8/23/1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Macht asked if sales tax and tourist tax are commonly collected on rentals of less than 6 months, but Attorney Henderson didn't know the answer as the rental program is handled primarily by an outside broker. In response to Commissioner Macht's questions, Attorney Vitunac explained that virtually every code has specific criteria for special exceptions as well as the general ones. If the developer meets the specific criteria, boards and commissions which want to deny a project can deny it on the basis of the overall catchall phrase, but in truth the burden of proof is on them to show that the special exception should not be granted. In order to deny a special exception, they have to show true some sort of evidence that the proposed project would do some sort of harm, such as traffic or compatibility. Rolf Bibow of the Indian River Citizens' Study Group which represents 1500 households, stated that they submitted more than 1000 petitions and numerous letters in favor of the five amendments in the residential resort use as proposed by staff. Richard Graves, 1015 34th Avenue in Vero Beach, wished to address the minimum 3 -day requirement. He believed the LDR that was adopted back in March was a good thing, but didn't feel that the 3 -day stay makes any sense since the length of stay does not make any difference on the impact to this county. In addition, he felt it would be a nightmare to enforce a 3 -day minimum stay. Mr. Graves felt that to saddle a facility with the 3 -day minimum might make it economically infeasible. He urged the Board not to adopt amendment #5. Joe Scarmuzzi of Sea Oaks advised that he and Mrs. Meyers, also of Sea Oaks, were representing 628 owners in Sea Oaks who are in favor of the adoption of the 5 proposed changes and opposed to Majestic Partners' recent request to convert part of the Sea Oaks subdivision to a residential resort. Attorney Vitunac cautioned Mr. Scarmuzzi not to speak specifically to Sea Oaks but direct his arguments directly to the proposed LDRs. Mr. Scarmuzzi, spoke of the amenities and ambience of their community and noted that 79% of the owners do not plan to rent their units. Their prospectus states that no time shares will be created in their community, and they are looking to the Board for help in keeping their development from becoming a residential resort. Using the main argument of required contiguity, he urged the Board to adopt the proposed 5 changes regarding the residential resort use. 19 BOOK 90 PAGE 279