger than the primary structure the property is on a 4.34 acre parcel in the residential suburban district it's located at 5110 iron oaks lane west iron oaks west of iron oaks lane east of norris wood drive south of shepherd road south of the city of lakeland in section 29 township 29 range 23. on november 18 2024 13 mailers were sent to area property owners two boards were posted on the property on november 15th and then a legal ad was published in the polk song news on november 27th alia and gleamer it's the state is the case planner good afternoon ali and gleamer with land development presenting ldl var 2024-61 the iron oaks lane variance the applicant is requesting a variance to allow an accessory structure to be larger than the primary structure the subject size located at 5110 iron oaks lane west of iron oaks lane east of norris wood drive south of shepherd road and south of the city of lakeland in section 29 rate township 29 range 23 the site is approximately 4.34 acres located within a residential suburban future lane use and in the suburban suburban development area two accessory structures have been on the property since 2005 and they are being used as storage along with housing horses the new homeowner wishes to add an additional third structure to match the existing barns the applicant applied for building permits and was told by building staff that the site must apply for the variance due to the accessory structure being larger than the primary the current owners would like to use the new barn for the horses to work they express that it is very important part of their competition training the requests will not be interest to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare as the building will be at the rear near the primary home within a fenced boundary and will meet all setbacks many homes in this area have accessory structures some larger than the primary and granting granting the requested variance will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by the provisions of this code and will constitute unnecessary undue hardship on the applicant because there is other similar properties with large accessory structures in that neighborhood and the code relief the applicant is seeking is slightly larger than what they currently are permitted to have and i'll stand for questions so the plan is for the proposed structure to match the appearance of the structures that are there yes ma'am okay um i think any questions i have are for the applicant so is the applicant present good afternoon um if we could start with you giving us your name please i bet colon arroyo okay my address is what 5110 iron oaks lane mulberry florida 33860 okay and um you heard staff's presentation um did you understand what was what was said i see you have an interpreter with you so i'm just asking if you understood the presentation okay yeah yeah okay um so tell me a little bit about the proposed structure and why it needs to be as large as you're proposing um you know it's quite significant in size so if you could just explain to me why it needs to be that size and how you propose to use it so she said that she has horses and they're show horses so she has to train them daily for a few hours out of the day and since we are in florida and it's very hot outside the sun does beam she wants to have them in a protected area where they can be outside they can train under normal conditions however maybe limit how much exposure to the sun they get approximately how many horses do you plan to have for this structure she says she currently has two horses right now okay do you plan to add more or this is for the two that you have if it's successful potentially more yes but for now just the two when did you purchase the property in march of this year if the application is approved staff has recommended a number of conditions to that approval and i wanted to bring one to your attention and that is that um this structure could not be used for a home-based business or any sort of commercial use it would just be for your personal use and for storage and you know home for your horses and i just wanted to make sure that you understood that condition she says that she agrees with that condition the horses are hers they're for her horses her horses are the ones that train and go to the shows okay is there anything else you would like to add in support of your application she had made a comment before that the reason for the length of it was because when they do the show some of the portions of the show are having to walk a certain way up and down and hopping over the uh obstacles so okay so you're trying to um mimic competition conditions yes okay thank you okay i will now open up the application for public comment and i would ask the applicant to stay in the room until we get through public comment i'm believe we have at least one person who um has signed up to speak and so i would ask the applicant to stay through that please um so we have a uh speaker card from john beach and if you could start by giving us your name and name and address i am john beach and my address is 5109 iron oaks lane in mulberry 33860 and so 5109 i'm the one across my drive okay so you're across the street from the subject property correct okay go ahead so uh september we have been there 10 years um for kids we've had many um additions and projects things done improvements to the property um the latest one of those being a guest house for my dad who was back here and my mom i mean have retired um so we went through all the proper proceedings and and things for that um we actually had to change the plan because of the way things were so we could meet the different requirements for building code and things like that with it with the county um so with all that we we definitely have followed um the guidelines for that um we did not know the specifics of what was going on um next door of course the sign got posted and then you get the mailers um there is some concerns there for one being the size and where is the water going um the middle of that property where the um if you do the aerial just to the east of the box the proposed area there's a fence that property is when it rains that floods so i don't know we just don't know so that's that's why i'm here as well and i'm across the street so that really doesn't affect me at all what affects me is where that is going to be set up that's outside of our the front of our our home so i didn't want to wake up in the mornings and go out and look at a arena you know with horses so and i'm a horse fan i love them they have beautiful horses and they and they work them very well um but anyway that's why i was here um just because of the overall size of of what's going on and and what we're going to have to i'm sure if it gets approved and they do it it will look beautiful um but just the size of everything uh was it was a concern for us so and that's it okay thank you is there anyone else um who came to speak about this application um i will give the applicant an opportunity to respond to that if you care to it's up to you um so she said that the structure is going to be farther away and that on the drawing plans they do have to take into consideration the drainage um and that as far as she's seen that she hasn't seen any sort of flooding in that area where he was pointing to so she's unsure do we have a plan that shows um how far that will be set back from um i can't see the name of that road but how far that will be set back from the road looks like it's going to be approximately 30 feet from the roadway or no that's the property no that's the property or from the property line from the right of way 30 30 feet 30 feet yeah okay and that's consistent with your understanding of how you're proceeding 30 feet anything else thank you okay um i don't think i closed the public hearing but i'll do that now um is there anything else from staff on this one no ma'am okay thank you and then i think that takes us to our last case ldl var 2024-62 ldl var 2024-62 test dansell on behalf of omar and idia fernandez request a primary setback reduction from 10 feet to 5 feet for the construction of excuse me rear primary uh setback reduction from 10 feet to 5 feet for the construction of a new screen room with a solid roof in a plan unit development pud 98 2012 solo vita phase 5d the property is located 1172 via galupi street in solo vita subdivision uh south of lombardi court and cypress parkway north of the village center road west of torino lane east of umbria drive and south of the osceola county line in section 14 township 27 range 28. on november 18th 36 mailers were sent to area property owners one board was posted on the property on november 25th a legal ad was published in the bulk sun news on november 27th there's been four letters in opposition so you've seen a lot of variances in solo vita before and you know where it is and it's a a pre-dri and a uh pud that's that was approved in 1998 from a pud that was approved in 1970. uh the area as i mentioned is south of cypress parkway here in the county line the subdivision in the 2023 aerial photo was under construction as you can see here and if i could show you what it looked like in 2024 i would but there's a cloud hanging over the subdivision so we don't have an aerial photo so it's going to our close-up looks like this the property is separated from the neighboring neighboring subdivision to the rear by a drainage area uh retention pond the request is for a five foot extension of a screen room and a solid roof on the end of the home one of the things about this variance is it's one of the first in this area of the development we had one last month in a different area of the subdivision backing up to a whole different type of infrastructure uh this one would extend similar to this but one of the interesting things about this request is it will go into a wall and irrigation easement on the rear of the property there is an eight foot wall and irrigation easement that extends from this uh fence back to the property and i'll explain some more this is looking to the south and you see the same same thing and notice the separation from the homes to the rear this wall and irrigation easement and there's there's parts of the the easement that have sprinkler heads that's the irrigation system and these are the water valves and things of that nature you can also see on some of the homes they they have a a solid border on the bottom of their screen porch to keep from that irrigation going into their porch areas so this wall is not a wall like a subdivision wall this is a going the other direction it is a drop off into the pond and that's why the fence is there it's a retaining wall of sorts yes it is a retaining wall under the plat it this this easement is uh under the control of the solo vita community association typically when we have variance requests that go into easements one we forbid anything going into a drainage easement this is not a drainage easement utility easements we typically seek the advice of the utility providers typically our utilities