The Daytona Beach Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 to grant a variance that reduces the required rear-yard setback for a single-family home at 1313 Ruthburn Road, allowing homeowners Eugene and Jennifer Sullivan to enclose roughly 402 square feet with a hard roof within an existing screened patio.
The variance was requested under Article 4, Section 4.2(b) of the City of Daytona Beach Land Development Code and would reduce the required rear yard from 25 feet to 12 feet. The board approved application BOA2025-016 after hearing from the applicants and city staff.
Eugene Sullivan, speaking for the homeowners, said they are retired and renovating their home and want the roofed area "so that we could put patio furniture, picnic table, things like that out around the pool." He added that his mother-in-law died of melanoma and that shading the patio would let the family better use the area.
Board members asked technical questions about the existing screening and whether any footing or extension would change the scope of the work; the applicants said the contractor will obtain the required building permit and that the roof will be installed within the footprint of the screened area. City staff confirmed the work as described would encroach into the required rear-yard setback.
After brief discussion and no public opposition, a board member moved to approve BOA2025-016 and a second was provided by Leon McCray; the roll call showed unanimous votes in favor by Charles Cameron, Patrick Connors, Leon McCray, John George and David Betts. The board chair told the applicants they may proceed to obtain permits.
The approval applies only to the rear-yard setback variance for the roofed portion described in the application; any further structural changes or extensions should be permitted through the building department as stated by the applicants and the board.