[essessemm]

If the property is not yet zoned to commercial then you and your neighbors have a great chance to influence the outcome. Other times, even if the property is already zoned commercial many uses require a 'conditional use permit', which also involves public hearing processes and a chance to voice your concerns.

However, if the property is zoned commercial and a drug store/pharmacy is a permitted use, then the project will not go through a public hearing process and the development will be handled internally by staff. The important thing to know is that the zoning on a particular property grants certain rights. If they have the right to build a drugstore, then there is not much you can do about it. They will simply need to follow the development regulations.

[QTPatootie]

I e-mailed this guy @ 2 AM (Bureau Chief Mike May-Growth Management). I hope you dont mind that I used your words =/ . And he replied @ 6:54 AM.

(ME)

Hello,
My name is Caroline. I live in Marion Oaks on SW 29th Circle. It has come to my attention that CVS has ordered a site plan behind our homes. I dont believe it has been approved by the city yet. But, due to many concerns, including the devaluation of my property, I feel that it is in my best interest to ask of you to supply me with a copy of your codes & requirements for the construction of commercial bldgs, the setback requirements and what will be expected to be done for adjoining residential properties.

Sincerely,

___________


(His answer)

You can go on-line at marioncountyfl.org then to zoning then look into
the Land Development Code under B-2 zoning it will give the setbacks and other info.


***And that was it! Not even a sincerely yours! I guess that's what Ill be doing then. I feel there's no point to it though. My mother says I should just leave it alone. To think positive that maybe something good will come out of it. And.."besides, you cannot afford a lawyer." Me, well, I try not to let things upset me ( I did too much of that throughout my life) & be positive. But darn it..this is not easy to accept. If I have no other choice..I plan to make my backyard very private & into my own little forest. That way, I will still be able to look out my window and see nothing but nature. All I ask at this point in time in my life, is for peace & privacy. And I thought that is what I would be getting here for at least another 10 yrs. But, a year later...there goes the view that brought me peace & joy, there goes the most beautiful night sky I have ever seen..and there goes my serenity. *sigh* Happiness in my life never stays for long. I should be used to it. But this one hurt a lot. Got me griping about God real bad. Just about giving up my faith. Anyhoooow. Thank you all for your help and concern. I will continue to keep you posted on these greedy people's progress or if I actually find something to help me out.
Love & Blessings*

P.S. I wonder if the company (Deltona) that we bought the property from could be held liable. We were never once told that the area behind our property was to become commercial. Never showed up in any of the maps that we acquired through out the years..not even a letter nothing. Hmmmm....

[QTPatootie]

Well! I am so happy to see more suggestions =D All I know is that behind my house it is referred to as the "green way". Next to me is someone's lot. Next to theirs is a huge and empty retention pond. Beautiful one actually. Behind all this and the green way is I suppose city property. But I swear is like a strip of land. I dont understand how they can build on it. If I can go on 484 and see my house clearly....But yes, I will check out the areas zoning. And I will definitely contact the neighbors. I was thinking of contacting the neighbors on each side of the pond..these businesses will affect them too. Anyhow..must get busy. I saw someone working across the street behind my house. He had one of those orange jackets & was holding papers. Good day to all!!!! P.S. Yes..I was told that it would still need to be approved by the city & that a meeting could be possible. I hope you guys stay with me..I am not very courages =( Laterz*

[mytimenow]

I have a currently empty commercial lot behind my house. When I considering purchasing but checked with the realtor and found out it was a certain type of commercial zoning that wouldn't bother me to have as a neighbor, so went ahead with purchase. A couple of years ago the owners started planning the development of the property. Of course they wanted to build something way too big for the site and claimed separating wall on lot line as "theirs" to try to get some additional footage. START WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT the planning/zoning department is not intimately knowleageable about YOUR issue --- you will make your life a lot less stressfull. Help them do their job and they will help you. (Yeah, I know it's "their job" -- do you want to get what you want or not?)

Here are some helpful hints to getting the information you need and/or want about the site now under development. Do yourself a favor and put together a package that will put all the information that you or the planning/zoning board will need in one place:


1. You should have received a survey when you bought your property. It will show where your property ends and the abutter's begins. Most residential property in florida is "zero lot line" and depending on your County/Town/City, can range generally from 10-15 feet from property line, some utilities like air conditioners, generators could be even closer to you. Find your survey and keep a copy handy.

