HomeMy WebLinkAboutZoning Board Of Appeals - Minutes - 03/12/2015Michael Bello, Chair
Heidi Shuff, Vice Chair
Daphne Bear
Robert Long
John McCoy
Ralph Shields
Butch Stockover
Council Liaison, Gino Campana
Staff Liaison, Noah Beals
Location:
City Council Chambers
300 LaPorte Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80521
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REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 12, 2015
8:30AM
• Call to Order and Roll Call
Board members Absent: Bear.
• Citizen Participation (Items Not on the Agenda): NONE
• Approval of Minutes from February meeting
Shuff made a motion, seconded by Stockover, to approve the minutes from the February 12, 2015
meeting. Yeas: Shields, Shuff, Bello, Stockover and Long. Nays: none. Abstain: McCoy.
THE MOTION CARRIED
• Appeals for Variance to the Land Use Code
1. APPEAL # 2795 -Approved
Address:
Petitioners:
Owner:
Zoning District:
Code Section:
Project Description:
313 West Drake Road
John Bender M.D, Tommy Ray Robinson, Marcy Mundo,
Miramont Family Medicine
Miramont Fort Collins, LLC
Employment (E)
3.8. 7(E)(8)
The variance would allow one letter in the text of the signs on both the north and east elevation to
increase in height by 6 inches from the allowed 18 inches maximum in the residential sign district,
sub-area convenience shopping center.
Staff Presentation:
Ali van Deutekom showed slides relevant to appeal noting the property is located at the corner of
West Drake Road and Redwing Road, separated from Redwing on the east by the railroad right-of
way. She stated this property is part of a convenience shopping center in the residential sign district
which restricts individual sign letters to 18 inches in height. This variance request would allow one
letter on the north wall and one letter on the east wall to be 24 inches tall.
Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 March 12, 2015
Bello asked if this is new construction. Ali van Deutekom replied this was a minor amendment
remodel of an existing building.
Shuff asked if a variance for the entire sign would need to be considered rather than simply a
variance for the single letters. Van Deutekom replied a condition could be included as per the Board's
prerogative.
Applicant Presentation:
Mary Mundo, Miramont Family Medicine Chief Operating Officer, 3327 Wild View Drive, Tommy Ray
Robinson, Miramont Family Medicine Chief Executive Officer, 2821 William Neal Parkway, and
Randy Lerich, Action Signs, 1413 Webster Avenue, introduced themselves.
Mr. Lerich noted signage allowance is calculated on a corner lot based on building frontage, or street
frontage; therefore, this building is allowed about 196 square feet of signage. However, each sign is
only 25 square feet when meeting the 18 inch requirement. Increasing the "M" to 24 inches makes
·each sign about 48 square feet. Additionally, he noted the signs will each face busy roadways rather
than residential areas and will be more proportionate to the building size.
Mr. Robinson discussed Miramont Family Medicine operates 6 medical practices; 2 in Fort Collins.
The 1014 Centre Ave office will be relocated to the new building at 313 W. Drake Rd. He noted the
subject property is a few yards away from the railroad tracks that end what is considered the midtown
urban blight area, even though technically this property is not included in that area. They have been
repurposing the old restaurant and bar into a medical facility. He discussed the proximity of the
property to the MAX bus stop which will benefit the under-serviced population. Their offices service a
large number of CSU students and Medicaid and Medicare patients. He stated this signage request
will aid in visibility for seniors, students, and emergency services in locating the building.
McCoy asked if this is a single user building or will there be any other tenants there. Mr. Robinson
replied this office will have medical visiting specialists. There will be visiting specialists within the
building that are medically related that we refer our patients to; such as bringing in an audiologist;
chiropractor, and some other services that we are also looking at as well that will operate as part of
our mini Miramont campus.
McCoy asked if there will be any other signage on the building as a result of the specialists. Mr.
Robinson replied there will be no additional signage for tenants.
Bello inquired if the specialists would have their own sign. Mr. Robinson replied that they would not
have their own sign. The specialists will have their names on little vinyl lettering on their glass doors.
Audience Participation: None.
Board Discussion:
Long supported the variance as being of the proper scale for the building and noted only 50% of the
signage allowance will be used. He noted that the motion should also include the "I" and "T" letters.
