Board of Zoning Appeals

Board of Zoning Appeals Minutes July 14th, 2022 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, July 14th, 2022, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers located at 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. Members Present: James Dial, Elwood Ervin, Michael Detwiler & Connie McCormick. Members Absent: Nancy Bohannon. Staff Present: Jon Ward, Christopher Phillips, & Haley Dickson. Staff Absent: Ken Young & James Mills. Others Present: Lindsay Pride Consider for Approval the Agenda as Submitted. Elwood Ervin made the motion to approve the agenda as submitted. Michael Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. Approved. Consider for Approval the Minutes of June 9th, 2022. Connie McCormick made the motion to approve the minutes of June 9th, 2022, as submitted. Elwood Ervin seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. Approved. Consider a request for a special exception to allow a public school in the RS-20 Zoning District for the property located south of the intersection of Lee Seminary Road and Highlands Park Boulevard. Request submitted by Scott Nicholson on behalf of the Putnam County Board of Education. Mr. Chris Phillips stated that Mr. Scott Nicholson, on behalf of the Putnam County Board of Education, has submitted for approval a special exception request to allow a public school in the RS-20 District for the property located south of the intersection of Lee Seminary Road and Highlands Park Boulevard. Analysis: The subject property is identified as Tax Map 065, Parcel 118.03 and contains approximately 45.20 acres. The property is zoned RS-20, “Single-Family Residential,” as are the properties to the east, west and south. The property is bordered by CI, “Commercial- Industrial Mixed-Use” and LM, “Light Manufacturing” to the north and the corporate city limits to the south. The subject property is the proposed site for the new Parkview public school. Public schools are a use permitted on appeal (Special Exception) by the Board of Zoning Appeals in the RS-20 zoning district. Special exceptions are uses that are appropriate for a particular zone provided certain specific conditions are met. Public schools may be permitted as a use permitted on appeal (special exception) in the RS-20 District when meeting the conditions specified in Section 210.3B of the Cookeville Zoning Code:  Shall be located on streets with a classification of no less than major collector status; and  When adjacent to lots zoned or used for residential purposes a Type 2 Screen/Buffer Yard as specified in Section 208 of this Zoning Code shall be provided along all shared lot lines. At the June 27, 2022, Planning Commission Meeting Lee Seminary Road and Highlands Park Boulevard was reclassified to Major Collector status from South Willow Avenue to Tennessee Board of Zoning Appeals July 14th, 2022 Minutes Avenue. During the Site Plan review held on May 31, 2022, a Type 2 Screen was discussed as a requirement for the subject property and responses provided to the comments noted that Type II screening has been added to the revised site plan. Improvements to Lee Seminary Road are also required from the intersection of Lee Seminary Road/Highlands Park Boulevard south to the proposed access to the new school. In the opinion of the Planning Department, the special exception to allow a public school within the RS-20 District at the subject location would not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the area, and it appears all other established conditions can be met. Recommendation: Approval of the special exception. Mr. James Dial asked if Highlands Park Boulevard is able to handle the additional cars once the school is open. Mr. Ward stated that the cross section of the road located next to the proposed new school building meets most requirements of the Zoning Code. The road is currently classified as a collector street and a request to change the classification to a Major Collection status is being considered by the Planning Commission. Michael Detwiler made the motion to approve the request as recommended by staff. Elwood Ervin seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. Consider a request for a variance to reduce an interior side yard setback from ten feet to zero feet for a length of approximately 41’ for a second story building connection for the property located at 228 West 4th Street. Request submitted by Peter Metts on behalf of Tennessee Heart. Mr. Jon Ward stated that Mr. Peter Metts, on behalf of Tennessee Heart, has submitted for approval a variance request to reduce an interior side yard setback from ten (10) feet to zero (0) feet for a length of approximately 41 feet for a second story building connection for the property located at 228 West 4th Street. Analysis: The subject property is identified as Tax Map 053B, Group M, Parcel 001.00 and contains approximately 1.76 acres. The property is zoned MS, “Medical Services,” as are all adjacent properties. An existing medical office is located on the subject property. Mr. Peter Metts, on behalf of Tennessee Heart, has submitted a site plan that reflects Tennessee Heart’s proposal to subdivide a portion of the subject property and to construct a new medical office addition to the current Tennessee Heart building on the newly created lot. The new addition includes a second story building connection to the existing building. The MS District has a ten (10) foot side yard setback. The proposed second story connection will be approximately 41 feet wide. This connection will allow foot traffic to and from each building without having to exit either building. The proposed site plan depicts space under the second story connection that would allow for vehicle traffic between the buildings. The requested variance