Homeowner’s plan to build pool in front yard divides Seminole neighborhood
Robert Taylor set out to build an ultramodern pool with a sunken bar and a vanishing edge, surrounded by waterfalls and turquoise blue pebbles, all in the front yard of his home.
Seminole County quickly approved his application. But when the bulldozers and heavy equipment rolled into the quiet upper middle-class neighborhood just north of Maitland and started digging a big hole, some of his neighbors became outraged when they realized what Taylor was doing.
“The county’s regulations say you can’t have that” in a front yard, said Jason White, who lives across the street from Taylor, about the proposed pool. “It would be totally out of place with our neighborhood. … This would diminish the appearance and harmony of our street.”
Seminole staff agreed: They said they made a mistake in approving Taylor’s request.
The county then ordered Taylor to immediately stop the work and seek a variance from Seminole’s Board of Adjustment.
On Monday, the county board agreed in a 2-to-1 vote that Taylor is entitled to a variance from the county’s development rules and could move forward with building his aquatic oasis.