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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-01-27 MinutesMINUTES OF A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING ulf,/,flou e d 411 ,c b. /7, /975 A meeting of the Fayetteville Board of.Adjustment was held at 3:45 P.M. Monday, January 27, 1975 in the Directors Room, City Administration Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Carl Yates, Suzanne Lighton, Connie Clack, James White, David Newbern. None. OTHERS PRESENT: Bobbie Jones, Mr.$ Mrs. Rawleigh H. Ralls, Sandra Andrews, Janet Bowen. Chairman Yates called the meeting to order and opened the public hearing on Appeal No. 75-2, Mr. Rawleigh H. Ralls, 621 Skyline Drive, APPEAL NO. 75-2 on an application to vary setbacks. Mr. Ralls was requesting Rawleigh H Ralls a setback of 21 feet from Skyline Drive while there is a 621 Skyline Drive required zoning setback of 25 feet and a setback of 10 feet for the Major Street Plan for a total required setback of 35 feet. Mr and Mrs. Ralls were present to represent. Mr Ralls told the Board of Adjustment that they would like to add another room with a full basement underneath to the East side of the existing house. He said it was fairly steep where he proposed to build the addition and it would look rather odd if he had to setback 35 feet; also it would be harder to construct. He said he would not be changing the appearance of the house but it would merely be a continuation of the existing structure. Dr. White asked how far this would be from the property line, and Mr Ralls explained that he also owned the adjoining lot (Lot No. 108). Chairman Yates asked Bobbie Jones, Planning Administrator, about the side setback from the property line in a residential district and what would happen if Mr Ralls built against the side property line and then decided to sell Lot 108. (Mr. Ralls plans to build 3 feet from the property line as it exists at the present time.) Bobbie Jones answered that the side setback in residential districts was 8 feet and that this could be handled as a lot split if he decided to sell part of Lot 108. Mrs. Jones commented to Mr Ralls that she understood he was planning to construct the addition 20 feet from the property line as it presently existed. Mr. Ralls said this was what he had intended when he first came into the Planning Office because he planned to move the fence (that is, the present property line) over 20 feet to the East. Mr. Ralls said that this property was surveyed a long time ago and that the measurements do not coincide with any plat. David Newbern commented that the side variance was more or less a "red herring" because this is one of the areas where the property law and the planning law do not mesh at all. In answer to a question asked by Mr. Newbern, Mr. Ralls said he had lived at the concerned location for approximately 11 years. Mr Ralls mentioned wanting to extend the porch all the way across the front of the addition. Mrs. Clack then asked Mr. Ralls if he was requesting a variance just for the addition as shown on the sketch or if he wanted to amend it to ask for a variance to extend the porch. Mr. Ralls said he would like to amend the request to make the setback 13 feet from the right-of-way in order to extend the porch if the Board of Adjustment would consider it, but if not he would go the way that it was submitted. He also asked to amend the request to increase the East-West dimension of the Board of Adjustment -2- January 27, 1975 addition from 15 feet to 20 feet because he wanted an inside stairway. Contractors with whom he has checked have told him an inside stairway will require 20 feet. There was no one present to oppose the request. The public hearing was concluded. Discussion was opened on Appeal No. 75-2. Mr. Newbern was troubled aboutthe:advertising on.the amended request. He said a notice is posted showing a request for a variance of so many feet and that the information for the amended request would not be on file for the public to check into if they desired to do so. Chairman Yates commented that the notice did not state what the setbacks were and since there was no one present to oppose the request, he felt the Board could go on and consider the amended request if they wished to do so. Planning Administrator Bobbie Jones confirmed that the notice was worded "application to vary setbacks," but that it did say Lot 107. Suzanne Lighton moved to grant a 13 or 14 foot setback from the right-of-way to permit Mr. Ralls to build with the front porch extended all across the front and with the rest of the addition to be 20 feet by 21 feet as Mr. Ralls amended his request at this meeting. Miss Lighton said the reason she felt like this was because everything else on Skyline Drive was built this way anyway and this would be in line with what is already there. There was no further discussion. The motion was approved unanimously. Appeal No. 75-2 Rawleigh H. Ralls APPEAL NO. 75-1. Olive Mae Baley The public hearing was opened on Appeal No. 74-1, 2834 S. School Ave. Mrs. Olive Mae Baley, 2834 South School Avenue, on an application to vary setbacks. Mrs. Baley is requesting a 14 foot setback from the right-of-way of Peach Street while a 25 foot zoning setback and 10 foot setback for the Major Street Plan is required. This request was deferred at the January 13, 1975 meeting because Mrs. Baley was unable to attend. This appeal is being considered last since no one was present to represent it at the beginning of the meeting. (Mr. and Mrs. Baley are both presently in the hospital.) Sandra Andrews (Mr. and Mrs. Baley's daughter) was present to represent. She told the Board of Adjustment members that her father was very ill and was in the hospital most of the time, and that Mrs. Baley would like to build a carport off of her husband's room so she could get him into the car or ambulance when he needed to go to the hospital. Mrs. Andrews said they presently had to go down as many as eight steps with him, that he was a large man, and the amublance crew did not like to take him down all the steps. She said the City Police usually came to help get him into the car. Connie Clack asked about the possibility of using a back entrance. Mrs. Andrews said there were four steps to go down in the back and eight at the front entrance. She said the carport would be level with her father's room and there would not be any steps involved. The Board discussed with Mrs. Andrews whether the carport needed to extend the full width of the house She was not sure. o3 J Board of Adjustment -3- January 27., 1975 Planning Administrator Bobbie Jones pointed out that Mr. Hoffman, Property Inspector, has been working with. Mrs. Baley in improving the appearance of the property. Mrs. Baley's grandchildren have been working on cleaning it up. Mrs. Andrews said the property had become untidy when water started running into her mother's basement as a result of some work the street department had done behind the Baley's home. Mrs. Baley was forced to place the items that were in the basement outside. Bobbie Jones said she understood that Mr. Hoffman had contacted the Street Superintendent about this and the problem has supposedly been corrected. Mrs. Andrews agreed, but said therehas not really been a big rain since the work was done. Mrs. Andrews said one of the vehicles had been removed from the premises, but that there was one vehicle (a red car) which used to belong to her father. She said even though he could no longer drive it, he enjoyed sitting in it listening to the radio, since he was unable to get out and do anything else. No one was present to oppose the request. The public hearing was concluded. Appeal No. 75-1 There was no further discussion on this request. Olive Mae Baley Miss Lighton moved to grant the variance as requested on Appeal No. 75-1. David Newbern seconded the motion which carried unanimously. FURTHER DISCUSSION David Newbern said he was still troubled about the advertising on Appeal No. 75-2 Rawleigh H. Rails, 621 Skyline Drive. He felt that an address was advertised for people to check on the application and when a request was amended, this part of the request would not be made known to anyone if they wished to check into it. Dr. White suggested that the Planning Office try to obtain the names and addresses of those that called or came into the office to get information on the requests. Chairman Yates agreed that this was a good suggestion. MINUTES The minutes of the January 13, 1975 Board of Adjustment meeting were approved as mailed. There was no. further discussion. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 P.M. Ng J