Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin
admin
over 1 year ago
Received via email 11.6.23:
Dear Council Members:
I am writing with regard to the contractor’s application for a three-month permit extension for the interior and exterior renovation project at 253 Seminole Avenue. I reside at 255 Seminole, which is attached to 253 Seminole.
This project has been ongoing for close to two years. The pending application, if granted, will extend this project through a third winter season. In the meantime, the absentee owner and contractor have completely failed to maintain the construction site in the manner required by Section 18-351 of the Town ordinances.
Specifically, the front yard at 253 Seminole has been stripped of landscaping and trees, and consists of a weed-filled dirt patch with some dead or untended shrubbery. A portable toilet sits in plain view next to the driveway. The contractors habitually load up the driveway with multiple trucks during the day and even use the front yard as a parking lot. Pictures of these conditions are attached. In addition, another neighbor recently complained about the putrid standing water in the unfinished swimming pool, which has since been drained.
These persistent conditions plainly violate Section 18-351, which provides that “Property owners and their contractors shall be responsible for the implementation, installation, and maintenance of all required demolition and construction screening, perimeter landscaping and screening, on-job toilet facilities, truck logistics and staging, and other required site matters required by this chapter (see Sections 18-2, 18-3, 18-86, 18-111, and 18-201).”
I have been a very understanding next-door neighbor and have refrained from complaining to the owner or the building department concerning these violations, but with the prospect of construction continuing during yet another winter season, the time has come to remove this eyesore.
Accordingly, any permit extension should be conditioned on the owner and contractor immediately taking the following steps to cure the foregoing violations:
1. The dirt patch in the front yard should be replaced with sod or some other suitable ground covering. The dead shrubbery should be removed and the remaining shrubbery maintained.
2. The portable toilet should be moved to the rear of the property.
3. Parking in the driveway should be limited to a maximum of two vehicles and no vehicle should ever be parked in the front yard.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Steven J. Ahmuty, Jr.
255 Seminole Avenue
Palm Beach, Florida 33480
Received via email 11.6.23:
Dear Council Members:
I live at 261 Seminole Avenue, two doors down from the subject property at 253 Seminole Avenue, and fully concur with Mr. Ahmuty’s comments outlined below and his recommended conditions of your approval for a 90 day permit extension.
This construction project at 253 Seminole has been terribly mismanaged. It is a blight on our neighborhood with its Port -a-John openly visible, its construction trucks parked in the lawn, its terribly unkept dirt patch of a lawn and dying shrubbery, and its unfinished backyard pool breading mosquitos and frogs - an oversized pool for this lot that extends into the setback on both sides that should never have been approved by ARCOM. Nevertheless there is no reason it could not have been finished months ago - it was dug in early 2023. In fact, the entire project should have been finished months ago. While Dunworth Construction built our adjacent home and pool in 18 months from start of demolition of the previous structure in late 2017 to getting a certificate of occupancy in mid-2018, this much simpler remodel has taken almost 2 years and is still unfinished.
Please make your permit extension approval conditional on the contractor meeting Mr. Ahmuty’s recommendations. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Bruce Payne
261 Seminole Avenue
Palm Beach
Received via email 11.6.23:
Dear Council Members:
I am writing with regard to the contractor’s application for a three-month permit extension for the interior and exterior renovation project at 253 Seminole Avenue. I reside at 255 Seminole, which is attached to 253 Seminole.
This project has been ongoing for close to two years. The pending application, if granted, will extend this project through a third winter season. In the meantime, the absentee owner and contractor have completely failed to maintain the construction site in the manner required by Section 18-351 of the Town ordinances.
Specifically, the front yard at 253 Seminole has been stripped of landscaping and trees, and consists of a weed-filled dirt patch with some dead or untended shrubbery. A portable toilet sits in plain view next to the driveway. The contractors habitually load up the driveway with multiple trucks during the day and even use the front yard as a parking lot. Pictures of these conditions are attached. In addition, another neighbor recently complained about the putrid standing water in the unfinished swimming pool, which has since been drained.
These persistent conditions plainly violate Section 18-351, which provides that “Property owners and their contractors shall be responsible for the implementation, installation, and maintenance of all required demolition and construction screening, perimeter landscaping and screening, on-job toilet facilities, truck logistics and staging, and other required site matters required by this chapter (see Sections 18-2, 18-3, 18-86, 18-111, and 18-201).”
I have been a very understanding next-door neighbor and have refrained from complaining to the owner or the building department concerning these violations, but with the prospect of construction continuing during yet another winter season, the time has come to remove this eyesore.
Accordingly, any permit extension should be conditioned on the owner and contractor immediately taking the following steps to cure the foregoing violations:
1. The dirt patch in the front yard should be replaced with sod or some other suitable ground covering. The dead shrubbery should be removed and the remaining shrubbery maintained.
2. The portable toilet should be moved to the rear of the property.
3. Parking in the driveway should be limited to a maximum of two vehicles and no vehicle should ever be parked in the front yard.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Steven J. Ahmuty, Jr.
255 Seminole Avenue
Palm Beach, Florida 33480
Received via email 11.6.23:
Dear Council Members:
I live at 261 Seminole Avenue, two doors down from the subject property at 253 Seminole Avenue, and fully concur with Mr. Ahmuty’s comments outlined below and his recommended conditions of your approval for a 90 day permit extension.
This construction project at 253 Seminole has been terribly mismanaged. It is a blight on our neighborhood with its Port -a-John openly visible, its construction trucks parked in the lawn, its terribly unkept dirt patch of a lawn and dying shrubbery, and its unfinished backyard pool breading mosquitos and frogs - an oversized pool for this lot that extends into the setback on both sides that should never have been approved by ARCOM. Nevertheless there is no reason it could not have been finished months ago - it was dug in early 2023. In fact, the entire project should have been finished months ago. While Dunworth Construction built our adjacent home and pool in 18 months from start of demolition of the previous structure in late 2017 to getting a certificate of occupancy in mid-2018, this much simpler remodel has taken almost 2 years and is still unfinished.
Please make your permit extension approval conditional on the contractor meeting Mr. Ahmuty’s recommendations. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Bruce Payne
261 Seminole Avenue
Palm Beach