Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting

December 16, 2015 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS DATE: December 16, 2015 APPROVED TIME: 7:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801 _______________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT Joanne Chester, Matt Cho, Ashlee McLaughlin, Charles Warmbrunn, Jonah Weisskopf, Harvey Welch MEMBERS EXCUSED Nancy Uchtmann STAFF PRESENT Lorrie Pearson, Planning Manager; Christopher Marx, Planner I; Teri Andel, Administrative Assistant II OTHERS PRESENT Dara Goldman, Itai Seggev 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Chair Welch called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Roll call was taken, and Chair Welch declared that there was a quorum. 2. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were none. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES The minutes from the August 19, 2015 regular meeting were presented for approval. Ms. Chester moved to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Cho seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote as moved. 4. COMMUNICATIONS  2015 Zoning Ordinance Republication  2016 Meeting Schedule NOTE: Chair Welch swore in the members of the audience who indicated that they may give testimony during the public hearing. 5. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. 1  December 16, 2015 6. NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS ZBA-2015-MAJ-09 – A request by Itai Seggev and Dara Goldman for a Major Variance to allow a change in the required front yard setback from 25 feet to 0 feet at 410 West Florida Avenue in the R-1, Single-Family Residential Zoning District. Chair Welch opened the public hearing for this case. Christopher Marx, Planner I, presented this case to the Zoning Board of Appeals. He began by stating the purpose for the proposed variance. He gave a brief description of the subject property noting the zoning, current land uses and future land use designation. He reviewed the criteria for approval of a variance from Section XI-3 of the Urbana Zoning Ordinance. He presented City staff’s recommendation for approval including two conditions. He mentioned that the applicants were in the audience and available to answer any questions. Chair Welch opened the hearing up for questions for City staff. Chair Welch asked if the applicants would be required to pave the entire area or only the accessory parking space if approval was granted. Mr. Marx replied that they would be required to pave the accessory parking space; however, that does not mean necessarily mean using concrete. They could use a gravel surface as long as it is contained. Mr. Weisskopf inquired if the applicants were the first residents along Florida Avenue to ask for approval for accessory parking since the on-street parking was removed. Mr. Marx said yes. Mr. Weisskopf stated that he assumed that every property lost a parking spot along Florida Avenue. With there being no further questions for City staff, Chair Welch opened the hearing for public input. Itai Seggev, applicant, approached the Zoning Board of Appeals. He explained that they always park both cars in the driveway overnight because of the parking restrictions in part and also because of two accidents that had previously happened within a three-month period. One accident was caused by a drunk driver hitting their vehicle that was parked along Florida Avenue. The other accident involved two cars about ten feet from in front of his home. He stated that they would use the on-street parking space to temporarily park one car so that the car in the garage could exit the property. Without the on-street parking space, it is now more difficult to move the car parked in the garage. There were no questions for the applicant. Chair Welch asked for clarification about whether he should abstain since he lives in the neighborhood. Ms. Pearson replied that there was no conflict as long as he had no financial interest in the case. 2  December 16, 2015 Ms. McLaughlin moved that the Zoning Board of Appeals recommend approval of Case No. ZBA-2015-MAJ-09 to the Urbana City Council including the two conditions as recommended by City staff. Mr. Warmbrunn seconded the motion. Roll call on the motion was as follows: Mr. Cho - Yes Ms. McLaughlin - Yes Mr. Warmbrunn - Yes Mr. Weisskopf - Yes Mr. Welch - Yes Ms. Chester - Yes The motion passed by unanimous vote. Ms. Pearson noted that the case would be forwarded to the Urbana City Council on January 4, 2016. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 9. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There was none. 10. STAFF REPORT There was none. 11. STUDY SESSION There was none. 12. ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING Chair Welch adjourned the meeting at 7:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lorrie Pearson, AICP Planning Manager Secretary, Urbana Zoning Board of Appeals 3