doesn't like things going into their easements but other providers and sometimes utility easements and are not utilized this is a little different this irrigation and wall easement is something totally different than we're used to so we're in this recommendation we're deferring any impact to that easement to the the solo vita community association so as a result we're recommending approval because we are looking at it from an aesthetic view and would it do harm to the immediate neighbors we really can't evaluate whether it's going to harm or be a detriment to the wall and irrigation easement that's up to that organization determine so you know in our our point of view it doesn't it it could block the view of the you know the neighboring homes off in the distance but it really doesn't uh provide that much of a detriment to the neighboring property owners of course the na speaking to the neighbor next door he liked the idea too he didn't think he could do it and so this might set a trend so this being the first one along this row along this thing it it you know as in most of the solo vita dwellings they're the the screened in area is very small they want more space that's essentially what they're seeking to get is more usable space into their back porch so with our recommendation we say it will not be injurious in the area and or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare provided the applicant can obtain permission to encroach into the irrigation and wall easement so therefore we put condition number two in the re the recommendation that the applicant secure the permission from the solo vita community association prior to seeking the building permit for the proposed expansion so this would indicate that they would have to submit hoa approval with those docs we do not have hoa approval in the application as you can see so with that i will stand for questions okay so you do not normally have a condition like that you do not normally enforce um hoa covenants um right and in in this case you're not so much enforcing that covenant as um we are acknowledging it on the plan because it it directly mentions it on the plat it's it's their ownership so that that part of the easement is owned by sorry is owned by as it says owned and maintained by the solo la vida community association so essentially they own a portion of that property they don't own the fee simple but they own that right to govern the wall and irrigation easement so we defer to to that organization to provide you know and a relief if there is relief to be sought or if there is a relief to be available through their mechanism because i you know as as a planning staff i can't evaluate really why eight feet is so necessary to maintain the wall i can understand the irrigation because i can i saw the sprinkler heads but that's something that could be moved could be altered but i'm not one to evaluate that it's this is a part of the the community's ownership and will we defer to that as far as what we look at from a variant standpoint it doesn't necessarily put a detriment yes it could set a precedent for the area as most of all the other solo vita setback reductions have so with that i'll i'll leave it at that okay uh well each variance case is um reviewed and analyzed on its own merit regardless of what um variances have been approved elsewhere was the hoa put on notice of this application and by polk county no we did not have a a way to notify the solo vita they're not on our um registered property owners associations that get notification when something goes in typically it's the orange signs that that uh signify to the solo vita association that another variance is going in there we do notify the association of poinciana villages which is the larger organization or the the larger area but solo vita has been pulled out of the association of poinciana villages they they have their own and we don't necessarily notify them they're not on our registry correct lisa they're not and the proposed expansion will be screen correct it'll be a screen yes room that's how it's been described okay so not an opaque structure no ma'am okay i tried to depict that in the drawing i'm just confirming much as i could just you know trying to consider what impact on view it might have um in in some of the opposition they note you know that it's not permitted uh on the other subdivision there is an extension over here off of one of the dwellings with a hard roof is that in a different association it's in a different association but i believe the opposition was across the the uh opposite side of the pond it was on umbria drive our our notices oh the the people objected do not live on the same street okay yeah and um although i saw in in the package four letters in opposition it appeared that one of them was a duplicate i saw three different names i can confirm that okay i saw um williams aubry and cox and maybe i was just given two copies of the same thing instead of getting the fourth i don't know okay it could happen um i improved my scribble um if i can read that williams aubry and cox are the last names yes s williams and d cox and we have a caroline obby yes and i didn't see a fourth name i just had that's three okay and all three of those are on a different street yes 974 umbria 982 umbria and 990 umbria and uh go back to the aerial photo umbria drive is on the opposite side of the pond okay so they're in the different association yes well the same the sola vita association that's referred to in this plat is for the master development oh okay and