Bello made a motion, seconded by Long, to approve Appeal No. 2795 for the following
reasons: the granting of the variance would not be detrimental to the public good. The
variance request to allow three letters, "M," "I," and "T," in the text of the sign on the north
and east faces of the building to increase in height by no more than 6 inches from the
maximum height of 18 inches is an increase of 33% of the required maximum; the two signs
do not face any of the existing residential uses; the total signage that would be allowed with
this variance is only 50% of the allowed signage for the building. The variance request will not
diverge from the standards except in a nominal and inconsequential way when considered in
the context of the neighborhood and will continue to advance the purpose of the Land Use
Code as contained in Section 1.2.2.
Yeas: Shields, McCoy, Shuff, Bello, Stockover and Long. Nays: none.
THE MOTION CARRIED.
Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3
2. APPEAL# 2796 -Approved
Address: 5108/5110 Daylight Court (Lot 7)
Petitioner/Owner:
Zoning District:
Code Section:
Project Description:
Dave Houts; Houts Development and Construction, LLC
Urban Estates (U-E)
4.2(D)(2)(c)
March 12, 2015
The variance would allow a new duplex to be built 5 feet 4 inches into the required 25 foot rear
setback.
Staff Presentation:
Ali van Deutekom showed slides relevant to the appeal and noted the property is located near
Strauss Cabin Rd. and Rock Creek Dr; the property directly to the east of the subject property
remains in Larimer County. Sunrise Ridge as a development is zoned Urban Estates, which requires
a 25 foot rear setback. Additionally, she stated the Fossil Creek inlet ditch runs to the east and would
require a 50 foot buffer should the property to the east be developed.
Bello asked for clarification. Ali van Deutekom stated that if property to the east that is currently in
Larimer County were annexed and developed that it would require a 50 foot buffer from the top of the
bank of the ditch and nothing could be built in that buffer. It's a natural setback. The variance request
is for the corner of the end unit to be built 19.73 feet from the property line.
Applicant Presentation:
David Houts, 3721 Precision Drive, Unit 314, addressed the Board but had no statements to add to
the application.
Long asked if the site was originally single family homes. Mr. Houts replied a major modification was
granted in 2012. Urban Estates allows for single family residences or duplexes. They reallocated the
duplex products to all of the lots which required some minor movement of lot lines and several side or
rear setback variances. However, this subject lot was left out of the major modification application.
They made all of these duplex lots instead of half duplex and half single family. There are currently
seven or eight duplexes currently built or under construction.
Shuff asked if all the duplex models the essentially the same just placed in different configurations on
the lot and are the same size. Mr. Houts replied in the affirmative.
Audience Participation: None.
Board Discussion:
Stockover stated this variance appears quite straight forward, especially with the ditch location.
Shuff noted the lot opens to undevelopable space and stated this variance would be consistent with
the approved major modification.
Bello made a motion, seconded by Shuff, to approve Appeal No. 2796 for the following
reasons: the grating of the variance would not be detrimental to the public good. The abutting
property along the rear property line is owned by Larimer County and contains a ditch which
includes a 50 foot buffer on either side; there are no structures on the abutting property, the
distance across the abutting property to the right-of-way is about 100 feet; the requested
encroachment is 21% of the rear setback at the maximum encroachment point; the
encroachment tapers from the maximum point of 5 feet 4 inches to 0 feet for 25 feet of the
building; therefore, the variance request will not diverge from the standards except for in a
nominal and inconsequential way when considered in the context of the neighborhood and
will continue to advance the purpose of the Land Use Code as contained in Section 1.2.2.
Yeas: Shields, McCoy, Shuff, Bello, Stockover and Long. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED.
3. APPEAL #2797- Approved
Address: 335 East Foothills Parkway
Petitioners: Carolyn C. White, Stephanie So, and Robert Walter
Zoning Board of Appeals
Owner:
Zoning District:
Code Section:
Project Description:
Page 4
Walton Foothills Holdings VI, LLC
General Commercial (C-G)
3.8. 7(D)(5)
March 12, 2015
The variance would allow the movie theater at the Foothills Mall Redevelopment to increase the
square footage of sign allowance from 495.9 square feet to 639.46 square feet to display an
additional 11 posters at 13.37 square feet each; along the base of the north wall that faces an
internal drive.
