Hardee County approves setback variance for Rebuild Florida homeowner and Truehaven minor subdivision

The Hardee County Board of County Commissioners on May 15 approved two land-use items: a variance request (25-24) for a Rebuild Florida replacement home at 522 Wilde Duke Road and the Truehaven minor subdivision for property fronting Terrell Road.

Community Development Director Todd Miller told the board the variance sought to reduce the front setback from 30 feet to 24.05 feet and the rear setback from 20 feet to 13.18 feet to accommodate a standardized replacement home offered through the Rebuild Florida program. Miller said the lot in the Magnolia Manor subdivision measures roughly 50 feet wide by 80 feet deep (about 3,920 square feet) and that staff and the planning and zoning board recommended approval under Hardee CountyLand Development Code criteria.

Commissioners discussed the front setback and noted neighboring houses were similarly close to the road; Commissioner Chancy said he preferred a 25-foot minimum but accepted the requested 24.05 feet as "close enough". Commissioner Flores moved approval; Commissioner Wells seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

On the Truehaven minor subdivision, Miller told the board the application from Dao Thao and Kia Yang would split roughly 17 to 17.5 acres zoned FR (farm residential) with a town-center future land-use designation into four parcels (A, B, C, D). He noted an earlier right-of-way extension for Allen Road provides sufficient frontage for Parcel A. Staff reviewed the request under Article 9 (minor subdivision requirements) and recommended approval; the board approved the motion by Commissioner Wells, seconded by Commissioner Chancy, unanimously.

Neither vote included changes to zoning or final plats; both approvals authorize the county manager or chair to sign necessary documents and move the items through required recordation steps.