Board of Zoning Appeals Agendas and Minutes

AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF THE CITY OF HAMPTON, VIRGINIA, HELD IN THE HARDY CASH CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL, 22 LINCOLN STREET, AT 5:00 P.M. ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012. Present: Chairman Thomas Savage, Vice-Chair Burnett Peters, Board Members Linda Ellis, John Pope, and Rodney Gentry. Also present were Zoning Administrator Steve Shapiro, Senior Deputy City Attorney Lesa Yeatts, Alternate Board Member Tim Smith and Recording Secretary Victoria Byrd. The Chairman called the meeting to order and asked that the minutes be considered. A motion was made by Board Member Gentry and seconded by Vice-Chair Peters that the minutes of the November 5, 2012 meeting be approved as written. A roll call vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Ellis, Gentry, Pope, Peters, Savage NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Variance Request No. 12-00052: Mercury Mall Associates, 108 Marketplace Drive, LRSN: 13001053, to increase the total number of building facades which can hold wall signage from 2 to 3 to allow a business identification sign on a third façade of a proposed restaurant. The owner’s representative, Michael Grabarek, presented the variance request to the Board. After discussion, a motion was made by Vice-Chair Peters and seconded by Board Member Ellis that there would be a hardship as well as a public safety issue if the request was not granted and that the request meets all criteria, therefore the variance should be granted because: 1. The strict application of the ordinance would produce undue hardship; 2. The hardship is not shared generally by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity; 3. The authorization of the variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and the character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the variance; and 4. The granting of the variance is in harmony with the intended spirit and purpose of the ordinance. Page 1 of 3 A roll call vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Ellis, Peters NAYS: Gentry, Pope, Savage ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Due to the majority ruling, the variance request was denied. Mr. Grabarek was informed he has 30 days from November 19, 2012 to appeal the Board’s decision to the Circuit Court for the City of Hampton. Variance Request No. 12-00053: First Calvary Baptist Church, 162 Alleghany Road, LRSN: 1006247, to reduce the required front yard parking setback from 30’ to 18’ and to reduce the required side yard parking setback from 10’ to 4.5’ to allow additional parking spaces at an existing religious facility. The Zoning Administrator announced that Chairman Savage will recuse himself from this case due to the fact he provided professional services to the applicant. Vice-Chair Peters will act as Chairman for this case and Alternate Board Member Smith will fill in for Mr. Savage. The meeting was then turned over to Vice-Chair Peters. The applicant’s agent, Ed Hayes, presented the variance request to the Board. After discussion, a motion was made by Board Member Pope and seconded by Board Member Gentry that if the variance is not granted the applicant will need to reduce their parking by 25 spaces which would pose an undue hardship related to the property and due to the original placement of the building on the lot in 1949, it is a hardship to comply with the current zoning setbacks. Therefore, the request meets all criteria and the variance should be granted because: 1. The strict application of the ordinance would produce undue hardship; 2. The hardship is not shared generally by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity; 3. The authorization of the variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and the character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the variance; and 4. The granting of the variance is in harmony with the intended spirit and purpose of the ordinance. A roll call vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Ellis, Gentry, Pope, Peters, Smith NAYS: None Page 2 of 3  ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm. __________________________ Thomas Savage, Chairman Page 3 of 3