HOLMES BEACH – City staff proposes amending the city’s Land Development Code (LDC) to assist property owners whose non-conforming structures were damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
According to Holmes Beach city code, a non-conforming structure is a structure that was compliant, conforming and lawful when built according to previous code requirements but then became non-conforming when new codes were adopted.
The proposed LDC amendment will be discussed during the Tuesday, March 25 city commission work session. On March 18, Director of Development Services Chad Minor sent the mayor and city commissioners a memo informing them that city ordinance imposes a 180-day timeframe within which the owner (or contractor) of an existing non-conforming structure must secure a building permit and start reconstruction. In his memo, Minor initially recommended extending the deadline to 360 days. The proposed amendment language later included in the work session meeting packet recommends 365 days.
Minor’s memo notes the Wednesday, April 9 deadline to secure those permits is rapidly approaching and is unrealistic for many property owners. Minor’s memo says some property owners are still waiting on their insurance providers and/or are having trouble securing contractors, demolition contractors and specialty tradespeople that include surveyors and engineers, and owners may also be impacted by other hurricane-related factors.
“Also, the current process to request an extension to the 180-day timeframe is burdensome and unnecessary,” Minor stated in his memo.
He proposes providing one-time city staff approved administrative extensions that do not to exceed a total of 365 days and do not require city commission approval on an individual basis.
The proposed LDC amendment can’t be voted on during the informal, preliminary commission work session and the amendment will be presented again for formal city commission approval on Tuesday, April 8.
