Need advice on a yard with multiple easements in Florida!

[ckinchen]

Hi from Florida! I enjoy reading everyone's post and wanted to reach out to see what others think of my pool design. I have a house that has a 30 foot back yard with a 20 ft drainage easement. We tried to get the county give us permission to build as there are no pipes but they said no. They did let our next door neighbor do the same thing 10 years ago so always thought it would not be an issue, but I was wrong! My husband is an engineer and when he asked them about my neighbor they finally came back and said "oh, that was a mistake". We could argue, spend time, and money trying to get them to allow us but since my husband works with counties all the time he said its best we find another solution, they can and usually will drag us through all of this and still decline in the end.
So we have a decent sized side yard with a long driveway. If we take out a portion of the driveway (10ft) we can fit a 28 by 12/13 foot pool. If you look at the survey there is a lot of land on the other side of our house but we have 3 oak trees and that would be expensive to remove and not sure if I could even get the HOA or county to agree to that. The only other negative on the side of the house by the driveway where we plan to build is that there is another 12ft drainage easement (with pipe) all along the side where my neighbor (their fence) and my land meet so cant build a pool on that area 12ft area.
The plan is to build a pool there, take out a section of driveway about 10ft (in picture it is where the driveway curves towards the house so we can open the side door). When I spoke to the county they said I can put pavers on the easement because I don't need a permit for pavers however I take the risk if the county ever needs access. But that would give me more deck space. The pool company told me that I would have to do that part after inspection because it could cause issues with approval if done before, so that is what I would do. That would also complicate things, I imagine I would have them tear up everything and then after inspection add the pavers, but worried that would add dirt into a new pool. And advice on that? How best to approach that? I am also thinking not to put a screen because then I would not have space for lawn chairs. We don't want a spa either. It is my husband and me, and my two teens. My teen and I do want to lay out and I would enjoy the sunshelf for me and my dog. I worry that 26 feet to swim is small but really not sure. I just know the sunshelf would be great and I really want that.
I have attached my survey and pictures of the pool and yard to give an idea. I do not think I can fit a wider pool as I was told need to be 5ft from window. Any advice is very much appreciated!!

Thanks!!

 

[ckinchen]

Here are some pictures of the yard.

 

[ChrisBJax]

We're in a similar boat. We are also contending with a drainage easement and limited space. Our PB told us that pavers would be fine on the easement because they are removable, but we've decided to stay off of the easement because we don't want any title issues down the road when we go to sell the house. However, it can probably be done and when you go to sell, you can probably remove some pavers to shrink the deck so that it is completely off the easement. I think a 28x12 foot pool is plenty big and most definitely better than no pool. I say go for it.

 

[Sparks22]

The part of the yard where all the space is and the 3 oak trees seems to be a reasonable area. You mentioned that it would be expensive to remove the trees. Have you actually gotten quotes for removing them to verify that? I am going to have to have a giant live oak tree removed which is about 40 feet tall with a canopy that is about 50 feet across, and it is only going to cost $800 to have it cut down and taken away.

The HOA and county I can't speak for, but ours (both HOA and city) didn't have any objections to removing the giant tree. Just saying all this in case you might have ruled out that part of the yard unnecessarily.

 

[ckinchen]

We're in a similar boat. We are also contending with a drainage easement and limited space. Our PB told us that pavers would be fine on the easement because they are removable, but we've decided to stay off of the easement because we don't want any title issues down the road when we go to sell the house. However, it can probably be done and when you go to sell, you can probably remove some pavers to shrink the deck so that it is completely off the easement. I think a 28x12 foot pool is plenty big and most definitely better than no pool. I say go for it.

I wondered about that. I assume since no permit needed I would not have title/selling issues. I should probably check with realtor friends to see what they say. When I spoke to the county they looked up if grass is required and said no requirement to have grass so ok to put pavers. So will need to investigate more. Thanks for your advice!

 

[ckinchen]

The part of the yard where all the space is and the 3 oak trees seems to be a reasonable area. You mentioned that it would be expensive to remove the trees. Have you actually gotten quotes for removing them to verify that? I am going to have to have a giant live oak tree removed which is about 40 feet tall with a canopy that is about 50 feet across, and it is only going to cost $800 to have it cut down and taken away.

The HOA and county I can't speak for, but ours (both HOA and city) didn't have any objections to removing the giant tree. Just saying all this in case you might have ruled out that part of the yard unnecessarily.

I have not actually gotten a quote so really good to know what you paid. A pine tree cost me 900 so I assumed more. I would also have to fence the whole area so all that would end up costing more money. But you gave me some food for thought! And I thought the roots might cause issues too. I don’t want to spend more than 60k so it all adds up. Thanks for letting me know.