The Community Development District 10 Board of Supervisors has slammed the door on a resident’s request to accommodate his oversized truck.
The board split 4-1 on Thursday on the request for a 9-foot-wide garage door from Terry Hovanec in the Village of Antrim Dells. The Crown Point, Ind. resident and his wife purchased their home at 3867 Fenster Lane in 2015 for $335,300. They had been living up north, but have been transitioning to full-time residency in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. To complete their lifestyle here, they need an accommodation for the big truck.
Hovanec has a three-quarter ton pickup and wants to convert what would technically be a golf cart garage into a second garage for his large truck. He made a final plea to the board during its meeting at SeaBreeze Recreation Center.
“I’m not calling it a golf cart garage. All I want is a little wider garage door so I can get my truck in it,” Hovanec said.
He said his large truck isn’t a good fit in the home’s primary garage.
“I would love to put it in the regular garage, but it just won’t work,” Hovanec said.
He said he does not want to park the oversized truck on the street.
The limit on the width of golf cart garage doors in CDD 10 was 6 feet. Two years ago, the board agreed to widen the limit to 8 feet.
Hovanec wanted a 10-foot wide garage door, but said he was willing to “compromise” at 9 feet.
“I think a 9-foot width is a great compromise,” Hovanec said.
He pointed out that his home is on a corner lot on Fenster Lane and he has plenty of room to accommodate the additional garage with the wider door.
His idea received the support of Supervisor Christine Bradshaw.
“I am all for residents being able to use their property for their enjoyment. I don’t think it detracts from the beauty of Antrim Dells,” Bradshaw said.
However, the other four supervisors were not swayed by Hovanec’s appeal.
“We were at 6 feet. We expanded to 8 feet. Where does it stop?” asked CDD 10 Board Chairman Don Wiley said. “Why have rules if you keep changing them?”
Supervisor John Miller, who has served on the Architectural Review Committee, feared setting a precedent by granting Hovanec’s request. He said CDD 10 would be opening a “can of worms” by allowing the wider garage door.
“It goes against the intent of the villa communities,” said Miller, who noted that he lives in a villa.
There are currently 1,088 courtyard villas in CDD 10 and 212 of those units are on corner/end lots that could be capable of making this modification, depending on the size of the lot and easements.
