Country Club Shores residents organize against exceptions to Key height restrictions

To Emmanuel Charron, a structure on top of a new house in his Country Club Shores neighborhood is a “visual outrage.”

“I live across the canal from this structure, and it’s all I can see,” Charron said at Monday evening’s Town Commission meeting. “I think there was no consideration for visual impact for the neighbors.”

He was one of about a dozen Key residents who spoke at the meeting, urging commissioners to reconsider exceptions to Key height restrictions for single-family homes.

“Limit your height to the 30-foot maximum,” Charron told the commissioners. “And that’s it. No exceptions.”

At issue is not overall roof height, but rather add-ons to the roof, which can enclose elevator shafts and equipment and stairwells.

Located on top of a two-story home currently being constructed on Halyard Lane in Section 4 of Country Club Shores, the structure in question features an elevator shaft and a stairwell. It reaches about 10 feet above the 30-foot height limit established for single-family homes on the Key. Many of the surrounding homes are single-story structures, amplifying the difference.

Language in the town code allows for certain exceptions to the height limit, including television antennas. Though the Halyard house is not the only exception of its kind in Country Club Shores, it is the largest.

At Monday’s meeting, the Town Commission considered amending the rules based on recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Board to minimize the impact that these structures have on neighboring properties. The recommendations included reducing the allowable square footage of these exceptional structures from 15% of the roof area to 10%, which is the minimum required by the Florida Building Code.

The recommendations also called for restricting the height of the structures to the “minimum required to provide the allowable uses,” and limiting stairwells to a single run.

Though the square footage of the structure on Halyard Lane is less than the P&Z-recommended minimum, structures built under the recommended guidelines would not be permitted to house both a stairwell and elevator shaft, said Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray.

Therefore, a structure as large as the one on Halyard would not be permitted on a similar-sized building in the future.

Speaking at the meeting, former commissioner Lynn Larson, the current president of the homeowners association in Section 4 of Country Club Shores, said she’s more concerned with other neighborhoods than her own.

“We will overcome this,” she said, acknowledging that her HOA has the power to set its own height restrictions while communities without legally recognized homeowners associations do not have such authority.

“What about all of the other single-family residences in this town?” Larson asked, noting neighborhoods such as The Village and Emerald Harbor, as well as the other four sections of Country Club Shores.

After hearing the concerns of residents, the Town Commission decided to send the height-rules amendment back to the Planning and Zoning Board for re-evaluation to explore the possibility of more stringent restrictions. Any new rules will advance again to the commission.

At the previous commission workshop meeting, Commissioner Armando Linde had expressed concern for the allowance of exceptional structures like the one on the home on Halyard Lane, which he called “totally out of sync with the character of the neighborhood,” for Country Club Shores has many single-story homes.

Linde said the presence of Country Club Shores residents at Monday’s meeting shows the importance of the idea of “keeping within the character of the neighborhood.”

“It’s not such an empty concept,” Linde said. “And it’s exactly what’s at stake here.”

Mayor Terry Gans said a “one size fits all” approach concerning height restrictions in all Key neighborhoods is “probably not appropriate.” He suggested the members of the Planning and Zoning Board keep lot sizes in mind during their reconsideration, rather than only differentiating between single-family and non single-family homes.

Vice Mayor Phill Younger implored residents in attendance to voice their opinions about new rules before “the midnight hour” as the commissioners prepare for a final vote. He encouraged those in attendance to make time for Planning and Zoning Board meetings, as well as commission workshops.

“You may have dodged a bullet this time,” Younger said. “But don’t think that gun’s not loaded with another one.”

Before the meeting, Bob Gault, a member of the HOA, said the group didn’t question the house before it was constructed because, historically, the town had limited single-family homes in Country Club Shores to 30 feet.

“We never thought to worry about it,” Gault said. “Apparently, the ordinance is loosely written and being interpreted more liberally with changing town staff.”

The HOA is working with an attorney to establish a restriction of its own against structures that are built above the 30-foot height limit.

In a presentation, Ray explained that structures like these have been allowed under the code since 1977. She showed the commissioners about a dozen properties located on the Key with such structures, with the earliest built in 1985.

Hunt Brothers Realty bought the previously vacant lot on Halyard Lane for $705,000 in 2015, and Coachman Homes is building the home on the property.

Larson said she’s happy with the Town Commission’s decision, and added that she hopes residents will stay informed about issues concerning height restrictions on the Key.

“It’s coming to a neighborhood near you,” she warned.