Board denied a house on the business lot at 106 7th Street, then waived the year to try again

The planning board on Tuesday denied special permission for a house on a vacant lot at 106 7th Street. The lot is about 4,792 square feet and zoned for shops and other commercial use, with houses on three sides and a hotel on the fourth. A 2019 agreement says a large oak there has to stay. The ask was a house where the map still says business.

It was the third hearing of 2026 on that same request. The board had already been through it in April and July, both times over whether the foundation would wreck the oak's roots. Builder Jason Stancell of Color Homes returned in July with a revised drawing and a tree report. A member said that drawing was still badly off, and that the arborist had said he would not put a house that close if it were his.

On Tuesday a representative named Beth, speaking for Stancell, asked for one more month. She said the newer plan was not finished. Staff told the board to quit postponing. A new design, staff said, should be a new application and a new fee. The legal ads, the paperwork, and the overtime had already cost more than the $400 filing fee.

A member moved to deny the permit and to waive the one-year wait before another filing. The motion carried, so the builder can apply again without waiting out that year. The member said the neighborhood had been laid out around keeping that oak "sacred," and that the board was back to defending a tree the city had already ordered saved.

Karina Hunt of 20 7th Street said the tall rental houses on either side already park in front of the oak, and another house would add a home with no added parking. She said an arborist told her any building needed to stay at least 15 feet off the tree, and the lot does not have the room. She also said the owners have kept a sprinkler on the trunk for about four years, and that a teardrop cut she said is not allowed was made on the oak anyway. The board called that a separate complaint, not part of this decision.

Had the house been approved, staff wanted ordinary neighborhood-house limits, including a cap so the building covers no more than 35 percent of the lot. Staff said the denial is lined up for the next City Commission meeting unless the builder pulls it. That choice was left for after the meeting.