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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-11-15 MinutesMINUTES OF A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING A meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held at 3:45 P. M., Monday, November 15, 1976, in the Board of Directors Room, City Administration Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Carl Yates, Connie Clack, David Newbern, Dr. James White, Chester House, Mrs. Don Mills, Larry Smith. MEMBERS ABSENT: None. OTHERS PRESENT: Al Green, L. R. Kirby, Pastor Ralph Goff, Ozzie Crawford, Bobbie Jones, Angie Medlock. Chairman Carl Yates called the meeting to order. The public hearing was opened on Appeal No. 76-32, APPEAL NO. 76-32 Hanna Marine, Inc., 600 West Sixth Street, on an HANNA MARINE, INC. application to vary setbacks; or more specifically 600 West Sixth Street the front yard setback that is requested is 35 feet, and the required zoning setback is 50 feet plus 20 feet for the Master Street Plan for a total of 70 feet; also, the applicant requests a 12 foot setback on the West side, and 25 feet is required. Mr. Ozzie Crawford, partner in Hanna Marine, Inc., was present to represent. Mr. Crawford pointed out on the map where the proposed building would be added on to the West end of an existing building. He said this building is to be used for retail sales showroom, marine business, boats, motors, etc. He said they need to have a showroom facing the major street. He said they started out on the corner of Government and Sixth and are still using that building as offices and a service shop and they need to expand. He said they plan to remove the existing canopies which will make the overall appearance of the property better than it is now and lessen the proximity to the road. None of the new building will be as close to the road as the canopies now are. He said the lot itself is too shallow to build on_it at all if they go by the Master Street Plan. The lot is 75 feet deep by 173 feet (along West Sixth). Connie Clack asked who owns the property north of the subject property. Mr. Crawford said'his partner owns this land, but Mr. Crawford himself doesn't own any of it. He again said they can't adhere to the Ordinance because of the shallowness of the lot. He said they had discussed what would happen if Sixth Street were widened, and the only thing it would affect is their parking. He said they could rent parking from Hanna Properties Rental on the West end of the new proposed building. David Newbern asked if Hanna Marine, Inc. owns the lot where the existing building to the north is and Mr. Crawford said it does not. Chairman Yates asked what the existing storage building is used for and Ozzie Crawford said it is used primarily for a warehouse for outboard motors, and they do store some boats there. Chairman Yates said it appears that this building is partially on both lots. Mr. Craw- ford said he thinks a small portion of the south side of that building is on the lot for the proposed building. He said their plans are for the proposed building to adjoin the existing building which will give them approximately 4,000 square feet of room. Mr. Newbern asked Mr. Crawford to clarify about who owns the various properties. Mr. Crawford said Hanna Marine, of which he is a partner, owns the 75 feet by 173 feet lot on the corner and Mr. Hanna through Hanna Properties Rental owns the properties to the North and West. Chairman Yates asked Mr. Crawford if he had considered using the property to the West or North, since Mr. Hanna owns both pieces of property. Mr. Crawford said it is income producing for Mr. Hanna and is now being used. He said it is not feasible for Mr. Hanna to do this. Board of Adjustment Meeting November 15, 1976 -2- Dr. White asked what they would do if they were not granted a variance. Mr. Crawford said they would continue their business. He said that up until about 12 or 14 months ago Mr. Hanna had not thought about expanding but since Mr. Crawford came into the business they want to expand and need a new showroom for continued growth of the business. He said if the variance wasn't granted, they would have to reevaluate and start over. David Newbern said the Board's problem is that they are charged with seeing that the Ordinance is adhered to unless there is some sort of physical hardship caused by some physical characteristic of the property. He said he thinks Mr. Crawford has wound up telling them that Mr. Hanna has more on the land than they can justify removing since everything is income producing. He said the Board was not seeing a particular hardship that applies to the marine business. He said the Board is not here to let businesses expand where there isn't room for them to expand. Ozzie Crawford asked Mr. Newbern what he is referring to as hardship and Mr. Newbern gave him an example to clarify his point. Mr. Crawford said he didn't understand how they could use any of the corner lot. Chairman Yates said there is land owned by Mr. Hanna to the North and West which they should be able to use. Mr. Crawford said if the variance is not granted they will be left with what they have now if they stay in the same location. He said looking at the overall picture of the property, it seems the proposed building would be much better than what is there now. He said they are willing to tear down the canopies which stand closer to Sixth Street than anything which they are hoping to build. He stated that the square footage of the canopies is 528 feet. The amount