Loading...
04-11-95 BZA Minutes 1372 Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Board of Zoning Appeals April 11, 1995 I. Approval of Minutes - February 14,1995 Moved by Swedberg, seconded by Shaffer and motion carried unanimously to approve the February 14, 1995 minutes. II. Election of Chairperson Chairperson Sell turned the meeting over to Staff Liaison Mark Grimes in order to accept nominations for chairperson. (A new chairperson is elected from the members by the April meeting each year after the members are appointed by the City Council.) Member Swedberg was nominated as Chairperson for the BZA; no other nominations were entertained. MOVED by Sell, seconded by Shaffer to accept the nomination of Member Swedberg as Chairperson of the BZA for a one-year term. Motion carried unanimously. Newly elected Chairperson Swedberg took over the meeting at this point. III. The Petitions are: 1512 Gettysburg Ave. No. (95-4-4) William and Shari Kennedy Request: Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(B) rear yard setback - 26.21 feet off the required 27.71 feet to a distance of 1.5 feet for the existing house; and Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(B) rear yard setback - 20.71 feet off the required 27.71 feet to a distance of 7 feet for the proposed three-season porch. Purpose: To allow for the construction of a three-season porch onto the southwest side of the home. The petition was in order and surrounding property owners were notified of the request for the variance. William and Shari Kennedy were present to answer any questions. Staff Liaison Grimes noted that this request was tabled from the February 14, 1995 BZA meeting in order to give the Kennedy family the opportunity to discuss with their neighbor to the east about acquiring a portion of his property or obtaining an easement. The BZA suggested at the February meeting that the house and proposed addition were very close to the east property fine. There is very little space between the house (1.5 feet) and the property line to allow for maintenance of the house or the proposed three-season porch as presented to the BZA at the February meeting. Mrs. Kennedy indicated that she had approached her neighbor to the east about the sale of a portion of his property or an easement. The neighbors indicated tothe Kennedy's that the sale of a portion of their lot could make the selling of their house more difficult. Therefore, the neighbor refused to sell a portion of his property or grant an easement to the Kennedy's. I I I I I I 1.373 Minutes of the Board of Zoning Appeals Page Two The Kennedy's are proposing to move the addition to the southwest corner of the existing house rather than the southeast corner. The addition is proposed to be 7 feet from the rear property line rather than the original request of .6 feet. Member Sell said that the original request for .6 feet from the rear property line (February's BZA meeting) was a significant problem because it would not allow for access to the rear of the addition without going onto their neighbor's property. He felt that the new location of the addition is a viable alternative. Chair Swedberg remains concerned about the existing 1.5 foot setback from the existing house. He said that if a variance is granted for the existing house to be legally located 1.5 feet from the east property line, the house could be rebuilt at that same location if destroyed in the future. He suggested that the BZA issue a variance for the location of the addition of the three-season porch to within 7 feet of the rear property line but not issue a variance to make the house legally non- conforming. Chair Swedberg continued by saying that in the past, and with the consent of the City Attorney, the BZA has ordered the Building Department to issue a building permit for an addition to a structure that is non-conforming. This was done because the BZA did not want the structure to be considered legally non-conforming. Other members of the BZA agreed with this approach. The Kennedy's indicated that they would not rebuild their existing house in the same location if it were destroyed by fire. MOVED by Sell, seconded by Shaffer and motion carried unanimously to approve the petition for waiver of Section 11.21 Subd. 7(B) rear yard setback for 20.71 feet off the required 27.71 feet to a distance of 7 feet from the rear property line for the proposed three-'season porch. The BZA issues an order to the Department of Inspections to issue a building permit for the three- season porch without a waiver being issued to make the existing house legally non-conforming. 2944 Noble Ave. No. (95-4-5) Scott Wagner Request: Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) front yard setback (west side of house) - 1.4 feet off the required 35 foot front yard setback to a distance of 33.6 feet; and Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) street yard setback (north side of house) - 15.9 feet off the required 35 foot street yard setback to a distance of 19.1 feet. Purpose: To construct a conforming deck of approximately 25' x 20'. The petition was in order and surrounding property owners were notified of the request for the variances. Scott Wagner was present to answer any questions. Staff Liaison Mark Grimes gave a brief summary of the request. Mr. Grimes indicated that this is an existing house that does not meet the street setback requirements from Noble Avenue and Elmdale Road. The proposed deck would be conforming. In order to obtain a building permit, the house must first become legally non-conforming. It was noted by Mr. Grimes that the survey of the lot indicates that a fence has been placed in the Elmdale Road right-of-way. Staff suggested that the fence be removed as part of the variance request. 