are forms you can fill out if you would like to speak or receive a copy of the final decision on any case on today's agenda. If you think you might want to speak during the hearing, you will need to complete a speaker form. Once the form is completed, please hand it to our clerk. I'm Barry Buenaventura, an attorney with 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 don't 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 silence. 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 opinions on the application. If you have any questions that come up during the presentation, you can ask them during your time to speak. Please do not ask questions or make comments from the audience while others are speaking at the podium. The county, the applicant, and I will note 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 very important that you speak into the microphone to ensure that we have an accurate recording. After public comment closes, the applicant and the county will be given the opportunity to answer any questions or reply to comments that may have come up during public comment. They will also be able to make concluding statements. The hearing will close for each case following the concluding statements of the parties. My decision will not be given today, but will be provided in a written final order within 14 days of today. Again, if you would like a copy of my decision, please fill out the form on the back table and provide it to the clerk. For the record, I want to note that I have received no ex parte communications. This means that nobody has contacted me about these cases outside of today's hearings. If anyone needs an interpreter, please let the 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 Lanius hearing officer today on any case, please stand, raise your right hand, and answer out loud to the following question. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you provide today? Is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Okay, the first item on today's agenda is approval of the minutes from the February 25th, 2025 Lanius hearing officer meeting. We can show those minutes as accepted, and we will now move into new business, and the first item on our agenda under new business is LDLSE 2024-12. LDLSE 2024-12, the Benza special exception. Juan Benza requests a special exception to park a commercial vehicle, a 2023 S-47 S-X Schwing American, or America, at their residence on, that is approximately 8.8 acres. It's within a residential neighborhood. The future land use map designation is residential suburban. Subject property is located at 7333 Catherine Drive, north of Deason Road, south of Rawlarson Road, east of Hillsboro County, west of Kathleen Road, northwest of the City of Lakeland, in Section 17, Township 27, Range 23. On March 5th, 26 mailers were sent to area property owners. On February 28th, one board was posted on the property. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun News on March 12th, 2025. We've received six calls and one letter in opposition. Kyle Rogus is the case planner. Good afternoon. Kyle Rogus with Land Development presenting LDLSE 2024-12, the Benza special exception. The applicant is requesting a special exception to park a commercial vehicle at their residence on approximately 8.8 acres within a residential neighborhood. The subject site is located at 7333 Catherine Drive, north of Deason Road, south of Rawlarson Road, east of Hillsboro County, west of Kathleen Road, northwest of the City of Lakeland, in Section 17, Township 27, Range 23. The subject site is located in the residential suburban land use district, where the minimum lot size is five acres. The special exception will only allow for one commercial vehicle provided they conform to the standards in Section 216D in the Polk County Land Development Code. The subject site is located off Catherine Drive, passing approximately 11 residential properties from Kathleen Road when accessing Duff Road in Catherine Drive. This route of travel is approximately 0.32 miles. The properties in this area are smaller in size. The subject site abuts 10 residential properties, three of which have filed complaints against the applicant. While conducting our site visit, no commercial vehicles were seen. The vehicle will be parked within, behind, or partially enclosed within the barn, therefore minimizing any visibility from the neighbors. Per the Land Development Code, when the vehicle area will be less than 2,000 feet from a residentially designated or used property, it shall be buffered from the adjacent residential property with a Type B buffer yard. The property is 8.8 acres, so it's easy to meet this requirement. The proposed parking lot is greater than 200 feet from all residentially designated or used properties. The closest property is designated commercial, where there's a public supermarket and other small commercial businesses. Here is a closer look at the site plan. The site plan illustrates the truck will be parked on the north side of the property, behind, or partially enclosed within the existing barn. And then here are the photos of the commercial vehicle that were provided with the application. This is a photo taken on the property facing northeast, examining the existing barn structure. This photo is taken from the intersection of Duff and Kathleen Road, facing Kathleen Square. In this photo, you can see the intensity of the commercial use that is abutting the subject property. The vehicle will access the property off Catherine Drive. The commercial driveway apron is required to protect Catherine Drive from the stretching caused by such vehicle's turning movements and off the property. And then staff recommends approval. The request will be limited to the parking of one truck, the 2023 S47SX Schwing America, as described in the application and staff report. No other commercial vehicles may be parked on the site. This special exception shall be for the operator Juan Binza only and shall not run with the land. The commercial vehicle shall only be parked in the area designated on the site plan. No commercial vehicle maintenance shall be performed on the site and no outdoor storage of any commercial vehicle parts or equipment is allowed. And with that, I will stand for questions. So the staff report says that the vehicle will be parked in or near the garage that's there or the barn that's there. Is it either or does it matter to staff where the vehicle is to be parked or is your recommendation the same regardless? This is to allow for the commercial vehicle to be parked on this east side of the barn existing barn here in between the commercial designated property and the barn. This is to allow the parking outside because one of the exceptions in our land development code in 216 D is if it's fully enclosed in a structure, it can be parked and does not have to go through this process. We understand that with within the barn and, you know, other things being used for that barn, it's not always going to be applicable for them to park the vehicle in the barn. So this is allowing them to have that outdoor parking area to the east side of that barn in between the commercial vehicle, um, in between the barn and that commercial designated property. Okay. So the recommendation from staff is not based on the applicant parking the vehicle as much as possible in the barn. It's just noted that sometimes it might be partially in the barn. Correct. Okay. It can't completely fit in the barn. Is that correct? With the dimensions that the vehicle is provided and then the barn, I believe in the staff report, it states that the barn is approximately, bear with me, apologize. This is going to be on page four. It's going to be part of, uh, comment number eight. So the barn dimensions are a hundred feet by 40 feet. And the application states that the commercial vehicle is approximately 13 and one inch high and a length of 42 feet and one inch. So the length of the vehicle is smaller than that 100 foot length of the, of the barn. So it should be able to be parked inside, but this is for the allowance of having it be parked outside given other uses for that barn. Okay. And where is the entrance to the barn? What side? The commercial vehicle would be