Advisory Planning Commission

CITY OF COLLEGE PARK PLANNING ADVISORY ADVISORY PLANNING COMMISSION COMMISSION 4500 KNOX ROAD COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 20740 TELEPHONE: (240) 487-3538 ADVISORY PLANNING COMMISSION Approved Minutes of Meeting December 6, 2018 – 7:30 P.M. City Hall – Council Chambers Members Present Absent Lawrence Bleau x Santosh Chelliah x Ben Flamm x Christopher Gill, Chair x James McFadden, Vice-Chair x Stephanie Stullich x Llatetra Brown Esters x Also Present: Planning Staff – Terry Schum and Miriam Bader; Attorney – Suellen Ferguson I. Call to Order: James McFadden called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes: Lawrence Bleau moved to adopt the minutes of October 4, 2018. Ben Flamm seconded. Motion carried 4-0-2, with Santosh Chelliah and Llatetra Brown Esters abstaining. Llatetra Brown Esters moved to adopt the minutes of November 1, 2018. Santosh Chelliah seconded. Motion carried 4-0-2, with Stephanie Stullich and Ben Flamm abstaining. III. Amendments to Agenda: There were no Amendments to the Agenda. IV. Public Remarks on Non-Agenda Items: There were no Public Remarks on Non- Agenda Items. V. CPV-2018-12 Variance to replace and enlarge a covered front porch and Replace and enlarge a concrete driveway Applicant: Siratchat Onnuch Location: 9630 Narragansett Parkway James McFadden explained the hearing procedures and placed witnesses under oath. Miriam Bader summarized the staff report. The applicant is requesting a variance of 6 feet from the minimum front yard setback of 25 feet to replace and enlarge a covered porch and repair a concrete driveway. The property is odd- shaped with an area of 5,890 square feet and improved with a two-story brick house and shed. According to SDAT records, the original house was built in 1952 and razed on January 1, 2007, although no raze permit exists. Even though current SDAT records do not indicate any improvements on the lot, a new house was constructed in 2007 and has a building footprint of 1,511 square feet, though no building permit exists. Advisory Planning Commission Minutes December 6, 2018 – Page 2 There is a permit for fire damage repairs issued on November 17, 2006 and a permit for a 12 x 36 addition issued on December 12, 2005 to the property owner at the time. Staff recommends approval of the 6-foot front yard setback variance and a reduced lot coverage variance of 70.30 square feet or 1% to allow for the expanded front porch but denial of the lot coverage variance for the expanded driveway. Miriam Bader submitted the staff report, Exhibits 1-9 and the PowerPoint presentation into the record. Siratchat Onnuch, applicant, testified that the home will be his primary residence and he wants to fill in the green space between the lead walk and driveway. He explained that he just wants to improve the property by constructing the front porch and increasing the size of the driveway. He stated that he was unaware that the home did not have a proper permit because this occurred before he purchased the house and no one informed him about this situation. Commissioners reviewed the criteria that need to be met before the variance can be granted and determined that: 1) The Property has an exceptional shape in that the rear lot line is at a unique (non-90 degree) angle which impacts the placement of the house on the lot. 2) Denial of the setback variance will cause an undue hardship upon the Applicant by preventing the construction of a reasonably sized, functional front porch (6’ by 34.4’). The current porch (5’ by 11’) already encroaches into the front yard setback by 5 feet. 3) The failure to obtain all required permits should be rectified. 4) Granting the front yard setback variance will not substantially impair the intent, purpose and integrity of any applicable plans since the existing porch already encroaches by 5’. The proposed new construction will improve the aesthetics of the house and the neighborhood. 5) Granting a lot coverage variance of 752 square feet or 12% for the driveway is significant and does impair the intent, purpose and integrity of applicable plans. 