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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-10-17 MinutesA meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held on Monday, October 17, 1988 at 3:45 P.M. in Room 111 of the City Administration Building, 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas, MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Mills, Gerald Boyd, Dennis Becker and Robert Davis OTHERS PRESENT: Jessie Koeppe, Jobn Merrell and Elaine Cattaneo The minutes of October 3, 1988 were approved as distributed. APPEAL 88-9 - SETBACK VARIANCE 305 N WASHINGTON - ROGER E. & JESSIE S. KOEPPE ,• The only item of consideration on the agenda was the request for a variance in the building setbacks submitted by Roger E. & Jessie S. Koeppe of 305 North Washington which is zoned R-1, Low Density Residential. Application was to vary the building setback on the west side of the property from the required 8' to 5'. Jessie Koeppe stated that they want to build a garage because there is no off- street parking or garage with this property. Also, with the way the lot is situated, they are very limited as to where they might put a garage. She noted that there is an old dogwood that is in front of their guest house which they did not want to cut or trim. She added that their builder stated that the standard garage two -car garage is 20' x 24' to 26' and the standard garage door is 16' and they would need at least 1 1/2' on either side to be able to mount the door. Without the setback variance, they would only have 17' there. They would like to pave the driveway along the lot line there with it far enough away from the dogwood that they could drive under it without cutting the limbs. She advised that the people who remodeled the house, had intended to put a carport on the south side but they feel that would take away from the garden look that was there. She noted that almost all of the houses on that street have a garage or a carport. Also, the guest house was finished prior to their buying the house and it would probably be more expensive to convert the guest house back into a garage. She advised that they feel that they have a special condition and circumstance because of the position of the guest house which they can not alter because of a sub -basement under it. The other thing that made the lot unusual is that when the Harris' sold the house, they sold to themselves next door a strip . of land on the north side of our lot so that they would have a driveway on that side although there is a two -car garage on there lot. She stated that at first they thought that a carport would be less obtrusive but the builder felt that a 110 lie BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OCTOBER 17, 1988 PAGE 2 garage would be more in keeping with the neighborhood because a carport would look very modern and standout in that neighborhood. Mr. Becker stated that there is only 14' between the garage door and the property line proposed which is way under the turning radius and backing radius of parking requirements that he is familiar with. He noted that the biggest thing is in addressing her questions about privileges where other properties have garages and carports. He noted that they don't know whether the neighbors met the initial setback requirements so they are only concerned with hers. As it stands, he doesn't think that it will physically work unless they do something else and since they have a large lot, it might be possible for them to put it in another location on the lot and be able to meet the setbacks. He noted that they are not trying to take the privilege of having a garage or off-street parking, it is a matter of the setback variance. Physically, she would not need a variance if they put the garage anywhere else on the lot. Mrs. Koeppe stated that there is only 25' between the front of the guest house to the trunk of the dogwood tree so it wouldn't fit in there. Mr. Boyd stated that if this were not a corner lot, the backyard setback is normally 20'. Because she has frontage on two streets with the 25' setback required on each, she would be allowed to have an 8' setback in the backyard. She noted that they were trying to avoid cluttering this since people go by on both sides. Robert Davis asked if the guest house was in use as such. Mrs. Koeppe stated �. yes. Chairman Mills asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak in opposition or in favor of this. The public hearing was closed and discussion took place among the Board members. Mr. Davis if the proposed new garage were moved down farther so that they had more than 14', it might be worked out. Mrs. Koeppe stated that this was just preliminary and the builder suggested that they come to this Board to see if they could get the variance before he did a final plan. She noted that they had no objection to moving it in some. Mr. Becker stated that as it stands he would have to vote against it. He noted that there are problems with this particular proposed location. Mr. Boyd stated that the lot is big enough, they could put it somewhere else. Mrs. Koeppe stated that they were worried about what the historic district would want and if they put it between the dogwood and the house it would obstruct the view of the dining room window. I:rl1it�6 Becker moved to deny the appeal, seconded by Davis. The motion to deny passed 4- 0-0.