entrance, entering the barn from the east side where we are also designating that parking location. Okay. And would it be pulling in facing west? To my knowledge, yes, but I would defer that to the applicant as to how they would be parking it inside. Okay. Okay. Okay. So I mean, unless they face it north, the whole, the whole vehicle can't fit in that barn. Correct. Is additional buffering required to, uh, to park the vehicle? No. So as the staff report stated, and in section 216 D, um, if it is within less than 200 feet of a residentially designated property, it will have to have that type B buffer yard. This, uh, depiction states that, that property or that location for the commercial vehicle parking is going to be greater than 200 feet from all residential designated properties. The 90 feet is going to be from that commercial use NAC where that Publix is. And then this 90 feet is just designating the distance between the barn and the residential development there, the single family home. With the same owner? Yes. With the same owner. Okay. And are there any restrictions on trucks or commercial vehicles using the road that this property has access off of? Off of Catherine, Catherine drive? No. Lee, in your comments today, you said that you mentioned something about 0.32 miles to the property from where? Yeah. So that would be if the commercial vehicle was accessing Duff road off of Kath, Kathleen drive here, and then proceeding north on Catherine drive to access the property. So this distance here to Catherine drive is approximately 0.32 miles passing those 11 residential properties from that intersection. Yes. From this intersection. Yes. And again, that's the intersection of Catherine and Duff, Catherine and Duff drive. Yes. Is there currently a code enforcement case pending for this property regarding this vehicle? There is a complaint that was filed. It is CEC 2024-4916. The complaint states they are running a commercial or a concrete business in the residential neighborhood. The last comment that the investigator made was that they observed a few individuals working around the barn, did not observe any commercial vehicles, equipment, or concrete equipment machines on the property, and it will continue to monitor the property. So there is no specific violation, magistrate case currently pending, but there is that complaint that the investigator is continuing to monitor the property for. But the complaint is not specifically regarding the presence of a commercial vehicle, rather it's the operation of a commercial enterprise on the property. Correct. Which is a different matter, I assume? Yes, correct. Okay. Is the applicant present? Good afternoon. If you could start off by giving us your name and address, please. My name is Juan Alberto Vincent Montero. My address is 733 Catherine Drive, Lakeland, Florida. Okay. And who do you have with you today? My name is Alyssa Rizzi and I work for him and I'm going to translate. Okay. I believe we also have a letter of authorization for Ms. Rizzi. Okay. Do we want to swear the translator? If that is part of your responsibilities, we're going to make sure that you're translating properly. Would 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? Thank you. Okay. So you've heard the presentation so far. Do you have any comments you would like to add in support of your application? He said no. Okay. He said he would like to present something that we had printed out that he, him and his girlfriend found. Looks like it's on Facebook. Can I explain for him or he has to say it? If you're representing him, you may explain. It looks like they have like a neighborhood chat or group that they've created. And there's a bunch of posts from different people in the neighborhood about actually wanting to film. He's seen drones over his house. His neighbors try and come on his property, curse him out, things like that. And so he said that he's not doing anything that he's not supposed to be doing. He's trying to correctly go through the steps to get the permissions that he needs. But he has had issues with people in the neighborhood because of that personally towards him. And he's just looking to keep advancing in his personal life and business. He does have a concrete company, but he does not run it out of there. The address there is located on Sunbiz, for example, for the business. But I run his business out of my home office. And the guys don't report there every day to go to work or anything like that. He does have guys sometimes that will go to his property to help him maintain the ranch. They have cows there. They help him put up fences, do his grass, things like that. He said that he believes that some of the people that are in this chat are in this room as well and that have been opposing against him. So, I don't know if you can turn these in or not, but we did print the messages as well. You can provide them to our clerk? Sure. Just from a quick glance, I cannot tell if this is your property or not. Are the photos that are shown here your property, sir? Is that my fence, yeah? So, he's putting up a fence, and I called Polk County and asked if we needed to provide a permit, ask for a permit. They had advised that it was lower than a certain height that he did not, and he was able to put a fence how he'd like, as long as we did not exceed the height that they asked for, which is what he's doing. Okay. The fence is not the subject of today's hearing, so we don't need to really explore that further at the moment. How do you use the vehicle? I'll explain to you. So, it's a concrete pump truck. The vehicle is driven to the job sites, where they open the legs of it, they stand it, and then they have a really long chute that they pour concrete out of. The vehicle is not extended or operating or anything until it gets to an actual job site. If it's at his property and parked, it would only be parked there, like if you would park a semi-truck. You turn it on, and you drive it to the job site. Where is it parked now? We rent a storage spot nearby to have it parked at, so he would like to not have to park it somewhere else, park it behind the barn or in the barn, whatever is accepted, and the employee who drives it comes, drops off their truck, gets in the pump truck, drives to the job site, then they would come back, park it, take their truck, and leave. And the access into the barn is on the east side of the barn? So the picture, I'm not sure which is east, but I'm looking at, which side is east? This is facing north, and east is to the... Oh, yes, that's correct. So it's almost like if it was in between his barn and his house. The request that we had submitted was to be able to put the apron in front of the existing driveway he has, that they said has to extend to the road, and then drive through his driveway, and then he would extend it out, because they said it had to be thicker. So he would make it commercial grade, so that way he can drive the truck around there, and then pull it in, and then back it out, and go back. Okay, so the portion of this sketch that is in yellow is where the... That's where it would drive, correct. Okay, so what you just described is what's shown in yellow. And again, that's what he proposed. I don't think he has an issue if you guys propose that he has to drive a different way or something like that, if we had to build the driveway a certain way to go around the barn, or... There's almost doors on north, east, and west side of the barn. Oh, there is access into the barn? On the other sides, too. On the other sides, but not... The only access it doesn't have, it's like if you're driving up to it, you don't see anything. There's no windows, nothing here, but there's doors here, here, and over here. On all sides, but the south side? Correct. Okay, is there anything else you would like to add at this time? Okay, I do believe we have several individuals who have come to express an opinion on this application, and you'll be given an opportunity to respond after they've done so. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, and I will now open up this application for public comment. As I said, we have three individuals who are here to express their opposition to the application. First up, we will hear from Kirk Everett. My name is Kirk Everett. I live at 4010 Rolling Oak Drive in Lakeland. You can proceed. Okay. This has always been a very quiet neighborhood. That's why we bought there. I'm two doors away from Mr. Elk, the Benzell place. And since he is taking ownership of the property, there's been a lot of traffic in and out of commercial vehicles. Maybe not right now because he got there were complaints, and they made him move them out. But there's a lot more noise. I think there's a safety concern as well. Such a big truck. There's tight corners coming in and out of the neighborhood that even normal vehicles have a hard time passing each other around these corners. But there's a school bus stop directly in front of his driveway right across Catherine on the corner of Roll Milk Drive and Catherine. And there's always kids there in the morning. There's kids there in the afternoon when they let them off. You know, it's not something that I would want to see any type of commercial business in the neighborhood. That's all I have. Looking at this aerial photograph, can you tell me approximately where your property is, please? Okay, right where the writing is, where it says existing barn, straight across the street is Roll Milk Drive. This way up, if you bring the arrow down a little bit more, that's my house right there. Okay. Yep. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Okay, and we'll now hear from Gene Beal. My name is Gene Beal. I live at 4007 Rolling Oak Drive, Lakeland, 33810, which is actually right across the street from this property. I want to comment on the chat box thing. I'm not a member of the chat box. I've never heard of it. But I live across the street, and I can assure you that commercial vehicles go to this place. I have pictures. There's other people that's seen them. Again, there may not be right now because all eyes are on this property, but, again, I have pictures of commercial vehicles on the property. I get up early, and I've seen commercial vehicles driving into the property at 4 o'clock in the morning. So I'm sure the county is not out there at 4 o'clock in the morning looking for commercial vehicles. What I really wanted to talk about is the safety issue. Again, I live right across the street, and there's a school bus stop there that 10, 12 school buses a day stop there. And it starts about a little bit after 5 o'clock in the morning, which it is pitch black there. And the entrance to his property is right where the school bus stop is. I mean, that's the entrance. There's little kids up to high school kids go there. And, again, it starts very early in the morning and ends for 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I think it would be a tragedy to okay this because of the safety issues. I would urge you to, if you, can you bring up the picture of the gate? Okay. That's kind of a side way. If the gate straight back, that's where I live. Well, the school bus stop is right in front of this gate. Actually, both, there's a gate to the right to entrance to his property. And this gate here is the one they open up now to where the big trucks and everything go. So, again, the school bus stop is 20 feet away from here. So I just wanted to, I didn't hear the county mention it. I didn't certainly hear the Benza side mention it. But I'm very concerned about where the location is and the school, the school bus stop. I think that eventually there would be something that happened there that we all wouldn't want it to happen. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Our third speaker is Susan Coker. And I apologize if I'm not able to read that correctly. Good afternoon. My name is Susan Coker. I own the property at 7415 Catherine Drive. If you all have questions, I apologize. I am hard of hearing, so I may have to wait for it to come on my phone. That said, these people moved into that property. It was zoned residential. There are a lot of families out there with children that ride bicycles in the street. They have their skateboards in the street. And they expected it to be a residential area, quiet, calm. Ever since the Benzas have moved in, it has been nothing like that. The whole area has changed. And I think that's what concerns me is the safety of the children. Like was mentioned earlier, there's a school bus stop right in front of their gate. They have a paved driveway. They also have a dirt driveway that was created in the field where that gate is. And trucks are in and out of that constantly. In fact, if you went out there today, you would see a truck and a big trailer parked out there. It's been out there for days. They have cows that are out there. The cows get out of the gate into the road several times. I've called, you know, the sheriff's department because the cows are in the road or in my front yard. It's ridiculous. I know they're saying they don't have commercial vehicles there, but they do. And I can hear them even without my hearing aids. I can hear the vehicles coming in and out all day long, all night long. So I don't know who they're trying to fool. They have about 10 trucks that they park back there. They're parked behind the barn. They have total disregard for any neighbors. They put a fence up. It's the most ridiculous-looking fence I have ever seen in my entire life. So they dug holes. They didn't fill the holes in. They left the old fence up. And that's what I have to look at from my backyard. You know, it's just they have total disregard for the whole neighborhood. And I don't think that you can believe that they're going to bring that truck in once and park it behind the barn where nobody can see it. I don't buy it because history repeats itself. And that hasn't been what they have been doing up until now. They have tried to make that a commercial place. There's at least 10 pickup trucks out there. We see that big equipment come in and leave. It creates dust because it's a dirt road. It's not even paved. We have protected turtles and tortoises out there. And they chose to take cement blocks and put them in the holes where the, you know, the entryway for the tortoise. And so they've dug holes in my front yard. They've moved only because they have put a cement block and a tree and trash in the hole to where the tortoise cannot get in and out. So I know that this hearing is not about that. But I do not think these people who cannot live within the guidelines that have already been set, I do not think we should change the guidelines and allow any kind of commercial vehicle to be stored there or to drive in and out. It's not fair to all the neighbors who have lived there peacefully and in a quiet community for all these years. To come in and think you can change it just because you have money, I don't think is right. I think everybody else has covered everything else, but between the total disregard for wildlife, the cows being in the road, the safety of all the children that live there and ride their bikes and their skateboards and have to stand at that bus stop that's right in front of the gate where their equipment comes in and out, I just think it's not a good thing to allow. Why risk children? And they're small children up to high school children. They're always there in the morning when it's dark. I just don't think, I think it's a safety concern as well as a neighborhood concern, and it devalues all of our properties that are faced up against it. So I think that's all I have to say. I think everybody else has covered a lot of those details as well, but I think it's an injustice to grant someone who disregards the rules and regulations and the laws of the land to grant them exceptions. Thank you. I'm going to ask our planner to pull up the aerial photograph, please, and if you could identify approximately where your property is on that aerial for me, I would appreciate that. I'm sorry, it's not picking you up. Could you show us where your property is in relation to theirs? Their property is an L-shape behind our property. I see. So it goes on the south side of our property and the west side. Okay. So they have an L-shape property, and we sit right here. Thank you. And I can hear them all hours of the day and night. Mr. Binhaw? Having heard from your neighbors and their concerns, do