of land covered by the new building which requires a variance is only 720 feet. He said there will be 192 square feet of difference plus they are giving up 18 feet back away from the road. Chairman Yates said the canopies are not permanent, where the building would be. He said he thought the Board of Adjustment had given Mr. Hanna a variance to build the canopies, and one of the reasons it was granted was because they would not be permanent structures. Mr. Crawford said the proposed new building will not be any closer to Sixth Street than the existing old gas station which is also a permanent building. Connie Clack said the aim of the Ordinance is that all of the old buildings will eventually be torn down and new buildings are to conform to the Ordinance. There was no one present to oppose the request. The public hearing was concluded. The public hearing was opened on Appeal No. 76-33, APPEAL NO. 76-33 University Baptist Church, 315 West Maple Street, UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH on an application to vary parking requirements. 315 West Maple Street Pastor Goff said basically they are requesting setbacks and screening requirements to be waived in several locations on Church property. On parking Lot #1, west of Vandeventer Street, they need the Board to waive the setbacks from the 25 feet required to 22 feet, and would like to have no screening along Vandeventer Street, and the Ordinance calls for screened parking when across the street from residentially zoned property. On Parking Lot #2, located south of Lafayette Street, the Church is asking for the requirement for a durable and dustless surface to be waived for a three-year period; and the setback (required is 25 feet and they would have less than 5 feet from Lafayette) from Lafayette be waived, and the screening along Lafayette be waived. He said the Church planned to meet the requirements for screening and setbacks along Campbell Street and the property to the South and the small portion of private property to the North. Parking Lot #4 is on the main part of the Church property (in the area of the proposed new building), the Church is asking that the requirements be waived for screening along Vandeventer; and on Lot #5, which is just east of that particular area just above mentioned, has been in existence since the Church began. The Church is asking that requirements for screening on Maple and along the private property to the east be waived. 72 Board of Adjustment Meeting November 15, 1976 -3- Pastor Goff said the Church requirement for parking is mainly one day a week. He said the map indicates that the Church needs 215 parking spaces; in recalculating this, they found they need only 182 parking spaces. He indicated their justification, in asking for most of these variances, is that the Church owns the property on both sides of the Street, with the exception of Maple Street. Chairman Yates asked Bobbie Jones when they had came to the Board for a variance for the parking lot before and she said it was three years ago, and that variance recently expired. Connie Clack said in the Church's letter, they mentioned that two lots on West Street are not being used by the Church. Pastor Goff said they are used by the public. He said the Church does not officially use these two lots as parking lots. He said they had torn down the old houses that were on these lots and graveled them. Connie Clack said there were two buses belonging to the Church parked on one of these lots. She asked if there is any requirement for screening on that parking lot. Pastor Goff said he didn't know. He said that the Church hardly ever uses those buses; they are parked there for convenience sake. David Newbern asked why they have asked for a variance for a three year period. Pastor Goff said this is just an arbitrary figure. He said they had plans originally to build on that parking lot south of Lafayette but it was decided that wasn't a feasible place to build. He said they didn't want to undertake to pave it because they may decide to build on it, and also the Church can't afford to pave it at the present time. He said the Church understands they will have to pave it if the City says for them to, but it would cost over $10,000 and they can't afford it now; however, the Church will want to pave it in the future. Chairman Yates asked if the five parking spaces on Lafayette would cause vision obstruction with the cars parked that close to the road. Ralph Goff said there is a real steep drop-off, with a concrete retaining wall approximately 3 feet high. The cars would be sitting at least three feet lower than the sidewalk and street level. He said he doesn't think it would cause a visual problem. L. R. Kirby said there is no visual problem. Mr. Green said parking is allowed along the street and those cars on the street would be more of an obstruction than cars parked in the lot. Connie Clack said they could meet the requirements by excluding those five parking spaces since they only need 182 spaces. She asked if the Church had any communication with the other property owners as far as screening on Maple Street and Lafayette. Ralph Goff said no, the Church owns the property across from Lafayette. He stated that the only property that they don't own is the Northwest corner of Lafayette and Vandeventer. He said he had some contact with the second house from the inter- section of Campbell and Lafayette but wasn't sure if he had talked to them about the screening. He said the only person he had talked to was the tenants