HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/14/2023 - Land Use Review Commission - SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS - Regular MeetingLand Use Review Commission Hearing
Date: September 14, 2023
Document Log
Any written comments or documents received after the agenda packet was published are listed here.
Unless otherwise stated, these documents are included in the online “Supplemental Documents” for this meeting.
DISCUSSION AGENDA:
1.Item ZBA230016
•Citizen emails/letters:
o 4 emails were received after Agenda Packet was published: this
includes1 letter in support and 3 letters in opposition. The letter of
support is included as page 2 of the Supplemental Document Log.
Letters of opposition are included as pages 3-8 of the
Supplemental Document Log.
2.Item ZBA230014
•NO ITEMS RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PACKET WAS PUBLISHED
3.Item ZBA230017
•NO ITEMS RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PACKET WAS PUBLISHED
GENERAL CITIZEN EMAILS/LETTERS:
•NO ITEMS RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PACKET WAS PUBLISHED
EXHIBITS RECEIVED DURING HEARING:
Item # Exhibit # Description:
1
From:Noah Beals
To:Kory Katsimpalis
Subject:FW: [EXTERNAL] Letter of support for 1209 W Mountain
Date:Thursday, September 7, 2023 9:45:37 PM
From: Becky Rosetti <beckyrosetti@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, September 1, 2023 2:28 PM
To: Noah Beals <nbeals@fcgov.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Letter of support for 1209 W Mountain
Dear Noah-
I would like to express my support for Rachel Olsen to receive a variance for her
home addition project. We live at 1118 W Mountain Avenue, across the street from
the project location. We know that Rachel and her architect have taken great care to
ensure that the aesthetic of the old town charm is maintained and the history is
respected with their new addition. The proposed renovations will elevate the
dilapidated porch space and increase the overall aesthetic of the home. Rachel’s
addition is a completely reasonable modification with minimum impact and will allow
them valuable and much needed living space for their family.
Sincerely,
Becky Rosetti-Solley
1118 W. Mountain Avenue
Fort Colins, CO 80521
562-882-5486
2
1215 West Mountain Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Sep 12, 2023
City of Fort Collins
Land Use Review Commission
Regarding:Variances requested for 1209 West Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins
To the Commission members,
We are the owners and residents of 1215 W. Mountain, the property adjacent to 1209 on the west side.
For the reasons detailed in this letter, we oppose both the first and second variance requests.
Our comments here address both variances jointly, since the proposed building incorporating both
variances will contribute to the problems imposed by the design, due to its large building envelope and
mass.
Variance Findings per the Fort Collins Zoning (Variance) Code:
(1) Hardship
There is no hardship that can be claimed for this development in relation to the physical characteristics
of the property.
(2) “Equally well or better than” Clause
The proposed building is “equally well or better than” than the complying alternative provided in the
application only because the owners and architect are not providing a complying alternative which
better integrates with the adjacent residences and which have less impact on the neighbors. There are
any number of alternatives that provide additional bedrooms and floor area without requiring
variances and with much smaller neighborhood impacts. No low-impact complying alternatives
have been proposed.
Significant impacts include:
•Loss of direct sunlight into our living areas.
•Loss of indirect daylight into our living areas.
•Loss of Privacy – large upper floor windows have direct views into neighbors’ windows and
backyards.
These impacts are described in detail below.
IMPACT: Loss of direct sunlight into our living room, kitchen, dining room
The large building envelope and mass as proposed with both variances greatly reduces the direct
sunlight currently available to both east and west neighboring houses.
From April through August we have direct sunlight on the east side of our house which has windows
in our living room, kitchen, and dining room. This direct sunlight is present from approximately 7:30
AM to 11:30 AM in mid June. After late morning, the house eaves block direct light into the windows.
Photos of this sunlight are shown below for mid August.
Page 1 of 4
3
The architect for this project has created and given to us shade diagrams which confirm that most of
our east facade will remain shaded for most or all of the morning, for most of months of the year. We
estimate we will lose greater than 50% of our sunlight upon length of the east facade, and more than
50% in duration of the direct light in the mornings.
Architect’s rendering of the approximate
relationship of the new building with variances
approved (right) and our house (left), as viewed
from the backyard of 1209 W. Mtn.
In this view, the building blocks morning
sunlight into our dining room and kitchen, and
most of our living room. This illustration
provides a sense of the large scale of the new
construction relative to the existing adjacent
residences.
View of our exterior showing direct sunlight,
looking front to rear.
August 16, 8:45 AM.
All of our east facing windows currently have
direct morning light for several hours from
Spring through Autumn, and for a shorter
duration during Winter.
Our living room window view of 1209 W. Mtn.,
showing sun shining into window over roof.
August 15, 8:00 AM.
The proposed roofline will block this morning
sunlight and our view of sky and trees.
The variance height of the roof will prevent
most direct sunlight from entering our windows
for most of the morning, for most months of the
year.
Living room window view (shades closed)
showing the shadow of the current roofline of
1209 W. Mtn.
August 15, 8:30 AM.
We estimate the proposed building shadow will
remove more than 50% of the direct morning
sunlight, for more than 50% of the current
duration, upon the east-facing facade.
Page 2 of 4
4
IMPACT: Loss of indirect daylight in our living area
The view from our living room, kitchen, and dining room windows is approximately 50% each of the
neighboring house, and trees and sky. The height of the proposed building will be much higher than
our sightlines of sky and trees, and our view almost entirely will be the building facade.
