If you drive down 51st Street West in Palmetto, it's hard to miss this new structure.

  • New garage upsetting residents in Palmetto neighborhood
  • County officials garage is within code guidelines
  • Owner of the garage says he needed more storage space

After six months of construction, a 60x40x20 foot garage is complete and certainly turning heads.

"This type of building, being able to put in a residential neighborhood is beyond our belief," said neighbor David Maxson.

Some neighbors said they're baffled that anyone could get a permit for a building like this in their quiet subdivision of Palmetto Point.

"We definitely don't want to have these things popping up all over the neighborhood ... people saying 'well he has one, so I want one!" exclaimed Jeanne Jernigan, who lives down the street.

But the county signed off on it. Giving the green light to the height, size and how close it sits to the road. County officials state it's all within land development code guidelines for the neighborhood.

The garage sits just 20 feet from the road, which some neighbors feel is a violation of the current codes. According to the county, development codes were revised in 2009 and state that structures need to be set back 25 feet. But because the neighborhood was built in the 1950s, it only has to abide by the code set in that decade.

The garage belongs to Kris Greene, who says he needed extra storage space, so he asked the county how big of a garage he could manage. After receiving the requirements, he started to move forward with building plans. He says everything he did was according to county specifications.

He says he didn't intend to upset anyone -- just store his boats and other items.

"I can maybe see their side, but this is what they would let me do. I'm sorry if they are upset," he said.

The county's building and development director agrees that the structure looks out of place, but says this particular neighborhood doesn't have any restrictions on what a structure looks like.

The county attorney's office is reviewing the decision.