KEYS UPDATE A CITY AT BATTLE
GUY deBOER KONK
BROADCASTING NEWS DIRECTOR
n A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H Teri Johnston
Guy deBoer | GD In regards to HOB [Horace O’Bryant Middle School], concrete walls were poured onsite and raised in two days, so it was hard for Key West citizens to really think about HOB until all of a sudden there it was. Te structure was built to 56 feet, but zoning for that district is only 25 feet. How did the Monroe County School Board and district give approval for a school design that is so far out of compliance with current code?
Teri Johnston | TJ I believe as this all plays out that we will find the school board felt it was exempt from any city codes. Clearly, we have two attorney general’s opinions that refute that and say every school board, even if it has its own building inspec- tor, pretty much runs its own op- eration. [School boards] must comply with local municipalities, LDRs [Land Development Regu- lations] and the comprehensive plan. Our comp plan and LDRs clearly state there is a 25-foot height allowance in the public school district in which they are building. [Tey] apparently moved under the understanding that they were exempt from all city codes which they are not. Tey clearly aren’t, and I think
that’s where we are right now. Te city attorney, Shawn Smith, has requested all the records and the documentation contracts, because it appears at least right now it is the architect’s obligation to make sure local municipalities, which is our planning board, have an op- portunity to review and approve the plans before it was built which clearly did not happen here.
GDTis is a firm outside of the realm of understanding what local rules and laws are. However, by the contract, the Key West Citizen reported that it was within their guidelines of doing so. TJ It was definitely within their guidelines of doing so, and we have a whole host of situations here. We do have a local engineer- ing firm involved in the project, and we have a contractor who has done work locally all over the city. So by sitting here stating they did not know or give them authoriza- tion to violate our LDRs is a weak argument. Tat’s their obligation. Teir obligation is coming to any municipality and to research the guidelines and restrictions and to make sure they have full approval before they move forward with a $36 million project.
GDWhat do you believe is recourse for the city and residents of your district? TJ I think we are going to make
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