Board of Zoning Appeals

AREA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF TIPPECANOE COUNTY LAFAYETTE DIVISION August 17, 2020 The City of Lafayette Board of Zoning Appeals met in regular session on Monday, August 17, 2020 at 4:00 PM. Members present were; Jackson Bogan, Tracy Waider, Dave WEilEams, and Dick Murray. The meeting was ca!ied to order by Mr. Began. Ms. Waider moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as distributed; second by Mr. Wiiliams. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. OLD BUSINESS 2020-13 THE CINCINNATI GROUP Variance to reduce the amount of required parking spaces from 9 spaces to 0 spaces. Property located at 530 MAIN ST. Ms, Walder moved to hear and approve the petition; second by Mr. Williams. Tyler Ochs, agent for the petitioner, presented the petition. Mr. Ochs stated that the petitioner has purchased the building at 530 Main St. and wants to remodel the existing office space into 5 apartments. Because of the location, parking is not readily accessible. The city suggested asking for 0 spots instead of 9 because the spots that are being provided lie outside the 300' limit specified by the ordinance. The petitioner provided a parking agreement for 5 offsite parking spaces more than 300' away from 530 Main St. They aiso provided a parking commitment stating that the petitioner would always provide parking for their tenants for as long as they own the building. Mr. Williams asked if they should amend the petition to include the 5 offsite parking spaces provided by the submitted parking agreement. Mr. Shively stated that it should be a condition on the variance that 5 parking spaces are provided for as long as the use remains residential. Mr. Bogan stated that he would like to amend the petition to include these 5 offsite parking spaces so the petition would be for a request to reduce the amount of required parking spaces from 9 spaces to 5 spaces. Mr. Shively asked Dave Griffee about the 300' parking limit and suggested that the variance request stay at varying the required parking from 9 spaces to 0 spaces. Mr. Griffee stated that the amendment could remain. Dennis Carson, Economic Development Director, spoke in favor of the petition. He stated that a new parking garage was going to be constructed next to City Hail. He hopes the new parking garage will alleviate some of the parking issues downtown. He also stated that there are many people coming into town that don't own vehicles. Some of the recent apartment complexes that did provide required parking aren't using many of the spaces since a lot of their tenants don't own vehicles. The board did receive one letter of remonstrance from Lafayette Ballet School which Mr. Shively read. The letter expressed concerns over parking downtown and pointed out a parking !ot in close proximity that is never full. Lafayette Ballet School students have to sometimes park 3 blocks away and parents have a hard time dropping off the younger students. Mr. Wiiliams moved to amend the petition to include the submitted parking agreement and to add 5 additional parking spaces in the request; second by Mr. Murray. The new request was to reduce the amount of required parking spaces from 9 spaces to 5 spaces. The Board voted by ballot: 1) 4 yes 0 no. Petition GRANTED. NEW BUSINESS 2020-15 720 CAPITAL LLC Variance to reduce the amount of required parking spaces from 7 spaces to 4 spaces. Property located at 707 MAIN ST. Ms. Walder moved to hear and approve the petition; second by Mr. Williams. Chris Shelmon, agent for the petitioner, presented the petition. Mr. Shelmon stated that the owner is proposing to convert the top two floors of 707 Main St. into 4 2- bedroom residential units. The original request was to provide 2 parking spaces but they were able to provide 2 additional parking spaces, so the amended request is to reduce the amount of required parking spaces from 7 spaces to 4 spaces, They are abie to convert an o!d garage space back into two parking spaces. Mr. Began asked for clarification on the number of units and Mr. Shelmon stated there would be no more than 4 residential units. This number depends on if they can install windows on the west side of the building, Mr. Murray asked how the change in request works proceduraily and Mr. Shively indicated that Ms. Walder moved to hear the petition with the amended numbers. In this case, the board would be voting on the amendment read in the motion which was passed. Mr. Sheimon stated that a request can be amended as long as the petitioner is not asking for more relief than originally requested. In this case, they are providing 2 additional parking spaces over the original proposal. Mr. Carson also spoke in favor of this petition and just wanted to mirror his previous comments for 2020- 13. The Board voted by ballot: 1) 4 yes 0 no. Petition GRANTED. The next meeting of the Lafayette Board of Zoning Appeals will be on Monday, September 21, 2020 at 4:00 PM. There being no further business to come before the Board at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 4:15 PM. hairmat^ Secretary