Zoning Board of Appeals

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Regular Meeting Minutes May 14, 2019 Commission Chambers, City Hall CALL TO ORDER Chairman W. Darbee called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. INTRODUCTIONS & ROLL CALL Present: Jan Rise, Kellie Berry, W. Darbee, L. Dowd, C. Congdon Excused: Chris Greenleaf Absent: None Others: Staff Liaison Scott McKillop APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion made by J. Rise, seconded by K. Berry, to approve the April 9, 2019 meeting minutes with two corrections, one correction on each page of page one and page two. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT – NON-AGENDA ITEMS None. Motion made by L. Dowd, seconded by K. Berry, to proceed with new business first followed by old business. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS – PUBLIC HEARING Case Z 19-03 - 310 Fillmore Place - Deborah Socier Motion made by L. Dowd, seconded by J. Rise, to open the public hearing. Motion carried. Applicant Deborah Socier and Jessie Web were present. Request for non-use variance from zoning regulations governing the location of detached garages on corner lots. The appellant is requesting a variance allowing a setback of 14 ft. from the side- street lot line. A setback of 20 feet is required. Miss Socier explained she purchased the property about five years ago with the intention of building a garage and determined her lot’s 40 foot width would accommodate construction of a detached garage in her rear yard in compliance with the 20 foot side street setback regulations. . She wishes to build a 24 foot by 24 foot garage, though requires a six foot variance to comply with zoning regulations because her lot is only 40 ft. wide. Miss Socier said her property is the only corner lot in the neighborhood that is 40 feet wide. She added the garage in the lot across from her on Helen Street is actually closer to the lot line than what hers would be if built. Miss Socier stated building the garage would not affect any of her neighbors in any way. W. Darbee asked if there had been any communication from the neighbors. S. McKillop stated there had been no correspondence or comments had been received. 1 Motion by J. Rise, seconded by K. Berry to close the public hearing and open discussion. Motion carried. W. Darbee stated it is virtually impossible to build a two or two and one-half detached garage on a 40 by 100 foot lot in compliance with the 20 foot side street lot line setback regulations. He said the appellant’s lot is smaller than most of the lots within the city and its narrow 40 foot width precludes the construction of a detached garage on the lot if the 20 foot setback from the lots Helen Street lot line is required. W. Darbee said there is no way to construct a detached garage with an entrance off Fillmore Place. Most of the lots in the city do have the ability to have a house and a garage on a lot without the requirement of a variance. Motion made by W. Darbee based upon the facts, seconded by J. Rise, to allow a variance of six feet so that the applicant can construct a detached garage off of Helen Street which will provide for a setback of 14 feet off of Helen St. and will still meet the minimum setback of two feet from the west lot and the rear lot lines. Roll Call: L. Dowd – Yes, J. Rise – Yes, W. Darbee – Yes, K. Berry – Yes, C. Congdon - Yes Motion carried. W. Darbee inquired if a motion should be made to make it effective immediately. S. McKillop replied it would become effective in five days by statute. OLD BUSINESS – PUBLIC HEARING 1. Case No. Z 19-01 - 1700 S. Erie - Bruce J. Ervin Request for non-use variances that would allow a residential lot occupied by two individual single-family homes to be split into two lots. W. Darbee said he understood the conversation at the prior meeting for which he was absent was mainly directed at the person and not the property and asked if he were correct. S. McKillop replied the discussion boiled down to who created the need for the variance according to the minutes. He stated the property owner had nothing to do with there being two homes on the property. The home in front was built at in the early 1900s and the other home was built in 1950. S. McKillop said both homes were there before zoning regulations precluding the construction of more than one single family home per lot came into existence, that the appellant did nothing to create the current situation and the situation as it exists does not comply with zoning regulations. The owner would like to split the property and sell one of the houses and is requesting relief from the minimum lot area and setback regulations. S. McKillop said there was an issue at the first meeting where the motion failed and was incomplete. That motion appeared to have granted a variance setback but it said nothing about a lot split so a decision was never made because an alternate motion to deny the variance was never made. S. McKillop explained the first motion didn’t actually speak to the request of the owner and it failed based upon the findings that were made at the first meeting which were discussed at the second meeting, and then postponed until now. S. McKillop briefly reiterated the facts-of-finding from the previous minutes. 2 Motion made by W. Darbee based upon the statements and facts, seconded by L. Dowd, to grant the variance as requested which would allow the applicant to split the lot so that one property becomes two properties with a house on each of the two properties and that the area of 5000 sq. ft. with the minimum width of 50 ft. and a rear lot line of 25 ft. be reduced so that the applicant can divide the parcel into two parcels with a house on each lot as requested. Roll Call: L. Dowd – Yes, J. Rise – No, W. Darbee – Yes, K. Berry – No, C. Congdon – Yes Motion carried. OTHER BUSINESS None. ADJOURN Motion made by J. Rise, seconded by K. Berry, to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 p.m. Motion carried. Prepared by: Lisa Griffiths, Planning & Zoning Administrative Secretary 3