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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZoning Board Of Appeals - Minutes - 09/14/1995Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Annual Meeting - 8:30am Minutes The annual meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was held on Thursday, September 14, 1995 in the Council Chambers of the City of Fort Collins City Hall. Roll was answered by Huddleson, Gustafson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Board members absent: Shannon, Cuthbertson. The meeting was called to order by Board chairman Huddleson. Council Liaison: Staff Liaison: Staff Support Present: Ann Azari Peter Barnes Peter Barnes Ann Chantler Paul Eckman The minutes from the August meeting were approved. Appeal 2139. 1102 Laporte Avenue by Steve Mouton, owner approved. Section 29- 511(3). ----- The variance would allow a portion of a new 4ft. high fence to be located within 75 ft. of the center of the intersection of Laporte Avenue and Shield Street. Specifically, a portion of the fence would be within 47 ft. of the center of the intersection, in line with the existing trees and shrubs at the corner of the lot. ---- Petitioner's statement of hardship: Large, mature trees and shrubs are existing on the corner lot. This landscaping already is within the 75 ft. distance, so the fence will not add to any sight distance problems. The Transportation Department has reviewed the request and has no problems. The front is the only useable yard area because the rest of the lot is parking for adjacent apartment houses. This creates an unusual situation. If the fence is placed at the 75 ft. distance, there would be little useable yard. The fence is important because of this lots high exposure to traffic. If the intersection were not off -set at this location, then the fence would comply. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 2 Staff comments: None Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, stated this house is located on the corner of Laporte and Shields. He said there were existing large, mature trees and landscaping in the same area that the fence would be constructed. The owner has put up part of the fence and would like to continue it around the corner. Mr. Barnes said the City Forester has reviewed the lot and has no problem with it at this time. Barnes said the intersection is off -set which makes the 75' limit for this lot abnormal. Steve Mouton, owner, appeared before the Board. He stated he has talked to Dan Holland of the Transportation Dept regarding the fence. Mr. Holland recommended the fence be 4' instead of 6' and Mr. Mouton agreed. Mr. Mouton said he called a City department to ask questions about getting a permit, he was told how far he could put the fence on his property but not about the 75' rule. Mr. Mouton said this corner is very busy, very loud and fumes drift into the yard and house from the cars. He also said the fence was needed for privacy as there is no back yard or side yard. Board chairman Huddleson asked Mr. Mouton to describe his hardship. Mr. Mouton said when he purchased the property the entire side and back lot was paved for parking to serve the adjacent apartment, which left him only the front yard which is small. He added if he complied with the 75' rule, the fence would be in the middle of the front yard and the mature landscaping would be effected. No one was present in favor or in opposition of this appeal. Board member Gustafson said the intersection was peculiar, and did not line up like a normal intersection. Barnes stated if the neighbor on the opposite corner wanted to put up a fence, he could do so with no variance because the intersection was off -set. Board member Gustafson said the off -set intersection was a hardship. Board chair Huddleson agreed. Board member Gustafson moved to approve appeal 2139 for the hardship stated. Board member Elliott seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Nays: None. The motion passed. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 3 Appeal 2140. 1105 West Myrtle by Rene Clements, Edlerhaus, approved. Section 29- 133(5), 29-472(b). ----- The variance would reduce the required street side setback along Myrtle Street from 15 ft. to 11.5 ft., in order to allow the construction of a new, enclosed basement stairway. The enclosure would line up with the existing north wall of the building. ----- Petitioner's statement of hardship: The "Eagles Club" facility is for adult day care for men in the early stages of memory loss. These men need access to activities that are held in the basement, and the existing stairway does not meet code. The steepness of the stairs and low headroom present hazards to the men. The proposed stairway location is the only place to accommodate inside and outside access to the basement. In order to meet the building code, the stairway enclosure will end up lining up with the existing wall, which is already non -conforming. ----- Staff comments: None Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, stated that the Elderhaus is located at the corner of Shields and Myrtle. He said the parking lot is in the front of the house and the entrance for this appeal is on the side of the house. Rene Clements, appellant, appeared before the Board. She explained the programs at Elderhaus. She added the present stairwell is hazardous to the clients and is too narrow for emergency personnel to access. Board chairman Huddleson asked Ms. Clements to describe the hardship. Ms. Clements stated the present house needs to be brought up to ADA code and re- doing the present stairwell seemed the only logical place to access the basement where there is a woodshop and a pool table for the clients. She stated the building is currently non -conforming. No one was present in favor or in opposition of this appeal. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 4 Board member Gustafson said the building is presently non -conforming and there is a need to access the basement. Board chairman Huddleson said the hardship was that the existing building was non- conforming. Board member Elliott agreed. Board member Gustafson moved to approve appeal 2140 for the hardship that the existing building was non -conforming. Board member Lieser seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Nays: None. The motion passed. Appeal 2141. 1908 Harmony Drive by Brian Cuba, approved. Section 29-93(c). ----- The variance would reduce the required front yard setback from 30 ft. to 25 ft.4 inches for a 20' X 24' addition to the existing garage. The front of the addition would line up with the existing wall of the front of the house. ----- Petitioner's statement of hardship: The existing house is already nonconforming. A large, mature tree exists in the front yard and also behind the proposed addition, which limit where the addition can be built without requiring removal of the trees. ----- Staff Comments: This subdivision was developed prior to it's annexation into the City. All but one of the homes was constructed before the annexation. A large percentage of the homes appear to also have a nonconforming front yard setback. Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, stated this was a rural area that was annexed into the City and zoned RE, one of the most restrictive zones in the City. He explained RE zones usually have large acres of land and this particular lot was only Y2 acre. He said RE zones usually are favored by the residents to accommodate horses and other animals. He added other homes in this area have similar setbacks to what Mr. Cuba is requesting. Mr. Cuba, owner, appeared before the Board. He said the road was gravel and in front of the house there was an additional 8' right-of-way. Barnes said most RE lots are approximately 4x the size of this lot and when this area was annexed into the City everything became non -conforming. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 5 No was in favor or in opposition of this appeal. Board member Gustafson said if this lot was not zoned RE the applicant wouldn't even be here for a variance and the size of the lot was a hardship. He moved to approve appeal 2141 for the hardship of the small lot in the RE zone. Board member Breth seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Nays: None. The motion passed. Appeal 2142. 221 North Lyons by Joseph Klein, owner. Section 29-110(5). The variance would reduce the side yard setback along the north lot line from 5 feet to 1 foot in order to allow a detached garage to be built on the rear portion of the lot. (The garage was constructed about 2 years ago without a permit, the owner now desires to obtain a permit). Petitioner's statement of hardship: The lot is a corner lot. A large, mature tree in the back yard makes it difficult to build the garage in a location that would not require a variance, especially since the required setback along Leland Street is 15 feet. The tree, the narrowness of the lot (50') and the 15' street side setback (corner lot requirement) all combine to limit the available back yard locations. ----- Staff comments: None Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, stated this lot is on the corner of Lyons and Leland. He said the garage was built 1-2 years ago. Barnes said Mr. Klein would need a variance to build a garage anywhere on the lot because of a mature large tree in the center of the lot. Mr. and Mrs. Klein, owners, appeared before the Board. He said he used to park his cars on the street but he had beer bottles thrown through the windows and wanted a safer place for his cars. He said he put in a driveway and garage the only place he could on the lot. He wanted to keep the tree and garden space. n u CI Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 6 No one was present in favor or in opposition of this appeal. Five letters were received in favor of this appeal. Rob Weber - 200 Bishop St Steve Martinez - 223 Bishop St James Stevens - 208 Bishop St Dante Antonucci - 222 Lyons St Lisa Antonucci - 22 Lyons St Board member Breth moved to approve appeal 2142 for the hardship stated that the tree presents a very real hardship. Board member Gustafson seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Nays: None. The motion passed. Appeal 2143 by Kelly Brown owner, 1805 S College Ave approved with condition.. Section 29-493(1), 29-493(2)(f). ----- The variance would reduce the required parking lot landscape setback behind the College Avenue sidewalk from 15 feet to 0 feet, reduce the parking lot landscape along the north and south lot lines from 5 feet to 0 feet, and reduce the amount of required interior parking lot landscaping from 6% to .25%. The variance is requested in order