HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOUTON HOUSE SUBDIVISION - MODIFICATION OF STANDARD - MOD140002 - DECISION - FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS & DECISION1
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
TYPE 1 ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING
FINDINGS AND DECISION
HEARING DATE: Wednesday, December 3, 2014
PROJECT NAME: Boughton House Subdivision Modification of
Standard
CASE NUMBER: MOD #140002
APPLICANT/OWNER: Randy Everett
113 North Sherwood Street
Fort Collins, CO 80524
HEARING OFFICER: Marcus A. McAskin
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This is a request for a stand-alone Modification of a standard in the
Neighborhood Conservation Medium Density (N-C-M) zone district, specifically the dimensional
lot width standard set forth in Land Use Code Section 4.8(E)(1), which requires a minimum lot
width of forty feet (40’).
The request has been submitted in advance of a formal request to subdivide the existing lot owned
by the Applicant (containing approx. 0.72 acres) into two (2) lots.
Parcel 1 (proposed) would be approximately 15,255 in area and would be twenty seven feet (27’)
wide in the front portion (abutting North Sherwood Street), widening to forty feet (40’) in the middle
portion of the proposed lot and ultimately to approximately one hundred and fifteen feet (115’) in
the real portion of the proposed lot.
Parcel 2 (proposed) would be approximately 16,035 in area and is the lot on which the existing
historic single family home would remain.
The Subject Property is a historic single family residential property located at 113 North Sherwood
Street, in the older West Side Neighborhood near downtown Fort Collins. The Subject Property is
located west of North Sherwood Street, north of West Mountain Avenue, south of Laporte Avenue,
and east of North Whitcomb Street.
The Subject Property contains an existing historic single family house and associated outbuildings
and structures, known as the “Boughton House.”
The historical property contains an accessory barn building with habitable space in the rear of the
lot, and a root cellar building. The existing single family home would remain on one of the lots,
specifically Parcel 2. The barn building would remain on the other lot, Parcel 1, to enable separate
sale and conversion to a single family dwelling. As demonstrated in the application materials,
Parcel 1 and Parcel 2 would each have their own driveway access.
The Applicant has not yet formally submitted a project development plan (“PDP”) to the City.
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However, the Applicant has submitted a conceptual plan for the Boughton House Subdivision
Modification (the “Plan”) to City Staff. The Plan was presented to the Hearing Officer at the
December 3, 2014 public hearing.
SUMMARY OF DECISION: Approved.
ZONE DISTRICT: N-C-M (Neighborhood Conservation Medium
Density District).
HEARING: The Hearing Officer opened the hearing at approximately 5:00 p.m. on December 3,
2014, in Conference Room A, 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado.
EVIDENCE: During the hearing, the Hearing Officer accepted the following evidence: (1) Planning
Department Staff Report; (2) PowerPoint presentation prepared by Staff including multiple
photographs of the subject property; (3) Block Context Plan and Sketch Plan submitted by the
Applicant; (4) affidavit of publication dated November 25, 2014, confirming publication of the
notice of public hearing in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on November 25, 2014; and (5) notice of
public hearing dated November 18, 2014. In addition, the City’s Land Use Code (“Code”), the
Comprehensive Plan and the formally promulgated polices of the City are all considered part of the
record considered by the Hearing Officer.
TESTIMONY: The following persons testified at the hearing:
From the City: Clark Mapes, AICP, City Planner
From the Applicant: Randy Everett
From the Public: Chet Wisner, 508 West Mountain Avenue
Jim Kelly, 430 West Mountain Avenue (email comment
submitted to City Staff on October 27, 2014)
FINDINGS
1. Evidence presented to the Hearing Officer established the fact that the hearing was properly
posted, legal notices mailed and notice published.
2. The Subject Property, located at 113 North Sherwood Street and consisting of approximately
0.72 acres, is situate in a neighborhood that has primary dwellings units located behind
existing dwellings units, some on existing flag lots.
3. The Subject Property is known as the Boughton House property and is a prominent historic
resource in Fort Collins.
4. The large Queen Anne style home located on Subject Property was constructed in or about
1894, with the barn/summer house building added within a decade.
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5. The Subject Property includes two gravel driveways, one to the main house and one to the
barn/summer house in the rear of the existing lot.
6. The Staff Report identifies the Subject Property as being listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. The Applicant confirmed this fact at the December 3, 2014 public hearing.
7. The Hearing Officer evaluated the request based on findings required under Section 2.8 of
the Land Use Code governing Modification decisions.
8. During the Applicant’s presentation, the Applicant informed the Hearing Officer that the
property was owned by Jay H. Boughton, who was admitted to the bar in 1870. Upon
relocating to Fort Collins in the late nineteenth century, Mr. Boughton served as the county
attorney, the county judge, the President of the Board of Education and also served as an
alderman and member of the Fort Collins City Council.
9. The Hearing Officer finds that the problems and issues of substandard lot width, and flag
lots in generally, are adequately addressed and resolved in this case.
10. The Subject Property is located within a unique block that has already been subdivided and
developed with rear dwellings and flag lots, unlike any other block in the immediate
neighborhood of the Subject Property.
11. Based on testimony provided at the public hearing and a review of the materials submitted
to the Hearing Officer is this case, the Hearing Officer concludes that the Modification of
Standard (for Section 4.8(E)(1) of the Land Use Code) meets the applicable requirements of
Section 2.8.2(H) of the Code. Specifically, the Hearing Officer finds as follows:
a. The requested Modification of Standard is not detrimental to the public good.
b. The Modification satisfies Section 2.8.2(H)(1) of the Code – the Plan as submitted
will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the modification is
requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard
for which a modification is requested.
DECISION
Based on the findings set forth above, the Hearing Officer hereby enters the following ruling:
1. The Request for Modification of Standard 4.8(E)(1) is approved for the Subject
Property, subject to the following conditions:
a. The Modification shall be applicable to the Subject Property exclusively.
b. The Applicant shall submit a PDP within one (1) year following the date of
this decision. If Applicant fails to submit a PDP to the City within said one (1) year
period, this Modification shall automatically expire in accordance with Section
2.8.2(K) of the Land Use Code.
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c. If the Applicant submits a PDP to City Staff within one (1) year of this
decision, the same shall, consistent with the Plan, propose not more than two (2)
single family detached lots.
d. The PDP shall be reviewed against the applicable District standards set forth
in Division 4.8 of the Code and all applicable General Development Standards set
forth in Article 3 of the Code, including but not limited to the Historic and Cultural
Resource Standards set forth in Section 3.4.7 of the Code (“Historic and Cultural
Resources”).
e. The PDP shall contain a note requiring that any future single family dwelling
unit located on Parcel 1 (the proposed flag lot) will be required to have a fire sprinkler
system installed, which system shall be reviewed and approved in advance by an
authorized representative of the Poudre Fire Authority.
f. The PDP shall contain a note requiring that any and all future exterior
improvements to the Subject Property, including but not limited to the existing single
family home located on Parcel 2 and the barn/summer house located on Parcel 1,
shall be required to obtain a report of acceptability from the City’s Landmark
Preservation Commission.
g. As the Subject Property is designated on the National Register of Historic
Places, the Subject Property remains subject to all requirements and provisions of
Chapter 14 of the Fort Collins Municipal Code.
2. For the limited purpose of any subsequent review of the PDP submitted by the
Applicant for the Subject Property, the dimensional lot width standard set forth in Land Use
Code Section 4.8(E)(1), which requires a minimum lot width of forty feet (40’), shall be
amended to allow for a minimum lot width of twenty seven feet (27’). This modification to
the lot width standard shall be applicable to Parcel 1 only, as shown in the conceptual Plan
reviewed at the hearing.
DATED this 16th day of December, 2014.
_____________________________________
Marcus A. McAskin
Hearing Officer