who live between the two gravel parking lots on West Avenue, and they assured him they are not bothered by the lights and didn't want the Church to put up screening. That house belongs to Mr. McGaugh. Connie Clack asked him if he had submitted a request for a variance about screening and paving those lots and Mr. Goff said he had not. She asked him if he was aware that he is in violation of the Ordinance. He said the property owners there were not bothered by the situation and didn't want the Church to spend the money to screen the lot, so he just dropped it. Dr. White asked if the Church.has plans for other buildings at this point and Ralph Goff said if the growth does continue they will want to build another building but right now they don't have any plans. Al Green said that is one reason they want,to hold off paving across from Lafayette, so they won't have to take the paving up if they decide to build there. Chairman Yates said the City does not require the more high-priced hot mix paving. Ralph Goff stated that the Church is not trying to not do what the Ordinance requires, but right now they don't have the money to surface the parking lot. He said they do want to have grounds and buildings that will add to the beauty of Fayetteville. There was no one present to oppose the appeal. The public hearing was concluded. Board of Adjustment Meeting November 15, 1976 Mrs. Clack stated that she doesn't see that there is any real justification for granting a variance to Hanna Marine, because it seems that some alternative plan could be worked out. She said he may want to think it over and submit another plan. Mrs. Mills stated that traffic is already so bad there that anything that will not conform will really cause a hazard 10 years from now. Chairman Yates asked Bobbie Jones if parking in front of the building would require 50 feet in this area and she said 50 feet is the minimum setback in that zone, whether there is parking in front or not. Connie Clack asked if they would need an additional variance for the parking. Chairman Yates did not think they would. David Newbern said if the Board granted the variance they would be compounding traffic problems by having the cars back out in the street. Connie Clack stated that parking would take up more than the 35 foot setback. Larry Smith asked Mr. Crawford what the driveway on the West side is and Mr. Crawford stated that is a driveway between the :existing building and the trailers. Connie Clack moved to deny the request for a variance to vary setbacks. Mr. House seconded the motion. The motion was Approved unanimously by a vote of 7-0. APPEAL NO. 76-32 HANNA MARINE, INC. 600 West Sixth Street David Newbern stated that the only thing that seems like a hardship on University Baptist Church is that the lots are generally used only once a week and even APPEAL NO. 76-33 UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH 315 West Maple that is a problem. He said he couldn't come up with a good reason for failure to comply with the Ordinance. Mrs. Mills said several lots are used by students during the week. The lot on West Avenue is usually full and the one behind West Avenue annex is heavily used. Connie Clack said she had no objection to the no -screening provision on Vandeventer and Lafayette but didn't feel the Board should continue to allow the operation without screening on the south side of Lafayette and the east side of the old lot on Maple Street. Ralph Goff said there is nothing there except a hill. The Church has planted shrubs along that property line. Connie Clack said she would be opposed to granting all of the variances except the no -screening on parking Lot #1, where it is across from Church owned property. She asked if there is a hedge at the back of Lot #1. Mr. Goff said there is a hedge, and a natural barrier there. Connie Clack said she has no objection to leaving out the one on the east end of that lot and on the north end of Lafayette Street where it fronts a portion of the property on the other side. She said she thinks it should be required of the two lots on West Avenue, which were not included in this request, or there should be a request for a variance for those two lots. She said she believes they should conform with the law. She also stated that she thinks three years should have been sufficient time for a variance on surfacing the parking lot. She said she couldn't see allowing parking that close to Lafayette Street. Mrs. Mills agreed with Connie Clack about the surfacing. Chairman Yates asked Bobbie Jones why the east side of Parking Lot #5 is not included in this request and Bobbie Jones said they had planted some hedge -type shrubs there and she was allowing time for them to attain their growth. Chairman Yates asked what would be sufficient for screening along Maple and she said it would need to be either a fence or a hedge. She said there is a conflict in the Ordinance concerning this --one section requires the screening; another prohibits anything that obstructs vision in the front yard setbacks. Chairman Yates stated that it seems to him that the screening requirements between these parking lots and private houses should be installed. As far as screening along streets where the Church owns the property across the street and the lot on Maple Street, anything put within the 25 foot setback will impede vision. He said he would like to insist that they not put anything there to block vision. 