At one point it wasn’t clear what was going to happen to the house at 4537 Victoria Road, in Land O’ Lakes.
The home was built with improper setbacks, which sparked neighborhood disputes, led to lengthy public hearings and made the house impossible to sell without securing a variance from county requirements.
SoHo Builders sought a variance from county standards, but that request was denied on a split vote by the Pasco County Commission.
The applicant then appealed the planning board’s action to the Pasco County Commission.
The county board took up the issue on Sept. 5, but delayed the request until its Oct. 10 meeting, to give SoHo Builders a chance to work out issues with a neighbor, make some improvements to its plan and seek approval from the Lake Padgett Estates East Property Owners’ Association before bringing it back to commissioners.
Those actions were taken, and the county board overturned the planning board’s denial of the variance.
Under the approved variance, the house can have a 20-foot front yard setback — instead of 25 feet — and it can have 8.5-foot side yard setbacks, instead of 10 feet.
The board’s action also requires the applicant to:
- Provide gutters/downspouts to direct the water to the front culverts to correct drainage flow and install an underground advanced drainage system
- Install a culvert
- Plant two additional trees, bringing the total number of trees to three
SoHo Builders also has agreed with the homeowner’s association to complete an improvement project at the community playground, but that is a private agreement and the county cannot enforce private agreements.
During the Sept. 5 public hearing, Patrick Plummer, representing SoHo Builders, also mentioned he had worked out an agreement with a neighboring property owner.
For its part, the property owners’ association did not require any added architectural features or a reduction in the size of the garage, according to the backup materials in the county board’s Oct. 10 agenda packet.
Published October 18, 2023
