Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)

Town of Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Pledge of Allegiance was said and attendance was taken by the Secretary. Present: Greg Morical, Chairman, Al Wopshall, John Wolff, Brian Traylor and Larry Jones. Staff attending: Wayne DeLong, Carol Sparks Drake, attorney. A quorum is present. Morical Hello and welcome to the February 11, 2014 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. The first item on our Agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. All Pledge. Morical The next item on our Agenda is attendance. DeLong Mr. Morical? Morical Present. DeLong Mr. Wopshall? Wopshall Present. DeLong Mr. Wolff? Wolff Present. DeLong Mr. Traylor? Traylor Present. DeLong Mr. Jones? Jones Present. Morical The next item on our Agenda is the Oath of Office for our new members. Mr. Secretary, will you please administer the oath? DeLong Yes, for Mr. Traylor and Mr. Wolff and Mr. Jones we will have an Oath of Office and we will read this into the record in small pieces and you can repeat it back to me, inserting your name where applicable. I, state your name, do solemnly swear Mr. Traylor do solemnly swear Mr. Wolff do solemnly swear Mr. Jones do solemnly swear DeLong that I will support Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Mr. Traylor that I will support Mr. Wolff that I will support Mr. Jones that I will support DeLong the Constitution Mr. Traylor the Constitution Mr. Wolff the Constitution Mr. Jones the Constitution DeLong of the United States of America, Mr. Traylor of the United States of America Mr. Wolff of the United States of America Mr. Jones of the United States of America, DeLong the Constitution Mr. Traylor the Constitution Mr. Wolff the Constitution Mr. Jones the Constitution DeLong of the State of Indiana Mr. Traylor of the State of Indiana Mr. Wolff of the State of Indiana Mr. Jones of the State of Indiana DeLong and Mr. Traylor and Mr. Wolff and Mr. Jones and DeLong the ordinances of the Town of Zionsville. Mr. Traylor the ordinances of the Town of Zionsville Mr. Wolff the ordinances of the Town of Zionsville Mr. Jones the ordinances of the Town of Zionsville. DeLong I will faithfully Mr. Traylor I will faithfully Mr. Wolff I will faithfully Mr. Jones I will faithfully DeLong honestly and impartially Page 2 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Mr. Traylor honestly and impartially Mr. Wolff honestly and impartially Mr. Jones honestly and impartially DeLong discharge all of my official duties Mr. Traylor discharge all of my official duties Mr. Wolff discharge all of my official duties Mr. Jones discharge all of my official duties DeLong as a member Mr. Traylor as a member Mr. Wolff as a member Mr. Jones as a member DeLong honestly and impartially Mr. Traylor honestly and impartially Mr. Wolff honestly and impartially Mr. Jones honestly and impartially DeLong of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mr. Traylor of the Board of Zoning Appeals Mr. Wolff of the Board of Zoning Appeals Mr. Jones of the Board of Zoning Appeals DeLong for the Town of Zionsville Mr. Traylor for the Town of Zionsville Mr. Wolff for the Town of Zionsville Mr. Jones for the Town of Zionsville DeLong without malice Mr. Traylor without malice Mr. Wolff without malice Mr. Jones without malice DeLong and to the best Mr. Traylor and to the best Mr. Wolff and to the best Mr. Jones and to the best DeLong of my skills and ability Page 3 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Mr. Traylor of my skills and ability Mr. Wolff of my skills and ability Mr. Jones of my skills and ability DeLong so help me God. Mr. Traylor so help me God. Mr. Wolff so help me God. Mr. Jones so help me God. Morical Gentlemen, welcome to the Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals. The next item on our Agenda is the approval of the January 14, 2014 meeting minutes. Are there any comments? If none, I will entertain a motion. Wopshall I’ll so move. Traylor Second. Morical All those in favor please say aye. All Aye. Morical Any opposed? Motion passes. The next item on our Agenda is continuation requests of which we have none in front of us. The next item is continued business and I’ll just note for the record that pursuit to last month’s meeting the petitioner in Docket #2013-30-DSV requested that their petition be postponed until the March 11, 2014 meeting and that was approved. We have no further continued business. The next item on our Agenda is new business and will the petitioner for 2014-01-DSV, Watts WNA LLC please come forward? Price Good evening, Mr. President, members of the Board. My name’s Matt Price. I’m here tonight on behalf of the petitioner Watts WNA LLC and its owner, Craig Alderson, concerning a variance request. I have a set of handouts which I would like to give to each member. First of all, if you’ve seen the Staff Report, we--the petitioner agrees with the Staff Report and the suggested commitment should you determine to approve the variance. My client purchased what is the former Watts Christmas Tree Farm and intends to build his home on that property. In connection with preparing it to be built, he razed the existing or formerly existing home that was on the property together with one of the accessory structures, so he removed those two buildings. The third accessory structure remains there today and it’s that structure that he would like to maintain on the property while his new home is being constructed and we’ve included a few materials to illustrate the property and the request generally. Tab 1, if you’re