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06-09-81 BZA Minutes ,,.�-. €� _ �',a � � � MINUTES Of A REGULAR MEETING OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS JUNE g, 1981 The regular meeting of the Gotden Valley'Board of Zoning Appeals was held Tuesday, June 9, 1981 , at 7:30 P.M. at the Civic Center, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Vatley, Minnesota. The fallowing Board members were present: Art Flannagan, Chairman Mike Sell Mahlon Swedberg William Forster Donald Hughes (alternate) Lloyd Becker, Secretary and Staff Liaison Absent by prior arrangement, Glen Christiansen. The first order of business was approval of the minutes of a regular meeting held Tuesday, May 12, 1981 , copies of whieh had previously been distributed to the Board. Mahlon Swedberg moved to approve the minutes as written and presented, second by Mike Sell and upon vote carried. 81-6-20 (Map 1) Residential 3513 2 th Avenue North Dr. Ronald K. Malone The Petition is for waiver of Section 3.07 (1) front setback for 5.9' off the required 35' front setback to a distance of 29. 1 ' from the front lot line to th� existing house and the proposed addition. Dr. and Mrs. Malone were present. The petition was in order. Consent had been obtained from the four adjacent properties. Dr. Malone explained his present home has no dining area and his family has increased to a total of five this past year and they need the additional space. The proposed addition is 12 x 12. This lot is a corner lot of an unusual slope and the addition would be added to the east side of the house and in line with the existing front wall . The building inspector required an as-built survey to be done because by�all appearances there may have been a side setback problem for the addition. As a re- sult of tha survey, it showed there was sufficient side area for the addition. However, the existing home is 29.9' from the front lot line on 26th Avenue (35' required) . Mahlon Swe:dberg stated he had reviewed the property as had the other Board members and said this did not appear to be a controversial issue, would have no significant effect on anyone and would further enhanee the existing structure. All of the houses in the arEa have similar alignment and the boulevard right-of-way makes a] 1 the yards appear as more than 35' in depth. � � [.� Board of Zoni,n� Appeals Page 2 June 9, 1981 Swedberg noted there is ample room for the addition and Dr. Malone does have a hardship with the existing structure placed as it is. Mahlon Swedberg moved to approve the waiver as requested to include the existing house also. Second by Mike Sell and upon vote carried unanimously. 81-6-21 {Map 5) Institutional 1-1 000 Golden Vatley Road Unity Christ Church The Petition is for waiver of Sections 13•Ot for 4g parking spaces off the required 108 spaces to a total of 59 spaces on the site and a corres- ponding agreement to provide an additionat 75 spaces at the Courage Center site. 11 .07 17.4' off the required 35' green area yard requirement along Mary Hil:ls Drive to a yard area of 17.6' from the lot 1ine. The Chairman reviewed the petition. It was not�d that four signatures were undecided, one not for approval and two for approvat . There were several adjacent property owners whose signatures had not been obtained. A letter had been reeeived from an adjacent neighbor, Larry Smith at 2080 Ma ry Hills Drive, which expressed his objections to the proposed addition and described the existing parking and traffic problems at this site. Present to' represent the ehurch were Mr. Skujins, Architect, and Mr. Wayne Murphy, Chairman of the Chursh Board. The architect had six renderings of the praposed addition and overall remodel of the structure. Mr. Murphy made a detailed pres�ntation of the n�cessity for the proposed expansion, the efforts the church and the architect had made to compty with setbaeks ahd parking, and exptained the cross parking arrangement they could have with the Courage Center for 75 additiona1 spaces. Mr. Murphy noted the hazard of crossing Gotden Va11ey Road when members now park across the street but stated the instatla�Cion of the new traffic light when completed, should alleviate any problem. Mr. Murphy explained that some of the existing parking areas will be moved to the north side of the structure and green areas will be established in a more aesthetic and pleasing manner than now exists. Mr. Skujins, the arehiteet, explained his design which included Solar heating and stated this would be the first structure of its type in Golden Valley and was unique in appearance. ��� Board of Zoning Appeals Page 3 June 9, 1981 Mr: Murphy stated the seating .capacity of the sanctuary was 403, that the present congregation is presently some 300 members, many whom are young fami1ies. The present seating capacity is for 200. The church is looking at a satellite location in St. Pau1 , Minnesota. The exact location not yet determined. Some of the present members may attend services there when establish�d. Mike Setl asked if there are classrooms existing and what educational services are offered. Mr. Murphy explained primarily Swnday School but there are also some evening weekday classes which presently may have attendance up to 25 or 30 persons. The biggest attendance is Sunday. Mahlon Swedberg noted the changes in church functions over tMe years. Most churches when originally established served a neighborhood and fitted in well with a residential area. Today churches serve not only community areas but many functions and members from outside the area. These have resulted in problems, particularly parking at many church sites. Mr. Murphy agreed the present site has parking problems and that the first 59 automobiles woutd be the lucky ones to park on the site and the others woutd require parking acros's the street. Mike Sell questioned the utilization of parking across the street and specutated the first other places would be used on the street which is now causing neighborhood problems. Mr. Murphy explained the cross-parking agreement was by a letter from Courage Center, which at this time he did not have. Mahlon Swedberg noted previous City requirements for cross-parking agreements which were <recorded documents and of 50 years or more duration. Mr. Murphy could not confirm that Courage Center could provide this. Art Flannagan commented that with the proposed addition the parking requirements would double but only two additional on-site spaces are provided �o what now exist. ' Mr. Murphy speculated that if parking on the street became a major problem, the street cou}d be posted for no parking. Donatd Hughes said this was not fair to the ofiher residential property owners. The church representatives completed their presentation and Art Flannagan opened the discussion for commenfis from surrounding property owners in attendance. Mary King, 4025 Wasatch Lane, qu��fiioned if a retair�ing walt could be a requirement on the north end of the church lot if approvat was granted. This was confirmed. Mrs. King noted her objection to the proposed addition and stated she does not have a good feeling on how functional the new traffic tight would be in alleviating the present traffic probtems and explained her concerns for accidents and traffic backups that may occur through a cross-parking agreement. Mrs. King referred to previous comments made at the public hearings when held for the traffic light proposal . Mrs: King presented the Board a tetter she had brought to the meeting. � ��� �'� � �.a Board of Zoni.n� Appeals Page 4 June 9, 1981 This letter is frc�m Mr. and Mrs. Leni and George Wileox, 4035 Wasatch Lane. The letter described the concerns for parking at and around the site and stated that unless changes in the proposed parking scheme are made, they oppose the building plans for the church. Rita Seeman, 2040 Mary Hitls Drive, asked what kind of agreement does the church and Courage Center have now for the dai]y parking that occurs there. Mr. Murphy responded that he could not confirm of any type w ritten agreement. Mr. Murphy said that indeed the church was community oriented and that facilities could be available for other than church services. Several members of the audience expressed their concern for use of the facility for seminars or etc. , by the Courage Center. Mr. Murphy said he couldn't cate- goricalty state this could not happen but did not see this as a significant or major u�e of the church facility. George Svendsen, 2100 Mary Hil1s Drive, expressed his concerns. George described himself as one of the first families in the area in 1956, which at that time was a pleasant, open green area with a view of the pond. He described how it has now developed, and hated to see any more problems develop in the area. Mr. Svendsen described previous tenants (Mormon Church and Torah Aeademy) as not having created problems but the present church has parking problems and traffic in the area. Mah1on Sw�dberg described the original situation as a smaller institutional lot, with a small building to serve a small congregation and now the congregation is proposed to be doubled and atmost half of the parking required would be by cross- agreement with Courage Center. Swedberg asked if Mr. Murphy had any rebuttal to the overall comm�nts made. Mr. Murphy replied none specifically, that he felt they had described their proposal and emphasized the church had every intent of being a good neighbor to the area. Donald Hughes stated that he personally does nat be1ieve cross-parking agreemtns work. He noted the architecture as proposed is pleasing and the solar energy efforts are commendable but they are not a concern when considering the variance. The only considerations are the green areas and` setbacks and the inadequate parking as proposed, William Forster stated the parking problem exists now and further expansion