Remarks by Ben Sorensen
82 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 4
- Play at 55:20
“Right. So they viewed the hardship that she experienced being that she hired a unlicensed contractor without being aware of it, and that was the hardship that they supported to allow for the passage of the two.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 59:11
“Mayor, if I can add, so I've been to the property and met with her. Oh, wait a minute.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 59:25
“Yeah, when I visited, I was communicating with her and with Ted, the neighborhood president.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 59:34
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... No, no. Yeah, I forgot. Glad you caught that. Glad you caught that. So she... And Miles, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. She was doing two things at once with this unlicensed contractor. One, she was doing some renovation to her main house. Okay. He provided... permit approval for that part of the project. She was also having this accessory unit built. He did not provide permit for that and didn't indicate that. Furthermore, because he's unlicensed and she engaged the state of Florida, he's now being investigated by the state of Florida and his lack of…”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:00:42
“Got it. Thank you. And one other question, Miles, for the two that passed, for the mechanical, is it... a mechanical setback of 15 feet that they approved a variance for that mechanical setback? Is that language correct?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:01:16
“Okay. So it sounds like there was maybe a smaller variance was maybe part of their thinking. Okay. Great. And probably for the second one as well, a smaller...”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:08:24
“So for the lot size, what was the essential requirements of the law that they based that on?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:09:05
“But what was the substantial evidence that they based their decision on for that variance approval?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:09:22
“Okay. Why don't you restate it, please, just to refresh your memory.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:09:33
“Okay, so having an unlicensed contractor provides substantial evidence to grant the variance.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:10:33
“So the Board of Adjustment did not do a thorough analysis of the five step, five indications. Is that what you're saying?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:11:10
“Okay. Great. Why don't you go to the second variance then? What's the substantial evidence for that?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:20:15
“Right. Mayor, she was unaware he was not licensed for the totality.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:21:07
“I'll reiterate my view is that the I think that the reliance upon competent and substantial evidence, if it's applicable to two of the variances, it begs the question, why was it not applied to the third? And so for those reasons, I think it was competent and substantial evidence does not exist to support the decision of the Board of Adjustment. approve all three, deny all three, but I'm not understanding the difference in my read of the evidence that indicates a different evidentiary basis for denial and support.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:21:57
“I feel there was a... No, I feel there was a... that competent and substantial evidence does not support the decision of the Board of Adjustment. That the evidence that I'm understanding they base their decision on is not competent and substantial. And thus, we need to have a de novo hearing to evaluate it as a commission.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:23:47
“October 6th. Okay. Can I add that to the resolution? Is that amenable? Okay. So, Mayor, I'd like to introduce that. Okay.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:29:05
“Mayor, I'd like to introduce it, but I just want to take a moment. So, this is something Anthony's been working on a long time. We had, I've been just involved with it for a while, too. We've had, Mayor, we had some high fences and walls as a result of this grading challenge. So this correction, I know it may sound a little nuanced, but it really is going to make a difference to have uniformity in neighborhoods, and it's going to be a great outcome. And I just want to recognize, Anthony, you were doing, who else, remind me who else was involved in just from a staff side.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:30:00
“Yeah, I think it's great. I don't know, city attorney, how involved your office was. They were very involved. As well, right?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:30:07
“That's what I thought. So thank you. I just want to thank this. D. Wayne Spence. D. Wayne, thank you. This took a lot of hours of nuance. So thank you, Mayor. I just want to support it and move it forward. Thank you.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:36:33
“Mayor, if I could just say this. We've all been working on this. We've all been talking about this. This is a pain point for so many of our residents in Fort Lauderdale when they're getting bills that are not accurate or they're having leaks. And so this, I'm just... Pat, the commission on the back for now expanding the degree to which city staff can credit neighbors for leaks and errors and so forth. So just thank you. It's needed. Really appreciate the work we're doing as a commission. It's just I'm just grateful for that. And thank you, staff, Yvette and Linda and Al and everyone else…”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:53:02
“And is it our position that we want a 100% cost recovery on big and small projects?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:53:30
“So for smaller projects, even though we're charging more than we had, based on the cost recovery model, we are still not operating from a full cost recovery standpoint?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:55:08
“Does the revenue from the permitting, does that go into the general fund?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:55:15
“That's what I thought. It goes to the building fund. What's the balance of the building fund approximately right now? And then my next question, Anthony, is could we set an artificial cap on cost recovery? For example, for these next several months, could we say 25% cost recovery for everything?”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 1:56:57
“And is there a way to make, because I want to incentivize private providers doing their work, because in my mind that should then lessen the burden on city staff. But it's sounding like there's still a significant administrative burden on us, even when a private provider is doing it.”
City Commission · Sep 2, 2026