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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-05-01 Minutes• • MINUTES OF A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING A meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held on Monday, May 1, 1978, at 3:45 P. M., in the Board of Directors Room, City Administration Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Carl Yates, Dr. James White, Chester House, David Newbern, Larry Smith, Richard Osborne. MEMBERS ABSENT: Mrs. Don Mills. OTHERS PRESENT: Bobbie Jones, Angie Medlock, Scott Van Laningham, Phil Colwell, David McWethy. Chairman Carl Yates called the meeting to order. The only item was a public hearing on Appeal No. APPEAL NO. 78-8 78-8, Philip J. Colwell, 3 East Maple Street, on Philip J. Colwell an application to build a 51 to 6 foot rough cedar 3 East Maple St. fence on the front property line and the Ordinance states that nothing over 21 ft. high may be installed which materially impedes vision between vehicular or pedestrian traffic (as determined by the Planning Administrator). Mr. Colwell stated that the front of his property is open to the street and there is no privacy. He said that the fence which he is proposing would extend 40 feet east to the property line. He noted that whnn you back out of the driveway, you are past the proposed fence line before you can see up the street to the west, and even a large car is not in the street at the point where you can back out and see in both directions. Mr. Colwell said there is traffic backed up in front of his house all the time, with the changing of classes, and at 5:00, the traffic is backed up in front of his house for about 30 minutes. He stated that there is no privacy at all. Mr. Colwell said there is a noise factor which he would like to eliminate also. He said he • plans to put in shrubs. Bobbie Jones stated that he could not put in any shrubs which would be more than 30 inches high without a variance, because that would be considered view -obstructing. David Newbern asked Bobbie Jones if she had checked this fence location to determine if she thought it would be view -obstructing. Bobbie Jones said she and Harold Lieberenz had looked at the area and it is her opinion that it would impede vision. Bobbie Jones said she is concerned about the traffic coming from the east, or a person walking along the sidewalk. She stated that the driveway does not go straight into the lot but angles in from the street to the building. Mr. Colwell said he plans to leave the bottom of the fence open so pedestrian traffic will be able to see someone backing out of the driveway and someone backing out of the driveway could see them. Richard Osborne arrived at 4:00. Chairman Yates asked Mr. Colwell if he would be willing to shorten the height of the fence and Mr. Colwell said that would be defeating his purpose. Mr. Yates asked if he would be willing to consider leaving off 5-7 feet near the driveway and Mr. Colwell stated that if you leave off that portion of the fence, someone could see in the front door. Dr. White asked Mr. Colwell if he could put in some type of screen or fence closer to the door and Mr. Colwell noted that the area in front of the door is concrete. lG Board of Adjustment Meeting May 1, 19.78 Chairman Yates asked Bobbie Jones if she felt this did not impede vision, if she could go ahead and let Mr. Colwell put up the fence and Bobbie Jones said "yes". Dr. White noted that the hedge which is existing is more dangerous than the fence would be. Chairman Yates questioned what zone this is in and Bobbie Jones said she felt the west line of this property is probably the boundary of the C-2, Thoroughfare Commercial District. The public hearing was concluded. David Newbern said he feels this is a discretionary thing with the Planning Administrator and he feels with a little adjustment Mr. Colwell and Bobbie Jones could work this out together. He said if the Board of Adjustment votes for this, they are going over the Planning Administrator, or approving a fence where there is a problem with sight distance. He stated that if Mr. Colwell could change the fence to satisfy the Planning Office, it would also satisfy,him. David Newbern said that in view of the real possibilities of working this out between the property owner and the Planning Administrator, he would make a motion that the variance be denied. Dr. White seconded the motion. Richard Osborne questioned Bobbie Jones' opinion after checking the proposed location of the fence. Bobbie Jones said she and Mr. Lieberenz felt it would impose a potential hazard to persons walking along the sidewalk. She said she felt the hedge to the west is a problem --as great or greater than the fence would be. She said they also feel there is a problem with obstructing the sight of cars coming up Maple from College since the hill falls off so sharply. David Newbern asked Bobbie Jones if raising the fence would alleviate the problem and Bobbie Jones said it would make it possible to see pedestrians on the sidewalk but she was not sure if it would help the vehicular traffic. David Newbern said he would rather the property owner be put to the burden of satisfying the Planning Administrator on this. Chairman Yates said it appears that if there are changes which could be made, that maybe the Board of Adjustment should consider those changes rather than sending it back to the Planning Administrator. Larry Smith asked if they could design the fence so that you could see traffic down the hill and still be view -obscuring. David Newbern said he is not sure he would approve a fence where you could barely get out the driveway to see oncoming traffic. He said he would rather have a little more leeway thmi that to say if this was a sufficient visual clearance or not. Larry Smith said the fence could be louvered so that you could see through it at different angles and could detect some type of motion. Richard Osborne asked Bobbie Jones if this would change her position. Bobbie Jones said she had asked David McWethy, who is planning to build the fence, if he plans to louver it and he had said they did not plan to. David Newbern amended his motion to deny the variance to give the -,applicant and the Planning Administrator time to work this out; however, if hecannot satisfy the Planning Administrator on the fence, he would be permitted to come back before the Board of Adjustment without going through the entire procedure again. Dr. White seconded the amended motion. The vote was 5-0-1, with Smith, Newbern, White, Yates, and Osborne voting "Aye" and House abstaining. Chester House noted that there was a mistake in his name on the April 3, 1978 minutes. With this correction, the minutes were approved as mailed. The meeting adjourned at 4:30 P.M. MINUTES