familiar with the area, is an aerial of the tree farm while the improvements were still in place. The east/west road in the middle of the picture is Hunt Club Road. Behind that picture is kind of a tight shot of the structure. The accessory building that we’re proposing to maintain is the one furthest to the north. It’s the one at the very top of the picture. Tab 2 is just an explanation of our variance request. The rules generally and the rules specifically applicable to the rural equestrian Page 4 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 district basically do not permit an accessory structure unless there is a primary structure, so what this variance would do is allow the accessory structure to exist while the building plans for the home are being finalized and that construction would take place. And then item 3 is a site plan that shows really the plans for the future development of the parcel for a single family home with an attached garage, a new detached garage, and then the existing pole barn at the northern part of the property. Mr. Alderson is out of town tonight and unable to be here, but we are in agreement with the Staff’s recommendations and proposed commitment, and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about our request. Morical Any questions from the Board? Mr. Price, one clarifying question for you. Is your client intending to demolish the existing pole barn after the new single family home and the new separate garage are constructed? Price You know I don’t believe he’s made a decision about that. What he’s planning to do while the home’s being constructed is use that as a place to store building supplies and basically secure those things while the construction is taking place. He’s had some concern that it is a, you know, relatively rural area and certainly not well lit and having materials out in the open could be tempting, but I don’t think he’s made any decision about actually razing that structure even after he’s completed his home and garage. Some of that may be driven by his ability to comply with the zoning ordinances at that time because there are limits as to the lot coverage and whether the total square footage of the accessory structures can be greater than the primary structure, but that’s a determination I think will have to be made at that time. Morical So, Mr. Price, is your client amenable then to a temporary zoning variance to allow for those plans to be finalized? Price That’s correct. Morical Any further questions for Mr. Price? Are there any remonstrators here tonight? Seeing none, could we have the Staff Report please? DeLong Certainly. Staff can certainly be brief. The Staff is recommending approval of the petition as filed. Staff would note that in the filing or in checking with the petitioner they had spoken as if the temporary variance wasn’t necessary given of the time frame as outlined in the Staff Report, but certainly Staff would suggest to you that three years is your standard for this type of variance. You’ve had several of these in the last few months and this type of request does historically come in front of the Board from time to time. Again, Staff is recommending approval of the petition subject to the commitments as outlined in the Staff Report and I’d be happy to answer any questions. Morical Mr. Price, to confirm your client is willing to agree to a three-year temporary variance? Price That’s correct. Page 5 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Morical Any further questions or comments from the Board? If none, I would entertain a motion. Wolff Motion. Morical Al, do you want to do the more detailed motion? Wopshall Yeah if my voice holds out. We’ll get most of it on the record. All right, I move that Docket #2014-01-DSV to provide for the establishment of a 4,126 square foot pole barn as the primary use of the property be approved based upon the findings in the Staff Report and, as Mr. DeLong mentioned, we have this three year commitment, which will have to put in writing also, and that the petitioner must reduce to writing within 60 days these conditions: 1) A single-family dwelling complying with minimum town zoning ordinance requirements must be constructed on the property with a the substantial completion of the improvements being made by February 11, 2017. 2) In the event a new single family dwelling is not substantially completed by February 11, 2017 the property owner must by April 1, 2017 either A) have filed with the Town to modify the 2014 approval of the Board of Zoning Appeals or B) commence with demolition of the existing garage and all accessory use structures in an effort to bring the property into compliance with the terms of the zoning ordinance and the commitments set forth by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Morical Do I have a second? Traylor Second. Morical Would you be willing to entertain an amendment to your motion, Al? Wopshall Yes, I would. Morical I would like us to modify both 1 and 2 to provide that whatever’s constructed on the property for both that structure and the totality of the structures will be in compliance with the zoning code. Wopshall Yes, I can accept that. Morical Any questions or comments on the motion? If none, all those in favor please say aye. All Aye. Morical Any opposed? Motion passes. Price Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Members of the Board. Morical Thank you. The next item on our Agenda is 2014-02-DSV for 55 East Oak Street. Please state your name and address for the record. Page 6 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Rausch My