Jacksonville Beach board approves rear-yard setback variance for 608 Fifteenth Avenue South

The Jacksonville Beach Board of Adjustments approved a variance for 608 Fifteenth Avenue South on a vote of 4-0 to allow a 20-foot rear-yard setback in lieu of the 30-foot minimum so the homeowner may add a master bedroom.

The board voted to grant BOA25-100080 after hearing from the applicant, Laurie Dugan, who said the lot is a preexisting nonconforming parcel and that she needs another bedroom because her son recently moved back home. The decision followed public comment raising concerns about drainage and a board discussion focusing on lot constraints including a rear easement and a public walkway that limit development options.

Laurie Dugan, the property owner, told the board she was seeking the variance because her existing home is a two-bedroom, two-bath house on a relatively small lot and “I need another bedroom,” adding the proposed addition would have no rear windows and she designed it to be minimally invasive to neighbors. During public comment, Bonnie Hoyle of 531 Sixteenth Avenue South said her “only opposition on this is drainage,” describing persistent drainage problems on Sixteenth Avenue South and Sixth Street and asking where runoff from the addition would be directed. Dugan responded she has not experienced standing water on her lot and said her yard may sit higher than the speaker’s yard.

Board members and staff discussed the lot’s physical constraints. Members noted the lot is a corner parcel with an existing 10-foot easement at the rear and a public sidewalk that encroaches into the front yard, limiting options to expand forward or to the side. A board member stated the proposed change would keep the lot below the lot-coverage threshold tied to drainage review and emphasized that any building permit would require the building department to inspect and enforce water-runoff plans. The board acknowledged the neighbor’s concerns but concluded the variance request met the standards for a variance under the city code and was not likely to materially worsen the local drainage situation, given the partial removal of an existing wooden deck and remaining permeable ground.

A motion to approve BOA25-100080 was made and seconded; the board approved by roll call: John Moreland — yes; Matt Metz — yes; Douglas Dow — yes; Owen Curley — yes.

The board record cites the variance request under the land-development code sections referenced in the staff report. No permit work or construction had been approved at the hearing beyond the variance; any final building permit and site-specific drainage plan remain subject to review by the city building department.