The Jacksonville Beach Board of Adjustment on the record approved a variance to allow a 3‑foot side‑yard setback at 528 South 3rd Avenue in place of the 5‑foot requirement, with the reduction explicitly tied to the existing structure.

Julie Ann Overbey, the applicant, told the board she purchased the long‑vacant property and intends to preserve a one‑story single‑family home rather than replace it with a duplex. "We purchased this property ... with the intention of keeping the structure as it was and allowing it to continue to be a 1 story single family home instead of taking it down and building a big duplex," Overbey said, adding she hopes the smaller home will remain affordable for young adults. She told the board the house had been vacant for about 15 years, had mold and lacked utilities, and that the proposed rear addition would meet the five‑foot code while the side‑yard variance is requested to align a proposed addition with the existing structure.

An unnamed board member moved to approve the variance "based on the substantial competent evidence presented in the staff report and all relevant testimony" and cited standards in section 34‑5.72 of the Jacksonville Beach land development code. That same member proposed an amendment to make the 3‑foot side‑yard setback applicable only to the existing structure so any future new construction would be required to meet the standard five‑foot setback. The amendment was seconded and adopted in a roll call (three members recorded "Yes"). A roll call on the motion as amended likewise recorded three "Yes" responses and the board approved the variance as amended.

Overbey said the property currently has no detached garage and that any detached garage she plans would comply with the five‑foot setback; she asked whether the requested three‑foot reduction would apply to the detached garage as well, and was told the detached structure would follow its own rules.

Planning staff announced the next Board of Adjustment meeting is scheduled for Dec. 16 and that one case is on the agenda. The meeting adjourned after a short department report.

The transcript lists the case as BOA25‑1000086 and references section 34‑5.72 of the Jacksonville Beach land development code; no objections or public speakers were recorded during the public hearing on the variance.