04/07/2009
BUILDING/FLOOD BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND APPEALS MEETING MINUTES
CITY OF CLEARWATER
April 7, 2009
Present: John H. Logan, Jr. Chair
Edward H. Walker, Jr. Board Member
Pankaj Shah Board Member
Gary Richter Board Member
Arthur Shand Board Member
Also Present: Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney
Kevin Garriott Building Official
Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter
The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. at the Municipal Services Building.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not
necessarily discussed in that order.
2 - Approval of Minutes:
Member Walker moved to approve the minutes of the regular Building/Flood Board of
Adjustment and Appeals meeting of March 3, 2009, as submitted in written summation to each
board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
3 – Continued Requests:
3.1. Cont’d from December 10, 2008 - Case MIS2008-10014 – 301 South Gulfview Blvd,
Appellant Name - Crystal Beach Capital, LLC. Agent – Chris Bastas of NJR Development Co.
Request: Permission to install a water softener within a flood zone. Lot 57, Lot 104, the south
20 feet of Lot 56, and the south 20 feet of Lot 103 of the Lloyd-White Skinner-Subdivision
together with Lot 105, Lot 106, and the north half of Lot 107, together with Lots 58 and 59,
together with that portion of Third Avenue a 60 foot right-of-way, being bounded on the east by
the west right-of-way of Coronado Drive, and on the west by the east right-of-way line of
Gulfview Boulevard, on the north by south property line of Lot 57 and Lot 104, and on the south
by the north property line of Lot 58 and Lot 105, together with the east 35 feet of a 70 foot right-
of-way of Gulfview Boulevard: bounded on the north by the westerly extension of a line lying 20
feet north of and parallel with the north property line of Lots 57 and 104, and the south by the
westerly extension of the south line of Lot 59, less and except the east 10 feet thereof, as per
terms and conditions and provisions as recorded in instrument recorded in the O.R. Book
12189, Page 2198 and amended in O.R. Book 13996, Page 2409, of the Public Records of
Pinellas County, Florida
Applicant representative Chris Bastas, of NJR Development Co., reviewed the request to
install a water softener within a flood zone. He reported since this item was continued last
December, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) had changed and redrawn
the flood zones for most of the property at 301 South Gulfview Boulevard to A; only a small
corner of the structure is still zoned VE. He said the water softener tanks will be installed on the
south side of the property in the A zone, 270 feet from the VE zone. He said the tanks,
Building - Flood 2009-04-07 1
independent from the building structure, could be quickly disconnected and moved to higher
level via the nearby elevator in case of a hurricane. He said also a structural engineer had
designed a plan to anchor the tanks into the 18-inch slab that would withstand the wave action
from a 100-year hurricane. Applicant representative Randy Gibbons, of NJR Development Co.,
said no electrical hazard would result from this plan as all electrical components would be
installed above BFE (Base Flood Elevation).
Concern was expressed that insufficient written information had been provided to
determine what the applicant wanted to do. No scaled site plan showing the building location
with relation to the flood zones was presented. Discussion ensued regarding the new flood
map, the building's location, code requirements, electrical hazards, and alternate solutions. It
was stated that anchoring the tanks would minimize damage during a storm and this type of
tanks would not be destroyed by rising flood water. In response to a concern about creating
precedence, Assistant City Attorney Leslie Dougall-Sides and Building Official Kevin Garriott
opined that the City could justify this use, as proposed and with stipulations, because the plan
addresses safety issues and meets the intent of flood plain management based on the type of
equipment to be installed and the de minimis area of the VE zone.
Member Richter moved that the Building/Flood Board of Adjustment and Appeals
approved the variance to install water softener tanks as requested in this structure at 301 South
Gulfview Boulevard since the vast majority of the building is in an A zone with only a small
portion in the VE zone, contingent on the facts that no electrical will be located below BFE, the
tanks shall be anchored into the slab as designed by a structural engineer and subject to
approval by the City's Building Official, and the application meets criteria of FEMA codes to
grant a variance. The motion was duly seconded. Members Walker, Richter, Shand, and Chair
Logan voted "Aye"; Member Shah voted "Nay." Motion carried.
4 - New Request: None
5 - Other Business: - None.
6 - Adiourn
The meeting adjourned at 2:41 p.m.
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