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Redington Beach drafting ordinance to settle dock debate
By BOB MACPHERSON
| Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007 |
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REDINGTON BEACH – The Redington Beach Board of Commissioners continues to wrestle with boat dock issues.
The commission is working on an ordinance to clarify its existing rules. A first draft was mulled over a few weeks ago and Town Attorney Andrew Salzman was asked to come up with a second draft.
That draft was hashed over sentence by sentence Tuesday, Oct. 20. The dock ordinances of Madeira Beach, Belleair Beach and North Redington Beach were reviewed for their potential applicability to Redington Beach.
After lengthy discussion, Salzman said he will develop a new draft including commission recommendations. That draft will go to the Planning and Zoning Board on Dec. 11 and then back to the commission on Dec. 18.
Subsequently, a public meeting will be scheduled. Salzman emphasized that the draft ordinances are just the starting point.
“A lot of public input is needed,” he said. “We are going to let the people speak.”
A great deal of interest centered on dock length and width. The commission elected to set a 30-foot length as a point of discussion that could be adjusted if necessary after the public meeting. Salzman said it would be reasonable to go with a set length such as 30 feet and let the Board of Adjustment deal with other requested dock lengths. Commissioner Fred Steierman agreed.
“We should set a dimension and let the board of adjustment deal with other proposals,” he said.
A proposed 35-foot width was deleted from the draft since side set back requirements (a proposed 10 feet) should provide for that allowance.
The draft also includes a requirement that all dock facilities must be located within the center one-third of a resident’s property line along the waterfront. That provision clarifies a misconception that since the one-third requirement already exists in the county’s water and navigation code, it would apply to docks located in incorporated municipalities and, therefore, would not be needed in the town’s code.
Salzman explained that the county would only enforce the rule in an emergency or if the placement of a dock would impair marine navigation.
Commissioner Deborah Bradbeer liked the idea of neighbors agreeing with each other on dock sharing or not objecting to a neighbor’s dock slightly exceeding code requirements. Salzman said the ordinance could provide for a “special exception” in such cases.
This may be attractive in Redington Beach since property dimensions differ significantly with many homes located on inverse lots. Consequently, it is difficult to set a standard that would apply to everyone. Reversed curved lots can result in a rare situation where a tiny dock only would be authorized.
Bradbeer also offered a suggestion that as an incentive, the town could allow two adjacent property owners who have agreed to share a dock to have a dock twice the size of an individual dock.
Mayor Nick Simon disagreed with Bradbeer.
“Perhaps that could be done in straight lots but people who benefit by a shared dock are usually located on inverse lots and a double size dock would not fit,” he said.
The next draft will define a “dock facility” as containing the slips, boat lift, dock, catwalks, lower landings, tie poles and personal watercraft lifts. The definition will exclude boats.
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Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
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