Board of Zoning and Building Appeals

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Board of Zoning and Building Appeals Asa Benjamin Winkler, Chair Donald W. Jensen, Vice Chair Hakim Ben Adjoua Cynthia G. Canter Debra Mecozzi Isobel L. Sherwood, MMC, Clerk of Council Thursday, March 1, 2012 6:30 PM City Hall A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, ROLL CALL: Gahanna Board of Zoning and Building Appeals met in Regular Session in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 200 South Hamilton Road, Gahanna,Ohio on Thursday, March 1, 2012. Chair ben Winkler called the meeting to order at 6:322 p.m. Agenda for this meeting was published on February 17, 2012. Present 5 - Debra Mecozzi, Cynthia G. Canter, Ben Winkler, Donald W. Jensen, and Hakim Ben Adjoua B. SWEARING IN OF WITNESSES. City Attorney Ewald administered an oath to those persons wishing to present testimony this evening. C. PUBLIC HEARING: BZA-0001-2012 Winkler read the rules that would govern tonights hearing; the appellant will have 5 minutes to speak; then the members of the board can direct questions to the appellant and then if there are any questions for the City, can ask questions of Ga rd, and to deliberation of the question. Winkler opened the public hearing at 6:35 p.m. and asked for proponents. Shawn McNeil, 370 Charleston Ave., said I am the contractor and am here because of the variance we applied for; was turned down at Planning Commission; were not given enough time to talk and discuss the actual hardship; they closed discussion; they started asking questions and I was not allowed to speak after that; could have clarified a lot of things; did not have the chance to address concerns; they did not understand the hardship we have; did not get a fair hearing; afterwards I did some reading into variances: I am a garage builder so I actually go for a lot of variances in different cities; read some Supreme Court cases; some that have gone on to court after they have gone through the process; I was mistaken actually calling the standard a hardship; area variance is not an actual hardship, you need to show practical difficulty when you are asking for a variance like a side yard set back; the City of Gahanna Page 1 Board of Zoning and Building Meeting Minutes March 1, 2012 Appeals hardship actually relates to a use variance and so it is completely different; practical difficulty is much easier to show for an area variance than an actual hardship because you have to show that something is prohibiting the homeowner to express one of their rights as a home owner; in this case all the homeowners that I'm aware of in Gahanna are allowed up to 800 sq. ft. of garage; there is a zoning code and my homeowner would like to add on to his two car garage; get up to a three car garage, which is allowed by code; because of the zoning code, the way his property is zoned, his building was built too close to the property line to allow a garage in the place it would typically go, but the zoning code says they need 15' side yard setback; they cannot put it on the other side of the house; would have to have two driveways and have deed restrictions; cannot have a shed; not a simple, easy answer; the code is hampering the owner; they did not pick the place the house was built; three doors down there is a house with a 7 1/2' setback; do not think this would injurious to anyone and it meats Gahanna's criteria for a variance. After question from Winkler, Gard said I am here to respond to questions, not making a statement. Randall Lucas, 282 Spruce Hill Dr., homeowner, said I have had no objections from neighbors and there are at least two properties in the immediate vicinity that have had garage additions and that is one of the reasons I looked into putting one on my property; I don't want to put up anything that is going to be of detriment to the neighborhood; I wanted something that would fit in favorably, and that was one of the concerns with the architecture and everything; my neighbor to my east would be the most affected and they have no problems at all. Chair asked members for any questions. Canter asked Gard how they came to apply for the variance with Planning Commission. Gard said the contractor applied for a building permit for the garage; when reviewing it I found that there was a 15' set back for SF-1 zoned properties in Farm Creek and his plan did not meet that set back criteria so I told him that and he decided to go for a variance; there are three different zoning categories in Farm Creek SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3; Mr. Lucas's property is zoned SF-1; the statement was made that almost all of the houses in Farm Creek have a 7 1/2' set back and I counted them and actually 62 of 118 lots in Farm Creek have set back of 10' or greater; I did propose an alternative in my comments that if he couldn't build the additional car garage onto the side of the garage like he wanted, he could pave a portion of the property; there is a 5' easement on that side and just advised that he check with Engineering before he paves over something so you don't have the possibility of having to dig it up if it has to be serviced; also Lucas said he had a lot of lawn equipment; used to have a lawn service do it but he wanted to teach his son how to maintain the yard; there is a possibility of perhaps moving the addition to the south a bit and therefore moving to the west a little bit to connect to the existing building and perhaps having a door from he existing garage into what would be more of a storage area than a garage facility for vehicles; those were the two suggestions that I had; code does say you can have up to 800 sq. ft. of total area of garage space or 1/3 of the total floor area of the house; so yes you could have up to 800 sq. ft. but within the parameters of the code; is a 5' easement on that side. Canter said to Lucas when you purchased the home if you needed an 800 sq. ft. garage why did you purchase the home that did not have an 800 sq. ft. garage. Lucas said at the time I had the home built it wasn't in the budget; wasn't something I had foreseen having to do at the time. Canter said just something that came up now; you said you had the home built. Lucas said yes. Canter said but you were aware of the set back when you purchased the house. Lucas said as far as set backs, I'm not City of Gahanna Page 2 Board of Zoning and Building Meeting Minutes March 1, 2012 Appeals a builder I don't know what the exact setbacks were; in the process of trying to find a contractor, McNeil is the third contractor that I had looked into, and with each contractor I wanted to know, I wanted to make sure before I put out any money that you have to get a building permit and that is always up to the builder; with the process I am really not that well versed; all a new learning experience to me; I have seen other properties and that is all I have to go by to do on my property. Canter said the other alternatives that Gard was referring to, are any of those viable. Lucas said viable to the south, not really because of the way my house is; have a fire place back there in family room; to the west that wouldn't be feasible because my garage is to the east and then another one over there would look like you just added something. Canter said like you just stuck it on; if the intent is mainly for storage not necessarily a third vehicle could you make it meet the setback requirement and just build it with a smaller entry door for the equipment verses a whole vehicle size garage. Lucas said if that is an option I'm for that; do have two upcoming drivers so at some time I will need another garage. Jensen said you mentioned that the neighbors have no problems with the addition; do you have any documentation of that. Lucas said it was advertised in the Columbus Dispatch and have not heard of any objections; would not put anything up that neighbors would object to. McNeil said the neighbors were sent a notice and no one responded that they had any problems with it. Adjoua said who is the neighbor who would be most affected by that side lot line. Lucas said that would be my neighbor to the east; the name slips me at the moment. Adjoua said so you never spoke directly with that neighbor. Lucas said yes before I proceeded with anything I did the call before you dig had flags marking for the electrical and so there is nothing that would be in the way of their property; I told her when I was outside I was thinking about putting up an additional garage; so no one has objected. Adjoua said other neighbors had built garages; do you know if they were granted variances to construct their addition. Lucas said no but with the records the City of Gahanna would have; know just be living there and the most recent one was on Spruce Hill; it was last year and I spoke to the contractor who was putting up their. Adjoua asked if they were also going from two to three car garages. Lucas said yes, and another garage recently constructed off Caroway or Ashmead Court. Adjoua asked if other neighbors were granted variances. Gard said she did not know off the top of her head; would have to have exact addresses and check the log. Adjoua asked what case McNeil was talking about and he said Duncan vs Middlefield. Adjoua asked McNeil if he had an approximate time when that case was heard. McNeil said early 90's or late 80's it prescribed a set of standards; prove there is a difficulty and then if that is the case to preserve the property owners rights. Winkler said you have been asked this question but I just want to be clear about this you sent out a notice to all of your neighbors regarding the variance you requested. Ewald said the City notifies the adjacent property owners. Chair has no further questions at this time so I will entertain statements from the Board members regarding deliberation on this issue. Canter said I have a question for Mr. Ewald; procedural question; first McNeil said they were not given an adequate hearing at the Planning Commission hearing; is it your recommendation or is it something we deliberate as a Board, that it be remanded back to Planning Commission or stays here and we make our ruling. Ewald said I was at the meeting and everything was followed procedurally; understand that the process moves quickly but it was clearly followed; I do not think sending it back would help resolve the issue. Canter said the statement was made that the homeowner did not have a say so in the placement of the building, but Lucas City of Gahanna Page 3 Board of Zoning and Building Meeting Minutes March 1, 2012 Appeals stated he had the home built so I don't believe that is a premise for the hardship situation and when you purchase your home you know what the setbacks are and if you don't know the City does not need to grant a variance from not knowing what your setbacks are; have not heard enough of the hardship that would sway my vote to say yes that the variance should be granted. Mecozzi said I was looking tonight to hear something new or different; something not considered by the Planning Commission; have heard no new evidence or something contrary to enable me to support the variance. Jensen said I sympathize with you with not enough space; would have been different if the house was already there, but you were involved when the house went up. Adjoua said you did build the home and should be aware of what you were buying; do not see hardship; you knew what you were getting into before you bought it. Adjoua said I commend you for coming forth with the issue; certainly showed diligence before you proceeded; thank you for that; hopefully you can work something out with the City. Ewald said to clarify, the variance was advertised in Rocky Fork Enterprise and notices were sent. Winkler closed the public hearing at 7:10 p.m. A motion was made by Canter, seconded by Jensen, to sustain the appeal of BZA-0001-2012. The motion failed by the following vote: Yes: 0 No: 5- Mecozzi, Winkler, Canter, Adjoua and Jensen D. UNFINISHED BUSINESS. E. NEXT MEETING. There are no other meetings scheduled at this time. F. ADJOURNMENT: 7:15 p.m.; Motion by Jensen. City of Gahanna Page 4