PDD-23-2100 Kutch variance for screen room and carport setback
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Planning Commission, Jan 5, 2023
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Planning Commission, Jan 5, 2023
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 12m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 81% of 58 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Liam Devine, Planning and Development.
And I'll wait for the PowerPoint to pop up.
So this is item PDD twenty-three-two one zero zero in the name of Elizabeth A. Cush. It is a variance request to reduce the minimum five-foot setback for an accessory structure to two point nine feet for a screened room and carport in an R2 low density residential district. The subject site is located on the east side of Abbey Drive, approximately 600 feet west of the first intersection of Happy Hill Road and Abbey Road. And this is a look at the aerial
oops.
And this is a look at the aerial view.
The surrounding future land use is Res 6. And the surrounding zoning is R2. The subject site consists of a single family dwelling on approximately 0.39 of an acre. If approved, the variance request would allow the applicant to apply for an after-a fact building permit and bring the accessory structure side property line to conformance, side yard setback line to conformance. The subject site has a future land use designation of Res 6.
On January 6, 2016, the applicant hired ASAP Rescreening and Repairs LLC to install a screened-in room on the side yard of the single-family dwelling. And on March 11, 2022, the applicant hired a different contractor to build a carport in front of that screened room. And during the final inspection, it was discovered that the screened-in room was never.
Mm-hmm.
So this is what it would be um with the variance. And this is what it would be um without the variance. And this is coming with recommendation for approval with conditions from Planning and Development Department. Okay. The reason that I pulled it, Liam, I
have a question.
Okay.
She hired a contractor to build the screen room. The screen room somehow got built. Encroaching into the setback. Correct. Then Many years later. We hire a contractor to build a carport. But I noticed in the exhibit that the carport also encroaches in the setback. So how did that happen?
That is correct. It is from my understanding is when the contractor went to go build the carport, they used the existing line of the screened enclosure, assuming that it was permitted, which they didn't find until after the fact. So they submitted plans showing that it was in line and that their setbacks was appro appropriately distanced. So so what they actually submitted actually had correct setbacks, but when they went to build they built it in line and they did a survey after the fact during that inspection and realized it was not correct and the the property line was actually somewhere
else.
So how come they didn't How come there was no survey? They did a site plan and they showed that there was a five foot setback.
But it wasn't an actual survey. There was just an assumption. So the question is why were they issued a permit? That is a good question.
It's uh it's I think basically the answer is it was an oversight. You know, f from the people that were approving the application.
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Excuse me. Um I'm sorry you can't speak from there. If you need to speak, you need to just come to the microphone and give us your name and address and then we can get you on record in case we have to come after you.
Hi. Um this all happened way back in two sixty. My name is Elizabeth Kutch. I live at [address removed] Right. And this all happened way back in two sixteen when I hired a contractor from Brooksville to come and do a screen porch. He did it, he was licensed, he said he had all the credentials. I believed him. He built a carport. Nothing more was said. 2021, I got my other contractor from Lakeland
to come. He got everything done. He said he was licensed and contractor, and I got a survey. I showed him everything. I did everything I was supposed to do. When the inspector came by He found out there was no permit on the screen porch and also that the setback wasn't wasn't correct. I had no knowledge of how far the setback was supposed to go. And I also assumed I should have not assumed, but when he was licensed and contractor
for the screen porch, I thought for sure he had all the right stuff, the permit and everything was done. And he told me that. I paid him exactly the amount for the screen porch and I paid him for the carport. And then when the inspector came and said that it wasn't uh right that we had to go get a variance. So I went to New Port Richey and I did all the proper things and Here I am trying to get the variance after three or five years this has been going
on. So did you
give the contractor a survey before he applied for the permit or this was a survey that was done after the construction was completed?
It was after no one told me to get the survey until after the contractor said we're gonna need a survey. So I went ahead and got it as soon as I got could and submitted it to the county and submitted it to the contractor both.
And is the do you know the contractor that put the screen room up, is he still in business today?
He still yeah, he's still active. I contacted him. I asked him And I told him, I said, You didn't get a permit and he said, Yes we did. I says, No. In fact, if you read one of the letters uh what he wrote or the papers he gave me, he or somebody that built the contract Wrote on the letter, um, if I can remember, I think we can get a contract, if not we'll still continue. But I didn't know this until after all this was all done, and then he informed me about it. I if
I would have known, I would have done all the right steps. My husband passed away in twenty fifteen before all before all this began. I'm sorry.
Please don't don't. Don't worry about a thing. Just take your time. I would agree the
reason for my line of
questioning is we're we're trying to make it easy for you. What I'm
trying to figure out is the building department should never have issued without a survey before the project was started. So this wouldn't have happened. happened, there should have been a survey required at the beginning and that's the normal course of events. And then my question is, and I'm sure someone from zoning can't answer, and I don't know if there's anybody from a building construction services online, but A contractor's done work in this county without pulling a permit. What are
we doing about this contractor to make sure he doesn't do this again? Yeah, this is not your following. This is this is
this is what happened. So so to the to your first question whether a survey was submitted or not for the the carport, I I can't answer that. I remember looking at the application, I don't recall seeing one, but it doesn't mean one wasn't submitted. Um for the second part, um zoning staff has reached out to BCS to report report that um contractor who pr who did work for the screened enclosure um for doing work um being unlicensed.
Okay, that's what I needed to know. That there's something to make sure that we don't have a steady stream of victims coming before us. I understand she relied on a professional and the professional didn't do what they were supposed to do. And unfortunately the county didn't catch it yesterday.
What's the nature of the um construction of that? Is it just a aluminum structure? Is it kind of a how how's it built?
The screen room um I have uh cement s a cement slab attached to the house. Then I have a wall from the very end first of the house all the way to the very end of the house. And they built actually The screen port was built on the wall, it was not on the ground. So also the carport was built on the wall, not on the ground. So it went all the way down. And the neighbor next to me had no objection to it and he said it it wasn't even on his property.
It was everything was on my property.
Yeah, but that's the only question I had was that I read through all the documentation. And to be honest with you, my heart goes out to you. You tried and you did everything you could. So you're d you're so you're claiming say that your neighbors have no objections to what we want to propose here as in a change, correct? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Mr Chairman M just as a point of clarification for Mr. Moody as well, um a lot of times the variance is that come to the Planning and Development Department to process and bring through the pr the to public hearing, etc., are from BCS. So they're aware when s a situation takes place and they make whatever corrective actions that they need to make on their end to avoid those situations in the future. But the some I just wanted to point out that BCS does take action on these as well. Okay.
Right. I hope someone does.
I had one other question too. What was the conditions on these the recommended approval of the conditions?
Yep, so they're pretty standard conditions that we have for all variances. So the variance is limited to the set specs for the screened in room and carport as shown on the survey, dated um June 17, 2022, as submitted with this application, which is attachment two in your packet. Um the other ones are um saying a final action. So that is um notarizing and signing the agenda packet by the individual applicant stating that they're agreeing to the conditions and then the applicant slash owner acknowledges that an appeal may be filed against
the decision for Planning Commission and they have 30 days to file that decision.
Okay.
Thank you very much. Is there anything else you wanted to say? Here is there okay. I think you're good. All right. If not, uh I'm gonna
hear a mo
uh
Mr. Chairman PC three with um staff's conditions of approval.
I'll second that.
We have a motion and a second
for approval.
Any further discussion of the motion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign.
Okay, the motion carries.
Sounds like you got some fans out there.
He had her on for office.
Should her out of the troops.