Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)

Town of Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Pledge of Allegiance was said and attendance was taken by the Secretary. Present: Greg Morical, Steve Schanke, Al Wopshall, Jay Parks. Staff attending: Wayne DeLong, Carol Sparks Drake, attorney. Larry Mitchell is absent. A quorum is present. Schanke I think we can go ahead and begin. Before we start I ask that everyone stand and we say the Pledge of Allegiance. All Pledge Schanke Okay I’d like to call this January 8 meeting of the Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals to order. My name is Steve Schanke. I am the Vice or Assistant Chairman. Larry Mitchell is not here tonight. He was the Chairman or President of the Board. I would like to call the attendance. Wayne, would you call the names. DeLong Mr. Mitchell? Mr. Morical? Morical Here. DeLong Mr. Schanke? Schanke Present. DeLong Mr. Wopshall? Wopshall Present. DeLong Mr. Parks? Parks Present. Schanke Okay, we do have a quorum present. Before we get to approval of the minutes from the last meeting, well I guess we can do that right now. Has everyone had a chance to review the meetings, minutes from the November meeting? Any changes, comments, clarifications? Parks I move approval of the minutes as submitted. Morical Second. Schanke Any questions, any debate? I call for the question. All those in favor of the motion as presented signify by saying aye. All Aye. Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Schanke Those opposed? Carried unanimously. Before we go into the docket numbers I understand we may have a request from someone on the, what is known as the Wal-Mart petition. Please state your name, address, and remember you are under oath. Calderon Thank you and good evening Board Members. Joe Calderon attorney with offices at 111 Monument Circle, Suite 2700, Indianapolis representing the petitioner in 2012-17-DSV. I am making a request for continuance of this matter from tonight to your February 12 meeting. This request was made in writing to your Planning Director, Mr. DeLong, last week and we also contacted a number of folks with whom we’ve engaged, so hopefully it’s not a surprise to the community or those folks that are otherwise interested in the matter. It’s a request for continuance by cause under your rules, so the reason, the substantive reason, for the request is that shortly before the holidays we were contacted by staff and asked to consider making a pretty significant change to the site plan involving relocation of the entry which at first blush may sound simple, but as you might appreciate requires a fair amount of engineering and coordination. Also, because of the holiday schedule a number of the decision makers were not available for comment, so we are not really prepared to present a new site plan with the requested change in location yet we hope to be working on that in the next matter of days and be prepared for your February 12 hearing. Schanke Thank you. Did the Board Members have any questions or comments? Hearing none, are there any remonstrators to this request? I assume there can be remonstrators. We have to have a motion? Drake You need a motion and I’d also recommend you ask your staff if he has any comments. Schanke Oh I’m sorry. I looked right at him. Does staff have any comments on this request? DeLong Thank you. Certainly staff supports and does not object to the request for continuance. The continuance is driven by contact from the Indiana Department of Transportation, which happened prior to the holidays. At that request staff went to visit with them at their Crawfordsville offices and at that time they indicated that they were interested in seeing the Wal-Mart entrance, which is currently proposed at the northern end of the site, moved to the southern end of the site and that would assist in facilitating signalization of Michigan Road at that quarter mile spacing if you will in order to facilitate the state’s request since it is a state highway. Staff then agreed to or volunteered to contact the petitioner here to share that information and that’s led to the continuance request, so staff was a conduit if you will of that information which led to the continuance. Schanke Questions for staff? I guess the Chair will entertain a motion. Wopshall I make a motion to – Page 2 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Schanke It would be a motion to accept or to continue Docket 2012-17-DSV until the February Zionsville BZA. Wopshall I will so make that motion to continue Docket 2012-17-DSV for Wal-Mart to continue until next month. Parks Second. Drake If you would in your motion instead of next month indicate February 12, 2013 that would be appreciated. Wopshall Okay amending the motion to continue until February 12, 2013. Parks I accept that as part of the second. Schanke Any further discussion? I’ll call for the question. All those in favor of the motion as presented signify by saying aye? All Aye. Schnke Opposed? The motion carries. Calderon Thank you. Schanke We’ll see you next month. We will now move to the second item on the agenda, well actually the first item on the agenda which is and I have to go back and get the docket number – DeLong The request