Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-02-04-026 — UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA FOUNDATION, Cont. 5/2/02

Request: Special Exception in R-CE-C zone for an outdoor recreational use (NOTE: request is for a privately operated crew/rowing practice facility for UCF. UCF has used this property as a crew/rowing facility for more than 25 years).

Decision: Approved

Hearing: The Staff Report and Recommendation is located on Pages ____ At the BZA hearing, approximately four dozen people were in attendance to oppose the UCF application. Ten spoke. The opposition stated that, just prior to the BZA hearing, a poll was taken of the lakefront property owners and those with lake access, which indicated 83 per cent were opposed. The conditions staff recommended to BZA took into consideration the concerns expressed by the homeowners at the meetings prior to the BZA hearing, balanced with the needs of the UCF athletic department for the rowing teams. One of the major issues was UCF's use of the "Little Lake", which is where the majority, if not all, of the homeowners are located. Initially, UCF had a strong desire to continue their use on the little lake. However, after strong opposition by the homeowners and with the encouragement of the staff, UCF agreed not to use the little lake. UCF's concession of the little lake resolved many of the complaints the homeowners had expressed at the meetings regarding noise and other disturbances close to their homes. However, the homeowners were still concerned about conflicts between UCF rowers and the residents' boating use on the "Big lake". The homeowners did not want UCF to use the big lake on the weekends, as this was when they (the homeowners) would be using the lake the most. UCF stated they had to use the lake on weekends because a number of their students couldn¿t practice during the week due to their school schedules. However, UCF offered to cease their boating activity by 12:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, and to limit the number of boats to 16 (instead of the 20 used during the week) on those two days. The homeowners did not want UCF to use any more than 12 boats on the lake at any one time. Originally, UCF wanted 28. Staff recommended 20 as a compromise, which UCF accepted. The homeowners did not support staff's compromise on the use of 20 boats at any one time. The*