Board of Adjustment

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Community Building 601 W Main Street Odessa, MO 64076 Tuesday, May 10, 2022 12:30 p.m. AGENDA Board Members: To ensure a quorum, please call Christi Dickey at 816-230-5577 ext. 2 to advise of attendance. Introduction of newly appointed Board Member, Stan Jones. 1. CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES • April 21, 2022 2. PUBLIC HEARING – VARIANCE – File No. 21-1912 – “510 North Johnson Drive” / Sidewalks Improvements Exhibits: 1. Staff Report with attachments 2. Application with attachments 3. Affidavit of Publication in The Odessan, April 7, 2022 4. Code of Ordinances (By Reference) 3. ELECTION OF OFFICERS – Board of Adjustment Chair and Vice Chair 4. ADJOURN If special accommodations are required for citizen participation Please call 816-230-5577 Agenda posted at the following locations: City Hall, 125 S Second Street City’s website https://www.cityofodessamo.com/ May 6, 2022 A quorum of the Board of Alderman may be in attendance however no Board Member votes will be taken. Community Planning & Development BA – 05.10.2022  City of Odessa 601 W Main Street Odessa, Missouri 64076 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES Thursday, April 21, 2022 A meeting of the Board of Adjustment of the City of Odessa was held in the Community Building located at 601 W Main Street on Thursday, April 21, 2022 with the following members and guests in attendance. MEMBERS William “BJ” Begeman, Co-Chair Charles Harvey PRESENT Sean Croucher, Chair Jason Hawkins STAFF / OTHERS Christi Dickey, Administrative Coordinator Community Planning Jennifer Reinhardt , IBTS (via Zoom) Jade Rodell-Tipton, Powell CWM, Inc. Karen Findora, City Clerk ABSENT None. CALL TO ORDER / Sean Croucher, Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:31 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1 Chairperson Sean Croucher opened the public hearing at 12:31 p.m. with a request for PUBLIC HEARING/ exhibits from Powell CWM Engineering, Jade Rodell-Tipton entered Exhibits 1 thru 4 VARIANCE for Agenda Item 1 into the public record on behalf of the applicant. VARIANCE / SIDEWALK-Section Exhibits: 42-66 (4) 1. Staff Report with attachments 2. Application with attachments 3. Affidavit of Publication in The Odessan, April 7, 2022 4. Code Of Ordinance (By Reference) APPLICANT Pine Creek Town Homes JHW Investments, LLC 210 W Mason, Odessa MO. 04.21.2022 cd Page 1 of 2 QUESTIONS Chairman Croucher, asked about the tree and the power poles in the area of the side walk, he asked if they were scheduled to be removed? Jade Rodell Tipton, Powell CWM, stated that the poles are to be removed, the applicant is trying to save the trees. Chairman Croucher, asked if the City would be liable if a driver were to hit someone on the sidewalk, due to allowing the sidewalk to be built closer to the street. STAFF Jennifer Reinhardt, IBTS, representing the City which is the firm the city has contracted COMMENTS with to provide development services, stated the city would have no additional liability because the sidewalk was different. Ms. Reinhardt suggested the board ask the City Attorney. Board Member Hawkins asked if there was a distance the sidewalk could be from the curb without being the full four feet that would work. Ms. Rodell-Tipton said no. The board decided to table this variance until a response from the City Attorney. HEARING CLOSED With no further testimony to be taken, Chairman Croucher closed the public hearing at 12:16 p.m. with a request for action on the petition. MOTION Board Member, BJ Begeman made a motion to table the Variance until its reviewed by the City Attorney. SECOND Board Member Jason Hawkins. VOTE Sean Croucher- Aye BJ Begeman- Aye Jason Hawkins- Aye Charles Harvey- Aye (APPROVED 4-Aye, 0-No) VARIANCE / Street Requesting street improvements on Johnson Drive from the intersection of Benning to Improvements- Pine Drive, stopping before the City pump station due to existing storm infrastructure. Section 42-65 MOTION Board Member BJ Begeman, made a motion to approve the Street Improvement request Section 42-65. SECOND Board Member Charles Harvey. VOTE Sean Croucher– Aye BJ Begeman – Aye Jason Hawkins- Aye Charles Harvey - Aye (APPROVED 4-Aye, 0-No) ADJOURN With no further items to come before the Board, a motion was made by Board Member BJ Begeman, and seconded by Board Member Charles Harvey to adjourn a 12:59 pm. motion carried unanimously. __________________________________________ Christi Dickey, Recording Secretary ____________________________________________________________ Sean Croucher, Chair Date 04.21.2022 cd Page 2 of 2 Rich Wood Apr 27, 2022, 11:19 AM (8 days ago) to me, Jennifer Christi: Keep in mind that the City has potential liability exposure for injuries that occur on any property that it owns. If city employees are driving around in vehicles or kids are playing at a community center, there is always the potential for city liability where an injury occurs (under certain circumstances discussed below). Also, please remember that the City has insurance to protect itself from potential liability exposure. Missouri law places significant limitations on liability exposure for cities. Missouri cities and city officials are protected by sovereign immunity, which means that they are not liable for injuries that occur within the scope of providing governmental services (such as sidewalks within City owned right-of-way), except that cities will be liable to the extent that:  An injury occurs as a result of the negligent operation of a vehicle by a city official.  An injury occurs as a result of a dangerous condition on city property. For this exception to apply, (1) the injury must directly result from the dangerous condition, (2) the dangerous condition must create a reasonably foreseeable risk of harm of the kind of injury which was incurred, and (3) either (a) a negligent or wrongful act or omission within the course of employment created the dangerous condition or (b) a public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition in time to protect against the dangerous condition.  The city is performing a proprietary duty for the special benefit or profit of the municipality.  The city procures insurance. Liability exposure for the above mentioned exceptions to sovereign immunity is capped (currently at $2.9 million for a single accident or occurrence and $435k for any one person). Typically cities have insurance insuring up to these caps. You should verify this with your insurance company, but I am fairly certain that you will find that you are insured up to the sovereign immunity caps. In this instance, it is really just the second bullet which is a potential concern. However, is the location of the sidewalk next to the street worse than having no sidewalk at all? I think there is a strong argument that having a sidewalk, even if it is adjacent to the street, is not necessarily a dangerous condition on property. In fact, the City is creating the most safe environment that it can given the circumstances. My recommendation would be to not base the variance decision solely on potential liability issues. Rich Wood Lauber Municipal Law, LLC 250 NE Tudor Road Lee’s Summit, Missouri 64086 (816) 525-7881 ext. 6 (office) (816) 944-8889 (cell) rwood@laubermunicipal.com