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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 zo 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. U1 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- 1�2 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. .0