itself doesn’t have a— Drake There is no docket-- Evans There actually isn’t a docket number. This is a special request. My name is Stan Evans with offices at 22 East Washington Street in Indianapolis. If you will recall, we had a petition before you of late last summer for some variances associated with the re-plat of the lots behind the Sullivan Munce Cultural Center. We are desirous of resubmitting with a revised plan that will basically take those lots and put the lot line due north/south and extend all the way back to the existing vacated alley, so the lot size will be consistent with those around it. The remonstrator that was here at the time has a 7,200 square foot lot and ours will be a little bit larger than those. So, since we had an adverse decision I think actually the description in the agenda may be a little bit wrong. In talking with counsel they indicated that our request was substantially similar enough so that we needed to come and ask for a special approval from you to be heard on the merits next month, so that’s what we’re here to ask for. Schanke Do you have any questions for the petitioner or the requester? I would, I realize I’m the Chair, but I would like to ask you why you feel it is substantially different? Page 3 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Audience member We can’t hear. Schanke I could move it closer. I would like to, I realize I’m the Chair, but I would like to request why you feel it is substantially different such that we, because we did discuss this in detail at the meeting last summer. Evans No, I think the answer is that it is not substantially different and in order to file within a year it would require a special approval for you to allow us back. The application that we made before had a lot size in around a 5,000 square foot range on each of those two houses. We are still taking the same property and going from four lots to three. I think that your counsel that that was substantially similar, which if it was substantially different we could’ve applied directly without asking for this sort of special dispensation to reapply within the year. Schanke I understand. I just do recall that we did discuss consequence at that meeting in quite a bit of detail as what would happen if the vote went adverse to you, but one other quick question. I’m not asking for a commitment, but do you have a feel for when you would come back before the Board? Would it be like in February or? Evans Yeah that’s right. We would like to reapply for it in February. Schanke I’m just thinking it might be closer to being a year anyway because we were meeting on the bimonthly schedule last year. Evans Right. I mean our goal would be to apply for the February 12 hearing. Wopshall I believe that we can rule on this. It’s substantially similar and all we have to do is say we will allow this on the docket next month. Schanke What we’re deciding is whether they can come forward before the year is up. Come back to us again. For the public, when we turn a petition down, by our rules of procedure, they are not allowed to reapply for 12 months. You know, it keeps people from just coming back and coming back and coming back, so in this case they are asking that we allow them to come back. Evans Right. Basically, waive that. Schanke Am I correct, Carol? Drake Yes, under your rules of procedure. It’s on BZA-11, Section 6. Mr. Evans has accurately reflected our discussions and they are entitled to come before this body, request that you allow them to come in, in less time than a year from the adverse decision and an official vote has to be taken at this public hearing based on your finding that they have shown good cause to allow this refiling. Page 4 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Schanke Thank you. I would like to ask if there’s anyone that would like to remonstrate for or against their request. Seeing none, no more discussion? The Chair will entertain a motion. Morical I move that we approve their request and that they’ve shown good cause to allow them to come back before the Board of Zoning Appeals in less than 12 months. Wopshall A question on that, should we put in that we are doing this because we feel this is substantially similar? Should that be put in there or? Morical Sure. I’ll amend that motion to say that we find that it’s substantially similar; however, we also find that there’s good cause to allow the petitioner to come back before the Board of Zoning Appeals within a period shorter than 12 months. Wopshall I can second that motion. Schanke Further discussion? Parks Question. Given what else is on the docket for next month – Schanke We know one we believe will be on the docket that month, but they’re not committing to come back next month. They could come back in March. Evans We’ll take an eye to the calendar to see when we would find it to be best to be in front of you. Schanke The Board would ask you be aware of – Evans I thought it was bad enough that I was going to be here asking for this special request with them being heard after us, but – Parks There’s no new business after 10 o'clock. Schanke We have a motion on the floor. Why don’t we do a vote on that and then go from there. All those in favor of the motion to allow the