A new home will be placed at 563 Mt Piney Ave. NE that conforms with the newest zoning regulations required by the city of St. Petersburg and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In 2022, the city issued new guidelines for the elevation of new homes within an AE-9 flood zone, which is the flood zone where Americana Cove is located.
Under the new criteria, homes must have a permanent foundation cast in reinforced concrete footings and reinforced masonry piers. They also must be set at a minimum height to the base flood elevation plus 2 feet, and the HVAC equipment and electrical services must be elevated as well.
The new home will be raised high enough to allow parking underneath the home. A buyer will have the ability to enclose the area to create a garage or have a large shed with patio area in addition to parking.
At the Americana Cove Board of Directors request, Barefoot Realty viewed the empty lots available and determined that at minimum 15 lots would not be useable unless the homes were built up to allow parking underneath. With set-back requirements, these lots would not hold a home with parking in the front or on the side. There are an additional 23 lots that need to be surveyed to determine how a home can set on the lot.
“It’s important to continue to sell lots and homes in the community as the lot sales brings revenue to the community. Since the zoning requirements continue to increase the heights of homes, it’s important for the community to keep up with these requirements,” noted Broker Marty Pozgay. The Board of Directors voted to allow this concept at its November 2022 board meeting to ensure that the community could sell lots and meet the current zoning requirements.
Barefoot Realty has had a model home on order with Palm Harbor Homes since Jan. 2022, but due to the backlog of homes being built, it wasn’t scheduled to be delivered until July 2023. Due to that backlog, Barefoot Realty will be bringing in a home from Affinity Homes located in southern Georgia. They manufacture custom homes but due to the backlog of homes needed in Florida, have re-tooled their factory to offer three models that are built to 180 MPH wind zone requirements, which is more than the current standard of 150 MPH code. By choosing one of the three models Affinity has available, homes can be delivered within six months.
Pozgay said: “It's exciting to be partnering with an excellent company that not only builds homes, but provides structures for multi-family residences, commercial structures and hotels. Their homes are considered some of the best in the industry.” To learn more, go to https://affinitybuildingsystems.com
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