could create more problems. Forster described the expansion plans and appearance as beautiful but the site is not sufficient to support it. Mahlon Swedberg moved to deny the waivers as requested and required, noting the proposed expansion does not fit or belong on the tot. Swedberg noted he did so retuctantly as he coutd understand and appreciate fihe churches efforts but could not support them. Donatd Hughes seconded the motion to deny and upon vote carried unanimously. The method for appeal to the Council was explained to Mr. Murphy if the church so decided. � �� Board of Zoning Appeals Pa9e 5 June 9, 1981 81-6-22 (Map 16) :Residential 1031 Pennsylvania Beverly Ann Kottas The Petition is for waiver of Section 3.02 (1) to allow a two-family dwelTing in a single family residential area. The site meets the required 150' frontage and 18,750 sq. ft. , however, it does not abut a heavier use district and is not directly across from a commercial , light industrial or indus- trial use. This petition was not considered as the proponent asked that .it be removed from the agenda to allow her to explore with the City Planner, the possibility of subdividing to provide two lots for two single family homes. $1-6-23- (Map 18) Commercial 7901-7q21 Wayzata Blvd. (Existing Bang Bang 0il Station) H � I Enterprises, Inc. The Petition 7s for waiver of Sections 5•05 (A) front setback for g' off the required 35' set6ack to the center line of the gasoline pumps to a distance of 26' and for 24' off the required 35' to the overhead canopy on the pumps and for 5•�5 �B) for 10' off the required 20' rear setback to a distance of 10' from the rear lot line (abuts St. Louis Park) to the proposed building. 5.06 (2) landscaping for waiver of the required 20' along Wayzata Blvd, for those areas not driveways. 5,Q6 D�(2) for 9 outside parking spaces to be located forward and to the side of the building. � Mrs. Beverly Ann Kattas was present as an owner and representative of H � I Enter- prises, tnc, Also present was Ptr. Sam Thorpe of Tf�orpe Realty an adjacent office property owner. Lloyd Becker explained that the City Planner, Mike Miller, had worked with Mrs. Kottas over. the past year reviewing her various proposals for the site and at this time the proposal as presented is what the proponent has decided is the minimum they can develop for the service stat'ion and retail sales on the site. �°���' Board of Zoning ppeals Page 6 June 9, i981 Mrs. Kottas expl ined how they lacated the station to the east as far as pc,ssible and to< the rear o pravide the required parking and setbacks. Mrs. Kottas F�as reviewed her pro osa1 with the Minnesota Highway Qepartment and they have explai,ned that in ali prob bility when Highway 12 is upgraded, this site may gain further property to the �ront Tot line. Htrs. Kottas atso fiad and' presented written per- missiorr from the Highway Department' to de�elop and landscape the existing right- of-way in front of her property. Mrs. Kottas noted this is a difficult triangular lot with a steep bank at' the rear }ot 1ine. She-expTair�ed she discussed her pro- posal with the developer regarding construction of the townh4uses in St, Lauis Park at the rear of the property. SF�e stated he had no objection as his nearest town- house is 250' from her property and up the hi11 and not visible. Mr. Sam Thorpe expressed his concern for what appeared to be' an unu�ual amount 'of variances fior the propasal and he stated w�ien they constructed theFr adjacent office building they received no waivers firom the city and comptied witf� a11 requirements of the Zcaning Gode anef he felt Mrs, Kottas should make every effort to do so, if possib}e, especiall''y the landscape areas. He stated he had no real objection to the service station as proposed, Mahlon Swedberg commented that to the best of his recollection the Thorpe Office Building had received a waiver. A review of pa�t minutes showed that at a July meeting 1976, Thorpe Brothers had received a waiver of the BPO Ordinance for one additional story to the one-story office structure altowed. Mahlon Swedfierg said this was an unusual location=and quest�oned what effeet future p1arrs for Highway-12 wou1d have.. Mrs. Kottas said she was confident 6as�d on' infor- mation she had that it woUld not be a pro6lem or she would not' pursue construction on the site. Mike Sell , noting the present o>ld structures and their condition o� the site, said this appears to be the best approach to developing the s'ite and suggested possibly expanding on the variance from the rear lot linE to allow the building and parking to be .placed further back and thus reduce the front setback and provide further potential for landscape along Wayzata Blvd. Following furth�r discussian and in agreement 6y Mrs. Kottas to: move the building further baek, Mike �ell moved to approve the varianees with a rear setback variance to 3' from the rear lot line to the 6uild- ing and 10' from