Coralville Board of Adjustment

City of Coralville Board of Adjustment Meeting July 15, 2013 Staff: Jim Kessler, Building & Zoning Official Dee Marshek, Administrative Assistant Item #1: Meeting called to order 6:00 PM Item #2: Member present: Wells, Szczech, Rice, Nicola and Boucher. Others present: David Ploof / Portrait Shop and Contractor Lawrence Monroe Item #3: Approval of June 17, 2013 Minutes with spelling correction. Motion to approve by: Wells 2nd by: Nicola Motion carried: 5-0 Motion to Amend the Agenda Postponing Public Hearing Item #5 Motion to amend by: Nicola 2nd by: Wells Motion carried: 5-0 Item #4: Public Hearing request by David Ploof for a Conditional Use Permit to Section 165.28(4) (B), allowing multi-family residential in a C-2 Zoning District. The property is located at 806 5th Street in Coralville. Public Hearing Opened: Ploof: Explains this is the old Coralville Library building. Ploof states that he has had trouble keeping the commercial spaces rented and wants to change the zoning. It’s a two story commercial building and the request is to change the upper level to residential and have one rental space on the main floor as a handicap unit. Wells: Let’s clarify this; your request is to have apartments on the upper level and one handicap unit on the lower level with the remaining as commercial spaces? Ploof: Yes, we’re looking at 8 -2 bedroom units upstairs and 1 unit downstairs. Wells: Questions the commercial square footage verses the residential square footage. Kessler: I’ve done a lot of research about ADA and handicap requirements. Buildings constructed prior to 1991, fall under the Fair Housing Act as an exception. That states it doesn’t need to meet handicap requirements for this building. So, that issue is gone. Ploof: This building and the family portrait shop have been a family business for more than 25 years, and I would like to make something work. Kessler: The situation is the code allows multi-family in commercial zoning district, but only as a secondary use. In this case, less square footage than of the commercial use. With this bldg that would be less than 7000 square feet. You can only utilize 10% of your 1st floor for an apartment. By making the whole top floor apartments, this is not meeting the secondary use. Kessler: I’ve also talk to Mr. Ploof about the parking situation. I don’t see enough parking to support both the apartments and the commercial use. Ploof: Discusses the current parking at this location. Boucher & Rice: Question the number of current parking spaces. Wells: I referenced the Zoning Regulations, the zoning books states you have to have more commercial than residential space. Ploof: Originally Kessler said I had to put 1 unit on the bottom. If it makes a difference in doing the project or not doing the project, I’ll scrap the one unit on the bottom level. Rice: It has to be over one-half commercial. We have 7000 square on each floor, if he asked for 6900 square feet on upper floor, would that comply? Kessler: If he can furnish the parking and has less footage of apartments than commercial, he’d be fine. Ploof, Kessler and Members discuss the parking. Kessler: He needs 15 spaces for the apartments upstairs, and then you have to figure out the different commercial uses on the lower level. Kessler displays the site plan and explains the current front parking spaces are on City right-of-way or City property and can’t be counted as legal spaces. Now there’s a possibility of 19 spaces for all the building. This project would also be required to supply 25% of the number required for the apartments as guest spaces. 15 spaces x 25% = 4 for a total of 19 for the apartments alone. Szczech: Questions the City right-of-way maintenance and the fact that it has always been available for parking before. Kessler: Explains the right-of-way responsibilities and that parking has always been an issue. By the Zoning Code we can’t legally count the right-of-way area as parking spaces. Ploof: States prior to starting the project I was told specifically that the City could work with me on the parking. Kessler: Yes I did, if you came close, but you are very short on parking. Boucher: He needs 20 spaces for 8 apartments? Kessler: If the apartments are 800 square feet over you need 2 spaces, less than 800 square feet you need 1 ½ spaces and 25 % of required guest parking. Commercial is 5 spaces per 1000 square feet or 35 spaces. Remember that if this changes uses, you lose being grandfathered in. Contractor Monroe: If we continued with commercial upstairs and spent 100,000 and installed an elevator would we stay grandfathered? Kessler: I have to go by the Code of Ordinance; it would depend on the commercial uses. Rice: What you’re saying is this land/property never did have enough spaces. Kessler: The multi family use in a C-2 zoning has to be a secondary use. All kinds of contractors have called about this project, but not until now we never had seen any plans. So, I never knew how to respond to questions. They did come in and ask for a demo permit, and were told that would be at their own risk, so the upstairs is already gutted. Rice: Questions, if Mr. Ploof had commercial tenants that wanted to go back in, would he still have parking issues? Kessler: Yes, when you change uses that changes the parking ratio. Parking is based on use. Rice: He has 14,000 square feet and a building that’s difficult to use, because of parking. Boucher: What about parking in adjacent lots? Kessler: The city owns all the property around this lot. Szczech: The city isn’t interested in his building. Ploof: States that four years ago Ambrose didn’t offer enough, this year the City didn’t like my number. Because of the lack of renters; I am interested in selling or in changing the use to apartments, instead of paying taxes and losing money. Kessler, you said you could work with me on parking. We’re not increasing the density or the size of the building. Kessler: You said you didn’t use all the parking now for the portrait studio. Ask for a variance, make a case that you’re not using all that space, and we could possibly work with you. But for now you only have 26 spaces, and we can’t count the right-of-way spots. Szczech: That’s a least 8 spaces that can’t be counted. Boucher: Looks like you have two choices, don’t do the project or do less apartments and then ask for the parking variance. Kessler: You could request a parking variance on the commercial, not the apartments. You may be able to make a case on the portrait studio, but not the apartments. The secondary use is an issue. The apartments have to be a secondary use. Ploof: Questions the comments discussed. Szezceh: Sounds like you can’t put one whole floor in as apartment rentals. Kessler: Clarifies again, you have to have less square feet of multi-family than commercial. Boucher: Yes, and that’s separate from the parking issue. Contractor Monroe : A proposal would be to cut the residential square footage and up the commercial, but still go for a variance on the parking. Wells: It still goes back to following the rules and then present your case. Ploof: Expresses frustration about the parking issues. Kessler: I can work with you on commercial parking through a variance, but only on commercial. I can’t work with you on the apartments.  Members discuss considering commercial storage as a part of Mr. Ploof’s project. Kessler: You could gain more parking by making lesser apartments or larger apartment and the commercial storage would be considered minimal, 1 per 1000 square feet. Public Hearing Closed: Members confirm the ability to resubmit a future Conditional Use permit if this one is denied. Consider approval of the Conditional Use Permit. Motion to approve this Conditional Use Permit as presented on 7/15/203. Motion by: Boucher Motion 2nd by: Wells 0 ayes - 5 nays Motion Denied Item #5: Public Hearing request for an Appeal of a violation of the Code of Ordinance has been deferred to a later date. Item #6: Motion to Adjourn Motion by: Boucher: 2nd by: Szczech Motion Carried: 5-0 Meeting Adjourned: 6:40 PM Respectfully submitted, Dee Marshek