ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — UPDATE: After hours of discussion, the St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board decided on Tuesday to delay a vote to approve the building of a seawall at the HGTV Dream Home property in Anastasia Island, which was already built, until it has more information.
Representatives with the builder went before the board while it discussed whether the seawall was built too close to a water habitat. During the meeting, members asked the builders of the HGTV Dream Home to come back with additional documents about the building process.
Board Member Charles Pappas said the board's decision could have been different if the builders asked for approval before building the home, instead of after the fact.
"We probably would have looked at that swimming pool and there's a chance we would have reduced the size of the deck and pool. We would have looked for an environmental engineer to give us reasons and whys and exactly what would happen which we do all the time," said Pappas. "I mean not to use an incorrect word but we harass them for the information to make sure we make the decision correctly. We don't have that opportunity."
The discussion will continue at a meeting on March 5.
- END UPDATE -
A dream home built for Home and Garden Television has hit a logistical bump in the road.
The house on Anastasia Island in the Pelican Reef neighborhood is complete, but its builders are having to ask the St. Augustine city government for permission for a seawall that has already been built.
It seems some pre-construction paperwork was either not completed, submitted or not fully approved.
The company behind the home – Coastal Getaway Homes – and its attorneys are going before the St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board on Tuesday to ask the city to approve something that its builders have already built: a rock bulkhead on the water side of the house.
According to city documents, the house builders are requesting permission for the already built bulkhead made of rip rap. It’s inches away from the marsh, according to photographs in the city files.
The house is by a conservation zone which requires more levels of approval to protect animals an plant life. City policy discourages the "disturbance of natural shorelines" in order to protect the water habitat.
In the application letter to the city, the company’s attorneys state "while the retaining wall was not included within the site plan…it was included within the building permit application."
The company’s attorney also stated the wall was built following city code, and that “the retaining wall has no impact on plant and animal habitat.”
The board will continue its discussion at a meeting on March 5.