2. Do you know that CVS owns the adjacent property? They might just have an option. Find out who owns the property. How? see next steps....

3. County/City or Town, everything is GIS now. They need your PIN (Property Information/ID Number) to locate your property. Make a copy of your tax bill.

4. Most Cities/Counties now have online GIS maps available through the Property Appraiser's office. Find your property, print it. NOW, you can just move the arrow and identify your abutter. Get that properties PIN number and identifying owner information. Print it out.

5. Now if you go the Clerk of Courts online records you can run the owner's name and find the deed. Print it out.

These are probably the most important steps you can take to help yourself. Now you can approach Planning/Zoning armed with the facts they need to help you.

6. Planning Board & Zoning Board Codes are often voluminous, and I am not surprised at the answer you got. Providing your street address doesn't give any information they can use to get you information - you were lucky, they gave you a code number already, but that number looks kind of vague. Get the PIN & Deed you have already retrieved from the Property Assessors and Clerk of Courts and you can go online, usually there will be a Planning Board map with their Codes on it, you put in the PIN number and it gives you the Codes for the property. Print it out. Once you get the Right Codes, you can get the definitions -- Print em out.

7. An abutter to any property would receive notification from the City/County Planning/Zoning Board regarding proposed development of site plans. It gives formal notice of the hearings on the site, when it will come before the Planning Board, sometimes it will give a little site plan drawing, etc.. Did you receive one? If not, why not? It would be mailed to whomever and wherever the tax bill is mailed to. Check with your HOA/PUD Association Board Members and the Management Company. Have they received? If you have it make a copy.

8. Prior to the proposed Planning/Zoning Board meetings, call, make an appointment and go in person to meet someone at the Planning Board (preferably a Planner, not a Planner Tech). Ask to learn about the proposed development of the site and ask how to make comments on the proposed development. There are usually procedural rules to follow. USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. For example, In my case, the planning board did not know the wall in question belonged to me AND that there was a 10 ft. Utility Easement on the abutter's property immediately adjacent to the lot line. Here in Florida, you really need to research your property and KNOW YOUR PROPERTY BEFORE you buy it. Sometimes the Planning/Zoning Boards trust too much in the commercial developers -- be your own advocate. You don't have to throw a hissy fit, just point out the "errors of your adversary's ways" nicely. To confirm, I had to put it writing, certified mail to the County Planning Board, the Owner of the Property and the Commercial Developers Attorney. It worked. The wall they are required to build will now be 25 feet away from my wall.

9. ATTEND ANY AND ALL PLANNING/ZONING BOARD MEETINGS specific to that property. Yes, it means time off from work or other things. But it is well worth it. If you have objections to what is proposed, put them in writing when requested, and make sure they get sent in on time so they become part of the public record for that meeting. Sign up to speak at the meeting and restate the concerns in your letter and any new ones that may have come up during the meeting. IF YOU DON"T DO IT, NO ONE WILL. You can ask, but don't rely on your neighbors to do it for you. Commercial developers know most people won't participate in the process and rely on that apathyto get their business done. When the neighbors start complaining afterward, it's usually too late. My neighbors, who are also abutters, all said they would come to the meetings, write letters in answer to their notifications, none did.

We made a great compromise which raised the height of the privacy wall they will build a couple of feet and added a deal more landscaping (on the side I will see of that wall) than originally anticipated. The footprint of the building was reduced by almost 50% and height lowered to 1 story and with a 1 and 1/2 story facade. I don't think I really had much to do with the building footprint, but I know I did with the location of the wall, the additional landscaping and the height. I think the developer knew they would not get the footprint they wanted from conversations I had with them. Everybody left pretty happy though.

IMPORTANT: Write and thank all parties involved when the final decision is reached. even your "adversary". This was just the planning stages. Development is yet to come!

CAVEAT: MAKE SURE TO REQUEST AND KEEP Copies of a transcript of the meeting
and any handouts. Here in Naples I think they have 4 years to implement a plan, and sometimes plans get misinterpreted (or we have a very "notorious" case right now where the Planning Board's decisions were never included in the final order, a building was built incorrectly, and a usage that was not supposed to be included - sports bar about 15 feet from residential --- you can imagine how that's gone over!)