you said there are all there's already at least one on umbria that has gotten approval for yes i i didn't get a great picture of it but that is it right there in the corner okay and i i caught that after we got the opposition and haven't had time to check and see if i don't believe we've had any variances in that subdivision that side either because um that one was under construction about the same time this one was okay and could be mistaken but you do so many out here it's hard to keep track all right is the applicant present name is arturo mendez uh representing uh fernandez family and behalf of white aluminum and windows we're the contractors working with the homeowners good to see you all again okay so you're with white aluminum yes ma'am okay and were you sworn in earlier at the beginning of the meeting no ma'am okay we're going to take care of that before we get started would you raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the testimony you provide today is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you okay so you heard what was uh discussed so far is there anything you would like to add in support of the application yeah um so across the way as the gentleman was uh pointing out umbria there's actually a couple over there on that side um they don't need variances if they're going with just a cage unless they're going to get a solid roof then they have to go through variance on the opposite side of the uh channel i guess uh now on that on that side there i guess one of the concerns of the homeowners is mainly the white roof because we're going to you know we want to cover the homeowner wants a covered five foot extension with a solid roof and the roof being white the glare of the sun and in in most cases in many cases what we've done is we'll go over the top of that white roof with the same color shingle that the house has to match it to take away from that you know brightness of the roof um but on this side of the of the channel here you can see there there's absolutely no space back there for homeowners to enjoy their area these this final phase of solo vita the homes were built so narrow and so long that the homeowners have really no outside area to enjoy um so we're trying to get this gentleman here he's somewhat handicapped older gentleman and wants to enjoy a little bit of the outdoors and have a solid roof and i have to run inside when the elements start getting crazy in florida we all know um and and with a solid roof i've got a question by chance if it wasn't uh a solid roof are we allowed to build a five foot cage out without a solid roof i believe it would still require the solo vita uh area property owners because you're going three feet into that easement irrigation and wall easement so you really need their permission gotcha um but no permission would be needed from polk county no permission would be needed from polk county that is true okay so i think what you heard um from staff is some advice to you but not um it's not a record that's not a requirement that would be enforced by polk county right they was just giving you some additional information um the the white roof that you're saying that that's what's going to go in here is a white roof or yes it's not going to be shingled it's a three inch composite panel roof um we don't typically shingle them but in some areas of solo vita we have shingled them just because uh some homeowners like a few of them that have complained they're going to notice that white roof so we will cover them with shingles or it's called a shingle flash so we'll flash it with shingles to match the roof of the house so that there isn't no um you know issues and also one more thing pertaining to the uh hoa approval there is a submission for the hoa approval but the hoa will not approve obviously the project yet until the variance is approved as with troy brown last month uh the hoa is pending once we have approval from from polk county then the hoa will then approve so it's pending okay and um you started off by mentioning the um screen room that's across the pond did you say that has a hard roof or it does not have a hard no that's that's just a screen room uh yeah screen cage that one actually extends out i believe 10 to 12 feet but there are others across that channel uh with with cages as well i believe there's about three i've been in solo vita for about 10 years and uh yeah i can tell you across that channel there's probably about three and i guess from their view they're going to be looking at the roof and they're going to think to themselves well you know that's sun glare you know maybe we can do something about that and put some shingle flash on it for okay anything else you would like to say in support of the application particularly understanding that there is some opposition yeah i completely understand why um i you know the homeowners you know they've been waiting for months or you know they'd like to get something going the lanai's that are already enclosed like he showed in the photo that's not nearly enough space for them to do anything in those houses the last final phase i don't know why solo vita did the final phase that way but they did and kind of took away from homeowners having any outside enjoyable area pretty much all right thank you no problem thank you all right i will now open up the application for public comment is there anyone who came here today to speak regarding the application before or against close public comment anything else from staff no ma'am okay thank you i think uh i think we're done