Sullivan Munce Foundation, whatever, to come back before as presented signify by saying aye? All Aye. Evans Thank you. Schanke Motion carries. Okay. We now move into some administrative work which will be the signing of the, did I miss something Carol? Drake Yes, the items up above. Schanke Right signing of the rules of procedures. The rules of procedures are the rules that the Board of Zoning Appeals has to work under. If you’ll recall at our last meeting we did approve changing the meeting dates from bimonthly to monthly. Page 5 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 That’s incorporated in these changes and I believe there’s a typographical error incorporated in these changes and I forget the section now, but it’s one that reads to be approved by the Planning Commission and it should be the Board of Zoning Appeals. DeLong Correct. There are a few scrivener’s errors and Carol can speak to that further, with further details than I can offer, but yes there’s a portion of the rules that talk about the Plan Commission approving a continuance when, in fact, that should have just said Board of Zoning Appeals. And we will correct that after this evening before this is posted. Schanke So I think we have to have a motion or no I guess we just have to sign them. DeLong I believe they are just ready for signature. Drake They’re ready for signature. You already approved them last time. Schanke That’s right, so we’ll just pass that down. Morical And you’ll correct those couple of scrivener’s errors and substitute the signature page? Schanke Do we want to just postpone the election or just go ahead? Drake Under the statute, you are to have those tonight. Schanke Oh, okay. Being the first meeting of the year, whether it be in January or February we are required to elect officials at such time. I believe we elect a Chairman, a Vice Chairman. I think that’s it. Drake And you may appoint a secretary if you elect to, but your election is for Chair and Vice Chair. Schanke So we’ll go with Chair and Vice Chair and we’ll let Mr. DeLong remain as our secretary and I’m not sure who transcribes the minutes, but they do an excellent job. The Chair will entertain any requests or for nominations for Chairman of the Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals. Wopshall He is not here, but I would nominate Larry Mitchell for the President of the BZA. Morical Second it. Schanke Does anyone have any concerns he might say no? I don’t think he would, but he has been forever. Hearing no discussion, I guess we don’t have to have a motion. We just call for a vote on that don’t we or – Drake You did make a motion. You would be voting on that motion. Okay did it get seconded. Page 6 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 Parks It did. Schanke Okay Jay seconded it. DeLong Greg seconded it. Drake Yes, Greg already— Schanke Oh somebody seconded it. Morical That’s fine. I can tell Jay is supportive as well. Schanke. I’m not allowed to, so. No further discussion I’ll call for the question. All those in favor of the motion to elect Mr. Mitchell as our Chairman signify by saying aye? All Aye. Schanke The motion carries. Now we have a Vice Chairman. Anyone wish to nominate anyone for that? Morical Mr. Schanke, are you interested in continuing in that role? Schanke I have been in that role with Mr. Mitchell for many years. I would. I have no, does anyone – I can informally ask, but – Parks Well, we’ll vote. Schanke No, I would accept the position and fulfill it to the best of my ability. I didn’t have any notice tonight. Normally I’d been a little more prepared. Morical Well, we certainly appreciate your service. Schanke Thank you. Morical And in that vein I move that Mr. Schanke be elected our Vice Chairman. Wopshall I’ll second that. Schanke Further discussion? Call for questions? All those in favor of the motion as presented signify by saying aye? All Aye. Schanke The motion is carried. I don’t think we need to elect a secretary. Okay. The next item on the agenda is a continuing of past business, old business, if you would prefer. We have some findings of fact that we have to sign. Findings of fact are the Board of Zoning Appeals’ mission is to understand the facts as to why the legally appointed zoning or legally adopted zoning should not be applied. We Page 7 of 8 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals January 8, 2013 find these and we have to signify that these are what we’ve found, so this is called the findings of fact and we have to sign them, so. The first one was 2012- 15-DSV. It was the Bowman petition. We’ll be passing it along. We don’t have to vote on it do we? Apparently the signature page got, didn’t copy well. That doesn’t mean by any means that we haven’t approved them. We did then approve them at the other meeting. Anyone else have any further items for the January Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals? Anyone want to remonstrate about anything? All right. Well, I guess we will conclude or adjourn the January Board of Zoning Appeals meeting and reconvene in February. Thank you very much for coming out. I see we have some students, maybe some others in the back. I’m sorry we didn’t make the 20 minutes but you attended, so. Page 8 of 8