Board of Zoning Appeals

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MINUTES MARCH 12, 2009 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, March 12, 2009, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. MEMBERS PRESENT: Tracy Cody, Kay Detwiler, Jane Flatt, and Sid Gilbreath. MEMBER ABSENT: Paul Bonner. STAFF PRESENT: James Mills, Jayne Barns, and Ken Young. OTHERS PRESENT: Bob Atchison, Heather Mullinix, Jerry Gaw, David Funk, Elaine Funk, and Vaughnell Smith Myers. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIRMAN: Sid Gilbreath made the motion to elect Jane Flatt as Chairman. Tracy Cody seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. JANE FLATT ELECTED CHAIRMAN. Tracy Cody made the motion to elect Sid Gilbreath as Vice-Chairman. Kay Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. SID GILBREATH ELECTED VICE-CHAIRMAN. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13, 2008. Sid Gilbreath made the motion to approve the minutes of November 13, 2008. Tracy Cody seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR A 15’ VARIANCE IN THE FRONT YARD SETBACK REQUIREMENTS ON BRANDON DRIVE ON THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 205 WEST 12TH STREET. REQUEST SUBMITTED BY JERRY GAW AND PAUL GAW. James Mills stated that Mr. Jerry Gaw and Mr. Paul Gaw, have submitted for approval a request for a variance to reduce the setback requirement off Brandon Drive for property located at the northwest intersection of West 12th Street and Autumn Avenue and identified as Parcel 5.00 on Tax Map 40J, Group A. The subject property is zoned as CL, Local Commercial. It consists of approximately 1.94 acres and has frontage on three (3) streets including West 12th Street, Autumn Avenue, and Brandon Drive. West 12th Street is classified as a Major Street which requires a minimum setback requirement of 50 feet. The minimum front and street side setback requirements in the CL District are 30 feet. The original site plan depicted the construction of 28 condominium units and related parking. The plan has been revised and the total number of units has been reduced to 24. The proposed development has been granted conditional approval by the Planning Commission. The conditions include widening of Autumn Avenue by the developer to 20 feet from West 12th Street to Brandon Drive. The developer must also dedicate enough right-of- way on Autumn Avenue to allow for the widening and the installation of a five (5) feet wide sidewalk with a two (2) feet wide grass separation strip between the sidewalk and the street. The site plan depicts the installation of sidewalks along West 12th Street and the provision of landscape yards a minimum of 10 feet in width along all street frontages. The original variance request was for a reduction of the setback requirement off Brandon Drive from the required 30 feet to 10 feet. With the revised site plan the request has been reduced to 15 feet. Brandon Drive is a dead-end street and provides access to one 9-unit apartment complex. It has a length of approximately 270 feet and a pavement width of approximately 15 feet. Due to topographic constraints it is unlikely that Brandon Drive could ever be extended. The Planning Commission approved the waiver of right-of-way dedication and street widening requirements for Brandon Drive subject to the prohibition of access to the development from Brandon Drive. Although Brandon Drive is classified as a city street it has more of the characteristics of an alley than a street. The minimum rear and side yard setback off an alley in the CL District is ten (10) feet. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 2 MARCH 12, 2009 While the requested variance is significant, the three (3) street frontages and the applicable setbacks do place a particular hardship on the subject property. Due to the access prohibition condition established by the Planning Commission the developer does not have the option of moving the northern portion of the upper parking lot to Brandon Drive, which would possibly allow compliance with the setback requirements. The granting of the variance would not appear to confer on the applicant any special privilege denied to other properties on Brandon Drive and would not appear to be detrimental to those properties. The only other development located on Brandon Drive is nonconforming with several current Zoning Code requirements including setback, parking and landscaping. Staff recommended approval of the 15’ variance on Brandon Drive. Vaughnell Smith Myers, 1315 Autumn Avenue, wanted to know if the widening of Autumn Avenue would affect her property. James Mills replied that the widening would start at Brandon Avenue and go south to West 12th Street and that it would not affect her property, but the improvements would help the residents have better ingress and egress on that portion of Autumn Avenue. Bob Atchison, 210 Brandon Drive, stated that the residents from the apartment complexes in the area cut thru this property to get to the market on the corner and he was wondering if Mr. Gaw was going to put up a wall on the west side of the development. Jerry Gaw replied that at this time there were no plans, but if it becomes a problem he will discuss it with the homeowners association. Mr. Gaw added that the condominiums would be all brick and that the exterior will blend in with the style of the buildings located on Tennessee Tech’s campus. David Funk spoke on behalf of his mom, Elaine Funk, who lives at 195 West 12th Street. They were concern with the widening of Autumn Avenue, allowing an additional driveway on West 12th Street and about dumping additional traffic onto West 12th Street which is already a dangerous intersection and hard for resident to pull out on 12th now. James Mills replied that the minimum width of a local street is 20’ and that the entrance on West 12th Street meets the separation requirement of 50’. Sid Gilbreath made the motion to approve a 15’ Variance in the front yard setback requirements on Brandon Drive on the property located at 205 West 12th Street. Kay Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED 15’ VARIANCE IN THE FRONT YARD SETBACK ON BRANDON DRIVE. ADJOURNMENT: 5:43 P.M. SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORDING _____________________________ ______________________________ JAYNE BARNS CPS JANE FLATT, CHAIRMAN PLANNING ASSISTANT BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS