Planning board recommends denial of 5-foot side-setback variance for waterfront lot at 7821 Beach View Drive

The Planning & Zoning Board voted 3-2 to recommend denying a request for a 5-foot interior side setback on a waterfront lot at 7821 Beach View Drive.

Planning staff said the property owner proposes to demolish the existing 1954 structure and build a new single-family home; the requested variance would reduce the required 10-foot side setback to 5 feet on the north side to accommodate mechanical and pool-equipment space. Staff concluded the application failed several variance criteria, noting that the lot's size and shape are not unique in a way that would justify a variance and that the need appears to be a design choice rather than a property-based hardship.

The applicant's representative and agent described the recessed niche as space for pool equipment, storage and a cabana bath and said the design aligns living spaces above the proposed equipment area. Agent Milanis Gonzalez told the board the design could be arranged differently but said the proposed plan integrates equipment into the house design.

Board members questioned easements, maintenance of the public green strip between property and sidewalk, and whether granting the variance would create an undesirable precedent for the island. Staff said the submitted survey did not depict public-utility easements on the parcel and that any existing encroachments would need to be removed during demolition regardless of the variance outcome.

After procedural confusion over an initial motion to approve (which lacked a second), the board settled on a motion to recommend denial; the roll call produced a 3-2 recommendation to deny. The item will be forwarded to the village commission for final action.