SEBASTIAN – Clams ‘R’ Us will be allowed to build a 2,858-square-foot home on the Indian River Lagoon complete with a clamming operation, after the Sebastian City Council dismissed a neighboring condominium community’s appeal of the project.
The Sebastian Village Condominium Resort Association filed an appeal of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board’s approval for the project, which was granted with a 4-3 vote in early August.
Condo unit owner Michael McNerney represented the association before the Sebastian City Council and highlighted reasons why the council should send the project back to the Planning and Zoning Board.
Clams ‘R’ Us plans to build a mixed-use structure consisting of a single-family home and a clamming operation. Though the majority of the clamming operation would be done on and around the docks, some activity would be done in the home’s garage.
McNerney raised objections to the project’s approval, citing the size of the building, landscaping, and what he characterized as development inconsistent with the surrounding area.
“I don’t think we’re coming out of left field,” McNerney said, citing comments from the Planning and Zoning Board’s chairman who raised the same issues McNerney presented to the council.
The Sebastian City Council unanimously upheld the Planning and Zoning Board’s approval for the Clams ‘R’ Us project.
Whether the condominium association will appeal the City Council’s ruling to a higher court was not immediately known.
Attorney Doug Vitunac, representing property owner Joseph Weissman, told the City Council that, as city staff indicated in its report, the project meets or exceeds the city’s code requirements.
The building will take up 11 percent of the not quite half-acre property – less than the allowed 30 percent.
“This is not out of the norm,” Councilwoman Andrea Coy said of the type of development planned on the east side of Indian River Drive, noting that mixed-use developments are permitted.
She also noted that the development would be limited in height to 25 feet – the maximum allowed under city code.
“We’re very strict about that,” she said.
Fellow council members, too, said they could see nothing wrong with the approved development.
“I don’t see how it doesn’t conform,” Councilman Eugene Wolff said.
Construction would be done in three phases. The first phase would consist of shoring up the seawall and performing stormwater improvements. The second phase would be installing the docks and clam raceways. The third calls for building the house and garage, which would be used, in part, for the clamming operation.
No signage identifying the site as Clams ‘R’ Us has been approved under the site plan.