Variances — Sebastian, Florida

In Sebastian the five-member City Council, sitting as the Board of Adjustment, grants variances, while a narrow set of fence, septic and well variances can be approved by city staff without a hearing.

The code puts it in one line: under Section 54-1-2.5 of the Sebastian Land Development Code, the city council shall act as the board of adjustment, and the city's Board of Adjustment page lists five members and states that the council conducts variance hearings. Regular council meetings, according to the City Council page, take place on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

A variance in Sebastian relaxes a term of the Land Development Code, such as a fence height or an airport height limit, for one property. It does not change the zoning district. The code says that in no instance shall the board grant any use of land other than those uses allowed in the district as a permitted or conditional use, so a request to put a business in a residential district is a rezoning or conditional use question, not a variance.

The board has two other jobs that share the same hearings. It hears appeals when an owner alleges an error in a decision by an administrative official enforcing the Land Development Code, and it can compel the attendance of witnesses and administer oaths. Records and minutes of the board are filed with the Sebastian city clerk. The Community Development Department at 1225 Main Street provides staff support to the Board of Adjustment and lists variances among its development activities (City of Sebastian Community Development).

A Sebastian applicant must show special conditions peculiar to the property that the owner did not create, a hardship from applying the code literally, and that the variance is the minimum needed and harmless to the public welfare.

Section 54-1-2.5(c)(2) lists the findings the board must make, in this order. First, special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land, structure, or building involved and do not apply to other property in the same zoning district. Second, those conditions do not result from the actions of the applicant, so a hardship of the owner's own making does not qualify in Sebastian. Third, granting the request will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied to other Sebastian lands in the same district.

The remaining Sebastian findings weigh the hardship against the public. A literal reading of the ordinance must deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same district and create unnecessary and undue hardship. The variance granted has to be the minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land, building, or structure. And it must be in harmony with the comprehensive plan and the code, and not injurious to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.

Two limits close the list. Under no circumstances may the Sebastian board grant a variance to permit a use not generally permitted in the zoning district involved, and a nonconforming use on neighboring land, or a use permitted in another district, cannot be cited as grounds for one. In exchange, the board may attach conditions and safeguards, which become enforceable parts of the ordinance, and may set a time limit for starting or finishing the approved work.

A Sebastian variance starts with a written application at Community Development, then requires newspaper and mailed notice, a staff recommendation and a public hearing before the Board of Adjustment.

The Sebastian Applications and Forms list carries separate forms for a Board of Adjustment (Variance), a Board of Adjustment (Appeal) and an Administrative Variance (Fence or Septic System). The code requires a written application specifying the grounds for the variance, and the planning and growth management director reviews it and files a recommendation that becomes part of the record before the board acts.

Notice is the step that takes the most lead time. Under Section 54-1-2.8, a hearing may be held only after a notice has been published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Sebastian, at least 15 days before the hearing. A copy goes by mail to all property owners within 300 feet of the outer boundary of the property, as shown in the records of the county property appraiser, and if the property in the application is a condominium, the notice goes by certified mail to the condominium association and by regular mail to the individual owners. The applicant supplies that list at least 20 days before the hearing and pays the mailing costs.

At the hearing any party may appear in person or through an agent or attorney. The board then decides whether the application is complete, meets the criteria and is the minimum relief needed. Appellants may be charged reasonable costs that the Sebastian City Council sets by resolution.

Sebastian staff can approve three narrow variances without a Board of Adjustment hearing: a fence between six and eight feet tall, and septic tank or well placement when the county health department will not permit the standard location.

Sebastian fences come first in the code. Under Section 54-2-7.7, residential fences behind the front of the house may be six feet tall, and the community development director may approve a variance for a fence higher than six feet, but not higher than eight. The condition is a grade difference: the finished floor elevation (FFE) of the residence must sit at least 24 inches above finished grade at the property line, or the neighbor's floor must be at least 24 inches higher than the applicant's, and the taller fence must stay behind the front of the neighboring house. Some Sebastian Highlands lots adjacent to Fellsmere Road, also known as County Road 512, are listed by block in the same section and may already have eight foot fences without any variance.

Septic and well placement follow a similar pattern. Section 54-2-7.4 places septic tanks in a front or side yard and bars them within 75 feet of mean high water along the Indian River or Sebastian River. The planning and growth management director may approve a variance where, because of existing conditions, the Indian River County Health Department will not issue a permit for the standard location and the variance will not render another lot unbuildable. Wells work the same way under Section 54-2-7.3: all irrigation and potable water wells shall be located within the portion of the side yard that is not forward of the front building line or within the rear yard, and the director may approve a variance where the health department will not issue a permit for that location and the variance will not render another lot unbuildable. Any septic or well request that misses those conditions goes to the Board of Adjustment.

Height variances near the Sebastian Municipal Airport need a 45-day state aviation review, and older substandard lots of record in Sebastian get any other needed relief only from the Board of Adjustment.

Under Section 54-2-7.12, an owner seeking a variance from Sebastian's airport height limits must send a copy of the application by certified mail to the Florida Department of Transportation Aviation Office at filing. The department has 45 days from receipt to comment, after which its right to comment is waived, and the Board of Adjustment may proceed only after receiving the comments or proof that the 45 days have elapsed. The applicant must also show compliance with the federal notice requirement under Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 77, and a granted variance carries a condition to mark and light the structure for pilots.

Lots platted before current rules get their own path. Section 54-2-8.4 allows a single-family dwelling on a qualifying noncomplying lot in a Sebastian residential district, and states that in all cases any other zoning variances needed must be obtained from the board of adjustment, which may grant only the minimum variance necessary to the reasonable utilization of such lot.

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.