Palm Bay board split after homeowner seeks 3.5-foot rear-setback variance for finished addition

The Palm Bay Planning and Zoning Board failed to recommend approval for a variance that would legalize a roughly 3.5-foot rear-yard encroachment at 299 Bougainvillea Street NW, a property owner told the board on Feb. 5. The motion to recommend approval failed on a 2-3 roll call vote.

City planner Christina Hall told the board the owners, Marshley and Francois Jean, had submitted a building permit for a 579-square-foot rear addition and later submitted a final survey showing the finished addition encroached about 3.47 feet into the 25-foot rear setback. Hall said staff considered the request under table 173-4 (dimensional standards) and section 172.025 (variances) of the land development code and cited Florida law allowing owner-builders (chapter 489 of the Florida…