Boca Raton planning board denies Walsh family request to reduce rear pool setback

The City of Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board on June 5 denied a variance request from the Walsh family to reduce the rear-yard pool setback from 10 feet to 7 feet at 77 Southeast Olive Way.

Pam Kitchen, a zoning officer for the city, told the board the applicant sought a three-foot variance to construct a new pool on a 0.16-acre lot in the R1C single-family district. Kitchen said the lot's trapezoid shape “significantly restricts the available space for constructing a swimming pool,” but staff nonetheless recommended denial because adjacent lots have similar shapes and the property already had sufficient buildable area: “the 25 foot depth of the rear yard is ample space for the applicant to build a swimming pool,” she said.

Marissa Smith, the contractor for the project, and John Walsh, the homeowner, told the board they planned to replace an older, bean-shaped pool with a more rectangular design and that a newly permitted balcony would reduce the distance between the proposed pool and the house. Smith said the balcony footprint and pool footer would bring the pool within about a foot of the balcony’s slab: “best practice is 5 foot for structural integrity of the foundation,” she testified, adding that Florida Building Code does not require a setback from the house to the pool.

Board members questioned whether the lot had any unique circumstances compared with neighboring parcels and whether the existing 15-foot-wide pool already met the code. After public comment concluded with no speakers, the board voted on the applicant's motion to approve the variance. The variance failed on roll call, 1–6.

The denial leaves the city's 10-foot rear pool setback in place for the Walsh property; the applicant may pursue other design adjustments consistent with the existing setback requirements or return with additional information.