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BCC Minutes 03/16/2004 W (Boathouse Covers)March 16, 2004 COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Boathouse Workshop Board Meeting Room E, 3rd Floor, Administration Building 3301 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34112 9 o'clock a.m., March 16, 2004 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9 o'clock a.m., in WORKSHOP SESSION in Board Meeting Room E, 3rd Floor, Administration Building, 3301 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Chairman: Donna Fiala, Chairman, District 1 Fred W. Coyle, Vice Chairman, District 4 Frank Halas, Commissioner, District 2 Jim Coletta, Commissioner, District 5 Absent: Tom Henning, Commissioner, District 3 Collier County Staff: Joe Schmidt, Administrator Community Development and Environmental Services; Susan Murray, Ross Gochenaur, Zoning and Land Development Review; Brad Shiffer, Planning Commission, Dwight Richardson, Planning Commission Page 1 COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP AGENDA March 16, 2004 9:00 a.m. Donna Fiala, Chairman, District 1 Fred W. Coyle, Vice-Chair, District 4 Frank Halas, Commissioner, District 2 Tom Henning, Chairman, District 3 Jim Coletta, Commissioner, District 5 NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON ANY AGENDA ITEM MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO SPEAKING. SPEAKERS MUST REGISTER WITH THE COUNTY MANAGER PRIOR TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE ADDRESSED. COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53, AS AMENDED REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT. REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER "PUBLIC PETITI.ONS". ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS PERTAINING THERETO, AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. ALL REGISTERED PUBLIC SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO FIVE (5) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN. 1 March 16, 2004 IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING, YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, TO THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT LOCATED AT 3301 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112, (239) 774-8380; ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE. o Staff Presentation/Overview of Boathouses Code Enforcement Update - Canvas Boathouse Covers 3. Public Comments 2 March 16, 2004 March 16, 2004 The Collier County Board of County Commissioners, Boathouse Workshop meeting was called to order Tuesday, March 16, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. by Commissioner Coletta. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. An announcement was made that Frank Cavork, the Big Corkscrew Fire District Chief passed away. He was a dedicated public servant. He did great stuff for the community, his fire district, and it will be a tremendous loss for this community. I. Staff Presentation / Overview of Boathouses Ross Gochenaur, Zoning and Land Development Review - gave the LDC definition of a boathouse as "roofed accessory used to a residential structure adjacent to a waterway, open on all sides, and providing covered protection to a boat and accessories". It is basically utilitarian. Prior to 1996, boathouses were approved administratively. In 1996 the board directed that it be made a conditional use. This only lasted for a little less than a year. During that time, there were only five (5) boathouses approved. In 1997, the board directed that a petition be presented to the Planning Commission. At this time, criteria was developed to try to control boathouse approval. Those criteria are basically the same that are in place today. Mr. Gochenaur listed the criteria, and showed slides of boathouses that were approved, after-the-fact approval, legal nonconforming, permit status uncertain, or illegal. Since the code change in 1997, changing to petition under current criteria, eighteen (18) boathouse petitions have been approved, and one (1) denial. The question of prohibiting boathouses in the county was primarily a response to concerns of the property owners in the Vanderbilt Area. Their concerns are impact on view, impact on property values caused by perceived degradation of view, and aesthetics. The proposed action is to prohibit boathouses as a permitted accessory use in Collier County. Similar bans were imposed in Naples and Marco. Naples banned boathouses in 1967. They currently allow what is called a boat shelter, which is a cover an inset boat slip. There are very few of these boat slips in Collier County and getting new inset boat slips in problematic, depending on the permitting agencies involved. According to today's code, if you had such a slip and you wanted to put a cover over it, that cover would have to meet the setback for the principal structure, which would really be prohibited in most cases. So practically speaking, these aren't really a consideration in Collier County. Marco banned boathouses in 1998 with the concerns of obstruction of view and general aesthetic considerations, becoming unsightly as they deteriorate, and failure of poorly built or aging structures in bad weather. The last two (2) are pretty much the responsibility of the property owner and that can be applied to any structure. The county doesn't particularly like unsafe structures, whether they are garages, sheds, or Page 2 March 16, 2004 boathouses. The existing development criteria for boathouses focus on the impact on view and aesthetics. They also provide guidance for property owners who want to construct boathouses. The physical placement and the construction are addressed. They are entirely objective criteria as they stand now. They provide directions for creating a boathouse design that would meet code. They enable the planning commission to adequately evaluate each application. They limit appeals of decisions