Board of Zoning Appeals

1 BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MEETING 2 VIRTUAL PUBLIC HEARING 3 Thursday, November 18, 2021 4 7:30 p.m. 5 6 1. CALL TO ORDER 7 MR. BARTLETT: I'm going to call to order the 8 November 18, 2021, Board of Zoning Appeals meeting and 9 then we will proceed with a roll call. 10 MS. ROUZI: All right. Thank you. Just so 11 everybody is aware, the meeting is now being recorded. 12 Good evening. This meeting will be held 13 pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom 14 of Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2 and state and 15 local legislation adopted to allow for continued 16 government operation during the COVID-19 declared 17 emergency. All participating members will be present at 18 this meeting through electronic means. All members of 19 the public may view this electronic meeting via the 20 meeting link listed above the Agenda or in the City's 21 website calendar. Thank you. 22 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you, Akida. 23 At this time we will proceed with a roll call 24 of members of the Board. 25 26 2. ROLL CALL 27 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Calabrese, is 28 absent. 29 Mr. Bartlett. 30 MR. BARTLETT: Here. 31 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Kien. Mr. Kien is 32 not here yet. 33 Mr. Misleh. 34 MR. MISLEH: Here. 35 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Eppler. 36 MR. EPPLER: Here. 37 RECORDING SECRETARY: Ms. Ward. 38 MS. WARD: Here. 39 RECORDING SECRETARY: Thank you. 40 41 3. PETITIONS 42 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you, Akida. 43 At this time I will ask if there are any 44 Petitions in front of the Board this evening? 45 MR. BOYLE: No, sir. 46 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you, Mr. Boyle. 47 48 4. OLD BUSINESS 49 a. Special Use Permit application U1623-21 by Lisa 50 Wills, applicant, to allow a daycare use otherwise not 51 permitted by right, on premises known as 128 South 52 Spring Street, RPC #52-203-037 of the Falls Church Real 53 Property Records, zoned R-1A (Low Density Residential). 54 55 MR. BARTLETT: Item 4 on the Agenda is Old 56 Business but I understand that that request has been 57 postponed until further notice. 58 And so we will go to New Business for the 59 evening. 60 I'm really looking forward to one variance 61 application this evening. I will ad hoc here, I believe 62 we were up to after 11 p.m. the last time we had a 63 meeting so having this one application in front of us 64 will be great. 65 MR. BOYLE: That's correct. Plus it's one 66 which the Board doesn't often see. 67 Before we get going on it, how many Board 68 members do we have? Are we down one? 69 MR. BARTLETT: We have four tonight, John. 70 MR. BOYLE: I think technically that's short 71 one so we should give the applicant the option. 72 MS. ROUZI: Just a quick update, everyone. I 73 just got an email from Mr. Kien. He's trying to log on. 74 He might be having some technical issues though so we'll 75 probably see him soon. 76 MR. BOYLE: Why don't we hold that thought for 77 later. 78 MR. BARTLETT: Akida, I'm going to ask a favor 79 of you. Actually, we'll do this first. 80 I'm just logged in as a guest this evening. I 81 don't have the actual -- one second. 82 So before we begin, Mr. Brobst -- how do you 83 pronounce your name, sir? 84 You're on mute so if you could just quickly 85 unmute yourself, that would be great. 86 MR. BROBST: Am I off mute now? 87 MR. BARTLETT: Yes, you are. Thank you. 88 MR. BROBST: So, yes, I'm Don Brobst. 89 MR. BARTLETT: Okay. Don Brobst. 90 As chair, I'm just going to swear you in. 91 (Witness sworn.) 92 MR. BARTLETT: Are there any other members of 93 the public or related to this application that intend to 94 speak tonight? 95 (No response.) 96 97 5. NEW BUSINESS 98 A. Variance Application V1628-21 by Donald 99 Brobst, applicant and owner, for a variance to Section 100 48-1102(j)(1) to allow a generator in front yard along 101 the Greenwich Street frontage on premises known as 601 N 102 West Street, RPC #51-209-016 of the Falls Church real 103 Property records, zoned R-1B, Medium Density 104 Residential. 105 106 MR. BARTLETT: Okay. Hearing none, I will 107 just call Variance Application V1628-21 by Donald 108 Brobst, applicant/owner, for a variance to Section 109 48-1102(j)(1) to allow a generator in the front yard 110 along the Greenwich Street frontage on premises known as 111 601 North West Street. 112 So usually what we do, Mr. Brobst, is we ask 113 for staff from Falls Church City to provide us a summary 114 of the scenario that we're facing, information about why 115 a variance is required for this particular activity, a 116 little bit about the zoning scenarios. And then once 117 they give us a little bit of a background on the status 118 of this application, then we'll move to you to describe 119 your project -- 120 MR. BROBST: I noticed that one of my 121 neighbors just logged on. 122 MR. BARTLETT: Great. Thank you very much. 123 At this time what we're going to do is we're 124 going to have Mr. Boyle provide a short background 125 statement on this zoning issue. 126 MR. BOYLE: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 127 And as you stated, it's a request to install a 128 generator in a location that the Code prohibits without 129 a variance and specifically corner lots have two front 130 yards along the street frontages and then the two 131 interior sides are sides, side setbacks, side yards. 132 There is no rear yard. 133 So in this particular case I think the best 134 location for this piece of equipment happens to be in 135 the yard abutting the street and very simply the Code 136 does not allow staff to approve that and it requires the 137 variance for the location from the Board of Zoning 138 Appeals. 139 I don't think we've seen a variance 140 application for this particular request but the basic 141 issue this Board sees very often with our corner lots 142 and expansions to structures and what have you. So it's 143 a commonly raised issue for corner properties but it's a 144 new, in my experience I don't think we've had a request 145 for a piece of equipment like a generator in a yard 146 abutting the street. 147 You have an application from the property 148 owner and letters of support from the impacted neighbors 149 and some technical specs for the equipment. All in all, 150 a pretty complete package. 151 So that's it in a nutshell and with that I 152 will defer to Mr. Brobst for his presentation. 153 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you very much, Mr. Boyle. 154 MR. BROBST: The property I have, the back, 155 the two sides as opposed to the front are severely 156 impacted by flooding at times so it's a very swampy 157 area. So the area along the Greenwich side of the house 158 is probably the most stable and driest portion of the 159 house area. It's also where the air conditioning unit 160 is and the gas line and the electrical associated with 161 the furnace and the hot water heater run down along the 162 interior floor joists and don't break the integrity of 163 the joists. For it to be put in the back of the yard, 164 we would have to break the integrity of those joists and 165 break up the finished portion of the basement. 166 So the shortest run for the gas line is from 167 the front left side of the house parallel with the 168 joists and would be the shortest run for both the 169 electrical and the gas lines. 170 And like I said, I've talked to all the 171 neighbors and none of the neighbors had any objections, 172 particularly when I showed them the technical specs on 173 the noise that was generated or would be generated. It 174 turns out the normal gasoline-powered lawn mower 175 actually generates more noise than this gas generator 176 would do. 177 I've also told them that, as needed, I would 178 put bushes or fencing around there if they thought that 179 it was still noisy but I don't think noise is going to 180 be an issue. 181 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you very much. I 182 appreciate your information here. 183 I see members of the public. I just ask, do 184 you intend to speak this evening, if you are more than 185 willing to. 186 Hi, Rosemary. 187 MS. ZISKIND: Hi. 188 MR. BARTLETT: You don't have to talk. I was 189 just asking if you were thinking about it. 190 MS. ZISKIND: I will talk if it will support 191 Don's request. 192 MR. BARTLETT: We'll get to that. I was just 193 making sure. I just see some faces, that's all. 194 MS. ZISKIND: Okay. 195 MR. BARTLETT: So now I'm just going to open 196 it up to the Board of Zoning Appeals for any comments or 197 198 questions they may have for the applicant at this time. 199 MR. EPPLER: Hi, Mr. Brobst. 200 MR. BROBST: Hi. 201 MR. EPPLER: I'm sorry because I did not have 202 a chance to review your file in advance but I see on 203 here you have, you've got six neighbors on there and I 204 just wondered if you've spoken with all of them. I know 205 you said you had some letters and everybody was in favor 206 of this? Or nobody had any objections. 207 MR. BROBST: Yes. I've got actual letters 208 from five of the six. The sixth one was really behind 209 some bushes and didn't have a direct line to the 210 generator. But each of the five was supportive of my 211 petition. 212 MR. EPPLER: Great. Thank you so much. 213 MR. BARTLETT: I have a couple of questions. 214 Mr. Boyle, can you explain to me when this 215 particular or do you have any idea as to when this 216 particular requirement for appliances or utilities to be 217 located in rear yards or not in a front yard? 218 MR. BOYLE: I believe there's been a provision 219 for things like generators in the Code for decades. I'd 220 have to look to confirm. 221 What has changed over the years as the Board's 222 heard, is that since about 1988, corner lots acquired 223 two front yards along the street. It used to be the 224 narrow portion of the property was the front and then 225 the other street frontage was called a street side yard 226 with a very generous setback. I believe it was one half 227 of the neighbor's. So if it was a 30 foot setback on 228 the neighbor's further up the street then his street 229 side yard would only be 15 feet. 230 Then in 1988 the Code was changed. 231 So I think we've had Code for equipment like 232 this for many, many years but the yard definitions 233 changed. 234 MR. BARTLETT: And I can imagine like if the 235 neighbor towards the City I guess, on North West, 236 towards your left, Mr. Brobst, if they wanted to install 237 a generator they could install it on their side yard. 238 MR. MISLEH: It appears they may already have 239 one. 240 MR. BROBST: Yeah. Two of the four corners of 241 that intersection between Greenwich and North West 242 currently have generators on the front side, if you 243 will, and one of them -- I mean Rosemary has one and one 244 that's -- it's not catty-corner, but it's kind of that 245 irregular intersection there but on the side there's 246 also a generator there. So two of the four already have 247 generators on frontal property line. 248 MR. BARTLETT: So it seems like at some point 249 someone installed one that was either permitted or had 250 some variance or didn't get a permit or didn't get 251 variances, and here we are with you having to obtain a 252 variance from us and we appreciate you going through the 253 proper channels to do so. 254 MR. BROBST: Thank you. 255 MR. BARTLETT: I don't have any other 256 questions. 257 I feel like you have shown, you've reached out 258 to your neighbors, you reached out to the City, you 259 tried to do everything you're supposed to do, due to a 260 variety of factors, including drainage, weather, water, 261 utilities, costs, etcetera, and co-locating a generator 262 near your AC where the equipment that's already located, 263 it seems like there's -- I actually looked at the 264 pictures and there's some visual cover already in 265 existence there, with your AC on the Greenwich Street 266 side. 267 I don't necessarily see any problems with this 268 but I just want to make sure the rest of the Board had 269 any other input or questions to ask or issues to 270 consider. 271 MR. MISLEH: Mr. Bartlett, I agree. I don't 272 see any issue with this request. I think where it's 273 being requested to locate the equipment is the right 274 place to install it as well. So I'm in favor of making 275 a motion to approve this application. 276 MR. BARTLETT: Great. 277 So usually what we do, is we ask you, as the 278 applicant, Mr. Brobst, do you have any other questions 279 for us or any other comments you would like to make? 280 MR. BROBST: The only comment I'd like to make 281 is I'd like to call out the staff for helping me through 282 this process. 283 MR. BARTLETT: Yeah, we can put that on the 284 record. They're fantastic. Both John and Akida and 285 their staff are wonderful in explaining things and 286 making sure that our fellow citizens are aware of what 287 they need to do and how to go about doing it and being 288 great customer service advocates. I agree with you. 289 Thank you for sharing that. 290 So if there are no other comments, we'll close 291 deliberation or close comments from the applicant and 292 then the Board will provide final deliberation and 293 comment and then we'll make a motion on your 294 application. 295 As I stated already, I don't have any problem 296 moving forward with this. I think it's the appropriate 297 thing to do, considering the time, place, and extent of 298 what you're trying to do and I'll just leave it to see 299 if there's anybody else who wants to make a comment 300 before we make a motion on your application. 301 MR. EPPLER: I would just agree with what you 302 said, John. It seems like he's done everything 303 according to the book and he's picked the right location 304 and this is how it's supposed to be. 305 MS. WARD: I reviewed the application and felt 306 the same with the comments that everyone's made so I'm 307 in support of it as well. 308 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you, Christine. 309 Peter, were you able to log in? I see some 310 initials "PK". I just want to make sure that's you. 311 MR. KIEN: I am here. I apologize. I was 312 struggling a bit on the up front. 313 MR. BARTLETT: That's fine. 314 So without any further Board comments or 315 comments from the public, I would make a motion to 316 approve variance application V1628-21 by Donald Brobst, 317 applicant/owner, for a variance to Section 48-1102(j)(1) 318 to allow a generator in the front yard along Greenwich 319 Street frontage on premises known as 601 North West 320 Street, RPC #51-209-016 of the Falls Church Real 321 Property records, zoned R-1B, Medium Density 322 Residential. 323 MR. MISLEH: I'll second that. 324 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you. 325 So with a motion and a second, Akida, we can 326 do a roll call vote. 327 RECORDING SECRETARY: Okay. 328 Mr. Bartlett. 329 MR. BARTLETT: Yes. 330 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Kien. 331 MR. KIEN: Yes. 332 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Misleh. 333 MR. MISLEH: Yes. 334 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Eppler. 335 MR. EPPLER: Yes. 336 RECORDING SECRETARY: Ms. Ward. 337 MS. WARD: Yes. 338 RECORDING SECRETARY: Thank you. 339 340 MR. BARTLETT: All right. Mr. Brobst, your 341 variance is approved. Congratulations. 342 MR. BROBST: Thank you for your time and 343 consideration. 344 345 b. (Withdrawn) Variance application V1629-21 by 346 Insight Property Group LLC, applicant and owner, for 347 variances to Section 48-933 to allow 1) compact spaces 348 and 2) placement of columns less than three (3) feet 349 from the drive aisle within a parking garage, for the 350 purpose of constructing a parking garage and mixed-use 351 building on premises known as 100 N. Washington Street, 352 127 E. Broad Street, 131 E. Broad Street and Park Place, 353 Parcel (RPC Numbers 53-104-051, 53-104-036, 53-104-050, 354 and 53-104-015 of the Falls Church Real Property 355 records) zoned B-2, Central Business. 356 MR. BARTLETT: It looks like we had another 357 variance application that was withdrawn. So we're done 358 with New Business at this time. 359 360 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 361 a. Approval of the September 16, 2021, Meeting Minutes 362 MR. BARTLETT: At this point we will move to 363 approval of the minutes of the September 16, 2021, 364 marathon session. 365 I would just ask members of the Board to take 366 your time for three to five minutes, or if you finish 367 then let me know and we can just review these to make 368 sure we're all comfortable and then move to a vote. 369 (Minutes reviewed.) 370 MR. BARTLETT: Akida, are you there? I have a 371 question for you. 372 MS. ROUZI: I'm here. 373 MR. BARTLETT: So I am actually through the 374 Special Use Permit and then down through a bunch of 375 documents that are pages and then we finish with the 376 Special Use permit application and then we go to the 377 variances and they just provide a summary and applicants 378 provided a presentation and then we voted. And then the 379 same thing for the last three variance applications. It 380 doesn't provide the actual text. 381 MS. ROUZI: Yes, that's correct. What 382 happened was the recording file was corrupt so it 383 abruptly stopped where it then picks up a summary from 384 our written notes. That's why we don't have a verbatim 385 synopsis of that portion because the recording died at 386 that point. We tried to get IT to recover the file but 387 they couldn't figure it out and that's why. 388 MR. BARTLETT: So what we have here is a basic 389 summary of the other three New Business variance 390 applications and it captures what was requested and the 391 discussion that was provided in the vote. And I just 392 need to make sure that that's sufficient. I don't see 393 why it wouldn't be because they were approved. 394 The only thing I see is, to me the only thing 395 that is of concern is the variance for the Hill 396 residence on Poplar, in that we, I believe we revised 397 the characterization of the variance application to not 398 necessarily just allow the 21.3 feet along the entire 399 Poplar Drive frontage but just a portion and then a 26 400 or so front setback in a different section. 401 MS. ROUZI: That's correct. We actually 402 captured that in the Resolution. The Resolution is not 403 here but we can maybe sort of update the minutes to 404 reflect the Resolution. 405 MR. BARTLETT: Is there a way we can just 406 bring that Resolution to the Board's attention next week 407 as part of a second provision or can we just table the 408 approval of these minutes until we have those as part of 409 the minutes? 410 MS. ROUZI: We can do either but the next -- 411 well, I guess it makes sense to table this and then I'll 412 bring the Resolutions next time and then we can look at 413 it as a package. 414 MR. BARTLETT: Okay. Thank you. 415 MR. BOYLE: And if that actual verbatim 416 portion is missing, that would be a great spot to just 417 insert, "See text of Resolution" at that point. It 418 would be in the record then. 419 MR. BARTLETT: Thank you. That works for me. 420 So at this point, does anyone else have any 421 comments or questions regarding the minutes of the 422 September 16, 2021, meeting of the Board of Zoning 423 Appeals? 424 MR. EPPLER: John, this is Dale. I'm just 425 wondering if because the file was corrupted if we have 426 to give any notice to the people who attended besides 427 ourselves. 428 MR. BOYLE: I don't believe so but we haven't 429 had it happen before so let me look into that. 430 The product of that request is going to be the 431 Resolution, so that we know at least is good. 432 If this ever went up on appeal or something, 433 that might be an interesting question from the Circuit 434 Court. 435 MR. EPPLER: Well, that's why I would rather 436 that they knew about it in advance rather than claim 437 some problem afterwards, whatever, that this was invalid 438 because it wasn't recorded properly or something so. 439 MR. BOYLE: Okay. I'll find out. We can have 440 that discussion at the next meeting. 441 MR. EPPLER: Thank you. 442 MR. BARTLETT: Procedurally, do I have to 443 request a vote on tabling this until next meeting or can 444 I just table it to the next meeting? 445 MR. BOYLE: I suggest you move to table it and 446 then ask if there's any objections. 447 MR. BARTLETT: I'd like to make a motion to 448 table the approval of the September 16, 2021, minutes 449 until the December 2021 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. 450 Is there any objection? 451 (No response.) 452 MR. BARTLETT: None being heard, please note 453 in the record that the approval of minutes is tabled 454 until the December 2021 meeting. 455 456 7. OTHER BUSINESS 457 MR. BARTLETT: At this time is there any other 458 business from the City for the Board tonight? 459 MR. BOYLE: On a personal note, I think Akida 460 knows this is coming, today is my 19th anniversary with 461 the City. And rather than give two weeks notice, I've 462 given them a year notice to find a replacement and end 463 my career with the City on a nice even 20 years of 464 service. 465 So someone on this recording has expressed an 466 interest in taking on those duties but it's been a good 467 19 years and we're going to give it one more run and try 468 to get all these projects built and then my wife and I 469 are moving to West Virginia. 470 MR. BARTLETT: Wonderful. 471 MR. MISLEH: That's great. 472 MR. BARTLETT: It's obviously not the last 473 good-bye but thank you so much, John, for sharing that 474 with us and all your service. 475 MR. BOYLE: Yeah, I wasn't sure how to, as the 476 sands start falling out of the hourglass, when do I 477 raise it. I informed the City so I figured I'd inform 478 the Board tonight. 479 We've got a good solid year and I hope we're a 480 little more busy and it seems like every meeting has an 481 interesting question and it's wonderful that we have 482 citizens willing to serve. And we've had lean years 483 where we couldn't get a quorum and this has been a very 484 good Board to work with. 485 Folks are reinvesting in their businesses and 486 in their residential properties and this Board is 487 critical to that. So look forward to one more year of 488 working with you. 489 MR. BARTLETT: Great. 490 491 8. ADJOURNMENT 492 MR. BARTLETT: So at this point I will call to 493 adjourn the meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals for 494 Thursday, November 18, 2021. 495 MR. EPPLER: Second your motion. 496 MS. ROUZI: You want a roll call? 497 MR. BARTLETT: Sure. Let's do it. 498 RECORDING SECRETARY: Okay. 499 Mr. Bartlett. 500 MR. BARTLETT: Yes. 501 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Kien. 502 MR. KIEN: Yes. 503 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Misleh. 504 MR. MISLEH: Yes. 505 RECORDING SECRETARY: Mr. Eppler. 506 MR. EPPLER: Yes. 507 RECORDING SECRETARY: Ms. Ward. 508 MS. WARD: Yes. 509 RECORDING SECRETARY: Thank you. Have a good 510 night, everyone. 511 512 513