Board of Adjustment

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Regular Meeting DATE: April 20, 2022 TIME: 5:00 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, City Hall PRESENT: Breza, Buege, Conway, Krofchalk, Murphy, Sanchez, Slavey ABSENT: None Chairman Sanchez called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The minutes from the Board’s April 6, 2022 meeting were approved unanimously upon motion by Jon Krofchalk and seconded by Tim Breza. All were in favor of approving the minutes. Petition No. 22-4-V, Jeremy Exley Chairman Sanchez opened the public hearing and read the petition: Jeremy Exley – City Code Section 43.02.23 Table 43-3 Lot Dimension Standards: Which requires 2,500 square feet of lot area per dwelling unit in business districts as consistent with R-3 Multi-Family Residence zoning districts. Applicant is proposing a mixed use development with seven (7) residential units on a site of 8,700 square feet, which would require 17,500 square feet of lot area per City Code. Properties are described as B-1 zoning, Sect-26, Twp-107, Range-007, SANBORNS ADDITION, Lot-006, Block-018 N ½ or at 512 Center Street and Sect-26, Twp-107, Range-007, SANBORNS ADDITION, Lot-006, Block-018 N 28’ OF s ½ or at 516 Center Street. Jeremy Exley, 6101 W. Old Shakopee Rd, Bloomington, MN, Exiak, LLC, addressed the Board. Mr. Exley stated that his proposal meets all of the requirements except for the 2,500 square feet of lot area, height requirement and three stories. He said it also meets parking. Mr. Exley stated that B-1 zoning allows for mixed use business. Mr. Exley said the two houses have met their life expectancy and that they needed lots of work done to them. He said he doesn’t feel his proposal would affect the character of the neighborhood because there is commercial businesses in the neighborhood. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES April 20, 2022 PAGE 2 Chris Sanchez asked the height of the building and Mr. Exley said it would be about thirty to thirty-two feet high with a flat roof. Jon Krofchalk asked how many total bedrooms and parking spaces there would be and Mr. Exley said twenty-one bedrooms. Luke Sims, Assistant City Planner, said two parking spaces per unit. He also said Mr. Exley will be substituting the rest of the parking with bicycle parking spaces. Chris Sanchez read a letter from Bill Squires, 508 Center, who strongly opposed the variance request. Mr. Squires said it would ruin his back yard in relation to the view of the bluffs. Josh Squires, spoke on behalf of his father Bill Squires. Mr. Squires said he strongly opposed the variance request as well. He stated multiple reasons as to why he was opposed to the request. Mr. Squires said he was concerned about what type of business would be in the building. Mr. Squires also stated that there are a lot of houses in Winona in need of work being done and he felt building a structure without the proper space is altering the character of the neighborhood and it would create issues with the parking with the extra vehicles. Mr. Squires also brought up access into the building. There being no one else who desired to speak, the Chairman closed the public hearing and opened it up for discussion. Tom Conway stated that he owns the property across the street from this proposed development and if the variance were accepted, the zoning should be changed so it matches to what the property is zoned for if the City wants to increase density. He feels the decision should be made by the City Council and not the Board of Adjustment. Mr. Conway felt that the area was so populated now that it was hard to find parking the way it is and this would make the situation worse. Jon Krofchalk had concerns about going from eight bedrooms to twenty-one, which would be a large increase with vehicles. Chris Sanchez said that he and Jim Murphy went to look at the property and Mr. Sanchez agreed that something needed to be done with the houses but there would be an issue with the parking, especially when parking was an issue in the area already. Chris Sanchez and John Krofchalk both agreed something needed to be done with the houses, to either fix them up or have new development, but they still felt parking would be an issue. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES April 20, 2022 PAGE 3 Jim Murphy felt it was too big of a request with twenty one extra people living in the area with no parking and he also said buying another property next door just to take care of parking, financially doesn’t make sense. There was discussion about the origin of the 2,500 square feet per unit requirement. Chris Sanchez said it was arbitrarily decided in the past. The Board went through the variance finding questions. Is the variance in harmony with the purpose and intent of the ordinance? No, they are trying to place more people in an area that’s not big enough for the amount of people per unit in what the ordinance is designed for. Is the variance consistent with the Comprehensive Plan? No, that area is for medium density and it would bring it to a high density. Does the proposal put the property to use in a reasonable manner? No, it exceeds the density. Are there unique circumstances to the property not created by the landowner? Yes, the lots are too small. Will the variance, if granted, retain the essential character of the locality? No, because it will change from residential to commercial and residential, they will need to find parking for the commercial as well. Are there other considerations for the variance request besides economics? No, Jon Krofchalk felt this came down to economics because it would be going form eight bedrooms to twenty-one. Jon Krofchalk made a motion to deny the request and it was seconded by Tom Conway. All members in favor of denying the request. Petitioner was informed that there was a 10-day appeal period during which time he could appeal the decision to the Winona City Council. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES April 20, 2022 PAGE 4 Petition No. 22-5-V, John Redig John Redig – City Section 43.02.24 which limits the height of accessory structures in Agricultural/Natural Resources zoning districts to an average of 15 feet (between peak and eave). Applicant wishes to add 6 feet to an existing garage and bring the average height of the structure to a maximum of 21 feet. Property is described as AG/NR zoning, Sect-34 Twp-107 Range-007 WINONA TWP ANNEX OLD #19.070.1080 PARCEL 200' X 230' IN NW 1/4 NE 1/4 COMMENCING SE CORNER, N 704', L 64 DEG 126', R 27 DEG 74' FOR POINT OF BEG & 200' X 109' X 225' X 227' ADJ ON EAST, or at 248 Garvin Heights Road. John Redig, 248 E. Garvin Heights Road, addressed the Board. Mr. Redig said it’s hard to get his trucks through his shop door and by putting a bigger door into his shop, he would have to add on to the height. Jim Murphy asked if the shop is visible from the road and Mr. Redig said when the leaves are on the trees you could not see it at all. Mr. Redig also said that he would be putting a darker roof on which would make it less visible. Tom Conway asked if there was another place to put the shop and Mr. Redig said that there wasn’t. Jon Krofchalk mentioned about building closer to the road. Mr. Redig said he doesn’t own the right-of-way along the driveway but he does own below the driveway where there are fruit trees and he would rather not move them. He also said the land is sloped and he would have to put a lot of fill and it would be very expensive. Tim Breza said it was very controversial because of the bluff land ordinance and site lines and they needed to take that into consideration when adding onto the building. Jon Krofchalk said the site lines for the bluff where taken from multiple different areas and they needed to take that into consideration. Tom Conway asked if there was anything in the zoning ordinance that would say that you would have to have certain things to make the building blend in. Luke Sims, Assistant City Planner, said that stipulations could be added in along with the variance request. Tim Breza felt that City Council should make the decision on this request because of the bluff ordinance. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES April 20, 2022 PAGE 5 Chris Sanchez said that the Board of Adjustment needed to make the decision because it was their job to do that. Jim Murphy stated that they do those types of variance requests all the time for height and the only difference is, that it’s on a bluff. There being no one else who desired to speak, the Chairman closed the public hearing and opened it up for discussion. The Board went through the variance finding questions. Is the variance in harmony with the purpose and intent of the ordinance? Tim Breza no, Jim Murphy yes, they do these requests all the time. 2 Board members voted no and 5 voted yes with certain guidelines and stipulations. Is the variance consistent with the Comprehensive Plan? 6 members voted yes, its allowable use in agriculture. 1 member voted no. Does the proposal put the property to use in a reasonable manner? Yes, no change of use. Are there unique circumstances to the property not created by the landowner? Yes, zoning change with the current owner. Will the variance, if granted, retain the essential character of the locality? No, change will not affect it at all. Tom Conway said that the first variance question, if they put stipulations on the request, would the variance be in harmony with the purpose and intent? Luke Sims stated that the variance was not needed for bluff land because the variance request was for height limitation and because this is an existing structure. If it were new, then it would be different. Jon Krofchalk made a motion to approve the request with stipulations that Mr. Redig present to City Staff a plan for vegetative screening, change in roof color so it’s dark, earth tone color on the side walls, no lighting that can be seen from below and must be consistent with the view shed analysis and it was seconded BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES April 20, 2022 PAGE 6 by Aaron Slavey. All members in favor of approving the request with the stipulations. Petitioner was informed that there was a 10-day appeal period during which time no action could be taken on the petition. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, Jon Krofchalk made a motion to adjourn with a second by Jim Murphy. All were in favor of adjourning the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. _______________________________ Chad Sommer, Secretary