HomeMy WebLinkAboutVillas at FillmoreGood morning Mayor and Council.
Many of you recently received an email from Mrs. Hurst (cc’d) who lives at 306 Fillmore Avenue. The Hurst’s, as well as the other three Fillmore Townhouse owner’s frustration is certainly
understandable, and City Staff continue to treat this as a high priority.
Over the past year, Staff has corresponded with the owners and FPL with dozens of emails and phone calls. Our goal has been to make sure that everyone remains fully informed, and the
required work is completed to bring this matter to closure.
The project is a 4-unit townhouse development with a common drainage system to handle onsite stormwater.
Mrs. Hurst mentions that the developer (Gary Wittekind) has tried unsuccessfully three times to correct the situation. The ditch she refers to is the stormwater drainage swale that is
part of the overall stormwater system for the project. It was constructed inconsistent with approved plans for two reasons:
1. The placement of the drainage swale was shifted to the south (closer to the new homes) and constructed with an excessively steep slope. This change required approval from the City,
which the developer did not request or receive.
2. Also, FPL placed a new power pole and a new utility box (a “handhole”) in the swale area to bring overhead utility service to the units. This is in violation of city code (which requires
all new electric service to be underground). This new pole and box were not shown in the approved plans.
The developer is responsible to correct all violations. While we do not know why the developer chose to proceed this way, we are working to ensure the developer addresses these items.
Consistent with City procedure, when the developer called for a final inspection and Certificate of Occupancy (CO), the City Engineer (John Pekar, at the time) performed a site inspection
to determine if the site improvements were completed consistent with approved plans. His initial inspection determined that the site improvements were not constructed properly (see
item 1 above). As a result, the CO’s were not issued.
The developer proceeded to re-work the drainage swale. The City Engineer was again asked to reinspect the work. It was rejected again. Ultimately, the City Engineer verbally approved
the swale system.
Based on this approval, the Building Official issued CO’s for 304 and 306 Fillmore Avenue. Note that item 2 above had yet been addressed.
However, subsequent to the issuance of the CO’s, Mrs. Hurst and another homeowner (Mrs. Burkley) contacted me because they were not satisfied with the location or steepness of the drainage
swale. Mr. Pekar had since retired. Staff met with the developer at the site and all agreed that the swale was still not correctly constructed. Around this time, the City Manager accompanied
the Mayor and myself to see the concerns firsthand. At that time, the overhead service line violation was noted. The developer was also informed of this issue.
Over the past year, at the continued urging of City Staff, the developer has continued to work to address these items. However, before the developer can relocate/recontour the swale,
FPL has to remove/relocate the new pole and handhole and completely underground its electric service line as noted above.
FPL had scheduled the work to begin on November 17th, however, one of the owners requested the work be rescheduled due to a concern the work may carry over into Thanksgiving week, and
possibly affect planned visitors. FPL again attempted to start the work this past week, but due to the installation of a fence, crews were unable to access one of the backyards. According
to one of the owners, FPL was given the contact information of the owner of the fence to coordinate its temporary removal while the work is occurring.
It appears the developer is working to resolve the issue.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Dave
David Dickey
Community & Economic Development Director
City of Cape Canaveral <http://www.cityofcapecanaveral.org/>
(321) 868-1220 x118
100 Polk Avenue — P.O. Box 326
Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920
Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available to
the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a
public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
patience on this.
Dave
David Dickey
Community & Economic Development Director
City of Cape Canaveral <http://www.cityofcapecanaveral.org/>
(321) 868-1220 x118
100 Polk Avenue — P.O. Box 326
Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920
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Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available
to the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to
a public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available
to the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to
a public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available
to the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to
a public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available to
the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a
public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by the City of Cape Canaveral officials and employees will be made available to
the public and/or media upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida Law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a
public-records request, do not send electronic email to this entity. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
this along to Gary so he can provide this information to FPL to coordinate with Spectrum.
Are you around tomorrow?
David Dickey
Community & Economic Development Director
City of Cape Canaveral <http://www.cityofcapecanaveral.org/>
(321) 868-1220 x118
100 Polk Avenue — P.O. Box 326
Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920
From: Sherry Burkley <burkleys@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 4:54 PM
To: David Dickey <D.Dickey@cityofcapecanaveral.org>
Subject: Re: Villas at Fillmore
________________________________
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Hi David,
I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend.
Just something else to mention about the FPL pole and lines that have to be buried….sorry!!
Spectrum also has our internet lines on the wires and coming down the pole ( I’m happy to show you if you want to swing by one day) so if FPL removes the pole, Spectrum will also need
to be involved ahead of time to figure out of how they are running internet to our homes.
We definitely can’t be without internet.
Thanks,
Sherry
Sent from my iPhone
On May 11, 2023, at 4:31 PM, David Dickey <D.Dickey@cityofcapecanaveral.org <mailto:D.Dickey@cityofcapecanaveral.org> > wrote:
Good afternoon Gary and Andre. Please see the attached letter regarding the Villas at Fillmore site plan. Call me if you would like to discuss. I will be out of the office tomorrow
and next Monday, but you can reach me at 321-292-9277 if you want to talk before next Tuesday. Thank you. Dave
David Dickey
Community & Economic Developm