of the planning commission that could be based on allegations that their decisions weren't based on competent and sufficient evidence. They can avoid potential litigation if the appeal were denied by the board. There is the obligation to tell property owners what they need to do. Control of view and aesthetics by setback, protrusion limit, height limit, limiting the number allowed on the property, prohibiting enclosure, roofs must match the roof to the house or be chickee, and by siting the boathouse so that it has the minimal impact practical on adjacent property owners. The impact of a countywide ban would limit the ability of property owners to protect valuable property. The boats are valuable. The boathouses are practical. The ban would also render existing boathouses legally nonconforming. Alternatives were considered, none of which were particularly appealing. There is the possibility of limiting it to a specific area through a zoning overlay, but an overlay that addressed a single accessory structure would probably not be desirable. Limiting roof area was considered, but since the view of the boathouses from the side, the actual roof area in terms of square feet doesn't have a great impact on the view and wouldn't make a great difference. Restricting boathouses to lots that have a certain amount of waterfront was considered, the larger lots would be allowed to have boathouses and the smaller lots would not. The Vanderbilt Beach area has relatively large lots and the zoning district requires a minimum of eighty (80) feet and the platted lots are larger. The end result was that if they tried to ban on the base of waterfront footage, the only place that boathouses would be allowed, in the entire county would be Port of the Islands. Current status, the Land Development Code allows a boathouse to be completely built within the original envelope and the original dimensions. Alternatives to the Current Code Treatment of Legal Nonconforming Boathouses are that we can prohibit reconstruction and repairs entirely. We can allow reconstruction and repair with administrative approval, or we can allow them with Planning Commission or Board of Zoning Appeals approval. Charlotte and Lee County don't control boathouses, or have no ban on boathouses. The City of Marco and the City of Naples do. In Naples, reconstruction of existing boathouses is simply not addressed, which Mr. Gochenaur takes to mean that it is not permitted. Marco allows reconstruction of boathouses in stages, if you had a building permit to begin with, you can apply to the Zoning director or the Planning director for permission to do it. If there is a building permit, but no certificate of completion, it would require Planning Commission approval. If there is no building permit, then it requires the approval of City Council as well as the Planning Board. Page 3 March 16, 2004 We need your guidance on the following: Prohibit Boathouses or eliminate boathouses, or both Prohibition would be no new boathouses Elimination would be removal of existing boathouses as well Aspects to consider here: Should they be grand-fathered in or Consider amortization For existing structures, what would be the build back policy Would this be a countywide basis or Apply this to specific areas Commissioner Donna Fiala - Isles of Capri has more boathouses than any other place in the entire county, even combined, and it has never been a problem on Isles of Capri. Commissioner Fiala would like to talk to the people that live on Isles of Capri before there is any decision made. That would greatly affect that community and the property owners are happy the way they are now. Commissioner - has tried to get a response from people in his district, positive or negative. He expressed concern about this being countywide, and is inclined to agree with Commissioner Fiala. This appears to be a problem that is inherit to the coastal area, Vanderbilt Beach. On overlay in the Vanderbilt Beach Area, and in District Two (2), that would include Bonita Shores was suggested. Commissioner Fiala would support this. Commissioner Coyle - If Commissioner Halas believes that his community would like to eliminate these, Commissioner Coyle would be happy to support him on this, but would be reluctant to a countywide ban without speaking to the community of Haldeman Creek. The issue in Vanderbilt Beach has been clearly defined. It is not the first time that it has been presented to the Board of County Commissioners. Pubic Speakers: Susan Stiffie - lives in Vanderbilt Beach area, officer of the Vanderbilt Beach Property Owners Association. Ms. Stiffle spoke of pictures that she had taken in the neighborhood recently, most of which were seen in the Power Point Presentation. Ms. Stiffie has counted twenty-one (21) boathouses with covers. Ms. Stiffie stated that there are tons of code violations in the neighborhood. A lot of the boathouses in Vanderbilt Beach area are Page 4 March 16, 2004 a safety issue. A lot of the existing structures have no connection to current Hurricane standard construction. The canvas tops are an issue. Ms. Stiffle counted twenty-one (21) in her neighborhood and didn't do all the canals in the neighborhood. Supposedly, none of those have a permit, because they are not legal. People are abusing the privilege of the boathouse. That is pure and evident. Ms. Stiffle would support Frank's proposal of having an overlay in District Two (2)to ban the boathouses, but also need to consider grand-fathering in conforming boathouses and ones that could possibly be made conforming. Chris Carpenter - Vanderbilt Beach Resident and Director of Vanderbilt Beach Property Owners Association. B.J. Boyer could not be present at the meeting. Ms. Carpenter read a letter from Ms. Boyer. Doug Fee - about six months ago, in the North Bay area, there was a companion petition that came forward. There were approximately twenty (20) boathouses addressed on this