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from:		Barbara McKeathon <bmckeathon@cityofnorthport.com>
to:		levitin4751@comcast.net
cc:		Marilyn Garlick <mgarlick@cityofnorthport.com>, Patrick Collins <pcollins@cityofnorthport.com>
date:		Apr 8, 2009, 6:10 PM
subject:		Procedures for fence variance
mailed-by:		trueswitch.com

Mr. Levitin,

I received information from Marilyn Garlick, Senior Executive Assistant for the City of North Port, that you would like information concerning a fence variance.   Attached is the fee sheet which shows a breakdown of the fees that are required to file a variance petition.   The total is $962.00.  The process is as follows: 

Ø       You shall first file a written request and submit the appropriate fee.

Ø       The petition shall be publically noticed in the newspaper.

Ø       City staff will review the request and write a staff report with recommendation, which will be sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals for consideration.

Ø       The petition will be scheduled for a public hearing with the Zoning Board of Appeals (You will be notified of this meeting date).

Ø       The petition must meet the 5 criteria below in order to be granted.

1.       That there are exceptional or extraordinary conditions or circumstances that are inherent to the property in question and that do not apply generally to the other nearby properties in the same zoning district.

2.       That the exceptional or extraordinary conditions or circumstances are not the result of actions of the applicant taken subsequent to the adoption of this chapter (53). Any action taken by an applicant pursuant to lawfully adopted regulations preceding this chapter will not be considered self-created.

3.       That such variance is the minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land, building or structure.

4.       That the granting of the variance will not be injurious to the neighborhood or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.

5.       That the condition or situation of the specific piece of property, or the intended use of said property, for which the variance is sought is not of so general or recurrent a nature as to make it more reasonable and practical to amend these zoning regulations.

Please note that you will be given opportunity to testify at the hearing.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at (941) 429-1270.

Barbara McKeathon, MPA

Planner, City of North Port

Planning and Zoning Department

4970 City Hall Boulevard

North Port, FL   34286

Phone: (941) 429-7221

Fax: (941) 429-7164

From: levitin4751@comcast.net

xxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:31 AM
To: Barbara McKeathon
Subject: Re: Procedures for fence variance

     Thank you for your time Barbara.  There is another way to do this which is plant hundreds of pre-grown bamboo or any bush or tree high enough to block the windows of the Winnebago/whatever that overlooks my yard.  I will not need a variance then.  I am not confrontational unless pushed several times.  At that point, anyone that knows me, knows that I do not back down from anyone including “GOD”.  I keep extremely good records to the extent of emails going back 19 years.

     If the owners of the property next to me will not move the Winnebago, then let them complain to city hall about their blocked view into my back yard.  As you said, then that information will be brought to the attention of the newspaper and the public.  I always love/relish dealing with public officials.  The best thing that I like is that like a public corporation, when a problem/situation occurs and gets high enough (president/CEO/CFO, etc) to the powers that be (in your case the court of public appeal), with enough publicity, those powers that be always not a %, but always want the problem to go away.  I on the other hand, do not care about settling as much as I care about being right and the ability to rub that persons-companies nose in the situation. 

     Apologies are never accepted with me unless the person/company/public entity is sincere.  Pass this email onto Chief Lewis and Danny Schultz.  It seems that Danny was mistaken in the thought that my mom used to tell me about “that you get more flies with honey than you get with vinegar”.  Look closely at that statement.  My mom did not say you do not get no flies with vinegar, but you get less.

     Change is the price for adaptability.

Andy Levitin

By the way please check what is pasted below:

Ø       The petition shall be publically (the proper spelling of this word is PUBLICLY, you might want to use spell check next time) noticed in the newspaper.

Most likely you did not use spell check, since you thought that the place where you got the information used properly spelled words.
    

—– Original Message —–
From: “Barbara McKeathon” <bmckeathon@cityofnorthport.com>
To: levitin4751@comcast.net
Cc: “Marilyn Garlick” <mgarlick@cityofnorthport.com>, “Patrick Collins” <pcollins@cityofnorthport.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 2:10:55 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Procedures for fence variance

Mr. Levitin,

I received information from Marilyn Garlick, Senior Executive Assistant for the City of North Port, that you would like information concerning a fence variance.   Attached is the fee sheet which shows a breakdown of the fees that are required to file a variance petition.   The total is $962.00.  The process is as follows: 

Ø       You shall first file a written request and submit the appropriate fee.

Ø       The petition shall be publically (the proper spelling of this word is PUBLICLY, you might want to use spell check next time) noticed in the newspaper.