1374 Minutes of the Board of Zoning Appeals Page Three Mr. Wagner commented that the fence was built by the previous property owner. Mr. Wagner I also commented that he would take the fence down and place it on the property line but this would require removing a large tree in the yard. He said he would be more than happy to remove the fence when and if it was needed to be done to improve the street or do any necessary right-of-way maintenance. Chair Swedberg stated that the BZA has the right to attach conditions to a variance and has done so in the past regarding fences in the right-of-way. The members discussed whose responsibility it is at the City to insure structures are not in the right-of-way. Staff Liaison Grimes said that the City Engineer is generally responsible for enforcing the City Code regarding the use of City right-of- way. As an alternate to requiring the fence be removed, the BZA could make the City Engineer aware of the encroachment of the fence and let him make the decision regarding its removal. MOVED by Sell, seconded by Shaffer and motion carried unanimously to approve the petition for waivers of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) front yard setback (west side of house) of 1.4 feet off the required 35 feet to a distance of 33.6 ft; and waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) street yard setback (north side of house) of 15.9 feet off the required 35 feet to a distance of 19.1 feet. A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to the City Engineer indicating the encroachment on the right-of-way. 222 Hanley Road (95-4-6) Tom and Mary Bauer Request: Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) front yard setback (for the proposed garage) - 14.32 feet from the required 35 feet to a distance of 20.68 feet; and I Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(A) front yard setback (for the proposed enclosed front entry) - 4.02 feet off the required 35 feet to a distance of 30.98 feet; and Waiver of Section 11.21, Subd. 7(C)(2) side yard setback (for the proposed garage) - 4.53 feet off the required 11.28 feet to a distance of 6.75 feet. Purpose: To construct an 8' addition onto the garage and an enclosed entry connecting the garage with the front door. The petition was in order and surrounding property owners were notified of the request for the variance. Tom and Mary Bauer were present to answer any questions. Staff Liaison Mark Grimes gave a summary of the variance request commenting that a similar request for an addition to the garage was denied by both the BZA and City Council in 1989. The original variance that permitted the garage to be built into the front yard setback was granted in 1979. Since that time, the Bauers purchased the house in 1986 and are in need of additional garage space. The proposed garage addition requires both a front and side yard variance. Chair Swedberg said that not much has changed since the request in April of 1989 for a second I stall for the garage. The difference with the current request is that a smaller side yard setback .. variance is required. Chair Swedberg commented that he mostly opposes any intrusion of a building into the front yard setback. I I I :1375 Minutes of the Board of Zoning Appeals Page Four Mr. and Mrs. Bauer said that they are in need of additional garage space and have look at various alternative locations on their lot for a garage. They believe it would be a hardship for them to build the garage in the rear of the lot because a retaining wall would need to be constructed to get to the back yard and several mature trees would have to be removed. The Bauers have contacted the City in the past to see if they could get access to the rear of their yard from the Brookview Golf parking lot. The City has refused this access for safety reasons. Several neighbors of Tom and Mary Bauer spoke in favor of the variance to allow the garage addition. They believe the addition would improve the value of the home and enhance the neighborhood. Those who spoke in favor of the variances included Joyce Johnson (who lives to the south of the Bauers) and Scott Thuleen who lives at Hanley Road and the 1-394 frontage road). Roger Nelson, the neighbor to the north, spoke in opposition of the variance request. He said he has lived with a one car garage for the past 37 years. He is most opposed to the garage addition being built to within 6 to 7 feet of his property line. He does not object to the front yard setback variance because it has already been established with the garage being built in 1979. Member Shaffer said that he would like the Bauers to look at alternative designs for the garage and entryway addition that would not cause encroachment into the north side setback. Member Sell agreed that other designs should be researched and that he was most opposed to the side yard setback variance. Chair Swedberg said that he would have to vote against the variance request as currently submitted. The Bauers said that they would be willing to look at other design alternatives and come back to the BZA at a later date. MOVED by Shaffer, seconded by Sell and a motion carried unanimously to defer this variance request up until December 31, 1995. (The Bauers have until the end of 1995 to come back to the BZA with the same or an altered request to allow the construction of additional garage space and entrywayaddition.) IV. Other Business Member Swedberg gave a report on the Community Standards Task Force. V. Adjournment Chair Swedberg adjourned the meeting at 8:40 PM. 4L Mark Grimes, Staff Liaison \~ U Malflon Swedberg, Ch .