Board of Zoning Appeals

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MINUTES JUNE 11, 2009 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, June 11, 2009, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Bonner, Tracy Cody, Jane Flatt, and Sid Gilbreath. MEMBER ABSENT: Kay Detwiler. STAFF PRESENT: James Mills, Jayne Barns and Ken Young. OTHERS PRESENT: Ed Butler. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE MINUTES OF APRIL 9, 2009. Sid Gilbreath made the motion to approve the minutes of April 9, 2009. Paul Bonner seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR A VARIANCE TO REDUCE THE REAR SETBACK REQUIREMENTS FROM 15’ TO 13’ ON LOTS 16, 17, 20, & 21, AND A REQUEST FOR A VARIANCE TO REDUCE THE SETBACK OFF A MAJOR ROAD FROM 50’ TO 45’ ON LOT #1 IN THE NEW QUAIL HOLLOW SUBDIVISION ON GAINESBORO GRADE (TAX MAP #39, PARCEL #58). REQUEST SUBMITTED BY ED BUTLER ON BEHALF OF H & E ENTERPRISES. James Mills stated that Ed Butler, on behalf of H & E Enterprises, has submitted for approval a request for variances to reduce the setback requirements for five (5) lots in the proposed Quail Hollow Subdivision located off West 12th Street (State Highway 290/Gainesboro Grade). The subject property is identified as Parcel 39 on Tax Map 58 and is zoned as RS-5, Single Family Residential. The property consists of approximately 6.7 acres. A preliminary plat of Quail Hollow, a 39 lot subdivision of the property, was conditionally approved by the Planning Commission at its May 2009 meeting. The variance requests are for a reduction of the required rear yard setback for four (4) lots and a reduction of the setback off a major street (State Highway 290) for one (1) lot in the proposed subdivision. In the RS-5 District the minimum rear yard setback requirement is 15 feet and the minimum setback requirement off a major street is 50 feet. The specific requests are for a reduction in the rear yard setback to 13 feet for Lots 16, 17, 20 and 21 and a reduction in the setback off a major street to 45 feet for Lot 1 in the proposed subdivision. All of the lots in the proposed subdivision comply with the 5,000 square feet minimum lot size requirement of the RS-5 District. The requested variance in the rear yard setbacks represents an approximate thirteen percent (13%) reduction and the requested variance in the setback off a major street is a ten percent (10%) reduction. The petitioner indicates that the variances are necessary due to an irregularly shaped eastern property boundary and the location of a stream which bisects the property east to west. The eastern property boundary is shared with a parcel occupied with a large multi-family residential development. In addition to the stream, the property is also BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 2 JUNE 11, 2009 encumbered by a sewer line easement located approximately 100 feet south of and parallel with State Highway 290. With the exception of Lots 16, 17, 20 and 21 all of the lots in the proposed subdivision have a minimum lot depth of 65 feet and a minimum building area depth of 30 feet. Mr. Butler has indicated that he intends to construct all of the houses in the proposed subdivision and that a minimum building depth of 30 feet is necessary to construct the houses. Due to the irregularly shaped eastern property boundary the depths on Lots 16, 17, and 20 approach 64 feet resulting in a building area depth of approximately 29 feet for portion of these lots. A reduction of the rear setback requirement to 14 feet instead of the requested 13 feet would allow the same building area depth for these lots as is proposed for the remaining lots. This would also reduce the percentage of the variance to approximately seven percent (7%). The proposed Lot 21 is more significantly affected by the irregularly shaped eastern property boundary and a two (2) foot reduction of the rear setback requirement appears to be necessary to allow for the building depth of 30 feet. The building area width on proposed Lot 1 does appear to be affected by the location of the stream and sewer line easement. Due these factors and the required setback off State Highway 290, the building width on proposed Lot 1 is less than 44 feet. A 44 feet building area width is significantly less than all other lots in the proposed subdivision. While compliance with the required setbacks could be achieved by reducing the size of the proposed houses or by reducing the number of lots in the proposed subdivision, the variance requests appear to be the minimum necessary to allow the reasonable use of the land. In the opinion of the Planning Department the granting of the variances will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property or improvements in the area in which the property is located. Staff recommended approval of variances to reduce the minimum rear yard setback requirement for Lots 16, 17 and 20 from 15 feet to 14 feet, to reduce the minimum rear yard setback requirement for Lot 21 from 15 feet to 13 feet and to reduce the setback requirement off a major street (State Highway 290) for Lot 1 from 50 feet to 45 feet Tracy Cody made the motion to approve variances to reduce the minimum rear yard setback requirement for Lots 16, 17 and 20 from 15 feet to 14 feet, to reduce the minimum rear yard setback requirement for Lot 21 from 15 feet to 13 feet and to reduce the setback requirement off a major street (State Highway 290) for Lot 1 from 50 feet to 45 feet. Sid Gilbreath seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED VARIANCES. ADJOURNMENT: 5:20 P.M. SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORDING _____________________________ ______________________________ JAYNE BARNS, CPS JANE FLATT, CHAIRMAN PLANNING ASSISTANT BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS