Planning Commission

FAIRMONT PLANNING COMMISSION The regular meeting of the Fairmont Planning Commission was held on July 16, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street. Vice President Majic called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and asked for a roll call of members. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Members Present: Members Absent: Vice President Majic Commissioner Parker Commissioner Richardson President Oliver (arrived at 7:30) Commissioner Weber Commissioner Pitman Commissioner Greene Commissioner Straight Commissioner Miller City Staff Present: Director of Planning and Development – Kathy Wyrosdick Recording Secretary – Martha Richards PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Vice President Majic: Motioned to approve the minutes from June 18, 2014. Commissioner Weber: Motioned to approve minutes. Commissioner Greene: Seconded. Vote was 7-0 in favor. Motion Carried. PUBLIC HEARING #1 FOR JULY 16, 2014 Vice President Majic: Judson Doerfler and Blodwyn Doerfler are requesting a Right-of- Way abandonment of a portion of 12th Street between the Fairmont Box Company parking lot to the north and the Fairmont Box Company plant to the south (Tax Map 01- 07, between Parcels 07-74 and 07-74.2). Mr. & Mrs. Judson Doerfler, of 215 Braddock Street in Fairmont, and owners of One- Cent, Incorporated and Judds Mini Storage on 12th Street, want to lease their property to Republic Waste to expand their parking lot. The ROW abandonment they are requesting would give Republic Waste more room and would benefit both sides. 1 Vice President Majic: Do any of the commissioners have any questions? Commissioner Straight: I think that it will compliment that area as far as clean up, and extending their parking will help them out. Vice President Majic: Is there anyone else present to speak for this request? None. Vice President Majic: Is there anyone present to speak against this request? None. Vice President Majic: Do we have a staff report? City Planner Wyrosdick: Staff has no issues; Mr. Doerfler did mention that he owns both sides of the ROW, and he has a plat that surveys the area prepared by Norm Kronjaeger. There were no negative comments from outside agencies, so we are recommending approval of it. Vice President Majic: Do any of the commissioners have any questions for Kathy? None. Vice President Majic: The public hearing is closed. Is there a motion to approve as submitted? Commissioner Greene: Motioned to approve. Commissioner Weber: Seconded. Motion is approved 7-0. PUBLIC HEARING #2 FOR JULY 16, 2014 Vice President Majic: Debra Miller is requesting a ROW abandonment of an unopened alleyway behind Hampton Road, off of Moyer Way (Tax Map 01-32, between Parcels 49, 87, and 88). Ms. Debra Miller, of 499 Hampton Road in Fairmont, discusses the purpose of having the ROW abandoned, that it was a paper ROW that was drawn up years ago, and that it never has been put into use. It is inaccessible from Moyer Way, it is inaccessible from farther up Hampton Road, it is overgrown with trees, and there is no feasible access. She wants to combine her lots in order to put a portable storage building on it, and is starting the ROW abandonment process in order to do so. Vice President Majic: Do any of the commissioners have any questions? 2 Commissioner Weber asks: When we take this ROW that’s been a city property for a long time, and no taxes paid on it, when it transfers over to somebody like Miss Miller, does that piece of property then go on the tax rolls? City Planner Wyrosdick responds: It does; it’s included in their entire parcel. This is an alleyway with properties on both sides, the properties split down the middle and half goes to one property owner and the other half goes to the other property owner. All the property owners along this alleyway will be affected by a 7.5 foot addition to their property. Ms. Miller owns a piece of property on both sides, and will combine the two lots into one lot so the stand-alone accessory building will be legal because it will be an accessory to her primary home on the other lot. Commissioner Weber asks: So in essence she is going to improve the property? Ms. Miller responds: Absolutely. The only reason she would not combine the lots would be to build another home that’s in compliance with the codes and policies of Fairmont. She has no intention of doing that, she only needs storage space, Ms. Tonya Price, of 501 Hampton Road in Fairmont, states it is not accessible to go in and out from either side, and they are trying to make their properties better. She would like the alleyway to be abandoned so she can eventually build a reasonable-sized garage on her property. Vice President Majic: Is there anyone else here to speak for this request? None. Vice President Majic: Is there anyone here to speak against this request? Mr. Tim Haddix, father of Chelse Shine who owns rental properties in the area, discussed issues with ownership of the Miller property based on tax tickets, and issues with whether the building in question is a storage building or a cabin that someone could live in, as well as commented on trash and noise issues. Mr. Haddix claims there is someone living in the building; City code enforcement has not determined, to date, that anyone is living there. Mr. Haddix provided the commissioners with comparable photos of storage buildings and cabins, and there was discussion about dimensions. Vice President Majic: Commissioners, do you have any questions? President Oliver: Can I ask just for clarification? We’re looking to abandon this ROW, not improve it? City Planner Wyrosdick responds: That is correct. It was clarified that Ms. Miller is not requesting that the alleyway be opened as a roadway, she is requesting that it be abandoned so the city has no more claim to it. The paper alleyway is split in half, and 3 half of that would be attached to Ms. Miller’s property, and it would give her a higher level of protection of the property that she owns. Vice President Majic: Can I have a motion to close the public hearing? Commissioner Weber: I make a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Straight: Seconded. City Planner Wyrosdick adds information in response to Mr. Haddix’ concerns. “The storage unit was placed on the property absent a permit, which was identified by code enforcement which was what brought Ms. Miller into the Building Department to start the process. An accessory building cannot be placed on a lot by itself, it has to be accessory to something. Because this is a separate lot, we can’t issue a building permit, and it would have to be removed. Ms. Miller is starting the process to abandon the alleyway and then adjoin the lots so they are one lot, so she has the house as the primary, and the accessory structure would be the secondary. Both the Planning Department and the Building Department have had numerous calls with concerns about how that building is being used. Code Enforcement has visited the site and has not been able to determine that someone is living there. If this were proven, then Code Enforcement would take measures to make sure that that’s not being used as a home, because that would be an illegal use of an accessory building. Code Enforcement will continue to monitor the situation and respond to the calls. For the record, Chelse Shine called – she lives at 3 Celia Street, and stated she and her husband, Steve, are “100% against the opening of the ROW - we pay our taxes, take care of our property, and try to do the right thing. We are concerned that someone is living in the building because there are “lawn chairs and beer cans and trash and a dog that is tied up outside the building.” President Oliver adds: We’re not voting on that building, we’re voting on the abandonment of the ROW, and it looks like the neighbors are saying that they want the alleyway abandoned, according to that letter and other comments. City Planner Wyrosdick: They don’t want it open, they want it abandoned. You’re not voting on the structure – that becomes a Code Enforcement issue, and once the building permit is issued, there will be proper inspections to make sure it’s located where it’s supposed to be. There was also an outside agency comment from Dominion Hope because there is a gas line that runs through this alleyway, and they‘re requesting an easement be placed on this property to offset the loss of the ROW abandonment. The ROW is a separate piece, and they’re asking for a 20’ piece, but the alleyway is only a 15’ piece, so we would only give them 15’. That means one could build across or within that easement. Vice President Majic: I would just like to reiterate that we’re simply voting on the abandonment of the ROW. Do I have a motion? 4 Commissioner Green: I make a motion to approve the abandonment on the entire alleyway subject to reservation from future municipal utilities, and a 20’ easement for Dominion Hope. Commissioner Pitman: Seconded. Motion carries to approve the abandonment of the ROW. PUBLIC HEARING #1 TO SET FOR AUGUST 20, 2014 (President Oliver takes over at 7:30 pm for the rest of the meeting.) President Oliver: D & W Contracting, LLC, is requesting a rezoning of 105 Amos Street, Fairmont (Tax Map 04-08, Parcel 24), from Industrial to General Residential. Is there anyone here to speak for this request? None. City Planner Wyrosdick: “This is another piece of property in the Amos area. There’s a section behind Novella’s that is general residential – it is a neighborhood; some of those homes have fallen into that industrial zoning district, but they’re adjacent to other residential. We’ve had this request at least one or two other times in front of the Planning Commission. The intent was not to rezone a residential home site to industrial; it’s just one of those things that happened during the conversion from the old zoning code to the new zoning code and the map that followed. There is a home site amongst residential that happens to be zoned industrial. It’s being sold and someone wants to build a house on it, which they can’t because it’s zoned industrial, and it is not a permitted use, it is an excluded use. The homeowner is requesting a rezoning of that property to general residential. We are recommending that the hearing continue.” President Oliver: Commissioners, do I have a motion to set for a public hearing? Commissioner Straight: Motioned to set. Commissioner Pitman: Seconded. Motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING #2 TO SET FOR AUGUST 20, 2014 President Oliver: David Campbell is requesting an interpretation of the Planning and Zoning Code with regard to accessory structures being constructed on lots without a primary structure. Mr. Campell’s property is zoned neighborhood residential. 5 Mr. David Campbell, 1532 Country Club Road, spoke about his property at 892 Country Club Road. Mr. Campbell built a deck without knowing permits were necessary, and has requested to build the deck on his property in accordance with City ordinances. Mr. Campbell presented photos, and there was discussion about the location of the deck, and zoning of the property. Mr. Campbell realized it is not to code, and Code Enforcement asked him to stop construction until he attended the Planning Commission meeting, which he has done. City Planner Wyrosdick asked Mr. Campbell to explain his intended use of this deck is. Mr. Campbell responded that the intended use of the deck was for he and his son to fish. Discussion continued regarding location and dimensions of the deck. City Planner Wyrosdick added: “What’s being requested is not approval of what Mr. Campbell is specifically doing, rather an interpretation of how we’ve applied the zoning code in the past, which is any accessory structure cannot be built as a stand-alone use on a piece of property absent a primary structure, and this has been applied without regard to what that structure is and how it is to be used. Typically it’s a storage building or garage that someone wants to build. Storage is not a legal use of a lot in a residential neighborhood. This is the first time that we’ve had an open deck as the accessory structure that is built, absent a primary structure. The Planning Commission needs to focus on an interpretation of how to deal with, not Mr. Campbell’s issue, but any specific issue moving forward when it’s dealing with an open structure. I recommend that we continue to interpret the code and not allow them as stand-alone structures; I see them as an illegal use of the lot. Is the issue of an open deck, which we’ve never seen before as a stand-alone structure, something that should be treated differently? I’m not asking for you to make a decision tonight, but that is what you are setting the public hearing on.” Discussion continued on whether this is a Planning Commission issue or a Board of Zoning Appeals issue. Depending on the Planning Commission discussion and interpretation, the zoning code could be modified, based on staff report, maps, and plans. President Oliver: Can I have a motion to set? Commissioner Straight: Motion to set. Commissioner Majic: Seconded. Motion Carried. NEW BUSINESS None. CITIZENS PETITION 6 None. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioners Comments None. Staff Updates City Planner Wyrosdick: 12:30 Meeting – Mainstreet Fairmont, together with Thrasher Engineering, will host a presentation about the Connectivity Plan, Growing Healthy Communities, which will be the springboard to a sidewalks project. The plan will help to identify sidewalk priorities, such as schools, the Rail Trail, the Beltline, and working with the DOH to pave Fairmont Avenue and upgrading the sidewalks along it. Commissioners discussed at length communities in need of sidewalks, such as Watson Elementary, Mary Lou Retton, Beverly Estates, and grant funding possibilities. Citizens discussed speed limit issues and road maintenance along Hampton Road, which is a state road. It was recommended that they take their concerns to City Council, not the Planning Commission, and/or contact the DOH on Country Club Road – 304-367-2730. ADJOURNMENT President Oliver: Do I have a motion to adjourn? Commissioner Straight: Motion to adjourn. Commissioner Greene: Seconded. 7