Board of Zoning Appeals

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MINUTES AUGUST 10, 2006 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, August 10, 2006, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. MEMBERS PRESENT: Larry Burgess, Kay Detwiler, and Sid Gilbreath. MEMBER ABSENT: Tracy Cody, and Jane Flatt. STAFF PRESENT: James Mills, Jayne Barns and Mike O’Mara. OTHERS PRESENT: David Day, Chase Day, Dave Roland, Jim Reed, and Grant Reed. NOTE: A court reporter was present and made a detailed record of the proceedings. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE MINUTES OF JULY 13, 2006. Kay Detwiler made the motion to approve the minutes of July 13, 2006. Larry Burgess seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW CONCERNING DENIAL OF PERMIT FOR AN OFF-PREMISE SIGN ON THE ARNOLD KINNAIRD PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1997 E. SPRING STREET. REQUEST SUBMITTED BY DAVID DAY ON BEHALF OF LAMAR ADVERTISING. Kay Detwiler disclosed that her son was an employee of Lamar Advertising and that she had no financial interest in that Company. Larry Burgess stated that he no longer has a business partnership with Dave Roland, and he felt that since there was no longer a conflict that he would be able to vote on this issue. James Mills stated that Lamar Advertising has submitted a request for an administrative review of a decision made by the Planning Department to deny an application for an off- premise sign on property owned by Arnold Kinnaird at 1997 East Spring Street. Specifically Lamar Advertising is requesting that the Board reverse the decision of the Planning Department and order the issuance of a permit for the construction of an off- premise sign. This is Lamar Advertising’s second appeal of a decision to deny a permit application for this location. Lamar Advertising has actually requested permit applications for 1997 East Spring Street three (3) times in 2006 (March 22, April 17, and May 12) with each request being denied by the Planning Department. Copies of each application and the letters of denial are included in the booklets. The decision to deny the March 22, 2006 application request was appealed to the BZA and the Board at its May 11, 2006 meeting confirmed the decision of the Planning Department. A copy of the appeal considered at the May 11, 2006 meeting of the BZA is also included in the booklets. No appeal of the denial of the April 17, 2006 permit application was ever filed. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 2 AUGUST 10, 2006 As with the decisions to deny the March 22 and April 17, 2006 permit application requests, the decision of the Planning Department to deny the May 12, 2006 permit application request was based on the provisions of Section 207.6P (2) of the Zoning Code which provides as follows: 2. Rejection of Permit Applications Any application for permit, the issuance of which would result in a number of billboards and similar off-premise signs exceeding the maximum number allowed, shall be rejected. The maximum number of off-premise signs allowed with the city is specified in Section 207.6P (1) of the Zoning Code, which provides as follows: 1. Maximum Number of Billboards A. The maximum number of billboards and similar off-premise signs allowed within the corporate limits of the City of Cookeville shall be limited to those existing, or having received a valid sign permit as of September 2, 2004. B. For the purpose of these regulations, all billboard and similar off-premise sign locations existing as of September 2, 2004 shall be counted toward the maximum number of billboards allowed until such time as the location does not qualify under the provisions of Tennessee Code Section 13-7-208 (2) (b), (c), and (d), or until the owner of the property on which the billboard is located has agreed to the termination of the real property owner’s rights to have a billboard at that specific location. Evidence of the landowner’s agreement must be in a form satisfactory to the City of Cookeville. Section 207.6P (4) of the Zoning Code provides as follows: 4. New Billboard Permits A permit for the construction of a new billboard or similar off-premise sign may only be issued after a new location becomes available as specified under the provisions of Section 207.6P (1) of these regulations, or for the replacement of a billboard which has been removed from an existing location. In each of the three (3) permit application requests for the Kinnaird property, Lamar Advertising has claimed that a site was available for a new billboard because of code violations for billboards located at 1580 South Maple Avenue and 4720 South Jefferson Avenue. As signs, or sign structures, existed at these locations at the time the applications were filed, (and continue to exist), no location was available for a new billboard and the issuance of a permit would have violated the provisions of the Zoning Code. East-West Media, the owner of the billboards at 1580 South Maple Avenue and 4720 South Jefferson Avenue, has been notified and requested to correct the code violations. They appealed this determination to the BZA and the Board confirmed the decision of the Planning Department. East-West Media subsequently filed an appeal of the decision of the BZA with a court of appeals. The appeal has not yet been heard and the signs, or sign structures, remain. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 3 AUGUST 10, 2006 Additionally there is some question as to whether there is any substantial difference between the current appeal before the Board and the appeal that was ruled upon in May of 2006. Staff recommended denial of the request. There was a discussion by David Day, Mike O’Mara, James Mills and the Board concerning the issues that were presented. Mr. Day requested that the Board direct the Planning Department to accept the submitted application and hold it as the next application in line should the court rule that the permits for 1580 South Maple and/or 4720 South Jefferson Avenue are no longer valid. Vice Chairman Gilbreath stated that the Board did not have the authority to do so. Larry Burgess made the motion to uphold the City’s decision to deny the request for a permit application. Kay Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. DENIED. ADJOURNMENT: 5:45 P.M. SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORDING _____________________________ _____________________________________ JAYNE BARNS CPS SID GILBREATH, ACTING CHAIRMAN PLANNING ASSISTANT BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS