Board of Zoning Appeals

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2018 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, November 8, 2018, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. MEMBERS PRESENT: James Dial, Jane Flatt, Sid Gilbreath, and Nancy Bohannon. MEMBER ABSENT: Elwood Ervin. STAFF PRESENT: James Mills, Jayne Barns, and Jon Ward. OTHERS PRESENT: Greg Stamps, David Bilbrey, and Anju Mendiratta. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE AGENDA AS SUBMITTED. James Dial made the motion to approve the agenda as submitted. Jane Flatt seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 11 2018. Jane Flatt made the motion to approve the minutes of October 11, 2018. James Dial seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR A SPECIAL EXCEPTION TO ALLOW A PORTION OF THE REQUIRED ON-PREMISE PARKING AT 115 NORTH HICKORY AVENUE TO BE LOCATED OFF-PREMISE AT 102 NORTH WHITNEY AVENUE AND A VARIANCE TO EXCEED THE DISTANCE BY 20 FEET. REQUEST SUBMITTED BY GREG STAMPS ON BEHALF OF DR. ANJU MENDIRATTA. Jon Ward stated that Mr. J. Greg Stamps, Architect, 18 South Elm Avenue, Cookeville, TN 38501 submitted a special exception request and variance request to allow off-premise parking for property located at 115 North Hickory Avenue to be located at 102 North Whitney Avenue at a distance of approximately 420 feet, 20 feet more than permitted by the Zoning Code, request made on behalf of Dr. Anju Mendiratta, 221 North Oak Avenue, Cookeville, TN 38501. Mr. Greg Stamps submitted a site plan on behalf of Dr. Anju Mendiratta to construct a medical office at 115 North Hickory Avenue, (Tax map 053B, group L, parcel 010.00). The proposed medical office also depicts parking adjacent to the property at the northwest corner of North Oak Avenue and West 1st Street (Tax map 053G, group L, parcel 013.00) These two (2) properties are divided by an interior public alley that the developers plan to utilize for ingress/egress. Additional parking is also proposed on the southeast corner of North Hickory Avenue and West 2nd Street (Tax map 053B, group L, parcel 009.00) located adjacent to the proposed medical office to the north. The properties are zoned as CL, Local Commercial. Adjacent property is zoned CL, Local Commercial, and MS Medical Services to the west, CL, Local Commercial to the north, CL, Local Commercial to the east and CBD Central Business District to the south. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 2 NOVEMBER 8, 2018 The proposed site plan depicts 87 parking spaces on-site. The proposed medical office will need 114 parking spaces to meet the parking requirements of the Zoning Code, based on 28,400 gross square feet of medical office/clinic space which requires one (1) parking space per 250 sq. ft. Mr. Stamps also provided a proposed site plan to construct an additional 32 off-premises parking spaces at the northwest corner of North Whitney Avenue and West 1st Street on three (3) existing tax parcels (Tax map 053B, group N, parcels 012.00, 013.00 and 013.01). These properties are zoned CL Local Commercial. Adjacent properties are zoned CL, Local Commercial, to the north, east, and west, and CL Local Commercial and CBD, Central Business District to the south. Provisions of the Zoning Code allow for a portion of the required parking to be located off-premise, subject to conditions. Specifically, Section 205.4 of the Zoning Code provides: “OFF-PREMISE PARKING (NON-RESIDENTIAL USES) If the required parking spaces for a non-residential use cannot be provided on the same lot as the principal use, the Board of Zoning Appeals may, as a Special Exception, permit such spaces to be located on other property, provided the following conditions are met:” 205.4A The property shall be located within four hundred (400) feet of the principal use as measured from the nearest point of the off-premise parking lot to the nearest point of the building, structure or use served by such parking lot. 205.4B Such off-premise parking spaces are located within a zoning district which would permit the use to which such parking is accessory. 205.4C Such off-premise parking spaces shall not exceed fifty (50) percent of the required parking. 205.4D If such off-premise parking spaces are not in the same ownership as the use being served by said parking spaces, then a duly executed and acknowledged written agreement between the owner of the off-site parking area and the owner of the use shall be submitted to the Building Official. Said agreement shall assure the continued availability and usability of the off-premise parking for as long as required by the use and shall be recorded at the expense of the applicant with the Putnam County Register of Deeds. The proposed off-premise parking is located in the CL, Local Commercial zoning district. The off-premise parking is less than fifty (50) percent of the required parking and the properties proposed for off-premise parking are in the same ownership. The proposed off-premise parking lot is located approximately 420 feet from the proposed medical office property and approximately 490 feet from the proposed building. The petitioner has requested a variance from the 400 foot distance requirement. A total of 27 off-premise parking spaces are needed to meet the required 114 total parking spaces for the development (approximately 24 percent). This represents the maximum number necessary to meet parking requirements based on the gross square footage of the proposed building. This number may be adjusted when construction plans are submitted BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 3 NOVEMBER 8, 2018 to the Cookeville Codes Department, which would likely reduce the amount of spaces that would need to be provided off-site. The current proposed off-premise parking lot consists of 32 parking spaces which could be utilized by the employees of the medical office. The parking depicted at the southwest corner of North Hickory Avenue and West 2nd Street is currently under contract for purchase by Dr. Mendiratta. Approval of the requested special exception and variance will require this property to be purchased and developed as parking as depicted on the site plan. In the opinion of the Planning Department the variance to allow for the off-premise parking to be allowed at the distance depicted on the submitted site plan will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the area, and it appears all other established conditions for off-premise parking can be met. Staff recommended approval of the variance request to allow off-premise parking to be located at the distance depicted on the submitted site plan, and approval of the special exception to allow for off-premise parking, not to exceed 24 percent of the required parking requirements. Dr. Anju Mendiratta stated that the parking lot behind the Pawn Shop will be used for additional parking. Nancy Bowman stated that she was concerned about patient safety because there were no sidewalks along the street and she wanted to know if the off-premise parking lot could be designated for employees only. Dr. Anju Mendiratta replied that she could use the extra parking lot for their employees if needed. James Mills asked that how are they were going to make sure that the lot is used for their employees during the day. Dr. Anju Mendiratta stated that maybe they could put up a gate. Greg Stamps stated that he had only designed the first level and that the second and third floors would be designed later. David Bilbrey, contractor for the project, stated that he didn’t think that they would ever use the extra parking lot. Sid Gilbreath stated that he was also concerned about the absence of a sidewalk and safety of the pedestrians that would be using the off-premise parking lot and about granting a Variance of 24% for the required parking. Jane Flatt stated that when a variance is granted it goes with the property, so it is the Board’s job to plan for the future. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 4 NOVEMBER 8, 2018 Dr. Anju Mendiratta stated that her office will be on the 2nd floor and that there will only be 13-14 patients. She added that when a patient comes to the dialysis clinic they are dropped off by a family member and picked up 4 hours later. Dr. Mendiratta added that the 3rd floor will be a time share satellite clinic in the future. There was concern by the Board about granting a variance based on percentages and not on exact numbers. Sid Gilbreath suggested that Mr. Stamps recalculate the specific number of spaces needed for net usable space of the building with the exact number of parking spaces needed and then if necessary to submit a request to reduce the number of required spaces. James Mills added that Mr. Gilbreath was correct that some of the square footage in the building that is designated for closets or storage etc. changes how the parking is calculated and could reduce the number of required parking spaces. Mr. Mills suggested that they could also reduce the square footage of the building to reduce the numbers of parking spaces needed Jane Flatt made the motion to deny the Special Exception and Variance request. James Dial seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. DENIED. ADJOURNMENT: 6:10 P.M. SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORDING _____________________________ ______________________________ JAYNE BARNS CPS SID GILBREATH, CHAIRMAN PLANNING ASSISTANT BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS