Board approves exception, setback variances for private basketball academy in Punta Gorda

The Charlotte County Board of Zoning Appeals on Feb. 11 approved a special exception and setback variances to allow a private high‑school basketball academy to operate from a former church at 2623 Vasco Street in Punta Gorda.

Elizabeth Nowcek, AICP, senior planner for the Community Development Department, told the board the applicant, listed in the record as Mahoney Sports LLC and represented by attorney Rob Bernsen, proposes to reuse the existing 4,378‑square‑foot church building for offices and classrooms and to add a 6,500‑square‑foot gymnasium. Staff found the proposal consistent with the Charlotte 2050 comprehensive plan’s medium‑density residential land‑use category and recommended approval of Special Exception SE‑26‑001 and Variance VAR‑26‑001, subject to conditions.

Nowcek summarized staff’s recommended conditions, including a Type A landscape buffer along the west property line, a requirement that all basketball activity be conducted indoors, prohibition on basketball tournaments on site, construction of the gym using noise‑attenuating materials, compliance with applicable site‑plan and building permits, and a five‑year term for the special exception that does not expire if development commences before the term lapses.

During public comment residents raised concerns about scale, perceived building height, traffic, drainage and water use. Vicky Daniel said she worried a large, tall building would be “out of place” among nearby ranch‑style homes and opposed granting a variance. Joseph Furman asked for a traffic study and raised drainage concerns and water‑use questions related to showers in the facility.

Rob Bernsen, the applicant’s attorney, told the board the petition did not request a height variance and that the program currently in Sarasota has about 40 students and four staff members; students are transported primarily by private shuttle, which he said would minimize traffic impacts. "We accept Ms. Nowcek as an expert," Bernsen said, and requested approval.

Board members discussed by‑right alternatives for the site, and staff noted that multifamily housing and certain institutional uses could be constructed on the parcel by right and that site‑specific traffic impacts are reviewed during site‑plan review.

A board member moved to approve SE‑26‑001 based on the Community Development staff report dated Feb. 4, 2026, including the nine staff conditions; the motion was seconded and the board voted unanimously in favor. The board then approved VAR‑26‑001 to reduce the west side setback from 26 to 15 feet and the east side setback from 15 to 12.5 feet, subject to conditions limiting the variances to the proposed gym and providing that the variance expires if the gym is removed.