Jeter can have his fence, variance board rules

Since word got out in March that Derek Jeter was building a 31,000-square-foot home, the quaint Davis Islands neighborhood has had at least a little of the Manhattan hustle and bustle.

People come by to take photos and look at the property. There is even a rumor tour buses will make a stop at the home of the New York Yankees All-Star shortstop.

The curiosity aspect might have helped Jeter get his wish to build a six-foot privacy fence around his new home, which is still under construction. Citing their desire to calm a carnival-like atmosphere and for future security, the city's seven-member variance board voted unanimously Tuesday night to grant Jeter an exemption to build the fence.

City code allows a 3-foot solid wall and a 4-foot "barrier" on street frontage parcels, so Jeter needed the variance.

David Lurie, Jeter's new neighbor on Bahama Circle, was pleased with the vote. He said he has seen people drive in a taxi to the house wearing Jeter shirts and taking pictures in front of the home.

"I would love it if the wall was higher than proposed to discourage people from coming and gawking," Lurie said to board members.

Three feet will be concrete masonry followed by three feet of wrought-iron iron fence, said Jeter's attorney Jonathan Koch.

"We are pleased (with the vote), and we will proceed to build the nicest fence we can," Koch said after the hearing.

The vote came after the Davis Islands Civic Association board voted 12-6 last week to oppose Jeter's request for a variance.

Jeter's 31,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom waterfront house could be the largest residence in Hillsborough County when completed.

Future Jeter neighbor Taylor Ward said she wants the fence to be a part of the solution to the massive home. She wants to see landscape that will soften the view, she said.

"This house looms over our street," Ward said. "It's already a wall. We call it the great wall of Jeter."

Others had complained that others on the island already have fences that exceed six feet.

Those fences could have been grandfathered, or received the same approval as Jeter did, said Thomas Snelling, the deputy director for the city of Tampa's Growth and Management Department.