okay I'd like to call the meeting to order please and before I read the guidelines I'd like to introduce a new member to the board Mr van Dodge he's a recent member appointed so welcome aboard okay well I will start out with the guidelines that we follow in order
to listen to the cases this is a public hearing and we are the zoning board of adjustments for Putnham County Florida we operate under the authority of articles 11 and 12 of the land development code as amended the primary responsibility of the board is to hear and decide appeals challenging final
determinations made by the planning and development services department under the land development code and to hear and act upon requests for variances special use permits non-conforming use determinations and preliminary development plans under the land development code
a variance is a relaxation of the requirements of the zoning code in a particular case where because of unusual cir circumstances a little enforcement of our zoning code would result in undue or unnecessary hardship the zoning code permits us to authorize variances only
for height size of structure size of yards and open spaces if we grant a variance we may impose reasonable conditions on the use of the property which must be satisfied if the variance is to remain valid the standards we use in deciding whether or not to grant a a
variance are listed in section 45-833 of the land development code a special use permit is special permission to use property in a fashion which the zoning classification of the property does not automatically permit if we grant a special use permit we may impose
reasonable conditions on the use of the property which must be satisfied if the special use permit The standards we use in deciding whether or not to grant a special use permit are listed in section 45-1083 of the land development code
procedurally we will call each case by name and number a member of the staff will then briefly explain to us the nature of each request we will then take any comments from the applicant or their representative followed by any public comments concerning the request please direct all comments and statements to
the board and not to other people in the audience before speaking we will ask each person to be recognized come forward to the lectern and identify his or herself by name and address after all persons wishing to speak have been heard we will entertain a motion from the board the motion will be voted on by
board members and become a final order any decision made by this board can be appealed to the circuit court however any appeal must be filed within 30 days after the board of adjustments has rendered the final order which is being appealed are there any
questions okay before the first case is heard all of those wishing to speak today need to be sworn in so will the notary please administer the oath okay before we hear from staff we have uh the first case is variance
25-0000001 and we will do an exparte or conflict of interest uh roll call i have no conflicts no no no no
no okay staff if you're ready thank you Madam Chair uh for the record Michael Graves Planning and Development Services this is Variance 25-0000001 uh the applicant is Sam 3 LLC uh the agent is Michael Nicks of Vert
Vertical Bridge LLC the location of the property is 2680 South Highway 17 in Crescent City a property approximately 4.94 acres in size that has mixed zoning between agriculture and commercial too uh with the future land use of
agriculture the future the uh request is to uh allow a reduction in setbacks from 750 ft to 350 ft a total of 400 uh feet reduction on the affformentioned parcel
uh for a 220 foot tall communication tower uh let's see the applicant are requesting this setback uh from the nearest residential property line uh sorry nearest residential building as opposed to nearest residential property
line uh they are doing this due to wetlands concerns in the rear of this property uh here you can see an aerial of the map here is the zoning the future land
use the FEMA flood zones and the wetlands as recorded by our GIS map it should be noted that the applicants have provided a wetlands delineation which reveals that the rear approximately uh half to 2/3 is covered by jurisdictional wetlands not depicted
on our GIS map the criteria for a reduction of this scale are as follows uh number one special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or building involved the applicant has provided as I mentioned a
delineation of the property wherein it was discovered that the majority of the undeveloped half of is currently covered in jurisdictional wetlands as such that does qualify as special circumstances in our land development code uh number two is that the special conditions are not a result of the
applicant's failure to follow uh county policy uh the special circumstances as mentioned are the weapons which the applicants clearly cannot control uh it is within the best interest of communication towers to locate in uh close proximity to cities such as
Crescent City which is just north of this property uh so it would be uh The code staff cannot fully say uh that granting of this variance shall not be considered granting special privilege to the applicant there are additional criteria that must be met for the
communication tower uh which the applicant fails to meet in full in accordance with section 4572i-2 the ZBA shall not grant a variance of this nature unless it makes the following written findings based on substantial competent
evidence a there is no danger to the health and safety of the property owners or the general public that may be directly impacted by the proposed variance the applicant has provided official certification that the tower is designed to withstand winds up to 130 mph and that the fall radius is within
