- May 2, 2024
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You can't build a boat warehouse in the Scenic A1A overlay district, according to county codes. But, the county's planning board decided in a 4-1 decision on Aug. 10, you can build a marina.
"I think that by the nature of them, you'd want to have the board look at it and perhaps impose restrictions ... to help make them fit into a community."
— MARK LANGELLO, planning board member, on the benefits of requiring a special exception permit for marinas
The planning board was discussing marinas on Aug. 10 because Hammock Harbour developer Bob Million wants to add a 57,000-square-foot, 240-boat dry storage facility on his property at 5658 N. Oceanshore Blvd., near the Hammock Hardware store on A1A.
His proposal — fought by community members who argued that it was inappropriate for the Hammock and too similar to the land use of "warehouse," which is prohibited in the Scenic A1A district — was approved by the Planning Board and County Commission in 2019, but a judge overruled the county's decision on procedural grounds and sent it back down to the local boards.
Meanwhile, although the county's codes are clear about a prohibition on warehouses in the Scenic A1A overlay district, they don't specifically address marinas.
Million renamed his dry boat storage proposal a "marina" and asked the county to determine whether marinas are permissible.
So the planning board on Aug. 10 considered whether marinas generally, in the abstract, should be allowed in the Scenic A1A overlay district.
"We're not looking at the proposal Mr. Million proposed a couple years ago," Sean Moylan, assistant county attorney, told the planning board. "We're not looking at his site plan or his building, but rather looking at the uses in the code to determine if this type of use is similar, if this is the right zoning district for this type of use."
Hammock Community Association members and supporters showed up in green shirts to speak against the Million proposal during the meeting's public comment period. The board repeatedly warned them to restrict their comments to the theoretical question of whether marinas should be allowed in the Scenic A1A overlay district, rather than Million's specific proposal.
By the time board meeting's public comment began, several board members had laid out their positions. Board member Mark Langello thought marinas should be allowed: Noting that they typically sell fuel, food and tackle, he said he saw them as more comparable to retail shopping, which is already permitted, than to industrial warehousing.
But he also thought they should require a special exception in the overlay district. The special exception application would give the county some leeway to reject a proposal that wouldn't fit the area.
"I think that by the nature of them, you'd want to have the board look at it and perhaps impose restrictions that may not be listed ... to help make them fit into a community," he said.
Board member Michael Goodman thought a special exception process could work, but was concerned about the code properly distinguishing a marina from a warehouse.
Board member Jack Corbett asked why a marina should require a special exception when other uses don't.
"It's not a true marina — it's a warehouse," Goodman said. Langello reminded him that the board wasn't supposed to be discussing Million's proposal.
But Goodman said it was important to be able to define "marina."
"A marina, in my mind, has a safe harbor where you can tie your boat up, get off your boat, where you can get gas, where you can get a bite to eat possibly, where you can get repairs done — that's a marina," Goodman said. "When something is built as a storage facility, in my mind, it's still a warehouse. And we then have to really distinguish the definition of a marina."
For instance, he said, how many wet slips should a marina be required to have, relative to dry slips?
Million made the first public comment at the board meeting — he was granted 10 minutes to speak instead of the usual 3 — beginning his comments with a history of his project and saying that he believed it should be allowable already under the categories of "boat service establishments" or "commercial/recreational." Goodman repeatedly warned him to keep his comments general and not to discuss his specific proposal.
Attorney Dennis Bayer, representing the Hammock Community Association, noted that boat sales and repair are explicitly prohibited in the scenic overlay zone.
"Our concern is ... that this really is spot zoning — that you're really making this change just to benefit Mr. Million's property," Bayer said.
Hammock Community Association member Dennis Clark referred to Million's proposal as "dry-boat storage masquerading as a marina," and said that the Intracoastal Waterway in the scenic A1A overlay area is too narrow for a marina, absent the creation of an artificial cove.
Resident Jan Cullinane called Million's renaming of the facility as a "marina" as Orwellian.
"When you say the word 'marina,' marine refers to water," she said. "Go back to high school or college, we all read 1984 where they talked about 'doublespeak' and 'newspeak' — things like, 'War is peace,' 'Freedom is slavery,' 'Ignorance is strength' — you know, 'A warehouse is a marina.' No. It's not. they're two separate things."
The board voted 4-1, with Goodman dissenting, to direct its planning staff to prepare a revised ordinance that would allow for marinas in the Scenic A1A overlay district as a special exception.
