HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-05-20 MinutesMINUTES 1' THE BOARD 1 OF ADJUSTMENT
A meeting of the Board of Adjustment was held Monday, May 20, 1985
at 3:45 P.M. in Boom 111 of the City Administration Building, 113
West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chester House, larry Tompkins, Don Mills, Robert
Waldren, Dennis Becker, Jerry Allred and Gerald
Boyd
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Adjustment was called
to order by Chairman House and the minutes of the meeting of May 6
were considered.
MINUTES
Becker noted that paragraph two on Page 2 is in error as reflected
in the addendum to the minutes of May 6, 1985. There being no further
additions or corrections, the minutes stood approved as distributed.
• APPEAL 85-13/KENNETH DENNIS
3525 S. SCHOOL - PARKING VARIANCE
The second item on the agenda was consideration of Appeal 85-13, a
request submitted by Kenneth Dennis of Dennis Home Furnishings to
allow a variance in parking requirement. Property is located at 3525
S. School and zoned C-2 and A-1. Becker, a member of this Board,
advised that he would abstain from participation and voting as he
was co -laterally appearing with the property owner.
Becker introduced a letter from the Planning Commission stating that
they are presently reviewing the parking ordinance in general and
in order to speed Mr. Dennis' request for reduction in the current
parking requirement, they have asked the Board of Adjustment to review
Dennis' request. Becker also noted that the agenda cover sheet is
in error in that the number of parking spaces required is 121 for
the total of structures and not the new addition alone.
Becker said
that proposed showroom
is 12,000
sq.ft. which equals a
grand total
of 36,200 sq.ft. and when divided
by 300
requires 121
spaces. He
said that Dennis would
like to
separate
the warehouse
space which
would require one space
per 1000
sq.ft.
He noted that
there are no
people in the warehouse and felt
it was
a hardship to
require parking
for space indicated as
strictly storage.
Becker advised
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• Board of Adjustment
May 20, 1985
Page 2
that showroom space excluding the warehouse would be 25,000. He said
he felt there was an inequity in the code requirements with regard
to bulk furniture on display and the actual square footage usable
for customers, especially when compared to other retail stores in
the same Use Unit (16). He noted that Springdale recently granted
Polk's Furniture a parking variance at approximately one per 650 sq.ft, of
space and he added that in Los Angeles the requirement for a like
business is one space per 500 sq.ft, without a sliding scale for larger
areas. Becker said he could understand requiring one space per 300
sq.ft. for smaller furniture stores but not for larger ones. He also
reported that there are so many diversities in zoning and uses that
Los Angeles has created the new positions of traffic and parking consult-
ants to determine how many vehicles come and go.
Mr. Dennis advised that his sales are mainly high impact type which
occur over a six to eight hour period and that normally, a large sale
would bring about 25-30 vehicles. He said the aisles in the store
are not very wide because he must utilize every square inch of floor
space and he noted that if the parking lot were full, not many people
could walk down the aisles. Dennis said that, including future sales,
he does not expect any more than 25-30 cars at one time and that it
would be unusual to have more than two trucks unloading at any one
• time. He said that most of the time there are about five to six cars
in the parking lot.
Becker
pointed
out discrepancies in the code regarding
parking in
that a
library is
included in Use Unit 4 requiring one space
per 1000
sq.ft.
and again
in Use Unit 5 requiring one space per
400 sq.ft.
Boyd asked if there is enough physical room to meet the requirement
if this request were turned down and Dennis replied that there was
but it would be expensive to develop. Boyd said he didn't think it
was the Board's job to amend the code and it seemed to him that that
was what was being requested. He agreed that the code seems to require
more parking than necessary but indicated that the space to provide
those spaces is available. Boyd suggested that if the appeal is granted,
a stipulation may be that the petitioner will provide whatever number
of spaces the Planning Commission requires when the code is amended.
Boyd said he felt that if this appeal were granted as requested, each
business would ask for negotiation on parking.
House said if Dennis could fill all of the parking spaces required
under the code, he would have to hire a larger sales staff as his
store would be quite full.
Waldren asked the use of the smaller building shown on the site plan
and Dennis replied that It holds patio and lawn furniture and added
• that several employees use the space along side the building for parking.
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Board of Adjustment
May 20, 1985
Page 3
Allred said he thought it would be a hardship to go through the expense
of construction at this time with a Bill of Assurance that would require
additional construction (for parking if required) later on. He said
construction costs are lower if all work is accomplished at one time.