Staff Presentation:
Ali van Deutekom showed slides relevant to appeal noting the movie theater building does not have a
dedicated street; therefore, the sign allowance is calculated based on the building length. The
variance is requested for movie posters.
Bello asked if the additional signage is within the Code. Ali van Deutekom replied there is enough
sign allowance for those signs and the extra allotment per this variance would only be for the posters,
which are considered signs.
Applicant Presentation:
Caitlin Quander, land use counsel on behalf of Carolynne White, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck,
410 1 ih Street, Denver, discussed the theater concept and noted the typical sign package for
Cinemark has been scaled back for this particular development. She stated there are 12 total posters
proposed; however, only 11 of those are subject to the variance given the allotted signage. She
noted these posters would be at pedestrian level and discussed the variance as being not detrimental
to the public good and nominal and inconsequential.
Shuff asked if there are other standard sizes for the posters. Chuck Desmoineaux, 505 Design,
replied there are standard sizes which do vary; however, this is the standard poster size for this size
of theater.
Bello asked if the theater will replace the existing Cinemark Theater in town. Robert Walter, Alberta
Development, replied both theaters will likely remain as this is a different type of theater experience.
Audience Participation: None.
Board Discussion:
Long stated the size of the posters is consistent with the scale of the building as the sign code is
based on lineal rather than square feet. Additionally, he noted the building doesn't face public right
of-way.
Bello noted the signs are at eye level.
Stockover stated the upper signage square footage could be decreased in order to have this not
require a variance. Additionally, he discussed the fact that these posters may not be perceived as
signs by the general public and could be considered collectibles and part of the movie experience.
Shuff agreed noting the proportions of the posters to the building seem appropriate and the posters
are not viewable from a public right-of-way.
Shuff made a motion, seconded by Bello, to approve Appeal No. 2797 to allow an additional
143.56 square feet of sign allowance with the condition that the additional allowance is only
for poster cases on the north wall, each being 4.58 feet in height and are located at the base of
the building. The granting of the variance would not be detrimental to the public good; the
north wall faces an internal drive and the cases are difficult to be viewed from any public right
of-way and are sized to be viewed from patrons visiting the site. Therefore the variance will
not diverge from the standard except in a nominal and inconsequential way when considered
in the context of the neighborhood and would continue to advance the purpose of the Land
Use Code as contained in Section 1.2.2.
Yeas: Shields, McCoy, Shuff, Bello, Stockover and Long. Nays: none.
THE MOTION CARRIED.
Zoning Board of Appeals
4. APPEAL #2773 - Approved
Address:
Petitioner/Owner:
Zoning District:
Code Section:
Project Description:
730 Grouse Circle
Dennis Bogott
R-L
4.4(D)(2)(c)
Page 5 March 12, 2015
The owner is requesting a 6 month extension to a variance request that was approved in September.
Approved Variance Description:
The variance is to allow an addition to the house to be built 5 feet into the required 15 feet rear yard
setback. The proposed addition is a 3 season one story room addition.
Staff Presentation:
Deputy City Attorney Eckman discussed the reasons for which an extension could be granted.
Applicant Presentation:
Dennis Bogott, 730 Grouse Cir, stated he has had some difficulties with his contractor and will be
starting over with a new contractor.
Bello asked what is behind this lot. Mr. Bogott replied the lots backs to Greenbriar Park and a bike
path.
Audience Participation: None.
Board Discussion:
McCoy made a motion, seconded by Long to approve the six month extension of Appeal No.
2773, for reasons of good cause.
Yeas: Shields, McCoy, Shuff, Bello, Stockover and Long. Nays: none.
THE MOTION CARRIED.
• Other Business
Ali van Deutekom stated two right-of-way vacations in Old Town North have been approved and one
additional easement vacation is awaiting approval. Additionally, she stated there are six items on the
April agenda.
• Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 9:28 a.m.
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Alt van Deutekom
Staff Liaison for the Zoning Board of Appeals