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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-12-01 Minutes• MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING A meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held on Monday, December 1, 1986 at 3:45 P.M. in Room Ill of the City Administration Building, 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Mills, Robert Waldren, Larry Tompkins, Gerald Boyd, Dennis Becker and Jerry Allred MEMBERS ABSENT: Dennis Moore OTHERS PRESENT: Gordon Wilkins, Len Edens, Freeman Wood, Sandra Carlisle and Tessi Franzmeier The meeting was called to order and the minutes of the November 3, 1986 meeting were considered. MINUTES The minutes were unanimously approved as distributed upon a motion by Tompkins and a second from Allred. APPEAL 86-23 - SETBACK VARIANCE GORDON WILKINS - 2422 GENTLE OAKS • The first item of consideration was a request submitted by Gordon Wilkins to vary the front setback from the required 25' to 24'6" on the north and to vary the side setback from the required 8' to 3'll" on the west. The property is zoned R-1, Low Density Residential District. Gordon Wilkins said he had hired a crew that he had not used before to build the house in question and they had just miss measured 10'. He said the front of the house was about where it should be but the back was 10' off. In answer to a question from Waldren, Wilkins said the problem was discovered while he was out of town and when he had returned Freeman Wood had put a Stop Work Order on the property and that was when he was aware of the problem. Mr. Wilkins said the next door neighbor (Len Edens) had his lot surveyed. Mills stated there was a survey of the neighbors property on the table for review by the Board of Adjustment. Mr. Wilkins said he had been building houses in Fayetteville for 33 years and no way would he had done this on purpose. • • Board of Adjustment December 1, 1986 Page 2 Mills asked how did Mr. Wilkins supposed the contractor miss measured 10'. Mr. Wilkins said Mr. Edens lot was 110' and the contractor measured 110' across the front and 100' across the back, drove in two stakes and laid the house out by the stakes. Mr. Wilkins said it was pure ignorance and was embarrased to be sitting at this meeting. He said this was the first time he had ever been before the Board of Adjustment. Tompkins asked what the process was for laying the lot out as a developer. Mr. Wilkins said as a developer they tried to establish the lot lines and drive a post at the front and year of the lots and stretch a twine string and they also measure back from the center line of the street to the property line in front and stretched string through to determine the front setback. Tompkins asked when did the City come in and check the footings and setback requirements. Mr. Wilkins said ordinarily they leave their strings up until the • footing inspection. He said he did not know if it was necessary to measure but by just common eye -balling they could determine if they were within the building setbacks or not. Boyd said the house sits askew on the lot and from the street it looked like it was sitting at an angle. Mr. Wilkins said there was a drainage easement on the east side which was a real hamper in this situation. He said there was a 60' drainage easement with an 8' creek running through and the water had never gotten out of the creek bank. Wilkins said he intentionally put the house to the west side for the simple fact that the only yard remaining to enjoy was in the drainage easement. He said the house was 4-bedrooms and 2 baths. Tompkins asked if Mr. Wilkins had talked with the neighbor about the purchasing some additional land on the west side. Mr. Wilkins said he had discussed it with Mr.Edens and his comment was they would think about it and get back with him and so far Wilkins had not.heard from Mr.Edens. Mills asked how the construction got this far before it was caught. Carlisle showed the site plan that was submitted with the building • permit which the Planning Office had signed off on. She said according to that plan all of the required setbacks were in compliance with City Requirements. PC • Board of Adjustment December 1, 1986 Page 3 In answer to a question from Tompkins, Carlisle said they could not build on top of a utility easement but they could build next to it. Carlisle said after the Planning Office signs off on the building permit which the site plan was in accordance with the required setbacks it was out of the Planning Office hands. Mills asked if this should not have been caught after the Inspection department checked the foundations. Freeman Wood said there would be no way his inspectors could know if those stakes were property line stakes or what. He said they checked the 8' from where the builder said the property line was. Mr. Wood said it would take a survey to check the setbacks properly. Mills asked if the stakes and strings indicated a meeting of the set- backs. Wilkins replied "yes". Carlisle said Mr. Edens had put up the string and had the property surveyed. She said the stake that Mr. Wilkins was using was 10' over. • Becker said it had to be a new crew because as Mr. Boyd said you could stand in the road and see that the house was cockeyed. Waldren said that the mortgage companies required surveys before the house closes and if that was done up front there would not have been this problem. He said now it was going to be a big expense to someone. Mills said not only do the lending institutions require the survey but the Title Insurance also requires surveys. Mr. Len Edens said he was the adjacent property owner and was also a builder. He had been building homes for 10 years. He said there were 2 issues; 1) was to control the builders and 2) was a violation of the peoples rights who own the property. He said the City of Fayette- ville makes ordinances to protect peoples rights. He said he was not talking about the builder as far as he was concerned he was talking about the peoples rights. He said the City said he as a property owner had a right to not let anyone build closer than a certain distance. Mr. Edens said if this variance was granted it would be a violation of his rights and the person who buys the house. Mr. Edens said he builds houses with a survey because they have to be surveyed anyway and he would be afraid to build without a survey. Mr. Edens said when his lot was surveyed there were 3 existing pins on his lot and the only pin that was not there was the one Mr. Wilkins measured off of. Mr. Edens said he assumed the City had made him certain guarantees • . when he built on his lot. He felt the City should require surveys from the builder or put up a bond and he was saying this as a builder. 1S-O • Board of Adjustment December 1, 1986 Page 4 Mr. Wilkins agreed to some extend with Mr. Edens. Wilkins said the reason why there was a Board of Adjustment was to eliminate some of the hardships imposed on people because mistakes had been made. Wilkins felt he had a lot more hardship than Mr. Edens because there was 33' between the two buildings. Boyd said Mr. Wilkins was right about what the Board of Adjustments job was but the trouble was they did not have many things they could do. He said the choices were either to tear the house down or they could recommend buying a strip of land from Mr. Edens. The hearing was closed and the Board returned to discussion. Allred abstained from discussion and the vote. Becker said it was a mistake and they were not here to rectify mistakes and the hardship was one that Mr. Wilkins builder put on him. He said the contractor did not check on the rear lot line as most surveyors do. Becker said they do not go to the first pin they go to the second pin and string it out from the house that had already been layed out. • Becker said as far as he was concerned he would be against the variance because they were not here to correct mistakes and this was a straight out mistake. He said the solution was either to rip the house back or buy a piece of property. Tompkins said he was interested on the impact of the neighbor particul- arily for the reason of the side yard. Tompkins said he had a problem with granting the variance. Waldren agreed with everything said and thought the ordinances were there not only to protect the City but the adjacent property owners as well. He said he saw nothing to prevent the house from being put on the lot correct and to meet all the required setbacks. Boyd said he also agreed with not granting the variance as requested. MOTION Becker moved to deny the variance as requested, seconded by Tompkins. The motion to deny passed 4-0-1, Tompkins, Boyd, Becker and Waldren voting "nay" and Allred abstaining. Following this appeal there was a discussion with the Board of Adjustment and Freeman Wood on requirements for a survey at the time of the issuance of a building permit. 0 APPROVAL OF THE 1987 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT SCHKDULE • Board of Adjustment December 1. 1986 Page 5 The second item of consideration was the approval of the 1987 Board of Adjustment Schedule. MOTION The 1987 Board of Adjustment Schedule was approved unanimously. There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 4:50 P.M. • C� J 1 S�-