to allow the addition of seasonal retail uses (temporary vendors such as Christmas tree sales) to locate on the lot when the Dairy Queen restaurant closes for the season. ----- Petitioner's statement of hardship: The use of the property is classified as a fast food restaurant. A Christmas tree vendor has set up operations on the lot for many years. Due to a recent change in the City's outdoor vendor ordinance, this vendor can only operate here from now on if the parking lot is brought into compliance with current regulations. Providing all the landscaping required would result in the loss of most of the parking. The petitioner will upgrade the landscaping as indicated on the submitted plan in order to achieve as much compliance as he feels is possible without losing parking. Staff comments: None Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 7 Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, stated this is currently a fast food restaurant. He said the outdoor vendors ordinance was amended to require zoning compliance and that is why Mr. Brown needs a variance to have retail sales on his lot during the Christmas season. He added when there is a change of use, the owner has to bring the parking lot up to present landscaping code. Board member Breth asked if the proposed landscaping is off the property line. Barnes said the Dairy Queen and mobile home park are owned by the same person. He added the Dairy Queen presently has 30+ parking spaces and if code was met, they would lose approximately half of them. Kelly Brown, owner, appeared before the Board. He said the he has been in this location for 23 years. He said as the business has grown, it has been difficult to expand because he is "landlocked". He said the number of parking spaces is critical and he has his employees park in the trailer park to leave room for customer parking. He said there is a flood plan in the back of the lot and cannot expand towards the back. Mr. Brown said Earl Peterson has been selling Christmas trees on his lot for the past 17 years and he would like him to continue to sell Christmas trees on this lot. He said he has no intention for any other kinds of sales. He added over that past years he did upgrade his signage and add a planter with shrubs. He said he would rather lose trees than lose parking spaces. Mr. Earl Peterson, Christmas tree vendor, appeared before the Board. He said he has sold Christmas trees on this lot for 17 years and would like to keep the lot. No one was present in opposition of this appeal. Board member Breth said this appeared to be an unusual situation. He said he hated to see properties along College Avenue not enhanced or improved. He added he would like to see some compromise that included more landscaping. Board member Lieser agreed. She also agreed parking is very restrictive and to lose spaces could cause a traffic problem. She said she would like to see the landscaping maximized. Board member Gustafson said this change of use was for just a small amount of time, approximately 30 days and this was a lot of improvements for that small amount of time. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 8 Board member Lieser said she was in favor of this appeal based on the plan the petitioner proposed and that the variance only include the sale of Christmas trees. Barnes suggested a motion include time for retail sales and the petitioner work with the City for an approved landscape plan. Board member Breth moved to approve appeal 2143 for the hardship stated restricting this variance to the selling of Christmas trees and Christmas decorations after Diary Queen closes (the week before Thanksgiving) until December 25th and Mr. Brown will work with the City for an acceptable landscape plan. Board member Gustafson seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Nays: None. The motion passed. Appeal 2144. by Amelia Tuttle. owner. 1007 West Oak Street, approved. Section 29- 119(5) ----- The variance would reduce the required side yard setback along the west lot line from 5 feet to 3 feet in order to allow an existing deck and enclosed porch to be replaced with a bedroom and bathroom addition. Petitioner's statement of hardship: The lot is narrow, only 40' wide. The existing west wall of the home is already only 2'1" from the property line, so the addition will actually be set back further. The petitioner would like to have windows along the west wall, so in order to meet the building code, the planned addition will be set back 3'. ----- Staff comments: None Zoning Administrator, Peter Barnes, said this house was located in the older part of town, is non -conforming and is 40' wide. He said two other variances were previously granted in this block. Amelia Tuttle, owner, appeared before the Board. She said she is concerned about the looks of the house and wants the addition to blend with the current house. Board member Gustafson said there had been a precedent set and had no problem with this appeal. He moved to approve appeal 2144 for the hardship stated. Board member Breth seconded the motion. Yeas: Gustafson, Huddleson, Lieser, Elliott, Breth. Zoning Board of Appeals September 14, 1995 Page 9 Nays: None. The motion passed. Election of Officers Chairman - Marty Breth Vice Chairman - Bob Gustafson The meeting was adjourned. Chuck Huddleson, Chairman Peter Barnes, Zoning Admin..