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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZoning Board of Adjustment-Minutes-3/13/2001Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes -March 13, 2001 Page 1 of 4 -Approved on O4/~O/O~ The regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment was called to order by Vice Chairman Larry Henry at 7:00 p.m. on March 13, 2001. Roll Call: Present: Cheryl Feigel, Skip Reynolds, Jeff Byerly, Larry Henry, Rich Munson Absent: Dee McNosky, Jerry Birkes Staff: Barry LeBaron Approval of Minutes: January 9, 2001 Skip Reynolds moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Rich Munson seconded the motion. The motion was passed by an "Aye" voice vote. Vice Chairman Henry explained the procedures of the Zoning Board of Adjustment to the audience. He stated that that all present members will be voting members for the meeting. Vice Chairman Henry outlined the meeting format for the audience. 1. PUBLIC HEARING -Roy Gomperts for a variance from Section 3.26 -Fences, Free Standing Walls, and Screening Materials - to allow the construction of a fence that would encroach over the side building line along San Bar Lane of Lot 2, Block 3R, Woodbriar Estates West, 111 W Greenbriar Court. Case A-01-001 Roy Gomperts was present to present his case to the Board. He spoke in favor of extending the fence to allow his son more room to play in the yard and have a basketball hoop. He said that the fence would be an eight foot pine fence. Mr. Gomperts said that he spoke with the neighbors behind him, next door and across the street and they said that they didn't have any problem with the location of the proposed fence. Staff presented the case to the Board and outlined the briefing in their packets. He showed the Board overheads that indicated the amount of green space on San Bar Lane even with the fence extended over the building line. Staff responded to Cheryl Feigel's question about concerns that there would be no visibility problems if the fence is placed where it was proposed. Mr. LeBaron said that there would not be problem. He indicated on the overhead the location of the curb line in relationship to the property line and indicated that there would be no problem. The Board discussed the conditions of San Bar Lane. Skip Reynolds told the Board about the history of the development on San Bar Lane. Skip Reynolds asked Mr. LeBaron if the fence got built and the applicant wanted to put in an asphalt surface for a basketball court, what regulations regulated the location of the surface without needing a variance. Mr. LeBaron responded that there are no regulations addressing the location of flat work on a site. Mr. Gomperts responded that the only reason he is requesting a variance is because the fence would look better at the proposed location than to have an open slab exposed on the corner outside a fence. He said that he would not have to worry about his child's safety when he needed to retrieve a ball if the play area was fenced. Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes -March 13, 2001 Page 2 of 4 -Approved on 04/~O/O~ Rich Munson said that he drove past the applicant's house tonight an it appears that the drainage would not encumber any adjacent properties if the basketball court were built and fenced. He said that the lot drains toward the street and not toward neighbors' properties. Mr. Munson said that the applicant's request would not exacerbate any existing drainage problem. There was no one else present wishing to speak, and the public hearing was closed. Vice Chairman opened the discussion phase of the meeting to the Board. Mr. Munson said that he walked off the current location of the fence from the property line at Mr. Gomperts' lot and then he did the same thing at the neighbors who had a corner lot. He said that the neighbor's fence is an existing condition that the fence is in the same location as what Mr. Gomperts is requesting. Mr. Munson said that the neighbors have not expressed any opposition and the Board would not be doing any disservice to the City if the request was granted. Larry Henry said that he has a concern that there will be a stockade fence running approximately 130' down the side of the fence with no proposed landscaping or breaks in the fence. He is concerned about the aesthetics of the fence. Cheryl Feigel said that there is currently and existing stockade fence. Mr. Henry said that another 30' to 40' will be added to the length of the fence. Ms. Feigel said that the Board can place a landscaping condition on the variance request. Cheryl Feigel asked the applicant if he would be maintaining the lawn on the street side of the fence. Mr. Gomperts responded that he would. Larry Henry asked the applicant if he would be willing to consider landscaping the street side of the fence. He responded that he had thought about possibly relocating existing shrubs, but did not want to commit to that. He said that he would do whatever the Board required. Cheryl said that there are many stockade fences in the City that are not landscaped and she did not want to encumber the applicant with that responsibility. Cheryl Feigel moved to approve the request. Skip Reynolds called for a point of order. He asked how many votes are required to approve the variance request. Vice Chairman Henry said that four affirmative were required. Mr. Reynolds said that he has reservations with granting the variance even though he is sympathetic to a family that is concerned about the welfare of their children. He said that he particularly sympathetic to a family that is willing to take their request before the community, but there are a lot of corners in the subdivision that seem to be observing the setbacks. He said that if they vote for one variance, there may be others to follow. He said that he does not intend to vote against the request, but probably will abstain from voting. Mr. LeBaron said that from a procedural standpoint, there is a motion on the floor and it has not been seconded. He said that the motion needs to be seconded before the Board enters into discussion. Mr. Reynolds said that he is not requesting that the motion be killed either, but is trying to be candid about his concerns. Jeff Byerly seconded the motion. Vice Chairman Henry called for discussion by the Board. Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes -March 13, 2001 Page 3 of 4 -Approved on 04/~O/O11 Jeff Byerly said that he understood Skip's concern about everyone in the subdivision wanting a potential variance, but he would look at the unique situation where there is an extra large parkway and a required visibility triangle to avoid a traffic hazard. He said with those unique conditions, he has no problem with approving the variance as the applicant has proposed. Rich Munson said that he concurs with Mr. Byerly that the applicant is fortunate that there is a narrow street with a large right-of-way. He said that if it were another situation, he would also have reservations. Vice Chairman Henry said that his only concern is the long unbroken stretch of fence that is not aesthetic pleasing. Mr. Munson asked if it would be appropriate for the Board to request some landscaping for the fence. Mr. Henry said that they could request it and make it a part of the approval. Skip Reynolds said that he could be more comfortable with the approval of the variance if some sort of landscaping was required. Cheryl Feigel said that the landscaping would add to the aesthetic appeal of the fence, but it may be difficult for the Board to come up with some sort of landscaping plan at this meeting. She said that if the applicant is amiable to the landscaping, it might be in the best interest of everyone to table the case and have the applicant bring a landscaping proposal for the Board to review. Jeff Byerly said that he would be more inclined to approve the variance as requested without the landscaping. He said that he also drove by the house and across the street is a long stretch of stockade fence without landscaping. He said that it would be the same look if the applicant placed a long fence along the building line. He said that if the requested fence were encroaching onto the neighbors, he would be more inclined to add landscaping requirements since the fence is only encroaching toward the street. Discussion ensued about allowable fences that did not require a variance. Mrs. Gomperts addressed the Board and told them that the fence would not extend to the front of the house. She said that it would be placed about four feet back from the front. Vice Chairman Henry called for the vote. The vote being: Ayes: Feigel, Byerly, Munson, Henry Noes: None Abstained: Reynolds ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes -March 13, 2001 Page 4 of 4 -Approved on O4/~O/O~ Respectfully Submitted, Jan Levy Planning & Zoning Assistant Approved on: April 10, 2001 as submitted. m/min/z b a minutes for 03 13 01