[nanwalt3]

If this is NOT approved yet you need to do your homework, like the previous post outlined. You should of received a letter regarding the proposed use of the property behind you.
Here in PSL I had a 5 lot pkg. re-zoned to commercial, but before any of the plan & zon. meetings they sent letters to every property owner within 300 ft. of the change in zoning. These owners had the opportunity to attend and disagree with the change. "OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS" if this is not approved yet. Don't let opportunity pass you by if you don't want this. The previous poster is right, don't depend on your neighbors, they'll be behind you....WAAAAYYYY BEHIND YOU!
Good luck and keep us posted.

Originally Posted by QTPatootie

P.S. I did contact one of those departments & the guy thought it was funny. Too bad I was too upset to think of getting his name & making sure I wrote down the department. You can bet tomorrow Ill be making a few phone calls. He did tell me that it hasnt been approved yet. If anyone is reading this..please pray on our behalf, that this issue is resolved quickly, that these greedy people's plans do not come to pass. GBY all*

[QTPatootie]

Well, I checked it out & found this: http://www.municode.com/resources/ga...id=13949&sid=9

and also found this at that link: If you like (to the left of the page) click on:

Sec. 4.6. Special use permit submittal procedures, findings.

The Zoning Commission shall make recommendations on Special Use Permits to the Board of County Commissioners. The Commission may recommend granting a Special Use Permit with appropriate conditions and safeguards. The Commission may recommend a denial of Special Use Permits when the use requested is not compatible with existing uses in the surrounding area, or will adversely affect the public interest, or the proposed use is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Board of County Commissioners is under no obligation to approve a Special Use Permit unless and until the applicant meets their burden of demonstrating that the proposed use will not adversely affect the public interest, the proposed use is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and the proposed use is compatible with land uses in the surrounding area. (and so on)

(thought) If, the building of this CVS & other possible business are allowed..in our opinion, this would devalue the properties. If this is so, wouldnt I then have to pay less property taxes??? That would be a nice recompensation. =)

OK, I contacted the MARION COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT. I spoke with a nice lady that deals with the Greenway part of it. She has a copy of the Marion Oaks Master Plan Map. Which, if you need it, you can acquire a copy at the Marion County Roads Management Beaurou. Anyhow, she said that my property is on a residential zone & that I have the greenway as a buffer also. But that my property is just about on the edge of the commercial zone. Looking from my backyard out onto 484, that would be to the right of my property. She also said that they might have surveyed the area behind my house, because they might own it even if they cant build on it. And that CVS is not yet on her map. She also said that the area for a commercial building is 4.63 acres. She is e-mailing me this map =) Well, I guess theres nothing I can do, but you can bet your Lifesavers that if there should be a meeting about it..Ill be there. And, I will also be contacting the Property Appraiser peeps. I feel my property value will go down, therefore, so should my taxes. Later Taters! Ill let you know if I find out anything else. Thanx a bunch! Peace 2 U*

[QTPatootie]

Oh you bet Ill be waiting for the notice & doing all that homework "Mytimenow" has provided. That was a most beautiful post. In fact, I am printing it out. Hope you dont mind. But when you have a 3 yr old crawlin all over ya..*sigh* Somethings have to be left for later. I cant thank you enough for all this info. I will certainly keep everyone posted. GB*

[TKramar]

This wouldn't even bother me. It'd be a quick walk to pick up anything I needed at the store, like prescriptions, for one.

[mytimenow]

Chin up! You can do it!!!! I won't even tell you all the stuff I had going on when I was dealing with the Planning Board down here -- long story short, working fulltime, going to school part time, primary caretaker of elderly parents who also lived in town (actually only caretaker -- all my siblings live many states away) Amazing what you can do when you have to Keep a positive outlook, don't get a "poor me" attitude and you will do fine. I've always found that once you get past the "front line" at city/county offices you can do great.

[QTPatootie]

Thanx, I needed that..cuz I was just thinking of letting it be. But, I wouldnt mind making sure that things were done right..to lessen the quantity of possible disturbances. Im just not confident because I dont know anything about politics or legalities. And it's been such a long time since Ive dealt with the public. I am sad to say that circumstances have made me into some sort of recluse. I am even actually afraid of making friends outside of the net. Anyhow..thanx again for the encouragement. You have a goodnite & a better & blessed tomorrow.