the uh compound at the ground level uh calculated by staff to be approximately 16 and a half feet uh B there's no alternative feasible that to this proposal that would allow the distance requirement to be met staff cannot fully agree to this
criterion there is a portion of uplands located in the rear half of the parcel that would be more than sufficient to place the tower on and meet the setback requirements as is indicated on the wetland delineation if alternative access could be obtained the setback could be met however as it is right now
they would still have to travel through the wetlands to access that portion uh the variance sought is the minimum necessary to address the need for a variance staff cannot agree that the variance sought the minimum necessary as the need for a variance could be wholly mitigated if the tower
were located deeper in the property should access be uh discovered and plotted uh staff can however agree that the reduction uh the relocation of the tower is imperative for the project and that the proposed relocation is the minimum needed to guarantee no
interference with the delineated wetlands the location of the proposed communication tower it is in relation to the existing structure trees and other visual buffer minimize to the greatest extent reasonably any impacts on the affected residentially zoned property
the proposed tower site is located behind an active uh propane business Sands Gas and is in a moderately heavily wooded area additional requirements may be required by the ZBOA through conditions and enforced by the DRC
however the development is uh going to meet all the requirements of the land development code to ensure that it will not be a visual hazard to the community uh se section E the location of the communication tower will not have a significant detrimental impact on the uh
adjacent property values uh the proposed location will not have an effect on environmentally sensitive lands the proposed relocation area is specifically to avoid uh impacting said environmentally sensitive lands uh
overall we do not anticipate there to be significant impact uh to property values or environmentally sensitive lands uh continuing on with criterion four literal interpretation of the provisions of this ordinance would deprive the applicant of rights committed by other
properties in the same zoning district uh the installation of a communication tower is not commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district as it requires a special use permit as well as approval by the DRC staff can however verify that denial would require
additional involvement with environmentally sensitive lands in order to potentially find an alternative location or mitigate the an area of jurisdictional wetlands criterion five is granting that this variance will be in harmony with the general intent and purposes of this
ordinance and such variance will not be injurous to the area uh the proposed tower is 220 ft in height and located approximately uh 361.8 ft from the nearest residential structure it is therefore unlikely that
even in the most cataclysmic of circumstances that the tower would directly impact the residential unit however it is also worth noting that the close proximity to Sam's Gas a propane store in the unlikely event of sudden collapse there is potential for debris to fall uh from the tower and impact the
business in that event the sudden high velocity impact could potentially rupture one or more multiple uh one or multiple uh propane tanks and cause a uh minor explosion of some kind that could propagate even more damage to the surrounding area
uh criterion six is the variance is the grant uh variance granted is the minimum necessary that will make possible the reasonable use of the land building or structure uh the requested variance is the min is possibly not the minimum necessary to make reasonable use of the land the applicant is asking for a 400
foot reduction from the nearest residential structure placing them no closer than 350 ft from that structure their delineation indic indicates the nearest residential structure to be located at 361.8 ft away you could make an argument
that uh that uh 360 ft would be the uh minimum setback uh staff finds that the requested variance meets the majority of the criterion in for an issuance of variance in LBC section 45-833
as such staff gives the recommendation of approval of the requested variance to allow for reduction in setbacks from 750 ft to 350 ft a total of 400 ft on a 4.94 acres of agriculture zone property for a
220 foot tall communication tower subject to the following conditions uh the conditions being one there shall be no deviation from or exceptions to the screening buffering and landscaping requirements of the land development code two all other regulations enforced
in the approved special use permit by the administrative deviation committee shall be followed and three the applicant shall proceed through development review committee to ensure that compliance with all other regulations including landscaping and buffering requirements are
met any questions any questions for staff okay before we proceed let's do a site visit roll call please no yes yes yes
yes no okay okay um next is Michael Nicks would you like to come forward and address the board since you're the representative i'd be happy to uh oh just come on up and talk to us at the so we can get this
on record it's hard to hear sorry about that no we had we uh it's like Michael had said earlier we had attempted to put put the uh the cell tower okay so you're not Miss Are you Mr nicks yes please state your name and address for the record then i'm Michael Nicks my address is 3132 Winding Pine Trail in Longwood
