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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-03-06 MinutesMINUTES OF A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING A meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held at 3:45 P.M., Monday, March 6, 1978, in the Board of Directors Room, City Administration Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chester House, Don Mills, Richard Osborne, David Newbern, Larry Smith. Chairman Carl Yates, Dr. James White. Robert M. Reagan, Larry Matthews, Bobbie Jones. MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: In the absence of Chairman Carl Yates and Vice -Chairman James White, David Newbern, the member present having the longest tenure, presided and called the meeting to order. Acting Chairman Newbern opened the public hearing on Appeal No. M. Reagan, on an application to vary setbacks at 2687 Azalea Terrace. Mr. Reagan requested a variance of 6 ft. from the front yard setback, or a total variance of 6 ft. to be divided between the front yard and rear yard setbacks. 78-2, Robert ROBERT M. REAGAN 2687 Azalea Terrace APPEAL NO. 78-2 Robert M. Reagan was present on his own behalf. Mr. Reagan explained that he had spent 3 months looking for a lot that faced to the South, with a slope to the South and with trees on both the East and West of it on which it would be suitable to build a solar home. He further explained that he was getting a grant from. the Veterans Administration to build a wheelchair home for himself which would all be on one floor, have hallways 4 ft. wide, have doorways 3 ft. wide and have window exposure to the South. He planned to supplement the solar heating with a fireplace which would have water pumped through it in order to reduce the amount of utilities required to heat the home. Mr. Reagan said that at the time he signed the offer and acceptance on the property, he had only a rough sketch which showed the property being 116.49 ft. across. He said he did not discover that the property was only 109 ft. in actual width East- West until a week before he filed the appeal for a variance when Engineer Neal Albright was hired to draw up plans to get water and sewer into the property. He added that by this time he had already had his house plans prepared for a house 70 ft. wide and 28 ft. deep. Mr. Reagan explained..that he needed a total variance of 6 ft. and requested that the front setback be reduced to 19 ft. or vary the front setback to 20 ft. and the rear setback to 19 ft. Mr. Reagan said that he planned a 4 ft. long wheelchair ramp as an emergency exit to the West, but he would not be able to put that in if the house were closer than 19 ft. to the West property line because there would be a 15 ft. wide easement dQwn.the West side of the South 200 ft. of his property and the ramp could not be built into the easement.Mr.Reagan said that another reason he had chosen this lot was because it was close to both the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic, either of which he might have to reach in a hurry. Mrs. Mills asked Mr. Reagan how far North of the South line of his property he planned to put the house; would the house be almost in line with Yvonne Street to the West; and what he planned to do with the other two lots to the North. Mr. Reagan replied that the house would be far enough to the North that the pine trees along the South of the property would not shield the house from the sun in the winter. He stated that he hoped to be able to keep the balance of the property himself. Larry Matthews was present and stated that he had signed an offer and acceptance to purchase the house belonging to Charles Bickford at 2548 Yvonne Drive. 3 Board of Adjustment March 6, 1978 -2- Mr. Matthews inquired whether an easement has already been granted on the West side of Mr. Reagan's property; would it be exclusively on Mr. Reagan's property and not on the Bickford property; and would power lines be run along that easement? Mr. Reagan replied that the easement has been given and is all on his own property, being 15 ft. wide on the South 200 ft. of the property and 20 ft. wide on the North 200 ft. He did not know whether there would be power lines in the easement as he had not yet considered electrical service. Mr. Matthews requested the Board not grant any variance in the required setback from the rear property line (West property line) and stated that the fact that there were no houses close to the Bickford house was what had attracted him to the house. He also suggested that Mr. Reagan's house could be turned and stated that solar collectors could be geared to collect from the East and West as well as from the South. Mr. Reagan said he did not plan to use "collectors", but to use windows to receive the rays of the sun. A comparison of the drawing submitted by Mr. Reagan determined that Mr. Reagan's house would lie South of the Bickford house. The public hearing was closed. Richard Osborne observed that both Mr. Reagan, the applicant, and Mr. APPEAL NO. 78-2 Matthews, the future adjoining property owner, preferred that the setback from the street right-of-way be reduced rather than reducing the setback from the rear property line. Chester House stated that he thought maintaining the setback requirement from the street and reducing the rear yard setback would be more consistent with past actions of the Board, even though this was not what was being proposed by the applicant. Mr. House also stated that he must abstain from voting in this case for several reasons, one of them being that he is the local inspector for houses constructed under V. A. loans. Richard Osborne inquired of Planning Administrator Bobbie Jones if Azalea Terrace is proposed to be any wider in the future; is it to become a collector or higher designation street? Mrs. Jones said there are no such plans at this time. Mr. Reagan commented that should he sell the two "lots" North of his house, the houses on those lots would have to face Azalea Terrace In answer to David Newbern's question, Mr. Reagan stated that the house would have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large kitchen, living room and also a greenhouse. He said the Veterans Administration required the large bathroom. David Newbern commented that this appeal is appealing to him because it seems to meet the requirements of the (State) Statute, if not the (City) Ordinance, in that the difficulty is caused by the shape of the lot, which he found to be the kind of physical configuration problem that the Statute sought to address in granting power to Boards of Adjustment. He added that this is a kind of hard thing to deal with because it depends on how big the property is and the house a person wants to build on the property and whether it couldn't be done some other way. He thought it might be necessary to have expert testimony from an architect on this particular kind of house plan in order to say whether it could be done some other way. He concluded by saying that this does seem to fit the Statute requirements for a variance. Mr. Reagan commented that since the street curb is about 911 feet inside the street right-of-way, a 6 ft. variance would leave the front of the house 28 ft. from the curb. Mrs. Mills asked if there would be a place provided to turn a car around between the garage'and street, or did Mr. Reagan plan to back into the street? Mr. Osborne explained they were concerned that the house being closer to the street might block visibility for a person backing out of the driveway. Mr. Reagan stated that there would be a turn -around space provided. Richard Osborne moved to grant a variance of 6 ft. in the setback from Azalea Terrace; or, that a variance be granted to decrease the setback from the required 25 ft. to 19 ft. on the East side of the property in question. Mrs. Mills seconded the motion. • • • Board of Adjustment March 6, 1978 The vote was recorded at 4-0-1, with Mills, Osborne, Newbern and Smith voting "Aye"; and House abstaining from voting. Upon a motion and second by Richard Osborne and Don Mills, the minutes of the February 6, 1978 Board of Adjustment Meeting were approved as mailed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 P.M. 5