to reduce the side yard setback requirement to zero (0) feet represents a total variance of 100 percent. This is a unique request, as the setback encroachment would be created by a proposed lot line to subdivide the property to maintain all elements of the proposed new structure on a separate lot of record. The request was submitted to keep the existing building and property ownership separate Board of Zoning Appeals July 14th, 2022 Minutes from the proposed new building. With this proposal, the setback encroachment will apply to theexisting TN Heart facility and the second story skybridge connection of the proposed new structure. In the opinion of the Planning Department, the setback variance will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the area. Recommendation: Approval of the variance. Elwood Ervin made the motion to approve the request as recommended by staff. Michael Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. Consider a request for a special exception to allow a portion of the required on-premises parking for property located at 228 West 4th Street to be located off-premises at 160 West 3rd Street and 221 North Hickory Avenue. Request submitted by Peter Metts on behalf of BLM Group, LLC. Mr. Jon Ward stated that Mr. Peter Metts, on behalf of BLM Group, LLC., has submitted for approval a special exception request to allow a portion of the required on- premises parking for property located at 228 West 4th Street to be located off-premises at 160 West 3rd Street and 221 North Hickory Avenue. Analysis: The subject property is identified as Tax Map 053B, Group M, Parcel 001.00 and contains approximately 1.76 acres. The property is zoned MS, “Medical Services,” as are all adjacent properties. An existing medical office is located on the subject property. Mr. Peter Metts has submitted a site plan on behalf of BLM Group LLC. to construct a new medical office addition to the Tennessee Heart building located at 228 West 4th Street. The new structure/addition will be constructed in a proposed subdivided portion of the subject property east of the existing medical office in the current parking lot for the office. The existing office currently has 137 on premises parking spots. The new proposed subdivision will leave 71 on- premises parking spots available to the public. Section 205.8C of the Cookeville Zoning Codes requires medical offices and medical clinics to provide one (1) parking space per 250 square feet of building space. The current building is 22,500 square feet. The new addition will be 17,595 square feet. Based on gross square footage, the existing building requires 90 parking spaces, and the new addition will require 70 parking spaces. Consultation with the City of Cookeville Plans Examiner identified that reducing the square footage of unoccupied space including stairwells, elevator shafts, and bathrooms and calculating the storage areas at one (1) parking space per 1,500 square feet require 80 parking spaces for the existing building and 63 parking spaces for the new addition. The proposed off- premises parking lot would be required to keep both lots in compliance with the parking requirements of the Zoning Code. The proposed site plan also depicts the existing structures located at 160 West 3rd Street and 221 North Hickory Avenue being demolished and the construction of a new off-premises parking lot containing a total of 42 parking spaces. A specific provision of the Zoning Code allows for a portion of the required parking to be located off-premises, subject to conditions as follows. Section 205.4 of the Zoning Code provides: “Off-Premises Parking (Non-Residential Uses) If the required parking spaces for a non-residential use cannot be provided on the same lot as the Board of Zoning Appeals July 14th, 2022 Minutes 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-premises parking lot to the nearest point of the building, structure or use served by such parking lot. 205.4B Such off-premises parking spaces are located within a zoning district which would permit the use to which such parking is accessory. 205.4C Such off-premises parking spaces shall not exceed fifty (50) percent of the required parking. 205.4D If such off-premises 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-premises 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-premises parking is in the MS, “Medical Services,” zoning district. The off- premises parking is less than fifty (50) percent of the required parking and the properties proposed for off-premises parking are in the same ownership. The newly constructed off- premises parking spaces constitute 46 percent of the required parking for the new addition. The proposed off-premises parking lot is located approximately 175 feet from the medical office property and approximately 315 feet from the nearest point of the current structure. The parking spaces provided by the proposed off-premises parking lot would bring the total on and off premises parking spaces for both lots to 147 spaces. Cross easements for parking and access will be required on the preliminary plat to allow for shared usage of parking spaces and access points. In the opinion of the Planning Department, the special exception to allow off-premises parking will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the area, and it appears all other required conditions for off-premises parking can be met. Recommendation: Approval of the special exception. Connie McCormick made the motion to approve the request as recommended by staff. Michael Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. Adjournment: 5:37 P.M. Submitted for Approval Submitted for Recording _____________________________ ______________________________ Haley Dickson James Dial, Chairman Planning Assistant Board of Zoning Appeals