Florida okay now sorry please move the mic so we can everybody can hear you thank you protocol sorry but uh uh just to let you guys know we had originally intended to put the put the tower back um in the back part of that parcel due to the wetlands that surround it uh what
we found is it's that the wetland it's an upland area that is actually an island an upland island back there so we would have to traverse through environmentally sensitive lands so our thought was that we could you know alleviate that need and possibly push it push it closer and uh you know and to
the to the uh western portion of the uplands that are closest to Sam's Gas if that makes sense and get that away from the wetlands and and proceed that way without having to do anything to the uh to the wetland area any questions from staff or Mr nicks
i have a question how long has the applicant owned the parcel that's a good question i don't know i would assume for many years and was it anything previously or has it always been vacant land always vacant okay thank you okay any other questions
all right thank you sir thank you anyone in the audience wishing to come forward and speak in favor of this application any No one's coming forward anyone in the audience like to come and speak in opposition okay no one is coming forward so at this time we'll close it to the
public and open it up for board uh motion and discussion madame Chairman I move we approve variance 250000001 as it meets the criteria for variance required by section 45-833 of the Putham County Lone Land
Development Code with the conditions recommended by staff and authorized the chair to sign the final order second okay we have a motion second to approve variance 25-00001 any other further
discussion if none all those in favor please indicate by raising your right hand 1 2 3 4 5 6 all oppose like sign motion carries 6 however uh your your um application has been approved but there is a 30-day appeal
process so if there's any problems or questions please work close with staff and good luck thank you okay the next case is variance 25-00002 before we get started let's do an exparte and conflict of interest roll
call no no no no no okay all right uh thank you again Madam Chair once again for the record Michael
Graves Planning and Development Services this is variance 25-0000002 second verse same as the first uh this time the applicant is next door uh Next Tower Development Group 2 LLC uh the location is 1576 Stewart
Avenue in Interlockan and the property is 636 and a half acres in size which is zoned agriculture with a future land use of agriculture at this time the applicant is requesting a reduction in setbacks from 750 ft to
128.6 feet a total of 621.4t 4 feet on this property for a 260 tall uh foot tall communication tower uh the applicants are requesting a setback reduction to the nearest residential property line it is worth
noting that this time it is to the property line and not to the actual nearest residence as the nearest residence is over 800 ft away from their proposed new location uh the relevant portion principal setbacks are uh 750 ft from the nearest residential property
line or from the nearest residential unit according to our land development code whichever is greater uh is uh let's see here the applicant have provided a wetland delineation indicating that wetlands prevent access deeper into the property which is the reason that they
are requesting this variance uh here you can see an aerial for this property the zoning future land use FEMA flood
zones and finally wetlands uh our GIS map is of course never 100% accurate on the location of wetlands their delineation has indicated a greater presence of wetlands uh special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar
to the land structure or building involved uh there is special circumstances on this property in that it is in a close proximity to an underdeveloped residential district that causes conflict with the code language in regards to the setbacks uh towers greater than 100 ft in height must be
set back 750 ft from the nearest residentially zoned property line combine that with the wetlands and that that is where their issue arises uh the applicants have special circumstances in that the property is directly adjacent to the undeveloped
portion of Interlock and Lake Estates unit number 16 uh and that uh they are not responsible for the development of this subdivision or its residential zoning uh in a very remote part of the county that is surrounded by agriculture
zoning uh district uh they are not responsible either for the development of wetlands on their property as that is a act of nature uh granting of the variance requested will not confer the applicant any special privileges uh staff can once
again not say that granting of this variance shall not be considered special privilege to the applicant there are additional criteria as mentioned before that must be met for communication towers which the applicant fails to meet in full uh the following uh se subjections are those additional
requirements uh there is no danger to the health and safety of property owners or the general public that may be directly impacted by the proposed variance the application the applicant has provided official certification that the tower is designed to withstand wind gusts up to 127 miles per hour and has a
certified document indicating a theoretical approximately 10 ft ball radius uh due to a design weakness between braces at 240 and 250 ft uh as such staff must uh accept this documentation as evidence that there is no danger to the public health or safety
with this development uh there is no feasible alternative to the proposal that would allow the distance requirement to be met this is where staff can once again fully not agree with criterion the proposed development is on the property that that is 636 acres in size and according to
staff maps and the national wetlands uh mapper uh less than one quarter of this property is in jurisdictional wetlands furthermore the applicant has only provided a partial delineation of the property namely around the proposed and original uh locations for the uh
tower uh the variance sought as a minimum necessary to address need for a variance once again staff cannot f uh verify compliance with criterion B and therefore not with criterion C either uh as if there is a more feasible location then there would be no need for a uh
setback at all setback reduction at all uh the location of the proposed communication tower in relation to the existing structures trees and other buffers minimize to the greatest uh reasonable extent any impacts on affected residentially zoned property
the applicant is proposing a a buffer of bald cyprress and wax myrtle trees around the perimeter to of the build area to provide visual screens to the towers base additional requirements may be requested by the ZBA through conditions and enforced by the DRC
the location of the communication tower will not have a significant detrimental impact on adjacent property values and any uh property formally designated by the comprehensive plan as environmentally sensitive uh the proposed location will not have an effect on environmentally sensitive
lands the proposed relocation areas specifically to avoid impacting set environmentally sensitive lands going back to the main criteria criterion four uh literal interpretation of the uh provisions of this ordinance would deprive the the applicant rights
commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district uh the installation of communication tower is once again not commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district it requires a special use permit as well as approval by the DRC staff can however
verify that denial would require additional involvement with environmentally sensitive lands in order to potentially find an alternative location or mitigate an area of jurisdictional wetlands granting of this variance will be in harmony with the general intent and purposes of this ordinance and such
variance will not be interest to the area involved the proposed location is sufficiently far away from the nearest developed dwelling at approximately 870 ft away furthermore the applicant has proposed a vegetative buffer around the base of the tower to reduce visual impact which will be further reviewed
and regulated by the DRC at time of review the variance granted is the minimum variance that will make possible reasonable use of the land building or structure it is unknown if the requested variance is the minimum needed to make possible the use of the land however staff are able to say that this is the
minimum possible to ensure no further impact on environmentally sensitive lands staff finds that the requested variance meets the majority of the criteria required for issuance of a variance in LDC section 45833 as such staff recommends approval
of the requested variance to allow for a reduction in stepbacks from 750 ft to 128.6 uh feet a total of 621.4t 4 feet on a 636 acre parcel of
agriculture zone land that for a 260 foot tall tower uh communication tower subject to the following conditions number one there shall be no deviations from or exceptions to the screening buffering and landscaping requirements of the land development code and number
two the applicant shall proceed through development review committee again to ensure compliance with all other regulations including landscaping and buffering requirements any questions do we have anyone questions for the staff i just have a a question
um this particular tow uh tower was approved in 23 correct or the site um was it because of the additional wetlands that prohibited them from starting or even uh the site that they had chosen before uh according to
conversations staff has had with the applicants uh we are aware that there are no wetlands directly on the proposed location however there are wetlands that surround it it is another case of an island that were not discovered until after they had gotten approval for the tower uh from their first development
review committee uh they are attempting at this point to not have to travel through wetlands or mitigate a portion of wetlands okay i just wanted a little clarification on it thank you but at this time let's do a site visit roll call please
no yes yes yes yes yes okay um would the representative I guess
from Next Tower Development Company like to come up for the record please state your name and address yes ma'am excuse me my name is Robert Vulpi my address is 119 South Monroe Street Sweet 500 in Tallahassee thank you for allowing me a
chance to speak here on behalf of Next Tower Development Corporation and yes you're correct back in 2023 I was here in front of you and we you approved uh the special use permit for this site since that time through the wetland delineation process the original
location of the site is an island there are wetlands that would have to be traversed and the wetland permitting process through the Army Corps of Engineers and D has been in flux for years it's a very difficult process and um this allows no wet this variance
would allow no wetland impacts and a an alternative location on the property um Mr graves did a a wonderful job of going through all the criteria so I won't dive into all of that um but just a little
bit more on this property it's owned by Robert's Land and Timber Company it's 636 acres uh the location of the tower is is based on the RF um RF study and the location suggested by the property
owner in that portion of the property um so that's that is a a factor that relates to where it could best be located and as I mentioned earlier this has already gone through the special use permit process uh back in 2023 and that
special use per permit is still in in place um mainly this would allow uh the approval of this variance would allow development of this tower without impacting wetlands and actually there wouldn't be any environmental impacts we've looked at the other possible
environmental impacts so it avoids um uh flood planes and species and others and also as Mr graves said we we have agreed to the uh to the buffering um vegetative buffering around the tower site there are no residences around the tower the
closest residences residence is over 800 ft away um so it there would not be any impact to any existing residences i'm happy to answer questions and also u Mr joel Rouso from next hour
is here to answer questions if you have them thank you any questions from the board okay thank you sir thank you is there anyone in the audience wishing to come forward and speak in favor of this
application no one's coming forward anyone wishing to speak in opposition no one is coming forward so at this time we'll close it to the public and open it up for board motion and discussion madame Chairman I move we approve
variance 25002 as a variance meets the criteria required by section 45-833 of the Putnham County Land Development Code with the conditions recommended by staff and authorize the chair to sign the final order
second we have a motion and second to approve variance 25-00002 is there any further discussion if none all of those in favor please indicate by raising your right hand 1 2 3 4 56 motion carries 6 just a
reminder there is a 30-day appeal process and good luck in your adventure thank you okay the next case is special use permit 25-00003 and why will call for an exparte communication or conflict of
interest no no no no yes the client is a um the applicant is a client of mine i have the opportunity
to financially benefit from this SUP and Madam Chair I will be reducing myself and seated in the audience for this uh SU thank you thank you okay staff is ready thank you once again Madam Chair for the record Michael Graves Planning and Development Services
uh this is as mentioned special use permit 25-0000003 for Fidian Holdings LLC uh the application is a 12 plus or minus acre borrow area to be reclaimed as an artificial pond in the agriculture
zoning district the application as mentioned is Florian Holdings LLC the location is 533 County Road 309 in Waka Florida the future land use is a mixture of agriculture and rural reserve uh the the property is approximately
94.59 acres in size and is currently vacant uh land development code section 4572E7 allows for a special use permit for the development of a large scale scale borrow area in the agriculture zoning district here you can see an
aerial of the property right outside of Waka here you can see the future land use and how it splits in half here's the zoning here are the wetlands here is the flood zone and here are the
criteria uh criterion A the use is consistent with a comprehensive plan and meets all concurrency requirements uh the property's future land use classification is split between agriculture and rural reserve both of these designations allow for lowintensity agricultural purposes and
activities uh and resource-based recreation project is not part of any larger plan or development the pond will be stocked with fish and could be considered a resource-based recreation of a private fishing facility or otherwise low inensity agriculture
development uh criterion B the use is allowed as a special use in the zoning district in which the property is located the proposed use is allowed as a special use in the agriculture zoning district uh the proposed development will conform with all the applicable
regulations of the land development code uh the parcel already meets all the uh requirements for the agricultural zoning district and any new developed buildings uh will be required to pass development review committee before build permits will be issued uh ponds over 5 acres in
size and borrow areas over 1/8 of an acre in size are required to obtain a special use permit in the agriculture zoning district the applicant is following all the correct procedures to have their uh pond and borrow area uh special use will not adversely
impact or unduly restrict the enjoyment of permitted uses in the surrounding area the proposed borrow area and reclaim pond is unlikely to have any major negative impacts on the local area dirt is being transported near directly across County Road 309 and being spread
to prevent flooding or other neighborhood on other neighborhood properties uh the special use will not substantially diminish or impair property values in the area the proposed development is not anticipated to do so uh nor impede the orderly development of
or improvements to the surrounding area the proposed borrow area and pond is planned to be set back far enough away from the property line that it will not be visible to neighboring properties uh ENF kind of run together adequate access roads on-site parking on-site loading and unloading and
drainage will be met uh adequate measures have been taken to provide ingress and egress to the property that are designed in a manner to minimize traffic impacts on local roads uh no parking or unloading have been proposed for this development as none are required drainage will not be impeded
with development as the natural sele surrounding flow patterns will be maintained ingress and egress to the property will not be changed the only access is through County Road 309 a major collector road local roads will not be impacted the proposed private
