Planning & Zoning Commission

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF PINETOP-LAKESIDE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION, HELD ON THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018 LOCATED AT TIMBER MESA FIRE AND MEDICAL DISTRICT, STATION #13 2922 W. WHITE MOUNTAIN BOULEVARD, LAKESIDE, AZ 85929 A. Call to Order Chairman Staley called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call: The following Members were present: Adam Staley Chairman Richard Smith Vice Chairman Mazie Hastings Commission Member John Salskov Commission Member Tim Williams Commission Member (participated telephonically) The following Member was absent: Larry Agan Commission Member Also Present: Cody Blake Community Development Director Keith Johnson Town Manager Jill Akins Deputy Town Clerk B. Call to the Public Chairman Staley called for public comments. No comments were offered to the Commission. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 2 C. Minutes C.1 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission held on June 14, 2018. Commissioner Hastings moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission held on June 14, 2018, with the correction to page 2, D. Staff Reports, fourth paragraph placing the word “former” in front of “Cousins Subs property”. Vice Chairman Smith seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. D. Staff Reports Community Development Director Blake reported that his department is up five new building permits compared to last year at this time, which is significant, and said he has nineteen total. He said he did not have any new commercial building permits last year and has one so far for this year and said he has done eleven tenant improvement permits for commercial projects this year. Community Development Director Blake announced he has nothing significant coming up for the Commission at this time. E. Old Business No old business to report at this time. F. New Business F.1 Discussion and Legal Action regarding the re-appointment of Tim Williams to continue to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission with a term ending July 24, 2020. Commissioner Salskov moved to recommend to the Town Council to re-appoint Tim Williams to the Planning and Zoning Commission with a term ending July 24, 2020. Commissioner Hastings seconded the motion and it carried 4-0 with Commissioner Williams abstaining. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 3 F.2 Discussion and Legal Action regarding the re-appointment of Mazie Hastings to continue to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission with a term ending July 24, 2020. Commissioner Williams moved to recommend to the Town Council to re-appoint Mazie Hastings to the Planning and Zoning Commission with a term ending July 24, 2020. Commissioner Salskov seconded the motion and it carried 4-0 with Commissioner Hastings abstaining. F.3 Public Hearing, Discussion and Legal Action regarding the Conditional Use Permit to allow up to six (6) horses to be located at 531 E. Woodland Lake Road, Lakeside, AZ 85929, the NE ¼ of Section 1, Township 8 North, Range 22 East, Navajo County, Arizona. APN 311-48-025A Community Development Director Blake said Maureen Serrano would like to place six (6) horses on her property located at 531 E. Woodland Lake Road in Lakeside. He stated the property is a little over six (6) acres of land and the property is zoned R1-4 with a residence on the property. The residence is located on one end of the six (6) acre property and the rest of the property is a meadow. Community Development Director Blake said Ms. Serrano is not planning on building any structures on the property and said the horses would be free to roam the six (6) acres of the meadow. He said he mailed out nineteen (19) letters to the adjacent property owners within three hundred (300) feet and explained he had one person contact him that was opposed and three people contact him for information but did not say if they were opposed or in support of the conditional use permit. In response to Chairman Staley, Community Development Director Blake said that the person opposed is concerned about flies and the smell. Community Development Director Blake reported the entire property is fenced and Ms. Serrano will be installing new fencing. He said the horses would only be on the property during the summer months. Maureen Serrano explained the horses would only be on the property during the summer beginning in the middle of May. She said currently the horses our kept on her property on Woodland Road next to Mountain Meadow and in the winter her horses are in Wickenburg, Arizona. She said she plans to re-fence the property and will be installing top rail no climb fence so that it is a safe fence for the horses and said she also plans on installing some elk and deer jumps so that they have a safe place to get into the meadow. Ms. Serrano explained that she has kept her horses Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 4 in Pinetop-Lakeside during the summer since 1989 and said she has never had a problem or complaints regarding flies or smell from the horses. She said she wants to re-establish the use of horses on the 531 E. Woodland Lake Road property. She explained she purchased the property last summer. She said she does not keep her horses in corrals so they will be free to roam the entire six (6) acres of pasture. In response to Chairman Staley, Ms. Serrano stated the use of the current home on the property is a rental and the tenants do not object to the horses being on the property next to them. In response to Commissioner Salskov, Community Development Director Blake said there are not horses on other properties in the immediate area. Community Development Director Blake stated staff recommends the approval of the Conditional Use Permit as long as the owner complies with the requirements of Chapter 17.104.150 Equine regulations. In response to Commissioner Hastings, Ms. Serrano said she has had horses since she was twelve (12) years old and she has had horses summering in Pinetop- Lakeside for twenty-eight (28) years. Chairman Staley called for Public Hearing to allow comments on this matter. Jim Velikanje said he lives at 773 Woodland Lake Road, Pinetop, and said he is in support of having the horses on the property. He said he and his wife have owned their home on Woodland Lake Road for over twenty (20) years and said the back of their property looks out over the meadow. He said other than the last couple of years there has always been horses on the property. He said he and his wife have no objections to having horses on the property and they are in support of the Conditional Use Permit. He said they have never had a problem with flies or smells from the horses. Charles Kane said he lives at 1289 Walnut Creek Trail, and said he lived adjacent to her past property where she had six (6) horses located. He said his fence backed up to her horse property, he lived at the property for eight (8) years and said he would feed her horses on a daily basis and said it was a joy to have the horses on the property. He stated there was never a problem with flies, no problems with smell and said Ms. Serrano is a very good keeper of her horses. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 5 Robert Stewart, 625 E. Woodland Lake Road, said he is opposed and so is one of his neighbors. He said he is north west of the home that is located on the property. He said he does not have anything against horses, but said he does against flies and smell, and he said for the reason he is adamantly opposed. Gary Brewer, 1180 S. Woodland Road, said he lives across the street from where the horses are currently located. He said he has lived there for ten (10) years, his daughter grew-up feeding the horses and said he has never had a problem with smell or flies and said it is a pleasure to have the horses. He said along with her property, there are two other properties next to and behind him that have horses and he said he still does not have a problem with flies at his home. He said he thinks the Commission should approve the zoning for the horses. There being no further comments, Chairman Staley declared the Public Hearing closed. Chairman Staley explained this is a Conditional Use Permit and said that horses are allowed in the community under this zoning with a Conditional Use Permit. He said one of the issues in the community is that the Town does not have the staff to constantly monitor behaviors of citizens and the Town often operates on a complaint driven basis. He said if complaint calls are made to the Town the situation is investigated and acted on. Commissioner Salskov moved to approve the Conditional Use Permit to allow up to six (6) horses to be located at 531 E. Woodland Lake Road, Lakeside, AZ 85929, the NE ¼ of Section 1, Township 8 North, Range 22 East, Navajo County, Arizona, APN 311-48-025A. Commissioner Hastings seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. F.4 Public Hearing, Discussion and Legal Action regarding a Variance from Chapter 17.28, Section 17.28.040(C): Rear Yard setback requirements. Property is located at 1250 Barbara Lane, Lakeside, AZ 85929 in the NW ¼ of Section 30, Township 9 North, Range 23 East, Navajo County, Arizona. APN 212-40-142. Community Development Director Blake stated the property owners, Randy and Susan Moffitt, would like to encroach into their rear yard set-back and explained that the rear of their property backs to Forest Service property. He said the owners would like to tear down the existing garage and extend the house by adding on to the house and adding a new garage. He explained the architectural drawings show Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 6 the new construction would encroach to 13.5 feet from their rear property line. He explained the current garage that will be torn down is a little over 17 feet from their rear property line and said this is grandfathered in since it was built prior to the incorporation of the Town. He explained once this is torn down they would lose the grandfathered status. He stated this would be a variance to allow the owners to build within the 13.5 feet of the property line. Community Development Director Blake explained that he has gone over the state law and codes with the applicant and their architect. He explained the Commission is being asked to make a recommendation to approve or deny the variance to the Board of Adjustment and said ultimately the Board of Adjustment will make the final approval on the variance. In response to Chairman Staley, Community Development Director Blake said the property owners had a survey done of the property line and the surveyor found a stake that was further out that raised some questions as to the actual location of their property line and if the property is owned by the Forest Service or the property owner. He stated the issue is not resolved and at this time the current property line is being used. He said possibly in the future that is a property line the owners would have to fight for and every property along the Forest Service would be off by 11 feet and the owners would gain eleven feet of property. He said the current property line was recorded in the 1970’s. Chairman Staley stated if that was accurate and the owners did acquire that property from the Forest Service then they would be within the required set-back and asked if there was any potential resolution to this with the Forest Service. Community Development Director Blake explained if the owners could get the Forest Service land they would not need the variance, but working with the Forest Service nothing happens quickly and this could take years to resolve. Chairman Staley asked when this property was originally built was the premise that the property owner had an extra eleven feet? Community Development Director Blake answered no. In response to Commissioner Hastings, Community Development Director Blake stated eighteen letters