6) Granting a lot coverage variance of 70.30 square feet or 1% is not significant and does not impair the intent, purpose and integrity of applicable plans. Stephanie Stullich moved to recommend approval of variance CPV-2018-12 for a 6- foot front yard setback variance and 1% lot coverage variance for a covered front porch with the following conditions: 1) All required building permits and any required Use and Occupancy Permit are obtained from Prince George’s County Advisory Planning Commission Minutes December 6, 2018 – Page 3 2) All required building permits and required Occupancy Permit are obtained from the City of College Park, if needed. Ben Flamm seconded, Motion carried 6-0-0. Stephanie Stullich moved to recommend denial of the lot coverage variance to expand the driveway because it was found that denial of this variance would not cause an undue hardship for the applicant. The existing driveway already provides two off-street parking spaces. Also, it was found that granting a lot coverage variance of 752 square feet or 1% is not significant and does not impair the intent, purpose and integrity of applicable plans. Santosh Cheliah seconded. Motion carried 6-0-0. VI. CEO-2018-03 Variance from the City Fence Ordinance to replace fences Applicant: Matthew and Dana Sawyer Location: 7018 Wake Forest Drive James McFadden explained the hearing procedures and placed witnesses under oath. Miriam Bader summarized the staff report. The applicants are requesting a variance of 1-foot from the maximum height of 3-feet to replace a recently removed 42-inch chain-link fence with a 48-inch, pressure treated wood picket fence. The property is a squarish-shaped corner through lot with street frontage on three sides of the property creating three “front yards.” The property contains 12,000 square feet and is improved with a 2.5-story, multi-family brick structure that was built in 1940, a detached garage, and shed. There are two 6-foot high stockade fences facing Wake Forest Drive that will be replaced in-kind. This work is permitted without a variance since they are not considered front yard fences due to the location setback behind the front plane of the house. A 42-inch chain-link fence along the Guilford Road frontage and part of the Fordham Lane frontage was recently removed. The City fence ordinance permits a 3-foot high fence in the front yard. The County fence ordinance permits 4-feet high front yard fences. The one-foot fence height variance is needed for the fence along Guilford Road and for part of the fence along Fordham Lane. The increase in height from 3-feet to 4-feet is necessary to safeguard the owners’ toddler and dog. Staff recommends approval of the 1-foot fence height variance. Miriam Bader submitted the staff report, Exhibits 1-4 and the PowerPoint presentation into the record. The applicant testified that the existing stockade fence will be replaced with a Gothic-style picket fence. It was noted that the applicant is eligible to apply for a City Grant for this project Commissioners reviewed the criteria that need to be met before the variance can be granted and determined that: 1) An extraordinary condition exists in that the Property is a corner through lot with street frontages on three sides creating three “front” yards and is part of a heavily trafficked and exposed street corner (Guilford Road and Wake Forest Drive). Advisory Planning Commission Minutes December 6, 2018 – Page 4 2) Denial will result in an undue hardship by preventing the Property owner from adequately safeguarding their child and dog on the heavily trafficked and exposed street corner. 3) Granting the variance will not impair the intent, purpose or integrity of the Fence Ordinance. It is consistent with the intent of the fence ordinance as it allows the home owner to replace a chain-link fence with improved materials. 4) The property is not located in a Historic District that is regulated by locally-adopted design guidelines. 5) The proposed picket fence incorporates openness and is not chain- link. Lawrence Bleau moved to recommend approval of variance CEO-2018-03 for the reasons stated above with the condition that the fence comply with Sec. 27-421. Corner lot obstructions (sight-triangle regulations) of the County Code. Stephanie Stullich seconded. Motion carried 6-0-0. VII. Review of Draft 2018 Annual Report The Draft 2018 Annual Report was reviewed with some minor comments. VIII. Other Business: Terry Schum reported on the following: Gilbane – The developers are moving forward with their Western Gateway project to be located behind where the current Hillel exists. Annexing this property into the City was discussed along with rezoning the property to permit townhomes. Graduate Student housing is also proposed on University-owned land. XI. Adjourn: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p.m. Minutes prepared by Theresheia Williams