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Planning board clears buffer variance for proposed bed‑and‑breakfast at South Hayden Avenue
Summary
The DeLand Planning Board on Oct. 9 approved variance V25161 to reduce a required Class B landscape buffer from 15 feet to 4 feet and to eliminate Class A buffers for a proposed bed‑and‑breakfast homestay at 302 South Hayden Avenue; the special‑exception approval at a prior meeting was conditioned on this variance.
The DeLand Planning Board voted Oct. 9 to approve variance V25161, allowing a reduction of the required Class B landscape buffer along the northern property line from 15 feet to 4 feet and eliminating the requirement for Class A buffers around a property proposed for a bed‑and‑breakfast homestay at 302 South Hayden Avenue.
Sam Nelson, Planner I, told the board the application concerns a property in the historic Garden District that is currently developed with a single‑family residence and an accessory dwelling unit. He said the applicant had previously sought a special exception for a bed‑and‑breakfast homestay and that the special exception approval was conditioned on the applicant obtaining the variance to modify buffer requirements.
Nelson described multiple prior variances granted to the property that effectively reduced lot line setbacks and made it impossible for the site to meet current buffer dimensions. He said one earlier variance reduced the northern Class B buffer in 2004 but plantings remained to screen the parking area. Nelson noted the surrounding area is mixed use — single‑family, multi‑family and commercial — and concluded that the proposal was “unlikely to be injurious to surrounding properties.”
Applicant Michael Arth, who identified himself as the owner at 302 South Hayden, said the parcel combines two lots and sits across from commercially zoned property. Arth told the board he previously sought to extend commercial zoning to his block but did not receive unanimous support, which led him to pursue the special exception and accompanying variance.
Board member motions to approve V25161 passed by roll call. Nora Lewis, Dawn Liska, Troy Baumgartner, Harper Hill and Jeremy Owens recorded affirmative votes; the motion passed unanimously.
The variance approval permits the reduced buffers for the bed‑and‑breakfast homestay special exception to proceed to the City Commission as required by the prior planning‑board action.
