Punta Gorda board recommends 10-foot rear-setback reduction for San Rocco Drive multifamily project

The Punta Gorda City Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 22 voted 6–1 to recommend that city council approve a variance allowing an eight‑unit multifamily development at 3930 San Rocco Drive to have a 15‑foot rear yard setback instead of the 25 feet required by the city land‑development regulations.

The applicant, Carlos Reyes, said he and his partners designed the project after multiple meetings with city staff and relied on written and recorded guidance from those meetings. "We were very clearly been told 5 times during the conversation that we could have 15 feet," Reyes told the board, saying the design and engineering work proceeded based on that guidance. He said the project team has invested roughly $363,000 in land acquisition, engineering and design and that denial would require abandoning the project.

Rachel Berry, the city zoning official, summarized the request and the approval criteria from the land‑development regulations, telling the board the application…