We oppose the variances in height and area since the large building envelope and mass will
substantially reduce both our direct sunlight and indirect skylight.
Another consideration with respect to the variances is the effect of the reduced setback upon direct and
indirect light into our living area. The current distance between our house wall and the 1209 wall is
just over 19 ft, excluding a 2 ft popout for the original bathroom of the 1209 house. The proposed
building will decrease the wall-wall distance by 2 ft at ground level, and the facade, as requested in
this height variance, will have a height of approx. 25 ft, with a smaller setback than required without
the variance.
This decrease in setback of the upper part of the facade will aggravate our loss of sunlight and skylight
by bringing the high facade closer to our house. Both the height and area variances will allow a larger
building envelope, blocking more sunlight and skylight than would a complying design with a smaller
height and a greater setback.
IMPACT: Loss of Privacy
This proposed building will have a much greater vertical scale than all the adjacent older, smaller
houses. The new upper floor windows will have sightlines directly into neighbors’ windows and
backyards. The height variance with reduced setback will allow the windows to be higher and closer to
our windows than a complying design. Both the height and area variances will allow for the
building envelope to be closer to the adjacent properties and residences’ windows with greater
visibility of the interiors of these properties.
With the new building, high angle views into our windows will require that window treatments remain
closed for privacy, aggravating our loss of light and solar access.
(3) “Nominal, inconsequential way in the context of the neighborhood”
In the context of the adjacent properties which are all one-story brick or wood bungalows, this
proposed building has a much large scale, with severe impacts upon sightlines, privacy, and shading.
Current residents’ indoor and outdoor living spaces will be substantially and permanently altered in
undesirable ways.
The lot containing the proposed building, and the adjacent lots are narrow – most are 50 ft wide, with
17-20 ft between residence walls to the east and west adjacent properties. The proposed building with
these variances will more than double the original floor area, and have vertical elevations greatly
exceeding the original building’s roof height as well as the roof heights of the adjacent residences.
This large building mass will have substantial solar and privacy impacts upon the adjacent residences,
as described above.
Contrary to the claims of the owners and architect, these impacts are very consequential, and warrant a
scaled-down design that complies with existing standards, and is in harmony with existing historic
structures on surrounding properties.
Page 3 of 4
5
In conclusion, approving either variance will set a precedence in our immediate neighborhood by
allowing a large building with substantial impacts upon adjacent smaller residences, at the expense of
the historic neighborhood character, as well ignoring the current residents’ preference for keeping the
historic character of small building mass mostly intact.
For all of the reasons we have described, we request and strongly urge that both variance requests be
denied.
Sincerely,
Thomas E. Hilinski and Rebecca McKeown
Page 4 of 4
6
From:Noah Beals
To:Kory Katsimpalis
Subject:FW: [EXTERNAL] 1209 W Mountain Ave-Variances requested
Date:Tuesday, September 12, 2023 10:27:26 PM
-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Alexander <alexander.sarah.b@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 8:36 PM
To: Noah Beals <nbeals@fcgov.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] 1209 W Mountain Ave-Variances requested
Sarah Harris
1219 West Mountain Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Sep 12, 2023
City of Fort Collins
Land Use Review Commission
Regarding: Variances requested for 1209 West Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins To the
Land Use Commission members,
My name is Sarah Harris and I live at 1219 West Mountain Avenue. I received the notice of the variance hearing for
the proposed addition at 1209 West Mountain and have reviewed the architectural drawings and information. I have
also read the letters supporting and opposing the variance request. I strongly agree with the assessment in the letter,
submitted by Tom Hilinski and Becky McKeown, opposing the variances requested for the same reasons outlined in
the letter.
Kind regards,
Sarah Harris
7
From:Noah Beals
To:Kory Katsimpalis
Subject:FW: [EXTERNAL] Proposed development at 1209 W. Mountain Ave.
Date:Tuesday, September 12, 2023 3:11:23 PM
-----Original Message-----
From: barefootmeg <barefootmeg@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 2:19 PM
To: Noah Beals <nbeals@fcgov.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Proposed development at 1209 W. Mountain Ave.
Hi Noah and the Land Use Review Commission,
I have read through the document that Becky McKeown and Tom Hilinski have drafted regarding the proposed
sizable addition to the simple house at 1209 W. Mountain Avenue, next to their property. I agree with what they
have laid out, especially the statement that "No low-impact complying alternatives have been proposed."
When variances are proposed because the alternative is even more egregious, that just tells me that the applicants are
trying to shoehorn something into a neighborhood where it clearly doesn’t fit. The whole reason we’ve added design
requirements to the code in our Old Town Conservation Zones is to preserve the unique character of our older
neighborhoods which include very simple roof forms, simple (often square or rectangular) massing, and smaller
FARs indicative of the middle class families that first lived in these neighborhoods.
I have seen many sensitive additions to our older housing stock here in Fort Collins that have enabled families to
expand their living space to meet 21st century expectations while still keeping the addition subordinate to the older
house and retaining the charm and character that has made Old Town so beloved by local residents. I know it is
possible. I have seen it done over and over again here in Fort Collins. However, the proposed addition to 1209 W.
Mountain Avenue is not in keeping with Old Town’s character.
- Meg Dunn
8