By Rich Pollack
For Laura and Frank Troiano, the two pieces of property they owned — one on the east side of State Road A1A and one directly across on the west side — seemed like, well, two pieces of property.
But the land east of the highway, where the Troianos have a house that Frank Troiano’s father purchased in 1987, is zoned for single-family homes, while the vacant west side is zoned for multi-family homes.
It was not until they set about submitting plans for a home they wished to build on the west side that they — and town officials — found to their surprise that the two lots were officially one lot.
That discovery threw a monkey wrench into the Troianos’ plans and essentially made it impossible to build anything on the property other than a shed without the town’s coming up with a solution that would apply only to that specific property.
Fortunately for the couple, town commissioners took on the case, and with help of the town’s attorney and other staff members, came up with a plan that is likely to end the couple’s three-year battle to develop the site.
Commissioners in July voiced their support of a plan devised by attorney Len Rubin for the Troianos to apply for a variance that would make it possible for them to split the property into two separate parcels. The variance request would be heard by the town’s Board of Adjustment and Appeals and then come back to the commission for final consideration.
“Utilizing the variance process would allow the Commission to impose reasonable conditions on the grant of the variance,” Rubin wrote in a memo to commissioners.
“Such conditions could include limiting the new parcel to the construction of a single-family residence, approving the actual footprint of the proposed residence, and imposing a time-frame in which the residence must be constructed.”
That solution is fine with Laura Troiano, who says she is happy to see a logical solution with both the town and her family working together.
“Our main goal is just to split the property,” she said.
In a memo to commissioners, Laura Troiano wrote that because there appear to be no other properties in the town in a similar situation, splitting the property would not set a precedent that Highland Beach would have to follow in the future.
“There is no negative impact on the health and safety of the public by recognizing the lots as distinct and separate,” she wrote. “By recognizing that the lots are separate our family would be able to build a beautiful home on the west side lot.”
Complicating the process is the fact that the property — on both sides — is 12 feet shy of the minimum lot width requirement of 80 feet. In essence, the property is a nonconforming use under the current town code, which also prohibits splitting a nonconforming use to create two nonconforming properties.
One option would be to change the town code, but Rubin dismissed that idea.
“This office does not recommend amending the town code to address a single parcel of property within the town,” he wrote.
Laura Troiano says she and her husband, a gastroenterologist in Indianapolis, will follow through on the request for a variance.
“We want to put something there that makes sense to our family,” she said.
While the process was at times frustrating, Laura Troiano is pleased with the final result.
“For me overall, it was a really good experience,” she said
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