Residents attending a Nov. 18 Planning and Zoning Board meeting asked staff to reconsider and delay a final decision on new height requirements for those rebuilding homes on Manasota Key.

But Planning and Zoning Official Shaun Cullinan said the new requirements were developed when he and county officials discussed how they could harden homes against future flood incidents in the Emergency Operations Center during Hurricane Milton.

Meanwhile, state and federal agencies changed regulations for rebuilding, holding the county to stricter guidelines on how it can regulate its zoning code.

Residents living on Manasota Key whose flood-ravaged home’s damage exceeded 50% of their structure’s market value will have to rebuild at higher elevations to comply with new federal regulations imposed after flood damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection is setting the base flood elevation. The agency’s calculations were questioned by members of the public, including Tina Bernd-Cohen, a professional consultant who worked on the previous overlay code for Manasota Key.

She asked the board to keep in place the key’s current requirement that single-family homes can only be two stories above the garage and that commercial entities cannot exceed three stories over the garage.

Cullinan expressed sympathy for owners of the 600 properties that were damaged on Manasota Key.

He said he has been inundated with emails from residents. Meanwhile, the county has been receiving building permits. People are asking what they can do with their property, he added.

“Today, I have to tell them what the regulations are in place at this time. And that is devastating news to many people,” Cullinan said.

He admitted, “The visuals of the Key have been irreparably been changed going forward.”

Those wishing to rebuild the same “box” of a home, meaning it will be the same height of 38 feet, must incorporate an additional 18 feet in elevation below the home. The total height would be 56 feet.

This provision in the new code alarmed a number of residents.

Damian Ochab, president of South Manasota Sandpiper Key Association, said taller height mandates might encourage some to build a hotel, or for others to band together and create larger lots and build higher buildings.

“Why not provide a temporary, two-year waiver?” he asked.

Later, Cullinan said hotels are only allowed in certain districts.

Some members of the public said they thought the new building code requirements were developed too quickly.

“We’re rushing this through because there are so many people trying to figure out what they’re going to do with their rebuilding,” said Thomas David, an attorney for the county.

He suggested a maximum building height be specified before sending the Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, which meets Nov. 26.

David said he has been in meetings nearly every day and meeting with county officials and board members to develop a new building code requirement that meets state and federal mandates.

Beside the height change for dwellings under the proposed ordinance to revise the Manasota and Sandpiper Key Zoning District Overlay, side yard setback for interior lots will be lowered from 10 feet to 7.5 feet, and 10% of the lot width or 5 feet, whichever is greater for all nonconforming lots.

Also to be revised is the width of side yards abutting any water for legally nonconforming lots to 10% of the lot width or 5 feet, whichever is greater.

Under the new regulations, the width of a peripheral landscape strip would decrease from 10 feet to 5 feet.

Lorraine McBride, who lives on the Key, said the 5-foot setback would prevent repairs to her three-story home, which was built in 2012 on pilings, as when it was being built an 8-foot-wide lift was used.

She questioned how one could fix their house under the new code.

Attorney Robert Berntsson, who represented a client earlier in the meeting, said he supported the revisions and that there is no provision that allows for highrise condos.

He said he had a client who wanted to harden their home against future storms but was unable to because of the current code that restricts heights.

The Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 to approve the ordinance which will be voted on by commissioners Nov. 26.