Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Coastal Storage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve Shoreline Boulevard dry-storage site with screening, fencing and tree-planting conditions
Summary
The board approved a rezoning to a plan development commercial marine zoning to allow dry boat storage on Shoreline Boulevard and attached conditions requiring chain-link fencing with slats, darker colors and landscape screening to reduce visual impacts.
The Hernando County Board of County Commissioners approved a plan development commercial marine rezoning for a Shoreline Boulevard property to accommodate dry boat storage, subject to added screening and fencing requirements intended to reduce visual and flood-related nuisance risks.
Staff explained that a straight CM-1 zoning district would not permit the board to impose performance conditions, so the Planning & Zoning Commission converted the original request into a planned development commercial marine district with specific permitted uses and conditions. The Commission recommended that approach 5-0, and the board adopted staff's recommendation with added conditions on fencing and landscaping.
Commissioner Olaka and other commissioners noted the area’s history of boats and floating debris during storm events and asked for robust screening. The board required a chain-link fence with slats, darker (earth-tone) colors rather than white, and a planting buffer with trees to increase visual opacity. The board and petitioner discussed fence height; the board settled on a six-foot fence supplemented by planting to increase visual screening rather than an eight-foot barrier.
Local residents and commissioners also discussed enforcement and responsibility when boats or other vessels float off private storage during storms. Several commissioners said a change to county code could be needed so marinas bear responsibility when boats from their facilities become debris hazards; counsel advised that mechanism would likely require an ordinance change rather than being achievable through a single rezoning condition.
Petitioner David Greiner confirmed the proposal is for dry storage only. The board voted 4-0 to adopt the planned development zoning with the stated screening and fencing conditions.