7f J • • • • • • Board of Adjustment Meeting November 15, 1976 -5- David Newbern said he would not vote to impose any requirement whatsoever on the property owner when there is a conflict in the Ordinance. Chairman Yates asked if they should consider imposing the 25 foot setback on Lot #1 since that would cause them to lose five parking spaces Dr. White asked if the two gravel parking lots on West Avenue, since they are not being used by the Church, could be shut off from public use, or should they be covered with a dustless surface. Bobbie Jones said if it is used as a parking area it should have a dustless, durable surface. If the Church does not intend to use the parking areas, then in order for it to be used by anyone else the Planning Commission would have to approve it for off- site parking. Dr. White said in that event it would have to be a dustless and durable surface. Chairman Yates questioned what the Church's responsibility is to close the parking lot off. Pastor Goff said the Church has considered closing it off but they think if they did, the people using it would park on the street. Connie Clack said she thinks it should be surfaced and the screening put up. Chester House asked if the Church has in mind to purchase the two pieces of property they now surround and Mr. Goff said they do, when those properties become available and when the Church has the money. Connie Clack said she thought they should consider the two parking lots on West Avenue since the Church is not seeking a variance on those lots. He said if they are not in compliance, it seems to be the Building Inspector's responsibility. Dr. White said there are all kinds of similar offenses. He asked what the Planning Office would do about this. Bobbie Jones said they would serve them a notice of violation of the Ordinance and if they failed to comply, they would receive a summons to appear in the Municipal Court. Chairman Yates asked the Board if they should forget these two lots since the Church has stated that they do not plan to use them. Chester House said they would have to chain one of the lots all of the way around and this would cause malicious action from the boys in the area. Larry Smith said he felt they are not claiming these as parking lots, since they have already provided the number of parking spaces required. Chairman Yates asked the Planning Administrator to call this to the attention of the Inspector and see if they couldn't work something out on this. Chairman Yates stated that on parking Lot #1, the Church would lose five parking spaces if the Board should require them to stay with the 25 feet required setbacks from the street. Connie Clack said they do have other property they could use. Chester House moved to approve that parking be allowed as the Church requested on Parking Lot #1. The motion died for lack of a second. David Newbern moved to deny the 22 foot setback requested for Parking Lot #1. Dr. White seconded the motion. Newbern, Clack, Mills, Yates, White voted "Aye"; Smith and House abstained to deny the requested setback (5-0-2). David Newbern asked how the other Board members felt about the screening. He asked if they thought it is to prevent people who live nearby from seeing it, or for the people who drive by. He asked Bobbie Jones if this is a situation where there is a conflict and she said it is. David Newbern moved to grant that no -screening along Vandeventer be required for Parking Lot #1. Connie Clack seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0-2 with Newbern, Clack, White, Mills, Yates voting "Aye"; Smith and House abstaining. Connie Clack moved to deny the motion to waive the surfacing on Parking Lot #2 for three years. Mrs. Mills seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0-2 with Clack, Mills, Newbern, White and Yates voting "Aye"; Smith and House abstaining. Chairman Yates said the setback on Lot 2 would affect five parking spaces, and parking is allowed on the street. David Newbern said there is no real hardship but it would 75 • • Board of Adjustment Meeting november 15, 1976 -6- be unreasonable to require that, in view of the drop-off. He said it seems that given the lay of the land, he is in favor of waiving this requirement. He moved to waive the setback from Lafayette Street on Parking Lot #2. Larry Smith seconded the motion. The vote was 3-2-2 with Yates, White, and Newbern voting "Aye"; Mills and Clack voting "Nay"; Smith and House abstaining. The motion failed to pass Chairman Yates asked if there is a house west of the Church's driveway on Lafayette. Pastor Goff said that house belongs to the Church, but there are houses the rest of the way down the street. Connie Clack made a motion that the variance be allowed for no -screening along Lafayette on Parking Lot #2. David Newbern seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0-2 with Newbern, Clack, Mills, Yates, and White voting "Aye"; House and Smith abstaining. Dr. White moved that the no -screening along Vandeventer on Parking Lot #4 be granted as requested. Connie Clack seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0-2 with White, Clack, Mills, Yates, and Newbern voting "Aye"; House and Smith abstaining. David Newbern said that in view of the extreme drop-off on Parking Lot #5, he sees no need for screening. He made a motion to allow the no -screening on Parking Lot #5 along Maple Street and the property line to the East. Dr. White seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0-2 with Newbern, White, Clack, Mills, and Yates voting "Aye"; House and Smith abstaining. The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 P. M.