Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Setback Variance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Freeport board grants setback variance for Lot 9 in Bridge Harbor
Summary
The Board of Adjustment voted to grant a variance allowing the front and rear setbacks on Lot 9, Bridge Harbor, to be reversed so the street-facing side will be treated as the front and the water-facing side as the rear.
The Board of Adjustment for the City of Freeport on Feb. 27 voted to grant a setback variance for Lot 9 in Bridge Harbor, on Kingfish Lane, allowing the lot’s street-facing side to be treated as the front setback and the water side as the rear.
The variance will permit the owner to build a home with a 25-foot setback on the Kingfish Road side and a 10-foot setback on the canal side, swapping the setbacks shown on an earlier site survey. "My family owns this lot in Bridge Harbor, and we would like to build a home there," said Ryan Cade, who identified himself as a property owner and investor in the neighborhood. "We're asking to be able to have the front setback on the roadside and the back setback on the water side, which it appears the rest of the houses on that street already do have."
Staff told the board it could not unilaterally grant permission for a residence oriented with the front facing the street because the property is in the R WR zone. "Staff cannot grant permission to build a residence with the front side of the property on the street side because of the R WR zone," a staff member said, and recommended the board take whatever action was legally appropriate. Board members discussed the request and one member moved to grant the variance. After a voice vote — recorded on the transcript as "All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes" — the board approved the request.
The board did not record individual roll-call votes or a detailed tally in the public transcript. The motion language on the record granted the setback reversal as described on the submitted site survey. The staff member advised the board that prior homes in the neighborhood had been built with the orientation the applicant requested but that the current zoning language limits staff authority to approve such a change without board action.
The public hearing on the lot was closed at the board’s direction after the vote. The applicant also told the board he is part of an investment group working on a larger redevelopment in the area and offered updates on that project, including demolition plans; those topics were addressed separately by the applicant and staff during the same meeting.
The board’s approval allows the applicant to proceed with permit applications that reflect the approved setback orientation; the transcript does not specify a timeline for permit submission or final building permits.
