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.

Even so, the issue has divided the quiet neighborhood filled with towering oaks just north of Lake Faith.

Taylor’s home, built in 1956, sits on a corner of his property and barely has a backyard. In effect, he has two front yards at the intersection of Magnolia and Lake Shore drives, according to county development regulations. And he argued the only place for him to build a pool would be on the portion of his property that overlooks Magnolia Drive.

At the public meeting filled with residents, board member James Evans made the motion to approve Taylor’s pool with the requirement that it be completely blocked from public view with fencing and vegetation when completed.

“This is definitely one of the weirder projects that have come to us since I’ve been on this board,” Evans said at Monday’s meeting. “We don’t put pools in front yards, but you have to read into this with an objective mind. … I think the homeowner has a unique problem.”

In recommending approval for the pool, county development staff said denying Taylor’s permit at this point “would cause [Taylor] an unnecessary hardship.”

But White and others were not happy afterwards. He plans to appeal the decision to the Seminole County Commission, which could overturn the Board of Adjustment’s decision in the coming weeks.

Taylor, who did not return calls for comment, said an existing septic system on the other portion of his front yard prevents him from building a pool on that side. Taylor purchased his three-bedroom, 2,168-square-foot home in March 2005, according to county records.

“Without the variance, we would face the hardship of demolishing or significantly redesigning an already-permitted and partially-built structure, which would impose a substantial and unfair burden not caused by us,” Taylor said in his application to the Board of Adjustment. “Relocating or redesigning the pool at  this stage would involve significant demolition, cost and waste.”

He said he plans to cover the pool from public view.

“It’s not going to be an issue of seeing me sitting outside in my bathing suit,” he said at the meeting. “Nobody is going to see that. I just want my privacy.”

His wife, Melissa Taylor, said neighbors “will not even know there is a pool there.”

But opponents say allowing Taylor’s pool will lead other Seminole residents to also seek variances for huge pools in any part of a property.

“What is stopping myself or my neighbors from seeking similar variances in the future?” Shelby Maddox said in opposition to the pool. “And what will those plants [surrounding the pool] look like in 20 years? Withered away.”

Attorney Anthony Sabatini, who was hired by White and other opponents, said there’s nothing wrong with a homeowner wanting a large fancy pool. But the proper place is a backyard.

The board’s approval sends the message that “I can get a bigger and better pool if I move it to the side of the house,” said Sabatini, a former state representative and current Lake County commissioner.

Opponents also point out the Taylors’ own a pool construction company, Next Level Pools and Spas. According to Florida public records, the business was started in 2018.

“They’re professional pool builders knowing what the lot configuration was,” Charles Mullins said in opposition.

But Taylor said he checked with the county and submitted an application that was initially approved.

“We acted in good faith in getting a permit,” Melissa Taylor said.

Nearby resident Rick Anderson said he supports the Taylors building a pool.

“This has been a hot topic in the neighborhood,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that need attention, and this is not one of them. This would be an improvement.”

Board member and chair Jim Hattaway, who cast the sole vote against allowing the Taylors’ pool, said he is “empathetic” to the couple’s situation. But the county’s land regulations were set up to protect neighborhoods and adjacent homeowners, he said.

“I worship in the church of property rights,” Hattaway said. “But I think people have the right to say, ‘I spent money in Seminole County because, amongst other reasons, I like the zoning. I like how the land development code has created my little patch of paradise.’”