Allred said he thought it was inappropriate to grant a variance with
a Bill of Assurance and that this Board should make a decision today.
Dennis advised that he has recently purchased 18 acres adjacent to
his original site for the purpose of expanding. He said the problem
is that he is adding 120 ft. plus 15 fte between the warehouse and
the showroom plus 60 for the new warehouse and would have to take
several more feet to the north to include that parking unless he went
all the way around the back which would be quite a drive. He said
that additional parking on the south side would not work because of
a steep drop off.
Mills said she has never seen Dennis Home Furnishings parking lot
close to full but did express her concern that a decision in this
case may be construed as a guide in future cases.
Waldren said he thought a decision should be made based on the information
presented for the variance with the decision on amending the ordinance
resting with the Planning Commission.
Allred said he felt the only thing being requested. of this Board was
to consider a variance, not to address amending the zoning ordinance.
Jones advised that the Planning Commission has requested Consultant,
Larry Wood, to examine all of the parking requirements in the code
because of a request made to them to amend said requirement. She said
the Commission recommended that the petitioner request a variance
from the Board of Adjustment if he needed relief at this time in order
to begin his project.
Tompkins asked Jones if warehouse and sales operations were normally
separated for calculation of parking spaces and Jones replied that
they were not if the warehouse was an accessory to the use on site. She
said that a warehouse alone could only be approved in this zone as
accessory storage.
Tompkins noted that, in this case,
component. He asked Dennis if his
and Dennis replied that it does not.
spaces are provided,
off-street loading is a significant
present parking meets the ordinance
Becker said about half the required
Boyd said that although he was sympathetic, he did not see the hardship
in this case. He said he didn't understand whether the Board had
the authority to grant this appeal.
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• Board of Adjustment
May 20, 1985
Page 4
Waldren said he was inclined to grant the variance because, if the
warehouse were not included the present parking would be at about
one space per 450sq.ft. and common sense must be used in consideration.
Mills said she could not understand why the same number of spaces
were required for a warehouse as for a showroom. She said that basing
the parking on one space per 1000 for warehouse and one per 600 for
showroom was very logical.
Tompkins asked if Becker were requesting a ruling on Jones' interpretation
and Becker said he was. Becker said he has checked on the requirements
of other municipalities as requested by the Planning Administrator
and found that there was no differentiation between showrooms/warehouses.
Mills noted that a church had petitioned for a parking variance and
was granted permission to have some paved parking and some gravel
parking. She suggested the same for this property.
Jones said the ordinance does not provide for separation of warehouses
but is based entirely upon floor space. She said she felt there might
be an oversight in the structure of the ordinance and added that she
had not seen any other ordinances that would help in this case. Jones
• said that in cases of multi -use parking, such as shopping centers,
the ratio of the floor space to the ratio of the total area combined
with use at peak hours may provide a reduced figure for parking spaces.
Tompkins noted that the parking being requested is 11 for the warehouse
and 56 for the showrooms for a total of 67,
He said he would be in favor of granting this request if it were stipulated
that the variance would cease upon change in use. He said he felt
that the Board needed to be flexible and noted the loss of a local
competitor to Springdale.
House noted that if additional parking were necessary, the petitioner
had the ability to provide them.
Tompkins said he felt there was a problem with the ordinance and did
not understand why the parking requirement for warehouses and showrooms
are the same. He said that, even though he found the requirement
inappropriate, he would support the ordinance as it is for parking.
MOTION
Waldren moved to grant the request with the condition that if the
use or ownership should change, the variance would be void and that
this motion shall not be construed as a recommendation to the Planning
Commission for consideration in amending the parking requirements.
• Allred seconded and the motion to approve passed 5-1-0. Tompkins voting
"nay" and Becker abstaining.
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• Board of Adjustment
May 20, 1985
Page 5
Tompkins inquired as to the progress of the Update Committee which
had been asked to consider several items including setbacks and parking
requirements and Jones replied that Consultant Wood is still working
on it.
MOTION
Mills moved to request that Wood also look into square footage parking
requirement for warehouses as opposed to showrooms and display centers
as well as the interpretation of same. Tompkins seconded and the
motion passed 7-0-0.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m, upon
a motion by Waldren and a second by Tompkins.
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