HOLMES BEACH – Holmes Beach city staff has proposed an ordinance that will allow Seaside Gardens homeowners to voluntarily replace their non-hurricane-damaged, ground-level townhomes with new elevated townhomes.
City code currently restricts those Seaside Gardens elevation activities to nonconforming ground-level townhomes that sustained significant hurricane or storm damage.
Development Services Director Chad Minor presented Draft Ordinance 26-03 to the mayor and city commissioners during the commission’s Feb. 24 work session.
The ordinance would clarify and amend existing city code that regulates nonconforming structures in the Seaside Gardens community. The proposed ordinance would allow for the voluntary reconstruction of nonconforming units, as applicable to the townhouses located in the city’s R-4 residential zoning district.
MINOR’S MEMO
Included in the work session agenda packet was a memo from Minor that explains the existing regulations and the proposed changes.
Regarding the existing conditions, Minor’s memo says, “Seaside Gardens is a truly unique community that is unreplicated anywhere else in the city. However, this uniqueness has created zoning and land use challenges due to the fact the underlying zoning of Seaside Gardens (R-4, Medium density residential district) has created a series of nonconformities that impact many of the existing units and their ability to reconstruct or improve. In addition, a majority of the attached townhome units now located within the community are ground-level. As such, they are nonconforming to the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) requirements.”
Regarding previous city commission actions, Minor’s memo says, “In response to the issues surrounding reconstruction of nonconforming units, city commission approved Ordinance No. 23-19 in September 2023. Ordinance No. 23-19 allowed nonconforming townhomes within the R-4 zoning district which have been involuntarily damaged 50% or more of the townhome’s market value to be reconstructed provided the conditions or the ordinance are met. It should also be noted that at the time Ord. No.23-19 was adopted, many of the Seaside Gardens residents were not supportive of the voluntary reconstruction of the nonconforming units.”
Regarding the newly proposed ordinance, Minor’s memo says, “City staff attended the Seaside Gardens annual civic association/homeowners meeting on Feb. 9 and the issue of voluntary vs. nonvoluntary reconstruction was discussed. A majority of the homeowners in attendance were now supportive of the ability to reconstruct on a voluntary basis as well. They requested staff present an ordinance that would allow for the voluntary reconstruction of nonconforming units similarly to those units allowed to rebuild upon being involuntarily damaged 50 percent or more of the townhome’s market value. As a result, staff has prepared the attached ordinance language (Ord. No. 26-03) allowing voluntary demolition and reconstruction of nonconforming units.”
In summary, Minor’s memo says, “Staff’s focus and intent of the ordinances related to the Seaside Gardens is to address, insofar as possible, the nonconformities and allow the common wall units the potential to rebuild to current floodplain standards and create flood-compliant and safer structures.
“It is also recognized that quality of life would no doubt be impacted by construction of an adjacent unit and the city must try and balance this with the ability to create resilient and safer buildings. Ordinance language to allow like-for-like units to be built in compliance with FEMA and the floodplain ordinance is critical. It is also important to note that it is not the staff’s intent to introduce allowances for additional structures within the flood hazard areas or to create additional nonconformities.”
When addressing the mayor and commissioners, Minor noted there are already some elevation projects taking place in Seaside Gardens. In one instance, one side of a ground-level duplex is being replaced with an elevated town home, with ground-level parking below, while the adjacent townhome remains at ground level. Another project underway involves one unit of a Seaside Gardens triplex being elevated.
No formal action was taken during the commission work session. The proposed ordinance will be presented to city commissioner on first reading during the commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday, March 10, at 2 p.m.
The proposed ordinance will then be presented to the planning commission so it can be reviewed for compliance with the city’s comprehensive plan. After being reviewed by the planning commission, the ordinance will be presented to the city commission on second reading for final adoption.
