HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-12-19 MinutesA meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Adjustment was held on Monday, December
19, 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, Larry Tompkins and
Robert Davis
OTHERS PRESENT: John Merrell, Ken Shireman, Mary Ann Henrickson and Elaine
Cattaneo
APPEAL NO. BA88-12 - JOE & MARY ANN HENRiCKSON
234 OKLAHOMA WAY - VARY SETBACKS
The first item on the agenda was an appeal for a variance on the building
• setbacks submitted by Joe & Mary Ann Henrickson of 234 Oklahoma Way which is
zoned R-1, Low Density Residential. Request was for a.varianceron :the -front yard
setback.
Mary Ann Henrickson stated that they want to add an upstairs bedroom addition.
They had Mr. Albright, Engineer, come out and look at it and found that on'the
east wall of their house floor joists are rotten because proper retaining walls
and foundation weren't put in when the house was built. She noted that there is
just enough room for retaining walls to be built but they are up againsti,,Mt.
Sequoyah on the east side. They have had several people come out and look at
jacking it up and replacing the joist, etc. However, it is not possible to go in
there and just do that, it also needs proper retaining walls and foundation.
Plus this area of Mt. Sequoyah is not real stable. They used a jack -hammer just
on a small portion of the rock area back there to see how it would accept it''and
it just crumbles. It is soft shale and they don't want to upset that property on
the east side of their house. She advised that they have to repair their house
because of the structural problems, and yet they are non -conforming becausei,the
house was built to start with less than 25' from the boundary line. 'She
submitted some photographs to the Board. ;
Ms. Henrickson noted that they measured 21' from their property line to ,the
structure. Mr. Merrell stated that his staff had measured the distance fromlthe
front facade of the house to the boundary of the right-of-way line and it was a
little over 22'.
• Mr. Boyd stated that he is slightly confused because in one place in the agenda
it says all she wants to do is rebuild on the existing thing and then the drawing
shows new construction closer to the property line. Ms. Henrickson stated that
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Board of Adjustment
December 19, 1988
Page 2
since she brought in the drawing he is referring to, they have decided not to do •
it that way because of their problems. They are just coming across the existing
roofline. Instead of going back with it, they are going to build directly over
the existing structure but it won't be down the entire length of the house. Mr.
Boyd clarified that all the things in the front are going to be replacement of
what was there before. Ms. Henrickson answered, yes, and that they don'tlplan
to build 8" off of the back of the house like that original drawing shows.
Mr. Tompkins stated that assuming Oklahoma Way is a 40' right-of-way, asl'they
make decisions they look at this as impacting any investment the community has
and any plans to make this go to 50' wide. He asked the staff if the building
permit is temporary. Mr. Merrell stated that all building permits are temporary
to a degree. A typical building permit will be issued for 6 months and there is
a proviso that affects to what extend it can be renewed, etc. Basically,1what
they are doing with there current building permit is mostly interior type, work
which is not an issue here.
Chairman
Mills asked
if
there
was
anyone
in the audience who wanted to speak in
favor or
in opposition
of
this.
The
public
hearing was closed. I
Mr. Boyd stated that this seems like this
is sufficiently
unique to
justify a
variance.
MOTION
Mr. Boyd moved to approve this setback variance, seconded by Davis. The motion
• passed 4-0-0.
Mr. Merrell stated that if there were ever a textbook case of a valid case for a
variance; this is it. It is a very unique situation with the topography, the
shape of the lot, depth of the lot, etc. P
APPEAL. NO. BA88-11 - KELLY HILL
2396 N COLLEGE - SETBACK VARIANCE
The second item on the agenda was a request for a variance in the building
setback for Hill Motor Company located at 2396 North College submitted by Kelly
Hill and represented by Ken Shireman. Property is zoned C-2, Thoroughfare
Commercial.
Mr. Shireman stated that their position here is that they aren't really asking
for a second level, what they asking to do is enclose the parking lot on the
second level of the parking garage. It is built right up to Township Road and
actually probably does encroach into the right-of-way from 3' to 5'. liThe
question they have is not whether it encroaches or whether it meets the setback
requirements. The real issue with them is really whether by enclosing this at
the second level, that they are actually increasing the non -conformity of'the
structure. Their feeling is that it is a parking deck about 5' above grade right
now on the east side and has been used as a parking deck for probably ever since
the building was built. What Mr. Hill wants to do is enclose that and have a
. "detail shop" which is part of an overall plan to do a facelift on the building.
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Board of Adjustment
December 19, 1988
Page 3
• Mr. Tompkins asked Mr. Shireman if he looked at the Master Street Plan for the
widening of Township. Mr. Shireman answered, no, he didn't know if they have
plans to widen that or not. Mr. Merrell apologized to the Board for not putting
that information in his report. He stated that they do have plans toi,,widen
Township, but they haven't reached the point that they have gone into detailed
drawings and figuring out how much right-of-way they need to acquire on either
side of the street.
Mr. Shireman stated that Mr. Hill is certainly aware of the fact that the
widening of Township is a possibility and if that does come to pass, he will
loose a portion of his shop building there. Mr. Merrell stated that if that
street is widened there are several factors that they will have to consider such
as how wide it will be and where they will get the right-of-way from. In this
case, they may be able to get the majority of it from the northern side. The
other big factor would be the redesign of the intersection of Township andiNorth
College. That intersection will have to be re -signalized which will have an
impact on how much right-of-way they will need.
Mr. Tompkins stated that he is concerned about the safety factor immediately east
of this structure because of the sight distance problem.
Mr. Merrell stated that they had tried to get some of history of why the building
was allowed to be constructed that close to the road to begin with, although
there must be some good reason that it was built that way the staff came up
empty, but they haven't given up.
• Mr. Boyd asked if this parking deck sets on the back property line. Mr. Shireman
stated that as near as they can tell it does. Mr. Merrell stated that the status
of that back part is designated as Jane Avenue which is basically a paper street.
The zoning ordinance is vague as to whether or not a building must be set back
from a platted right-of-way which really isn't part of the City's official street
system. His initial reaction is that it would have to be 50' back from a platted
right-of-way but he would have to talk to the City Attorney for a definite
answer.
Mr. Tompkins asked if they had looked at any alternatives to building onithis
particular site. Mr. Shireman stated that they had, but the other alternatives
would be to build out from the upper level. The problem is that the site is
tight as it is now and to come in and unload trucks is a major problem. They
were trying to avoid coming in with any sort of columns that would prohibit that
or make unloading more difficult. ,
Mr. Boyd asked where in the Code does it discuss the nonconforming structures.
Chairman Mills read from page 812 in the City Code which states "no!lsuch
nonconforming structure may in enlarged or altered in any way which increases its
nonconformity, but any structure or portion thereof may be altered to decrease
its nonconformity." Mr. Merrell stated that the nonconformity is strictly the
setback not the height or the bulk and area.
Mr. Davis stated that if they are allowed to do this, it would increase the
safety factor of all the people coming into the doctor's office along the back of
• this property.
Mr. Boyd asked if the City can give a building permit to build on the right-of-
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Board of Adjustment
December 19, 1988
Page 4
way. Mr. Merrell stated that he wasn't sure, that would be a question to ask Jim
•
McCord. Mr. Boyd stated also, if they allowed him to build this and they are
going to widen Township, would the City have to pay for tearing down that
additional structure. ii
Mr. Merrell advised that if the Board of Adjustment granted the variance and they
applied for a building permit to build the addition. If it were set back far
enough to clearly get it out of the right-of-way, then that question would be
resolved. Also, if they set it back 50' from the street, then they could get a
building permit tomorrow morning. u
Mr. Tompkins asked Mr. Shireman if he thought they could design that structure so
they would eliminate that site distance problem and still conform to Jane and
Township setback. Mr. Shireman stated that if they would have to move 50' off of
Jane, they would be setting in the middle of this lot which would make it
virtually impossible for him to load and unload out there. Although, they 'might
be able to meet the Township setback. He added that he recognizes that there is
no simple solution to this problem and they want to consider the neighboring
properties too.
Chairman Mills asked if there was anyone in the audience that would like to (speak
in favor or in opposition of this. W
Doyle Shelton who owns the property just east of this property stated thatthey
weren't supposed to build this building here to begin with. They were supposed
to build a parking deck to Jane Ave. street level only but they went ahead and
• raised it up which blocks the view of his building from Highway 71. Not only
that but they wouldn't donate any part of the alley to begin with and he donated
40' of this street (Jane) so that Dr. McDonald could build his buildingllback
there. He noted that he doesn't want this building built here. He added that he
wasn't allowed to build close to Township so he thinks that they should have had
to meet their setback. ii
The Public Hearing was closed.
Mr. Becker stated that according to the Board of Adjustment bylaws, they aren't
supposed to grant anything that is contrary to public interest. He noted that
he feels that public interest is involved here and it kind of supersedes
nonconformity.
Mr. Tompkins stated that he certainly respects the architect's, Mr. Shireman's,
alternative ideas. However, he feels in terms of the health, safety, prosperity
and the intent of the zoning ordinance, he has a real problem with the violation
of the safety. He is inclined to disapprove it. p
MOTION
Mr. Boyd moved to deny the request, seconded by Tompkins. The motion to passed
4-0-0.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of December 5, 1988 were approved as distributed. lu
1;�3
Board of Adjustment
December 19, 1988
Page 5
Item #1
Chairman Mills stated that they
have a letter written by
11
John Merrell
for the
Board of
Adjustment to Mr. Carl
Sanders, the District Engineer
of the
Highway
Department.
Mr. Merrell's comment
was that he would like to
know whether
you would
like for
this to go to the State
Highway Department first,
to go to the
Board of
Directors
first or to the Highway
Department and the Board
of Directors.
Mr. Boyd stated that it could be that the Board of Directors should get it first.
Mr. Becker and Mr. Tompkins stated that it would be more appropriate to route it
though the Board of Directors which would keep the responsibility for the
decision -making there. Chairman Mills stated that she will get with Mr. Merrell
and get that through the proper channels.
Chairman Mills advised that they have a copy of the Planning Commission
resolution and she doesn't understand why they have that. Elaine Cattaneo, the
Planning Secretary, advised that it is just an example of a resolution if they
elected to send one to the Board of Directors. Chairman Mills stated that this
is the type thing then that they will send to the Board of Directors concerning
the IBM building and the problems it has caused.
Mr. Tompkins asked if they thought it would be appropriate to send a carbon to
the City Planning Commission on this resolution. That is a Planning matter.
Chairman Mills suggested that they send a copy of the resolution to both the
• Planning Commission and the Board of Directors.
Item #2 Chairman Mills stated that they had not been sending a member of the
Board of Adjustment/Sign Appeals to the Planning Commission meetings to bring
back to them information.
Mr. Tompkins stated that they now have a staff member, Mr. Merrell, who actsl!as a
liaison between the two meetings or is that just in the technical advisory
capacity.
Chairman Mills asked Mr. Davis if he would like to attend the Planning Commission
meetings for a 3 month period and give a general report of what is going on.
Item 03
Chairman Mills noted that they also have a schedule of the meeting dates for
1989. She asked the members to check their schedules against this and see if
they have any problems with it.
Mr. Tompkins asked if he could have the Planning Commission minutes sent to''him
regularly. The Planning Secretary stated that she would put him on the list to
get the minutes.
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