were mailed to surrounding homeowners and he received only one phone call from a resident on the east side corner of the Moffitt’s that are in the process of selling their property and their buyer wanted to know about the Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 7 variance and once he explained the variance to them it was not an issue and he did not hear anything further from them. Chairman Staley called for Public Hearing to allow comments on this matter. Mr. Randy Moffitt explained they have reached out and contacted the Forest Service and the Forest Service stated in writing they have no say in the matter to the unclaimed eleven feet of property. He stated he has spoken to every neighbor in his neighborhood and not one of his neighbors had a problem with the variance. In response to Chairman Staley, Mr. Moffitt said the eleven feet of property in question has not been used. Mr. Jerry Nansen said he was hired by the Moffitt’s to do the architectural design for their addition and said once they got into staking the property they noticed the problem with the eleven feet. He said they want to keep the architectural integrity of the low, ranch style existing construction of the home for structural and esthetic reasons and to keep the ranch style look without having to change to obtuse angles and change the look of the home. He explained that is why they are requesting the variance. In response to Chairman Staley, Mr. Nansen said the proposed new garage is twenty-six feet by twenty-four feet. In response to Vice Chairman Smith, Mr. Nansen stated the additional encroachment is about four feet more to the north in addition to the grandfathered in portion. Commissioner Salskov stated he does not think the Commission can approve the variance based on state law and the analysis that was provided to the board; specifically under G. 2. “by not granting the variance it will deprive the property of privileges enjoyed by other property of the same classification in the same zoning district”. He said there is no depravation and all of the property owners in the area have the same land use and the same set-backs in the area and said the Moffitt’s are not deprived of anything. He further stated most importantly under H. 2. “A Board of Adjustment may not grant a variance if the special circumstances applicable to the property are self-imposed by the property owner”. He stated this is clearly self-imposed by the property owner and said they are building into the set-back. He said it is not a variance the Commission can approve even if they wanted too. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 8 Chairman Staley reiterated a variance may not be granted if it is self-imposed by the property owner. He asked why the property could not be redesigned differently since there is a lot more room on the property and why the design cannot be changed so that it does not encroach any further than it already does. Mr. Nansen said he understands the Commissions concerns but said the owners want to utilize the existing residence and add on to it. He said the angle of the existing structure is 13 degrees and any addition that is done now to comply within the twenty feet set-back is going to include obtuse and weird angles. He stated this home was not built by the Moffitts and said it was an existing residence prior to any zoning and was grandfathered in. He said the Moffitts are trying to add an addition that looks correct with the existing structure. Chairman Staley said he understands but said the big question for the Commission would be, is it possible for the owners to build an addition that fits within the building envelope and he said he thinks the answer would have to be yes. Mr. Nansen said it would not look right. Chairman Staley said it might not look right, but he is being devil’s advocate. Commissioner Williams said he agrees with Commissioner Salskov’s statement. Chairman Staley asked if there was a reasonable plan that could be drafted that could keep the addition out of the set-back that would not incur exurbanite additional expense or aesthetic problems. Mr. Nansen said with the angle of the existing structure he did not think so and said it would be extremely odd looking and the construction in the obtuse angles is expensive and not trade norm. Chairman Staley asked where the garage would be taken down and at about that point the house would have to pivot 13 degrees to parallel the back of the property and meet the set-back requirements. He asked if that would be an architecturally challenging issue. Mr. Nansen said that is correct and said the utilization of the existing building would be difficult and the existing home would then have to be torn down. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 9 Commissioner Salskov said this still falls under the same issue and said the Commission is being asked for seven feet out of the set-back and said if other homes were brought in for a building permit it would not be approved because that is a significant variation from what is allowed in the set-back. Commissioner Williams asked when the property was purchased. Mr. Moffitt said they purchased the property in March 2018 and the property survey was done in May 2018. In response to Commissioner Salskov, Mr. Nansen said architectural drawings have not been drawn yet and said only a floor plan of the proposed addition was submitted to Director Blake. Commissioner Williams asked if letters from the neighbors in support of the variance had been received. Mr. Moffitt said he has contacted all of his contiguous neighbors and that they are all in support of the variance, but said he does not have anything in writing. Chairman Staley said he does not know how the Commission can send this forward with a recommendation for approval of the variance to the Board of Adjustment with what they have to work with if the special circumstances to the property are self-imposed by the property owner. Commissioner Salskov said he is fine with the seventeen foot set-back because it is not self-imposed because the owners bought the house as it sits but the fact that they are building into where it was not built before, that is the definition of self- imposed, doing it yourself, building into it. He said to keep in mind that the Commission can recommend to not approve the variance, but said the Board of Adjustment can still approve the variance. He said he does not think the Commission can recommend the variance under the rules and said the owners have not started construction at this point and the addition could be done a different way. Chairman Staley asked Community Development Director Blake if the Commission were to remain ambivalent to the Board of Adjustment and defer any kind of recommendation is that a reasonable outcome. He said he is not suggesting that for the Commission, but said he is just thinking out loud. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 10 Community Development Director Blake said in the ten years that he has been with the Town of Pinetop-Lakeside, there has only been a couple of variances and deferring a decision has not been done. He stated the Commission has always made some form of decision and said he is not sure what the legal implications would be. Chairman Staley said for him to be able to make a favorable opinion he would have to associate that undeeded land as potentially under the applicant’s constructive control, but said it is hard to make that stretch. He said that is the only way he is wrestling with it; otherwise it would be a different opinion. Mr. Moffitt said he knows there are legal guidelines, but said they are asking for a six and a half foot variance so they can get the house of their dreams. Commissioner Smith said he does not believe it is self-imposed by the property owner because the house existed in the set-back already and that was not self- imposed. Commissioner Salskov said he is fine with that up to where it is at now, but said now they want to build into the set-back, so everything they build further from the existing set-back they are self-imposing every foot cut into the set-back that has never been cut into before. He said he would be okay if the house turned at 17.05 feet and had 17.05 feet all the way across the back that would not be self-imposed because that has already been taken and grandfathered in; but said they want it to go even further than it goes now. He said that is the definition of self-imposed because they are building into it. In response to Commissioner Smith, Community Development Director Blake said he cannot issue a building permit for that structure as designed without the variance. In response to Commission Hastings, Mr. Nansen said the cost to swing the house by several degrees would be expensive and said the main thing is how the house would look and function. Chairman Staley asked how many square feet would be lost if the addition that encroaches into the set-back was cut off straight across and parallel to the property line; meaning the self-imposed portion of the addition that would be encroaching into the set-back. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 11 Commission Salskov clarified by explaining keeping the addition within the 17.05 foot set-back that the existing structure has. Mr. Nansen said it would be approximately fifty-five to sixty square feet lost. Chairman Staley said that is a much more palatable decision for now and that would only be in angled wall at the back of the house and nobody would see it from the street. Mr. Nansen said the problem would be with the roof design and the look of the addition. Chairman Staley stated he has built around forty new homes and he understands this, but said he cannot see that it would be inhibitive. Commission Salskov said he would be okay with that because it is still within the 17.05 feet of when the owners bought the property they thought they had up to the 17.05 feet because that is where the house stands. He said even though they would be building into the encroachment to the left, the owners already expected to be able to build at least to that point, and he said he is fine with that across the back of the property but it is the additional footage that he is not okay with. There being no further comments, Chairman Staley declared the Public Hearing closed. Commission Salskov moved to recommend a Variance Approval from Chapter 17.28, Section 17.28.040(C) rear yard setback on property located at 1250 Barbara Lane, Lakeside, AZ 85929 in the NW ¼ of Section 30, Township 9 North, Range 23 East, Navajo County, Arizona, to the Board of Adjustment for the new construction to have a set-back of 17.05 feet with no further encroachment, maintaining the existing 17.05 foot set-back. Chairman Staley seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Community Development Director Blake said this recommendation would be presented to the Board of Adjustment at the meeting to be held on Thursday, July 19, 2018, after the regular Town Council Meeting. Minutes of Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting – July 12, 2018 Page 12 G. Discussion Regarding Any Future Agenda Items. Community Development Director Blake announced there will not be a Planning and Zoning Meeting on July 26, 2018 since he will be on vacation. He announced that the next regular Planning and Zoning Meeting would be held on Thursday, August 9, 2018. Director Blake stated the Commission would continue with the Chapter 17 review at the August 9th meeting. Town Manager Johnson thanked the Commissioners on the solution they came up with regarding the variance. He said the easy answer would have been to just say “no” but he said quite often a Commission would want to find a way to say “yes”; but knowing there are perimeters for state statute to stay within, this was an excellent suggestion by the Commission. H. Adjournment: There being no further business at this time, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:15 p.m. Chairman Adam Staley