The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals voted 4-0 to approve a buildable-area variance (VAR-25-8A) allowing exterior cafeteria-related work at the SIMTRA (formerly Baxter) campus, but it continued VAR-25-8B (interior parking-lot landscaping) to the June 4, 2025 meeting to allow more time for the petitioner and staff to negotiate a mitigation plan.

VAR-25-8A was requested to permit construction of an outdoor freezer and a canopy overhang that would occupy part of an existing loading dock. Planning staff said the loading-dock area lies within a FEMA mapped Special Flood Hazard Area (Zone AE / floodway) and that the site’s surveyed elevation placed the work at or above the county’s required flood protection grade; staff recommended approval on that basis. Staff also noted the site could pursue a FEMA letter of map revision (LOMR), which would remove the need for the variance if granted.

Brian Shuart, civil engineer with Kimley-Horn Associates and speaking for SIMTRA, told the board the campus had been intentionally constructed with floor elevations two feet above the base flood elevation. Shuart said his firm had collected topographic surveys showing the loading-dock floor to be above the base flood elevation and added that SIMTRA had begun the longer LOMR process for the campus — a process he estimated could take 12 to 24 months — while seeking the variance to allow the cafeteria project to proceed sooner.

David Lambiaso, a SIMTRA representative, described the cafeteria improvements as critical to employee services and campus operations. No public opposition was recorded; the petitioner requested a continuance for the interior-parking-landscaping variance (VAR-25-8B) because staff recommended denial and the petitioner wished to negotiate an alternative landscape plan that would minimize work in the mapped floodway and preserve parking spaces.

The board’s motion approved VAR-25-8A and continued VAR-25-8B to June 4, 2025. The clerk recorded Margaret Clements, Guy Loughman, Jeff Morris and Pamela Davidson voting yes; the motion passed 4-0.

Staff noted an unrelated ordinance violation found during a March 25 site visit is being addressed by the petitioner’s representatives and must be resolved before issuance of improvement-location permits (ILPs) for the work.

The continued landscaping variance will return with staff and petitioner proposals for alternative compliance; the buildable-area approval allows SIMTRA to proceed with the immediate cafeteria improvements subject to any conditions in the building and floodplain permits.