Jete’s big home irks Tampa neighbors

Derek’s big home has hit a road block. Last month, we looked at how Jeter is building the biggest house on the block in Tampa. His 30,000-square foot mansion will feature nine bathrooms and seven bedrooms and takes up three lots in a posh neighborhood on Davis Island.

As part of his plan for this Jeterian enclave, the Yanks’ captain has asked for permission to build a six-foot tall fence around the perimeter of his property. Zoning regulations allow for just a three-foot wall, and the neighborhood association is not too happy about this request. Noah Pransky, a reporter with Tampa’s WTSP, writes:

His request for a six-foot-tall concrete and wrought-iron fence will go before Tampa’s Variance Review Board on Tuesday, August 11.

But according to Ken Elmore, a member of the Davis Islands Civic Association, the board voted 12-6 to reject the request. While the association has no actual authority when it comes to Jeter’s request, Elmore says the group will take the results to next week’s review meeting, hoping to sway the variance board.

Elmore writes that board president Jeffrey Siewart encouraged other board members to vote against the variance “to maintain the precedence set by other front yard requests and to comply with the City Code as stated.”

According to a report from the meeting, Jeter’s representative cited “security and functionality” as the reasons for the exemption.

If I were a betting man, I’d say that Derek gets his exemption. Tampa’s Variance Review Board will probably find Yankee All Star Derek Jeter far more sympathetic than the Davis Islands Civic Association. And so it goes.