pond will have no significant impact to traffic forgive me technical difficulties uh criterion G adequate screening and buffering to the uh special use will be provided if needed buffering of the parcel is not required as the neighboring properties are of the same
zoning district or owned by the applicant if any future buildings are proposed by uh proposed the DRC will determine if any landscaping of buffering requirements are are to be needed at that time the pond is however also set back approximately 300 feet
from County Road 309 with the intent uh to keep the trees between the road and the pond in place given the large amount of trees on all sides of this property it is unlikely that the pond will be noticed in any direction uh the special use per the special use will not have
signs or exterior lighting that will cause glare no lighting or signs have been proposed for this application uh there will be no undue risks to persons or or property from hazardous substances hazard hazardous substances have not been proposed for this
development the proposed special use will not adversely affect the general public health safety and welfare of residents of Putnham County the agriculture zoning designation allows for ponds that are larger than 5 acres and borrow areas that are larger than 1/8 of an acre when a special use permit
is applied it is unlikely for the development of uh for the this development to harm the residents of Putnham County no risks of health safety or welfare of the residents of Putham County is anticipated by
staff the applicant has requested a special use permit to allow for a 12 plus or minus acre borrow area to be reclaimed as a artificial pond in the agriculture zoning district the propo uh the proposed the proposed borrow area to be
reclaimed as an artificial pond uh meets the criteria for the special use permit as such staff recommends approval subject to the following conditions uh the development shall comply with all regulations outlined in LDC section
45-169 and hours of operation for the excavation shall be limited to 7:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m monday through Saturday and the property owners shall provide the county a security to provide assurance of the reclamation of the site shall be
completed in compi in conformance with the reclamation plan be it cash irrevocable letter of credit or surgery bond the security shall be no less than 110% the cost of reclamation as determined by the public works at DRC
and the development shall be reviewed and require approval of the DRC and no further removal of dirt from this property shall be permitted without another uh special use permit and DRC review and the development shall comply with all additional regulations enforced
by the DRC at time of review and the finished pond shall comply with all regulations listed in LDC section 45-165 and any new structure or further development must be approved by the development review committee excluding those that are not traditionally
required by DRC any questions any questions for staff okay thank you all right before we uh proceed let's do a site visit roll call please yes
yes yes yes okay um Mr brian Bush is the agent listed would you like to come forward and speak to the board for the record please give us your name
and address good afternoon commissioners sorry it's very hard to hear you good afternoon my name is Tim Mahoney i'm the uh vice president of strategic partnerships in BassPro's hospitality uh BassPro big seedar hospitality division
and I'm representing Flidian Holdings 533 County Road 309 so can I interrupt you just a moment can I get your last name mahoney m a hon okay thank you
so we appreciate you taking the time to uh consider our application here today i was here last year when you originally approved this uh pond special use permit and uh during this period you know we're
actively engaged on a lot of conservation efforts associated with this property involving a reconstruction of habitat and uh creating new habitat and this pond was part of our overall plan on on this property and some of the
surrounding property and we did get that approved and within the limits of that original permit which I I think defined it around seven and a half acres or so uh we began at some point afterwards uh to construct the pond and then as we
were doing it we started to realize that um we wanted to create more naturallooking um shorelines and so on but staying within the original limits that we had defined in our original
application and um and in so doing that in turn uh triggered the fact that we couldn't keep all of the the excess fill material on the site as we were able to do with the first part of it so as a
result we've come back and u asked for this modification to be able to increase the pond size to adjust the shoreline uh within our original limits and transport that material across the road where we have other property and u subject to
further review by the DRC and how we would place that but we feel that we can do that without any impact whatsoever um that that should be able to uh be accommodated without being noticeable because we do have a fairly large area
there where we can spread it out so we've been heavily committed to to restoring habitat in this entire area not just on this property i mean everybody knows that uh we come here to
fish the St john's River that uh it's a beautiful area our founder John Morris has been a property owner here for 35 years uh is deeply committed to this area and um we've taken some initiative especially on the St john's River in the
last couple of years recognizing the impact that u the uh particularly with the eel grass and the impact the hurricanes have had and the destruction of that from Lake George on last year uh we started a new partnership with the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help accelerate that restoration and uh so we've committed to a three-year partnership with them to really bring the resources that they need to accelerate that and I think this year everybody knows her and last year
in 24 was the first time we've been able to have a fishing tournament on this just because of the impact of those types of things so we we have a strong connection to this area and uh and a future commitment
to continuing it uh love Putinham County and the what this brings to Florida which is one of the most important uh you know fishing uh areas florida is definitely number one for fishing in the country and it's the largest saltwater
uh consumer of saltwater boats in the country so it's it's just a very very important area for us and we appreciate you giving consideration to allowing us to be able to expand the pond if you have any other questions I'd be happy to
answer about specifics that uh any questions okay guess not thank you very much at this time is there anyone in the audience wishing to come forward and speak in favor of this application no one is coming forward
anyone in the audience wishing I I don't know whether excuse excuse me sir were you sworn in yes I was okay are you going to speak in favor of the application i'm in favor of it but I've got some questions i'd like Well can would you please come to the podium and give us your name and address for the
record yes my name is Benjamin Smith i live at 105 Hires Road in Georgetown Florida okay the question is um they did get approval to do a seven or seven and a
half acre pond about a year ago I guess mr smith please talk to us okay i'm sorry i I I do see that they had that and that was done and now they're asking for an additional amount to make it a 12 acre pond or 12 acres whatever size that
may be um and I did hear a comment from this gentleman over here that the property future use was going to be agriculture and what was the other I had a little trouble hearing that rural residential sir rural residential
and agricultural for the future use of that property yes sir okay being a resident and seeing everything developed and and hearing the rumors and they are strictly rumors about what could possibly go in there the majority of the people seem to think that there
would be a resort of some sort in that area which I'm not against that whatsoever but if it's zoned agricultural that would not allow them to have a resort on that particular point is that correct or that partial
property uh not necessarily no sir uh they could always apply for a reszone by a higher density if they wished uh the future land use also does not necessarily limit what they can and cannot build there uh it's more to determine density and require i I
understand it's you know what I was thinking is if the shoe doesn't fit then we'll change it later so they could probably come back later and ask for another zoning variance to get that done is the way I understand that is that correct if there's anything that's
additional the staff would know as far as the procedure more or less uh if they were wanting to say do a resort there most likely we would require some kind of planned unit development which is a specific zoning type that would allow them to have that resort there and nothing else uh when it comes to the
future land use uh not necessarily allowed in agriculture i would have to review the code to figure out exactly what it would be allowed in that being said with it located directly outside of the municipal boundaries of the city of Waka we would consider that honestly
especially with the utilities there now to be more equivalent to urban service or urban reserve when we were to uh update our future land use map in the future which would be about another 10 15 years something like that got it okay well I I understand that and I have
visited quite a few of the properties that John Morris has and they've all been done very well and conserving nature and all of that so I'm in favor of what they're doing i just wanted to find out if this was only going to be able to be used for fishing or whatever
in agriculture but they can come back at a later date and have the property reszone to put something else there that was my only question okay desired yes anyone else wishing to come forward and speak in favor of this application no one's coming forward
anyone wishing to come forward and speak in opposition okay no one is coming forward um Mr mahoney would you like to address anything that Mr smith uh had some concerns about
no okay all right thank you okay at this time we will close it the meeting to the public and open it up for board uh motion and discussion madam Chair I move we approve special case number 25003 as the request meets the criteria
for a special use permit as required by section 45-183 of the Putnham County Land Development Code uh with the conditions the staff put forward and authorize the chair to sign the final order
second uh we have a motion and second to approve special use permit 25-0000003 is there any further discussion if none all of those in favor please indicate by raising your right hand one two three four five motion
carries 50 uh just there is a 30-day appeal process so just make sure that you work close to staff all right thank you sir and Miss Winkleman you're going to join us back okay okay the next thing on the agenda
minutes is the minutes for February 19th 2025 has everybody had a chance to read them move that be approved as presented second we have a motion and second to approve the February 19th 2025 zoning
board of adjustment meetings all those in favor say I i all opposed motion carries 5 6 I'm sorry anything else to come before the board all right how about a motion from
somebody to adjurnn all right we have a motion to adjurnn all those in favor say I i all right we stand ajourn thank you