the rear 1ot line to the parking area. Wil3iam Forster seconded the motion> and upon vote carried unanimously, 81-b-24 (Map 12) Residential Lot 1 , Block 1 , Valleywood AdditPon Robert Sanko The Petition is for an extension of the one-year time limit wh7eh expires August 12, 1981 . Previous approval was for a two-family dwelting witf� waiver of 3" -off the required rear set6ack. Robert Sanko was present. F1r, Sanko reviewed his waiver which-was granted August 198Q for a two-famil'y dwelling. He explained this would be an expensive structure in keeping with the covenants of the Valleywood development. He fias not commenced ��� �, F_i`'`3�_ Board of Zoning Appeals Page 7 June 9, 1981 consfirucfiion to date because of extremely high interest rates. The present waiver does not expire until August of this year, however, he wanted to be a�sured that if interest rates drop as he has f�een led to believe, he will commence construction immedi:ately. After considerable discussion, Mr. Sanko stated if at all possible, he would build this fal1 . Mike Sell moved to grant an extension of the waiver for one year from the date of this meeting (June 9, 1981) . L•lilliam Forster seconded the motion and upon vote earried unanimously. 81-6-24 (Map 18) Industrial 0�'0 —Wayzata Blvd, former Chrysl.er City) Menard, 1nc. The Petition is for waiver of Section 13.01 parking for 303 spaces off the required 574 spaces to a total of 271 spaces. The petition was reviewed and signatures had been obtained from all property 4wners within S00' exc�pt Church of the Good Shepherd, which Menards noted t�iey could not contact. Perkins Pancake House headquarters were contacted by telepfione :and they stated they had no objection to the varianee. Written notice by the city �iad been mailed to all adjacent properties. Present for the meeting were �1r, Marv P�-ochaska, Uice President, Real Estate, Menards, Inc, , and Mr. Gary Dreher, Project �1anager, Menards, Mr. Dreher explained P1,enard's purch:ase of the former Chrysler City prope�ty, He described their approval by the Building Board of Review for storage and signs at the rear of the building and the lumber and storage roof expansion at the rear a1so. Mr. Prochaska stated the structure was larger than Menards needs and they have leased a portion of the west end of the building to C�h1BS Company. Mr. Prochaska descri6ed COMBS as a limited retail outlet for surplus items with a large wholesale and distribution of items sometimes purchased as surplus or bankrupt stock and sold as a complete lot without necessarily being moved to this location. He des.cri6ed other COMBS outlets in conjunction with Menard buildings. The east end of the building has approximately 19,000 sq. feet tentatively proposed for a furniture store similar to others in other Menard locations. h1ike Se11 asked how this site and the parking compared to other Menard stures. Gary Dreher reviewed the other stores and noted his recent report by Tom Shwarts, Menard's Division Con- troller. This report listed the parking available at 14 other locations and listed the daily number of customers at each site from January 1980 thru P,pril 1981 . - ��L.. Board .of �oning �ppeals Page 8 June g, 1g81 The Fridley lacation had a high of 1 ,532 custor�ers` in one day in April 19$1 . This site has 1g2 parking spaces and Mr. Procha.ska sfiated it has exper�ienced no problems with parking. He nated the store hours-on a -regular business day are g:QO A.M. to 9:00 P.M. Donald Nughes stated ther� are many unknowns i:n the operation of the businesses and he. has a problem with a variance to waive approximately 50q of the' requ'ired parking at the site. The Board reviewed the staff r�eport by Mike Miller, Ci:ty `Planner. In t�is. report Mike described the overall site, its proposed occupancies �nd requirerneMts, He noted there may be some justifiab1e hardship with tC�e site and stated if a variance is approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals thr:ee conditions as noted should be a par� of the variance. A copy of this memo was received by Mr, PrQehaska and Mr. Dreher. Donald Hughes moved to approve the- waivers as requested subject to t�e conditions stipulated in the memo of the City Planner` and su6j�ct to positive review of this memo, its conditions, and the Board's actions by Robert Skar�e, City Attorney. Motion seconded 6y Mike Sell ' and upon`vote carried. The Board Secretary, Lloyd Becl�er, stated .this would be referred to the City Attorney Thursday morning, June 11 , 1981 . The memo was signed and dated as his acceptance and knowledge of the`conditions of the waiver by Mr, Marv Prochaska, Menard, Jnc. This was marked as Exhibit "A" to be filed w'ith fihe variance. There being-no further business to come be�fore the Board, it was moved to adjourn- at 10:35 P.M: by William Forster, secorrd 6y Donald HUghes and upon vote carred, ��� � ������ Art Flanna a , Charrman loyd G, Becker, Secretary � �