Florida might limit local government control over new home designs
Close friends say he was a ‘brilliant man’ and storyteller
TALLAHASSEE — With the sponsor saying the proposal would help hold down housing costs, a House panel Wednesday approved a bill that would reduce the authority of local governments to place design restrictions on new homes.
The House Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee voted 12-6 along party lines to approve the bill (HB 55), sponsored by Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City. The bill would prevent local governments from placing restrictions on a variety of design issues on new single-family and two-family residences in what Overdorf described as “open lots.”
For example, it would prevent local restrictions on building colors, locations of garages and locations of windows and doors, according to a House staff analysis. Overdorf said it would not affect homes built in areas such as historic districts, community redevelopment areas and planned unit developments.
He said the bill is designed to help address affordable-housing issues, as design requirements increase costs. But Jane West, policy and planning director for the group 1000 Friends of Florida, said the bill would reduce homerule powers of local governments.
“This bill takes that away at a micro level,” West said.
The bill would be ready to go to the full House if it passes the House Commerce Committee. Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, has filed a similar measure (SB 284) in the Senate.
BOCA RATON — The search for an 87-year-old pilot and marathon runner from Boca Raton ended Tuesday without any sign of him or his missing plane.
Brendan Spratt left Spruce Creek near Daytona Beach on Feb. 24 in his single-engine 1991 Lancair 320 plane. He never arrived at the Boca Raton Airport, typically an hour’s flight.
Spratt was a local running legend, said his friend Carol Virga, who co-owns the Runner’s Edge in Boca Raton. One year, the two running partners ran in the Boston Marathon and then just a week later in the London Marathon. Mike Downey, another close friend of Spratt’s, credits the fastfooted engineer for helping him train for the Boston Marathon. They would run from Boca Raton to Delray Beach and back.
“He had to slow down for us. He was an exceptional runner, even though he was 10 years older than us,” said Downey, who now lives in Venice, near Sarasota.
Originally born in Ireland, Spratt received a scholarship from the British government and learned to fly as a young man, according to Downey.
As years of running began taking a toll on his body, Spratt’s hobbies shifted, and he built the Lancair from scratch, Virga said.
“He was a brilliant man. A genius,” she said. “It’s a pretty scary thing to fly a plane, number one, but then to build your own and trust that you’re going to take it up and it’s going to work.” Spratt worked as an electronics engineer manager for Bendix Corporation, an avionics manufacturing company, at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport before retiring.
The Federal Aviation Administration lost detection of the aircraft shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday when it was about 17 miles southeast of Boca Raton. The Coast Guard searched about 15,955 square miles from Miami to Fort Pierce and did not find any debris.
“The decision to suspend a case is never an easy one,” said Lt. Shawn Antonelli, a command duty officer for U.S. Coast Guard District Seven. “Our greatest sympathies go out to the Spratt family during this time.”
Spratt does not have an active pilot certificate, according to FAA records. The records do not say why he lost his license, but an FAA spokeswoman said his license was revoked in February 2015.
FlightAware, an online flight-tracking service, shows no record of last week’s flight, saying the single-engine Lancair last flew in December 2020. Spratt’s son, Brendan Sean Spratt, could not be reached by phone for comment Tuesday.
“It’s sad,” said Virga, the co-owner of Runner’s Edge. “But at least you think he was flying in his plane and that’s what he truly loved to do and all of us should be that lucky to go, doing something we enjoy.”