Board of Zoning Appeals

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MINUTES JUNE 8, 2006 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, June 8, 2006, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. MEMBERS PRESENT: Larry Burgess, Tracy Cody, Jane Flatt, and Sid Gilbreath. MEMBER ABSENT: Kay Dewiler. STAFF PRESENT: James Mills and Jayne Barns. OTHERS PRESENT: Daniel & Amy Crooks and Mike Patterson. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE MINUTES OF MAY 11, 2006. Sid Gilbreath made the motion to approve the minutes of May 11, 2006. Larry Burgess seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR A 4’ REDUCTION IN THE SIDE YARD SETBACK REQUIREMENT ON THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 585 HILLWOOD CIRCLE. REQUEST SUBMITTED BY DANIEL & AMY CROOKS. James Mills stated that Ms. Amy Crooks has submitted a request for a variance to reduce the required interior side yard setback for property zoned as RS-15, Single Family Residential and located at 585 Hillwood Circle. The subject property is identified as Parcel 9.01 on Tax Map 53C, Group E. The interior side yard setback of the RS-15 district is 10 feet. Ms. Crooks is requesting that a variance of four (4) feet be granted to allow a setback of six (6) feet for the proposed construction of a detached garage. The width of the proposed garage is 25 feet and the depth is 30 feet. She indicates in the request that her property is severely sloped back to front and has drainage issues, which prevents any other location of the garage. Based on the city’s latest topographic data the rear of the subject property has a slope of approximately 12 percent, which is not considered excessive. The front of the property is located within an identified floodplain; however, the proposed garage location would be outside this area. There would appear to be options available to the petitioner, which would make the variance request unnecessary. These include moving the location of the proposed garage to the rear of the existing garage or reducing the width of the proposed garage at the preferred location. Ms. Crooks indicates that moving the structure to the rear of the existing garage would increase drainage problems. Relocating the garage would create more impervious area on the property. A primary question is whether there is a hardship or an inconvenience and whether the request is the minimum necessary to allow the construction. It appears that the width of the garage could be modified or reduced, which would lessen the need for a reduction in the setback. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 2 JUNE 8, 2006 Staff recommended approval of reduction of setback by 2 feet. Sid Gilbreath made the motion to approve a 2’ Variance in the side yard setback requirements, subject to two (2) week waiting period. Larry Burgess seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED 2’ VARIANCE. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR A REDUCTION IN THE LANDSCAPE STRIP WIDTH FROM 10’ TO A MINIMUM OF 5’ ALONG WEST 6TH STREET BETWEEN NORTH CEDAR AVENUE AND MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD (NORTH HICKORY AVENUE) AND A REQUEST FOR A FRONT SETBACK VARIANCE FROM 25’ TO 15’ FOR A DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 190 FT. OFF WEST 6TH STREET BETWEEN NORTH CEDAR AVENUE AND MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD (NORTH HICKORY AVENUE). REQUEST SUBMITTED BY COOKEVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER. James Mills stated that the Cookeville Regional Medical Center has submitted a request for a variance to reduce the front setback requirement and the street landscape yard width requirement for the Medical Center property located south of West 6th Street between Medical Center Boulevard and North Cedar Avenue. Based on the submitted plans, a variance to waive the landscape strip between the proposed sidewalks and street curb requirement would also be necessary. The subject property is zoned as MS, Medical Services. The submitted requests are connected to the expansion plans of the Medical Center and related improvements to West 6th Street. The street improvement plans call for the addition of a turn lane on West 6th Street at the intersection with North Cedar Avenue and the provision of sidewalks on both sides of West 6th Street from Medical Center Boulevard to North Cedar Avenue. The right-of-way of West 6th Street currently is approximately 40 feet and the proposed improvements will require the allocation of a portion of the Medical Center’s property. The variance requests are based on where the Medical Center’s property line would be after the dedication of this right-of-way. The front yard setback requirement of the MS District is 25 feet. The request is to reduce this requirement by ten (10) feet to fifteen feet for a distance of approximately 190 feet on the south side of West 6th Street west from North Cedar Street. Approval of the request is necessary for the construction of a new powerhouse to serve the expanded Medical Center. The proposed powerhouse location meets the setback requirements from the current southern right-of-way line of West 6th Street. Section 208.5 of the Zoning Code requires that landscape yards with a minimum width of ten (10) feet shall be provided on all street frontages for new construction projects. The request is to reduce this requirement to five (5) feet for approximately 425 feet on the south side of West 6th Street. In the proposed request the landscape yard width would taper from ten (10) to five (5) for a distance of approximately 235 feet and remain at five (5) feet for a distance of approximately 190 feet. Medical Center officials have indicated that landscaping planned for the expansion project as a whole will greatly exceed the requirements of the Zoning Code. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 3 JUNE 8, 2006 Section 209.5C of the Zoning Code requires that a grass or landscaped strip, a minimum of two (2) feet in width, shall be provided between the edge of the street or street curb and the sidewalk. Based on the submitted plans there is insufficient right-of-way to provide this strip on both sides of West 6th Street. If the dedication of right-of-way were not necessary for the planned improvements to West 6th Street the setback, landscape yard and landscape strip width requirements could be met. When a portion of a lot is acquired for a public purpose, (such as for the widening of a street), Section 204.5 of the Zoning Code allows the Building Official reduce setbacks in such a manner to allow setbacks to be measure from the right-of-way line existing prior to the acquisition. While there is no public acquisition in this case the same principle would seem to apply. Staff recommended approval of variance requests. Tracy Cody made the motion to approve the variance requests. Sid Gilbreath seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. VARIANCE REQUESTS APPROVED. ADJOURNMENT: 5:36 P.M. SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORDING _____________________________ ______________________________ JAYNE BARNS CPS JANE FLATT, CHAIRMAN PLANNING ASSISTANT BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS