Board of Zoning Appeals

Board of Zoning Appeals Minutes November 10th, 2022 The Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday, November 10th, 2022, at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers located at 45 E. Broad Street, Cookeville, Tennessee. Members Present: James Dial, Michael Detwiler & Connie McCormick. Members Absent: Elwood Ervin, & Nancy Bohannon Staff Present: Jon Ward & Christopher Phillips. Staff Absent: Ken Young, Haley Dickson, & James Mills. Others Present: Kent Campbell, Jeremy Stoner, & Paul Haberkamp. Consider for Approval the Agenda as Submitted. Michael Detwiler made the motion to approve the agenda as submitted. Connie McCormick seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. Approved. Consider for Approval the Minutes of September 8th, 2022. Connie McCormick made the motion to approve the minutes of September 8th, 2022, as submitted. Michael Detwiler seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. Approved. Consider a request for a variance to reduce the parking requirement from two (2) parking spaces per dwelling unit for every dwelling unit exceeding 50 dwelling units to 1.25 parking spaces per bedroom for all dwelling units for property located at Boatman Street and Darwin Street. Request submitted by Kent T. Campbell on behalf of the Cookeville Housing Authority. Mr. Christopher Phillips stated that Mr. Kent T. Campbell, on behalf of the Cookeville Housing Authority, has submitted for approval a variance request to reduce the parking requirement from two (2) spaces per dwelling unit for every dwelling unit exceeding 50-dwelling units to 1.25 parking spaces per bedroom for all dwelling units, including units exceeding 50-dwelling units for property located at Boatman Street and Darwin Street. The request was submitted to allow for redevelopment of the existing 58-unit public housing development. Analysis: The subject property is identified as Parcel 001.00 on Tax Map 053O, Group A and contains approximately 11.75 acres. The property is zoned RM-8, “Multi-Family Residential” as are the adjacent properties to the north and west. The property is bordered by RS-10, “Single-Family Residential” to the east and west and by MS, “Medical Services” and RD, “Single-Family and Duplex Residential” to the south. The RM-8 District requires a minimum lot area per dwelling unit of 5,000 square feet. The property currently includes a 58-unit public housing development, per the Herald- Citizen article published June 16, 2022. A redevelopment of the current property has been proposed to retain the current building footprints and construct second stories onto buildings located outside of the floodplain area, bringing the total number of units to 102. The applicant has stated that the plan reaches the maximum density of 102 units on the subject property and will bring the total number of bedrooms to 156. The current redevelopment plan consists of 56 one-bedroom units, 38 two-bedroom units, and eight (8) three- bedroom units. The redevelopment concept plans to utilize the current on-street parking. While the Planning Division does have concerns with the on-street parking, it is the opinion of the Planning Division and the Chief Building Official that on-street parking would be grandfathered in as long as the redevelopment utilizes the current building footprints, as the concept proposes. Section 205.8B of the Cookeville Zoning Code establishes residential parking requirements. 205.8B 3 states, “Single family attached (townhouses), condominiums, efficiency apartments and multi-family dwellings: 1.25 spaces per bedroom per dwelling unit for the first 50 dwelling units and 2 spaces per dwelling unit for every dwelling unit exceeding 50 dwelling units. In developments providing dwelling units with varying number of bedrooms, the units with the highest number of bedrooms shall be calculated in the first 50 dwelling units.” Board of Zoning Appeals November 10th, 2022 Minutes At the current parking requirement calculation, a total of 234 parking spaces would be required. The 38 two-bedroom units (76 bedrooms), the eight (8) three-bedroom units (24 bedrooms), and four (4) one-bedroom units (4 bedrooms) would be the first 50 units calculated at 1.25 parking spaces per bedroom for a total of 130 spaces. The remaining 52 one-bedroom units would require a total of 104 parking spaces at two (2) parking spaces per bedroom. Requiring two (2) parking spaces per bedroom for all remaining one-bedroom dwelling units could be interpreted as excessive for the development, which consists of mostly one-bedroom dwelling units. The subject property is burdened by natural factors including a FEMA identified Special Flood Hazard Area and the Ensor Sinkhole Retention Area along the northern and eastern areas of the subject property. The requested variance would provide 195 total parking spaces for the redevelopment, 156 bedrooms times 1.25 parking spaces per bedroom. A total of 42 parking spaces would be decreased from the current parking requirement for a total variance of 17 percent. In the opinion of the Planning Department, requiring two parking spaces for dwellings containing only one bedroom could be interpreted as excessive for the redevelopment consisting of mostly one-bedroom units. Staff Recommendation: Approval of the variance request to calculate all dwelling units at 1.25 parking spaces per bedroom, based on the current concept to redevelop the property utilizing the current building footprints. Mr. Jon Ward stated that the Planning Division’s concern with the on-street parking is based on an incident that occurred at the intersection of Boatman Street and Darwin Street when a child was seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle. Mr. Kent Campbell noted that the redevelopment is currently in the early stages and that traffic calming measures such as raised pedestrian crossings and potentially one-waying the street are being considered in the design of the redevelopment. Connie McCormick asked if handicap accessible parking spaces are to be included in the on-street parking calculations. Mr. Jon Ward started that handicap accessible parking requirements are found in the Building Code and that the Building Code would determine the number of handicap accessible parking spaces and they would be required within the parking space count. Mr. Campbell noted that the current handicap accessible parking spaces are on-street parking spaces, and the redevelopment may look at providing off-street handicap accessible parking spaces. Michael Detwiler made the motion to approve the request as recommended by staff. Connie McCormick seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVED. Michael Detwiler made the motion to adjourn. Connie McCormick seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned. Adjournment: 5:37 P.M. Submitted for Approval Submitted for Recording _____________________________ ______________________________ Haley Dickson James Dial, Chairman Planning Assistant Board of Zoning Appeals