you have anything you would like to say to address those concerns or comments? Discuss them with me, so I'm just going to say them. Okay. So he has four children of his own who live on the property from ages 3 to 17. Three of those children take the bus, which is right in front of the property. He said that neighbors and people have complained about parents parking in front of where the school bus drops off because they don't want them on their grass and their property or it's unsafe. And they've been putting complaints about that too. So he's offered that when it's time for the school bus to arrive that they can park in front and on his property because he has kids that go on that bus as well. The another thing is the person who drives this commercial vehicle, which is the only commercial vehicle that he has, has to have a CDL license. And they come, they're certified, they pick up the vehicle, and they go back. Another thing was the inspector for the county, because of having people sitting there watching what he's doing 24-7, is the one who advised that he put up a fence. And if they don't like the way that his fence looks, they can put the one on their side of the property as well so they don't have to look at his, which is what the county had told him to do because they'll sit there outside in their chair and watch them as they tend to the animals or he has people, if he doesn't have something for them to do, a half a day of work or something, he'll have the guys go and do sprinkler system for him or help him feed the cows or things like that. And so that is what they advise for him to do. Okay. Also, that road on Duff Road where they're talking about where the bus stop is, that is definitely not a road. I personally drive there to take him payroll checks and things like that. That's not a road that kids would be driving bikes on or skateboards. That is a two-way road, a one-way road, I'm sorry, that has a lot of vehicles that go through it. It's not like a community neighborhood where I have two kids of my own, and I would not have them sit out there and use their bikes on that road. There's no way. Cars are passing there all day. It's not an residential neighborhood where you have a dead-end street and moms are sitting outside and their kids are playing on their bikes. It's a road that connects to Kathleen that goes to Publix. So you have to go, all the people that are coming out of the neighborhoods behind there, take Duff Road and go out to Kathleen Drive. So it's not like they said that it was this type of neighborhood where you're going to sit there and the kids are not going to be able to use their bikes now because one commercial vehicle comes in and parks. And we think it's a little irrelevant as well that the vehicle, the bus comes in the afternoon and it comes in the morning. If the vehicle came in the night or in the morning or whenever it came, it has the same effect if somebody else was driving a vehicle than if that vehicle was going, if the bus was there or not. You're still supposed to have precaution. Okay. If your application is approved, staff has proposed a number of conditions and I want to run through those with you to make sure you understand them. So if approved, the approval is only for this one vehicle. So not multiple vehicles at the same time and not different vehicles one at a time. He said he does have a gooseneck trailer, which is not a commercial vehicle. He has a trailer that he uses. He goes and fills it up with hay, different things for his property. He parks it there. He takes it. He brings it. But besides that, he does not have another commercial vehicle. They have pickup trucks. He owns trucks. He has three or four of them of his own use. His girlfriend uses one. He uses one. His dad uses one. He said, is it an issue? Is it against the law to have multiple trucks? They're all registered. He uses them all. But it's not a commercial vehicle. Besides that pump truck, the company or himself does not own another commercial vehicle. So the other vehicles you've just described are not commercial vehicles as defined by Polk County. They are trucks not meeting the definition of commercial vehicle. Other conditions proposed by county staff are that, and this is standard anytime a commercial vehicle is approved, is that there can be no vehicle maintenance performed on your property. He said the only thing they would do is wash it. Sure. And no outside storage of any vehicle parts or equipment or anything like that. And you could, if approved, only park the vehicle in the location that is identified in the site plan, which is either in the barn or between the barn and the commercial property to the east. Is there anything else you would like to add in support of your application? Is there anything else you would like to add in support of your application? Does staff have any comments regarding the location of the school bus stop, the use of commercial vehicles on the road, or anything else that you've heard during public comment that you would like to address? No, I do want to mention, I forgot to mention earlier, I do have two e-mails that I received earlier this morning that I know did not make the packet. So I do have the two e-mails that I received this morning, print out for you. Great. I'll take those. And can you address the safety issues that were raised? Yes, so there is a no parking sign that is designated on both the site, I'll pull it up, on the west side of Catherine Drive and the east side of Catherine Drive. That is typically that signage of no parking is designated for what would be used for a bus bus stop. Okay. I guess my question pertained more to the coming and going of a commercial vehicle in proximity to a bus stop and not the parking of others. In terms of safety, as mentioned, I don't know the times, comings, and goings. I do know this is for a commercial or a concrete business that is not being run out of the home resident here that we are examining and that the times that the truck will be coming and going would be dependent on what that work schedule would look like. I can't speak in terms of if it would interfere with that bus route routine or not. Okay, but I believe earlier in your comments you indicated there are no restrictions on the use of commercial vehicles on this road. No specific restrictions in terms of it cannot be driven, and I did not look specifically into Duff Road. That was specifically for the frontage road of Catherine Drive. Okay, and how is Catherine Drive classified? You may have that in the report. Yes, it should be classified as a collector roadway, I believe a local road. I have it in page... Duff is the collector. Duff is the collector, and then Catherine Drive is a local road, yes. And that will be on page three of the staff report under tab number three. Okay, Catherine is a local road, and Duff is a collector? Correct. Okay, and now I'm looking at the emails that you sent, that you just provided. Comments expressed are very similar to what we have heard here today, concerns about the commercial vehicle noise and past history on the property. Anything else from staff? No, that is all. Okay, thank you. Okay, and we will now move on to LDL VAR 2025-1. LDL VAR 2025-1, Darren Taylor, on behalf of Circus Inn, Inc., is requesting a variance to allow the separation reduction for two proposed alcohol package stores, three PS licenses, within 2,500 feet of religious institutions. The property is located on the west side of U.S. Highway 27, south of Holly Hill Grove Road, number two, north of Ridgewood Lakes Boulevard, south of I-4 East, and north of Haines City, in Section 30, Township 26, Range 27. The property is 56.71 acres. It has a future land use map designation of Employment Center X. It's in the Green Swamp area of critical state concern. It's in the Ridge Special Protection Area and the North Ridge Selected Area Plan. Forty-two mailers were sent to area property owners on March 5, 2025. One board was posted on the property on February 28th. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun News on March 12th. We've received no response from the public. Andrew Growhowski is the case planner. Good afternoon. Andrew Growhowski with Land Development, presenting LDL VAR 2025-1. This is a request for two 3PS alcohol beverage licenses, beer, wine, and liquor package sales, on a proposed retail site within 2,500 feet of two religious institutions. The subject site is located on the west side of U.S. Highway 27, south of Holly Hill Grove Road, number two, north of Ridgewood Lakes Boulevard, south of I-4, east and north of Haines City, in Section 30, Township 26, Range 27. The site is located within the Employment Center, Future Land Use District, Ridge Special Protection Area, and North Ridge SAP overlays, and the TSDA overlay. Currently, the property sits vacant and has received conditional approval of a 489,500-square-foot shopping plaza by the Planning Commission in October 2024. The site plan proposes two retail spaces on the western portion with nine out parcels, including two fuel stations, on the eastern side of the property, flanking U.S. 27. These two big-box stores are proposed to have their own separate liquor stores, each with separate entrances. The proposed site requires a variance to this distance separation requirement from Four Corners Baptist Church and Champions Christian Academy, both of which are religious institutions. Per LDC Section 224, a variance is required for three PS licenses when it's within 2,500 feet of schools or religious institutions. Measured from property lines, Four Corners Baptist Church is about 735 feet from the subject property line. Champions Christian Academy is approximately 200 feet to the subject property line. Champions Christian Academy has been a religious facility since 2000 and is located within an institutional land use district. Four Corners Baptist Church has been operating as a church since 1993 and is in a residential medium land use district. Employment Center in the North Ridge Selected Area Plan allows alcohol sales as an administrative type of review, a level one. However, since the religious institutions were established first, the applicant must go through the variance process. Shown is the site plan superimposed over the existing parcel with the approximate location of the two liquor stores shown in red. Per LDC Section 224, the distance separation is measured from property boundaries. The distance measured between the subject site and religious institutions is below the 2,500 foot separation distance. That distance increases when measured between liquor store entrances and religious institutions instead. Here is the site plan with the proposed liquor store entrances. If measured between the store entrances and both religious institutions' property boundaries, those distance increase by over 940 feet. Pedestrians and vehicles must travel much further than the property line measurements themselves, including crossing U.S. 27 and having to enter the buildings. Here are photos of the vacant site. The top is taken from Holly Hill Grove Road No. 2, looking south. The bottom photo has Champions Christian Academy visible across six lanes of U.S. Highway 27. Two sit-down restaurants designated in the site plan as out parcels 9 and 10 will be located closer to the two religious institutions and will be allowed to serve alcohol without having to go through the variance process. This is because sit-down restaurant, there is no distance requirements with restaurant licenses according to Section 224, Table 2.4 of the LDC. The request will not be interest to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare as the proposed liquor stores are much further away when taking into account entrance locations. U.S. Highway 27 and the proposed out parcels provide physical barriers which limits pedestrian and vehicular access. There are many instances where liquor stores and religious institutions have co-existed in close proximity to one another. This site plan has already received Planning Commission approval in October 2024. Given the nature of the proposed alcohol license relative to the hours of the church, staff finds this request will not pose any land-use conflicts. And with that, I'll stand for questions. Were the two religious institutions notified of the application and the hearing today? Is the applicant present? Yes, thank you. My name is Robert Volpe with the law firm of Holtzman Vogel. On behalf of the applicant, my address is 119 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida. And I have a speaker card here for the clerk. Could you spell your last name, please? V-O-L-P-E. Yes, ma'am. So we had a different representative in the file, Darren. Yes, and Mr. Darren Taylor is here. And actually, I'm not going to say much. I just wanted to correct for the record. The staff report is correct. It says the applicant is Darren Taylor and the property owner is Circus N, Inc. The hearing officer case overview has those two flipped. So the correct, it says Circus N, Inc. is the applicant and Darren Taylor is the property owner. So I just want to correct for the record that Circus N, Inc. is the property owner. Darren Taylor is the applicant. Mr. Taylor is a land use planner with Holtzman Vogel, with my firm. He is here to present an analysis on the variance criteria. We agree with staff's analysis and their recommendation, and we ask for approval of this variance. I'll hand it to Mr. Taylor. Good afternoon. Darren Taylor, 119 South Monroe Street. We also have the engineer with us as well, if you do have any questions. And we have all been sworn in. Do we have the PowerPoint? I'll be very brief. There are just a few facts I wanted to present. And we certainly agree with the staff report. But to go to the next slide, just wanted to point out a few things that, you know, certainly with this site, the U.S. 27 corridor provides a significant barrier as far as when you consider all the traffic and noise, et cetera, and the fact that this area is planned for intense urban uses. But if you look at the existing conditions, if you look to the east and you see that there is from the church to the corridor, there's significant vegetation on the property between the two properties, if you look at the U.S. 27 corridor and the wooded area for the property and then the church. And then to the south, when you see the footprint of the school, it's clear that the U.S. 27 corridor provides obviously a lot of noise, et cetera. And so these uses have directed their uses further away from the corridor. And, but then if you look at the next slide, and then when you consider the actual activities that are going to be taking place, our plan is for two national retailers that will have a liquor box internal to that use. And so when you consider, they will have a separate entrance as required by law, but when you consider the location of the liquor box, and then with the parking and the nine out-parcel buildings, they will all provide a buffer as far as activity between the church and school and these liquor box uses, which will be internal to a much larger actual retail use. So the real use of what's happening in the property is a mixed-use retail activity, but it will have a liquor box component within both, which is standard with these national retailers. And when you look at the actual distance, if you look at comparison of the liquor box to the footprint of the church, you're looking at a distance of approximately 1,500 feet from the closest liquor box and almost 1,900 feet from the second liquor box. And then if we do a comparison on the next slide with the school church activity use, you have from 1,300 feet separation and 1,100 feet separation, that's as the crow flies, not considering the parking, the building, et cetera, which provides, like I said, a separation. So finally, if you go to looking at the rationale and said, we support the staff recommendation, we do meet the criteria for the variance. As our analysis shows, as well as the staff, there's no direct impact to the church and the school, and obviously they have not objected either to that use. And also, I'd like to point out that we have gone through a land use change with this, and one of the facts that was significant for the staff, as well as in our analysis, there's a significant need for commercial in this area. There's been a lot of residential development that's been approved, but there's been a lack of the commercial that's needed to support that. And so this is an important site. It's a large site to provide that need, and so certainly this is an activity that our clients are going to be providing, that needed mixture of uses in an area that is a transit-supportive development area under the Comprehensive Plan. And certainly, it would be important to mention the fact that the history of how the county has analyzed these uses, which it clearly has determined that there is an ability to coexist these uses, in addition to considering the factors that we're mentioning in our application. The one thing I did want to mention as far as on the timing, because one of the things that the staff had mentioned was the fact that our conditional use was approved for five years as opposed to the standard three. It mentioned that we weren't exactly eager to begin. It's not exactly true. We actually have permits that we've filed. There are some, there's a roadway that we had to move. There are some utility issues, and so we asked for that five years, and for this to match that five years, simply because of, as you can imagine, there are unknown factors as you're moving forward. This is a large site, but we are actively moving forward. Our clients are very eager to begin as far as these establishments. And we have our team ready. We're happy to try to answer any questions you might have. In that area, US 27 is a six-lane road, is that correct? Yes, correct. And how wide is the right-of-way? Say 200 feet. One of the criteria that staff and I have to consider when evaluating a variance application is hardship. Can you address that criterion? Certainly with these liquor box uses, these are national retailers. This is a standard brand in which when the retailers, when the public and all are essentially going to these establishments, they are known throughout the nation as far as on these uses. And the lack of having the liquor box component creates a significant impact to this retailer, which is part of their national brand. I would add to that as well as far as the impact, as far as on the ability for these uses and the presence of these uses in the area. There's not, I think there's a couple miles as far as for existing liquor box uses in this area right now. As I mentioned, the lack of those commercial uses in the area. I think the closest is a Publix liquor box a couple miles away. And so tying into the need for commercial uses to provide for this area and the fact that this is really the largest available property in the corridor to provide this needed mixture of uses, which once again ties directly to the planning that the county has for this area. The liquor use is tied directly to the county? Well, the mixture of uses, the activity, the transit, the activity that the community is wanting to, the county is wanting to provide, and to have those uses in close proximity where residents are able to safely walk, where they are safely to use other modes of transportation in order to reach that activity, which would include the retail use as well as the liquor box component. Anything else regarding hardship that you would like to add? I'll defer to Mr. Volpe as well, see if he has anything else to add to that. Well, and Mr. Taylor was offering the testimony. I will add for the record that our application addresses the criteria for a variance that are listed in the land development code, the seven criteria. Those have been addressed in our application, which I don't believe was attached as part of this, the staff report, but it is part of the record for this, this hearing today. And those, those criteria include the special conditions, special exceptions, special conditions that exist. Would it be injurious to the area is the first criteria. What special conditions exist to this particular piece of land structure or building involved? Whether the, provided the, whether provided special conditions and circumstances present in the request, do not result from the action of the applicant. Those seven criteria are listed in our, our application and addressed. I can read through the consistency analysis there if you would like, but just wanted to make sure that our application is included with the record. I'll also note in, in our application table three there, as, as precedent, there, the last 10 of these variances from the distance requirement have been approved. And, um, I think it was also included in Mr. Taylor's analysis that, that the distance requirement in Polk County's code is, is one of the, the most, the largest, um, separation requirement because it's based on the parcels instead of the, the building to building, which is what is typical in most land use codes across the state, which are range from zero to, you know, 500 feet instead of the, the 2,500 foot separation. Uh, that is listed in the, uh, that is listed in the, the county's code. Okay. Um, anything else you'd like to add at this time? No, thank you. Thanks. 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. Is there anything else from staff? Nothing else. Okay, thank you. I have one thing. The narrative and justification he mentioned is, uh, attachment number two in Legistar, your Legistar file. I see that it is, uh, in the, um, digital file. Yes. Thank you. Okay. We will move on to LDL VAR 2025-2. LDL VAR 2025-2. Test stencil of white aluminum on behalf of Linda Ann Tribiatowski is requesting a rear primary setback reduction from 10 feet to 5 feet for the construction of a new screen room with a solid roof. The property is located at 1145 via Gallupi Street and, uh, north of Village Center Road, south of Cypress Parkway, east of the city of Haines City, in Section 14, Township 27, Range 28, in the Ponciana, pre-development of regional impact, uh, future land use district, under plan unit development 9812 and Solovita Phase 5D. Twenty-eight mailers were sent to area property owners on March 5th, 2025. One board was posted on the property on February 28th. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun News on March 12th. So far, staff has received no response. Aliyah Nglema is the case planner. Good afternoon. Aliyah Nglema with land development presenting LDL VAR 2025-2, the Via Gallupi Street variance. The applicant is requesting a rear primary setback reduction from 10 feet to 5 feet for the construction of a new screen room with a solid roof. The subject site is located at 1145 Via Gallupi Street, north of Village Center Road, south of Cypress Parkway, east of the city of Haines City, in Section 14, Township 27, Range 28. The site is approximately .09 acres, located within the Pointe Santa pre-DRI No. 1 and in the PUD 98-12. As you can see from the aerial, the single-family homes on this street have been recently built. And the subject site is part of the Solovita Phase 5D plat, which was created on November 9th, 2002. The residence was constructed over a year ago, and the applicant purchased it August of 2024. This lot, like most others, abuts a large area of open space on the rear lot line. There is a 5-foot drainage easement to the rear of the parcel, and the proposed screen room will not encroach into that. Here is a picture from my site visit. As you can see, many of the neighboring properties have received variance approvals for a screen room, just like what the applicant here is requesting. There have been 13 variance approvals since 2020. In this phase or in the entire DRI? Within this Township and Range. The request will not be interest to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare because the expansion is minimal, and the lot backs up to a common area, which is open space. And this expansion will have minimal potential adverse effects on the immediate neighbors or the community as a whole. And I'll stand for questions. So 20 similar variances have been approved in this section, but it appears that there's been at least one on this street. Yes. There, I'm trying to get the other picture. There's two. So there's one right here, and there's also another one down here. Okay. Eric, did you have something you wanted to add? I was just going to say that. There's two. All right. He's got it? Yep. Did I interrupt you? Do you have more to? No, ma'am. You had concluded. Okay. So you're done? Okay. So I see in the staff report that the HOA has not taken a position on this yet. Correct. So with Solavita, they wait until the Lane Use Hearing Officer approves the variance for them to go through the process through their HOA. And they've always had that position? I thought we've had some in the past where they've approved before we get here. I believe it's always been that way. Okay. And the open space tracked to the rear of the property, that is owned by the association, the HOA? Yes, ma'am. And it is designated as open space, or does it have some other designation? It's designated as open space. I'm trying to see. It's not in that one, but it's hard to see. It's small, but it is designated as open space. Okay. Okay. Is the applicant present? The name is Arturo Mendez with white aluminum and windows, representing Linda Tributowski. It was a difficult name to pronounce. We're here again for the same thing. It's just another one of, you know, the variance to get her more space in the back of the house. That's all. Okay. The HOA is always pending approval. They know that we're going to build an existing structure, but if the HOA were to approve it before we got a variance, then the homeowners would be after the HOA kind of, you know, well, you guys approved it. Now we've got to get our room, so we've got to get a variance approval first. Okay. That's all. Okay. So even though we may have been here before on similar issues, we're going to take each case on their own. Yes, ma'am. So having heard staff's presentation so far, is there anything you would like to add in support of the application? No, ma'am. One of the criteria that staff and I have to consider when evaluating a variance application is hardship, something that is unique to this property, to the owner's circumstances, could you address that criteria in place? Well, they are elderly, and they have very minimal lanai space currently right there. So they want to extend out to be able to enjoy the outdoor elements while staying out of the elements, I guess, the rain, mosquitoes, bugs. So just like the neighbors there have a couple of screen cages as well, they want to enjoy some space out back. I believe they have some small dogs, too, so they want to try to keep them kind of inside, and they're eventually going to put a little fence out there to keep them from running away or getting too far from the property. Okay. Okay. Anything else you'd like to add? No, ma'am. Thank you. Thanks. Open up this application for public comment. Is there anyone who came here today to address this application, either for or against? No one. We will close public comment. And anything else from staff? No, ma'am. Thank you. And now on to the last case of the day, LDLVAR 2025-4. LDLVAR 2025-4. Thomas Rogers is requesting a 5,540-square-foot accessory structure to be 370% larger than the primary structure in a residential suburban land-use district on approximately 4.02 acres. The subject property is located at 2710 Saddle Creek Road, south of Wilson Boulevard, north of Ralph Road, east of Cumbie Road, north, west of Delrose Drive, west, east of the City of Lakeland, in Section 3, Township 28, range 24. The property, as I mentioned before, is residential suburban with just a little bit of residential low on it. Twenty-eight mailers were sent to area property owners on March 5th, 2025. Two boards were posted on the property on February 28th, 2025. Legal ad was published in the Polk Sun News on March 12th, 2025. Andrew Grokowski is the case planner. Good afternoon, Andrew Grokowski with Land Development, presenting LDLVAR 2025-4, the Rogers Variance. The applicant is requesting a 5,540-square-foot accessory structure to be 370% larger than the primary structure in a residential suburban land-use district on approximately 4.02 acres. The subject property is located at 2710 Saddle Creek Road, south of Wilson Boulevard, north of Ralph Road, east of Cumbie Road, north, west of Delrose Drive, west, east of the City of Lakeland, in Section 3, Township 28, range 24. The property is located in both the residential suburban and residential low 1 land-use districts in the suburban development area and transit supportive development area, respectively. The accessory structure is proposed in the residential suburban land-use district. This property was recorded in December 1997 prior to the adoption of the Land Development Code. The owner purchased the property in January 1997 according to the Polk County Property Appraiser website. The home was built in 1979 at 1,038 square feet. The proposed accessory carport garage structure will be 5,540 square feet, which is 370% larger. In addition to the subject property, the applicant owns an additional 12 properties outlined in yellow. This 2022 satellite photo is looking southeast. The additional properties consist of vacant land and single-family residences. The total combined acreage of these 12 properties, as well as the subject site, is about 33 acres. The approximate location of the proposed structure is in red. The subject site is in two different land-use districts. The property is below the 5-acre minimum lot size in the residential suburban land-use district and the 40,000-square-foot minimum lot size in the residential low 1 land-use district. The accessory structure is proposed in the residential suburban land-use district. The accessory structure will be located in the central portion of the subject property in the residential suburban. The structure will replace a now-demolished barn constructed sometime around the early 1970s, which stored most of the applicant's tools and equipment. The accessory structure will be approximately 75 feet from the neighboring property line to the north. The nearest home is about 130 feet to the north. The accessory structure will also be behind an 8-foot-high concrete wall, which surrounds the subject site and two other parcels owned by the applicant, which are shaded in yellow. The combined acreage of these properties is over 11 acres. If the applicant were to locate the proposed garage on the adjacent parcels in yellow, they would still have to go through the variance process due to the existing residences on each parcel. Here is the site plan. Note the accessory structure will exceed all the setbacks for the RS land-use district. The accessory structure will be about 145 feet from Saddle Creek Road, a county-maintained urban collector roadway, and 75 feet from the rear. The accessory structure will be about 55 by 65 feet and behind an 8-foot-high concrete wall. Here are additional elevation drawings provided by the applicant. The height of the proposed structure will be about 30 feet, including the foundation. Photo here is taken from the edge of payment looking north. In this picture, you can see the accessory structure will be located with reference to the applicant's house to the right. This photo is taken from a vacant lot in the Wilson Acres subdivision looking south. The 8-foot wall is the applicant's property boundary. Looking at the current site from the north, the background is the Wilson Acres subdivision where that previous photo was taken, and the vacant lot that is observed by the 8-foot wall. The foreground is looking at where the old barn was demolished and where the garage is going to be proposed. Again, just looking at the site in a different direction, the applicant's home is to the left. These were additional photos provided by the applicant for the record. It consists of various equipment used to maintain the property. Staff recommends approval. The accessory structure will meet the setbacks in the RS land-use district. The size of the accessory structure relative to the total acreage of all the properties is significantly different. The garage would be located on over 13 continuous acres behind an 8-foot high wall. This garage should not be as noticeable as it would be on much smaller lots in a regular subdivision. Granting the subject request will not be injurious to the area as the new garage is replacing the old barn that has been in the same location for over 50 years. And with that, I will stand for questions. Is there a height limit in this land-use district? In the RS land-use district, it's 50 feet is the max structure height. So the variance is to the size of the proposed accessory structure with respect to the size of the residence on site. How does the size of the property, which seems to be a significant focus of the staff report, how does the size of the property factor into that analysis? Given the size of the applicant's property in this photo, given just how large the property is, I believe that the garage, just in a regular subdivision, I just, staff doesn't see how that could be allowed, but I think in a regular or in a large parcel such as these, staff could see that. Can you pull up the slide that shows all of the applicant's properties? So there are rights of way that are dividing the parcels. Does the county consider those, all of those parcels, to be contiguous to each other despite the rights of way? I believe just the three parcels where the garage is located is contiguous. This may be in your staff report, and I apologize if it is, but do you know the approximate acreage of those three contiguous parcels combined? Yeah, in those three acres, it's about 11. Approximately 11 acres? Yes, ma'am. Are there any other accessory structures, storage structures, et cetera, on the parcel that this structure is proposed to be built on? No, ma'am. Do you know the approximate size of the barn that was recently demolished? I will defer that to the applicant. Is the applicant present? Could you come forward, please? I have to have a little fun at the end of the hearing. I can clarify some of the questions you had. Great. If you could start off by giving us your name and address, please. We would then love to hear your clarification. My name is Thomas Rogers. I live at 2710 Saddle Creek Road, which is one of the three parcels that are in the proposed area there. Gotcha. So to answer your last question, the building that was there that was demolished, I have the completed demo permit, it was significantly larger in footprint, smaller in height. When my grandfather built that place in the 70s, he never expected to have big equipment. The wheel loader in the pictures that I submitted is also part of the hardship that I wanted because I've heard you ask that question several times. If you look at that pictures closely, you'll see the rust. When I bought that piece of equipment, it was new. It's been outside the entire time because it does not fit underneath the barn that was demoed. And all that other equipment could go in that building as well. The height is so that that piece of equipment can go into the building and be stored out of the weather. You can see the rust on the equipment from it just sitting outside. The barn that my grandfather built wasn't very tall. That wheel loader is very big. It's a very large piece of equipment. I'd like to buy a new one, but I don't want to buy one if I can't have a building to put it in. The John Deere dealer would love to sell me a new one. He's going to take that old one in on trade, but I get to keep all the buckets and stuff because it will fit on the new equipment as well. So that's why I'm here is to get this variance. The building that I want to build is similar to other buildings I've built, so I am very familiar on how the process goes. My house is of the same box. My building is of the same box, and I built two other buildings that are similar to this, so I'm very well aware of how to build that building. When you say similar of the box, do you mean similar construction? Yeah, similar construction. The blueprint that I brought, you can open all three of them, and they're basically the same. There are minor differences for the current codes. Other than that, they're a very similar building. Okay. We maintain all that property in the area there. There's 33, 34 acres in the area. I have three employees. There's a lot of equipment. This is just a sampling of what I had. I just was trying to illustrate the hardship of leaving the equipment outside. The reason why people park their cars and equipment inside buildings is to keep it nice and not let it get weathered, and that's the goal of the building, is to protect the equipment that I buy to maintain the large acreage of property in the area. And so the equipment needed to maintain all of the properties would be stored inside that building, yes, ma'am. Inside this building, okay. And I'm sorry, what did you call the piece of equipment that you showed us, the tall one? The wheel loader, it's a John Deere 544H wheel loader. It has four pieces of equipment that attached to it on the front that are connected to it. You can see right now in that picture there, you can see it's connected to the three-yard bucket that's on front of it. That bucket is used as a platform, and it moves earth. We trim trees with that. It makes a nice platform for a person to be in and trim trees with a chainsaw, move earth, flatten the ground. We have a fork that goes to it. It helps move pallets of heavy things around. If we need to lift another piece of equipment, there's other equipment on the property. We can lift it with that piece of equipment to get underneath it to do maintenance and things of that nature. I would have never thought that it was such a vital piece of equipment until I owned it. We do a lot with that piece of equipment. And it requires a building of approximately 30 feet high to store it? Well, it's about the entrance. So when you build a building, the inside height isn't what's most important. It's the opening height. You have to have a garage door tall enough to get in. So in order to get the garage door tall enough to get in, you need the building to be higher because the lentil that goes over the top of the door has to be even higher. And so to make that height requirement so you can drive inside the building with that 12-foot-tall piece of equipment, you have to have a higher door. And it doesn't fit in my building, which it's parked beside right now. Otherwise, I'd drive it into that one, but the door isn't tall enough. And all that rust is just from it sitting outside. It's unfortunate, but it still works good. It's still a well-maintained piece of equipment. It's just gotten ugly from weather. If the application is approved, one of the conditions that staff have proposed, which is a standard condition in these circumstances, is that the structure could be used only for the storage of items associated with the residential use of the property and that there couldn't be any home-based business or commercial enterprise operated out of the accessory structure. I've been retired for 14 years. I don't need any other work. I basically maintain the property as a way to stay healthy. I get outside in the sun and play around. I mean, it's really, I don't need any more economic ventures to maintain what I'm doing. Okay. Is there anything else you would like to add in support of the application? Yeah, my grandfather and I built that little tiny house. That's why we're here for this is the house is tiny. It's actually smaller than what they say. If you include the open-air garage, the carport, it's about 1,100 square feet. But if you take out that open-air garage, it's 947 square feet interior living space. It's tiny. He didn't need much. Him and I built that house in the 70s when I was there. And don't make me tear it down. I mean, there's a lot of sentimental value there. And I will build a bigger house if you want me to, to get the size to meet the 150-foot. But I do have the ability to do that. I just would rather not because every nail in that house was helped by me. Otherwise, I'd tear it down and build a bigger house. My house is right there. It's 7,000 square feet. It's a monster. So that's why I didn't have the – that's why you didn't see me here for that other garage that's there. I met the 150%. So please don't make me tear down that house and do the same. I just would rather keep it a little bit longer. It's wood frame. It may not last many more years. But I've maintained it. We keep it nice. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Open up this application for public comment. I don't see anyone here. But perhaps there's someone in the hallway. 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? Nothing else to add. Okay. Thank you. And I think we are done for today then.