petition. In that petition, there were rooflines that were brought out to the property line, a zero lot line. This was brought to the BCC. The petition was ultimately turned down. Mr. Fee is here to support the thought of eliminating for the future. Brad Shifter, Planning Commission - the evolution of the code that sets up the criteria that we have to look at in order to make the decisions on each of these submissions, has evolved in a very tight manner, to that point that by the time Ross gets through with the application and gets the material in front of the Planning Commission, there is little degree of freedom to do anything except what has been submitted. They have taken out most of the subjectivity. When the Planning Commission hears the submission, the petition, the neighbors show up and share their objections. There is a hardship of figuring out how to be responsive to public concerns and yet apply the code in an even-handed manner. As Ross pointed out the Planning Commission has only succeeded in one case, where it was so egregious that they were able to site the health, safety and welfare rules to get it turned down. For the most part, the Planning Commissions hands are tied. This may not be the best idea for the entire county. Mr. Shiffer would support an aborting recommendation and get out of this mess. A maximum width of forty (40) to fifty (50) feet was suggested. Commissioner Jim Coletta - District five (5) will not support this. Be site specific. He does not feel that there is a problem, and is for the code that is there right now. Commissioner Fiala - clarified what Commissioner Coletta stated. What is wanted for the Vanderbilt area is great; just leave the rest that don't have a problem at all. Page 5 March 16, 2004 Commissioner Coyle - asked Commissioner Halas if he would like to also have limitation on the sizes of the boathouses included in the overlay of District 2. Commissioner Halas - Yes. 50 feet or less would be acceptable. Commissioner Fiala - asked Commissioner Halas if he would like this to pertain to all of District 2 or just specifically Vanderbilt Beach and Hickory Shores. Commissioner Halas - anything west of US41 in District 2. Rebuilding would be that people that presently have boathouses that are conforming to the existing code, they would have the ability to build back, but the ones that nonconforming should not be built back or be very difficult to get any type of permit. Commissioner Fiala - The ones that are nonconforming because of the roof isn't the same as the house, would you then allow them to put the new roof on or you have them tear it down? Commissioner Italas - If it is nonconforming, then it's not within the criteria of present code, so yes. District 2, west of US 41: Existing nonconforming structure, a build back policy, if the structure needs to be built back more than fifty percent, it will need to be tom down. Fifty percent or less can be built back under the conforming codes that we presently have. It was also suggested that if the existing structures are nonconforming, regardless of the percentage, they will not be allowed to build back. Commissioner Fiala - The 50 feet the limit for the boathouses would not come into play if there were a ban on the boathouses. The rule for nonconforming boathouses can be changed so that if fifty percent or more of the roof is destroyed or it needs to be reconstructed, you will be denied a building permit. Once the boathouse is gone, you may not build it back. Commissioner Fiala - Notification through newsletters to inform the community what kind of rules are being proposed. A property owner that doesn't have the right roof color on their boathouse might be in opposition to this. Page 6 March 16, 2004 Public Speaker, Susan Stiffie - Property owners Associations in the area are all voluntary and are not representative of on~ hundred percent of the taxpayers in those neighborhoods. They are a large percentage, but they don't represent everybody. All taxpayers in those areas should be notified of proposed changes. It was questioned whether notification to and concerns from property owners that do not own waterfront property should be addressed. This is an overlay, an LDC change and everyone has the right to opine. Methods of notifying the property owners were discussed. II. Code Enforcement Update - Canvas Boathouse Covers Michelle Arnold, Code Enforcement Director - An inventory of Little Hickory Shores and Conner's Vanderbilt. The inventory, so far, has come up with 247 boathouses within Little Hickory Shores, Conner's Vanderbilt, and Isles of Capri. Port of the Islands, Plantation, and Goodland has not been done yet. So far there are 49 canopies that will be addressed and enforced. There has been indication that the BCC will get an on slew of requests for boathouses, and it will probably be those that are about to be enforced against canopy covers. The majority of them are in the Conner's Vanderbilt area. Commissioner Fiala - is that fifty percent of the structure or can they replace that roof The frame meets Florida building code, but by leaving the canvas on it does not. It does not sustain the wind load requirement. They are non-permitable. The only way they would be permitable is if the canvas or vinyl cover would be removed. 49 Notice of Violations will be given out. Commissioner Halas - referred to a picture and violations therein. Michelle Arnold - Those persons would have to go through the boathouse petition, and then come in for a building permit, once the petition is approved. III. Public Comments Public Comments were heard during the matter at hand. IV. Adjoum Page 7 March 16, 2004 There being no further business for the good of the County of Collier, the meeting was adjourned by the order of Commissioner Donna Fiala. Boa~ff County Commissioners Chai~~a ~~ ATTEST: DWIGHT i~."BROCK, CLERK These minutes approved by the Board on or as corrected , as presented Page 8