name is David Rausch and my address is 70 East Oak Street. With me here tonight is the applicant, Shari Jenkins, who’s available in the event that there are any questions of the Board. I do have a small graphic I’ll pass out that will help explain the existing situation here. Simply, without reiterating in great depth what’s already in your packet, the project involves the rehabilitation of the existing building at 55 East Oak Street that was last used as a donut shop and Shari is converting, as I believe you all know, to a TexMex Restaurant, The Salty Cowboy. The property currently will be used primarily, you know, in its existing footprint with the exception of a very modest 138 square foot addition in the courtyard of where the original building and addition were constructed. And that particular little additional space is primarily just to connect, to thread together the two parts of the existing structure and provide a new restroom. The existing property has six existing parking spaces on it that are accessed off of the alley and you can see them there in the depiction and the building I guess actually with this. Although it’s still continued food service the restaurant use of The Salty Cowboy has a slightly different demand than the previous donut shop use which necessitates, or by ordinance would necessitate, nine parking spaces. The site is pretty much built out to its complete, sort of its complete extent, so the only way to have provided nine parking spaces would actually be to demolish a portion of the building which would be economically unviable, so with this use which is very common to The Village Business District and other municipalities like it the applicant is here requesting a variance to allow the existing six parking spaces to remain and serve this facility in lieu of the nine that are required by ordinance, so with that I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Morical Do any of the Board Members have any questions for the petitioner’s representative? I see none. Are there any remonstrators here tonight? I see none. May we have the Staff Report, please? DeLong Thank you. Again, Staff will be brief. Staff is recommending approval of the petition as filed. This is a petition you don’t see very often, a petition seeking a request to deviate from the Town’s parking standard in The Village in particular. The standards as in the code are reduced by 1/2 already, so the request in front of you on the face of it may seem rather lean, if you will; however, Staff is in support of that request. It is a very fair request. Certainly the last petition that I’m aware of that came in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals seeking a deviation for parking required that that petitioner find off street parking spaces on some other property within The Village. That type of thought process predates the Town investing dollars into building public parking lots and predates the Town spending almost $80,000 studying the parking in The Village. Certainly the Town is a lot smarter, a lot more informed than ever related to its parking needs in The Village and Staff is again in support of this petition as filed and I’d be happy to answer any questions. Morical Mr. DeLong, were you the one that provided us the parking study? DeLong Correct. Page 7 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Morical In the record, so it was helpful for us to be able to review as part of the petition the January 24, 2014 Downtown Market Study and Parking Analysis. That was helpful. DeLong Thank you and just for the record that is a draft document. That’s not been through the public process, but certainly has findings in it that are being reviewed. Morical Mr. DeLong, would it be fair to say that around this particular structure there are no other evening-focused parking intensive businesses? DeLong On the whole The Village itself has uses like that. In particular to this block, I would say directly across the street is not, directly to the west may be Dave or – Rausch I could make a comment about directly across the street on the architect’s hours, but I won’t make that for the sake of the public motion, but no, actually, there are immediately adjacent an orthodontist’s office, a sales office, and a series of professional offices. You have to get on Main Street to the restaurants there before you really have any, I would say evening parking use, everything else on both Elm and Oak and even Cedar for that matter are pretty much primarily professional business, 8-5 kind of thing. Morical So as a practical matter it would not be, those businesses would not be using meaningful amounts of the on-street parking available during the evening dinner restaurant hours? Rausch Yes. Morical So those spaces would be available? Rausch Yeah, I would say that both anecdotally as well as by experience yes. Morical Are there any further questions for Staff or the petitioner? If not, I would entertain a motion. Wopshall I will make a motion. I move that Docket 2014-02-DSV to permit the establishment of a restaurant with six off-street parking spaces for the property located at 55 East Oak Street be approved based on the findings in the Staff Report. Page 8 of 9 Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals February 11, 2014 Morical Is there a second? ?Traylor Second. Morical All those in favor please say aye. All Aye. Morical Any opposed? Motion passes. Rausch Thank you. Morical Thank you very much. Seeing no further matters on our Agenda this meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals is hereby adjourned. Page 9 of 9