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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF Jr THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AMES,IOWA JANUARY 9, 2013 The Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment met, pursuant to law, in regular session at 7:00 p.m. on January 9,2013, in the Council Chambers of City Hall with the following members present: Shelby Ebel, Elizabeth Erbes, Sandra McJimsey, and Gary Taylor. Board Member Patrick Brooks was absent. Staff members Jeff Benson,Bob Kindred,Karen Marren, and Judy Parks were also present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Moved by McJimsey, seconded by Ebel, to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 12, 2012, as written. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. CASE NO. 12-30 SPECIAL HOME OCCUPATION PERMIT - FLAHERTY, 1403 MAXWELL AVENUE Public Hearing on application for Special Home Occupation Permit to allow a Certified Public Accountant home business at 1403 Maxwell Avenue City Planner Karen Marren explained that the application is for a home CPA business in a one-story duplex. The business would occupy 120 square feet of the home. The proposed hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.,Monday through Saturday,during the months of January through April,and"as needed" in the months of May through December. All clients would be seen by appointment only, with an average of six or seven per day and a maximum of ten per day during the months of February through April. Ms. Marren noted that the criteria and findings of fact are listed in the staff report. Based on the application, staff has found that the request meets all the criteria, and approval is recommended. Deborah Flaherty, 1511 North Dakota Avenue,Ames, Iowa,was sworn in and testified under oath. Vice Chair Taylor asked if the applicant conducts this business at her current home address. Ms. Flaherty said that she had been renting a small commercial space. She stated that she is amenable to the conditions listed in the staff report. Clients would come by appointment only, and occasionally someone may stop by to pick up a tax return. There would be no more than a couple client vehicles on site in any given hour. Ms. Flaherty stated that she worked in a home office for 17 years in a smaller town and it worked very smoothly; she never had any issues. Board Member Ebel expressed concern about the business operating until 8:30 p.m., especially in a duplex. She thinks that 7:30 or 8:00 would be more appropriate. Board Member McJimsey agreed. Ms. Flaherty said that it is very rare to schedule someone after 7:00 p.m. She stated that 8:00 would be acceptable,but she could not promise that an appointment wouldn't run over unexpectedly from time to time. Moved by Ebel,seconded by McJimsey,to adopt ORDER NO. 12-30,thereby approving the request for a Special Home Occupation to allow a Certified Public Accountant office at 1403 Maxwell Avenue, based on the findings of fact and conclusions in the staff report, and subject to the home occupation being operated as described in the staff report,with condition(g)on Page 4 being changed to state that the hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. 1 'CASE NO. 12-29 SPECIAL USE PERMIT - AMES COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, 820 MILLER AVENUE Public Hearing on application for Special Use Permit for a site plan for a new elementary school at 820 Miller Avenue Chair Elizabeth Erbes announced that she was recusing herself from the case due to a conflict of interest. Ms. Erbes left the meeting. Assistant City Manager and Acting Planning and Housing Director Bob Kindred said that this is a very unique case because it is a rare occasion when the applicant is another governmental body.The application before the Board is for a new elementary school in Ames. Due to the potential impacts, a special use permit must be issued before an elementary school can locate in a residential area. City staff s role is to explore the impact of the new school on the neighborhood and the city as a whole, while helping the School District succeed in getting a special use permit to move forward with the project. Mr. Kindred explained that, because it is a complex process, staff was asking the Board members to hear the staff presentation,hear input from the applicant and the public,voice any issues that are important to them,and then defer any action on the application until the next meeting.There are still issues and questions that need to be resolved between the two staffs. City Planner Jeff Benson reviewed the history of the development in the area from the staff report, noting that it has been a well-established fact that a school will be built on the site at some point in time. The discussion is about how this project can fit in to the community in the best way possible. Schools sometimes cause issues such as traffic,pedestrian access,activity levels,etc.,and City staff is working to determine how to best deal with those impacts. Mr. Benson reviewed the details of the project from the staff report and site plan. He said that the project would cause the traffic in the area to change dramatically. One specific impact would be on the CyRide route that has a turnaround at the Mortensen and Miller intersection. Staff feels that it would not be safe to have the buses turn around when school traffic is coming and going, so it is proposing to have the CyRide buses use the turnaround at the school instead. Pedestrians on foot also affect traffic in the area. The School District plans to build a 6-foot-wide sidewalk on Miller Avenue, which is 2 feet wider than what is typically required in a residential neighborhood. Most of the single-family development is north of the site, so most students will be coming from the north.Staff is recommending that the 4-foot-wide sidewalk on north up to the corner of Miller and Clemens be widened to 6 feet. Mr.Benson reviewed further aspects of traffic impacts. Staff is recommending additional conditions to ameliorate these impacts, including having the School District ask the City Council to change parking regulations on Miller Avenue so that there is no parking during school hours. Additionally, staff would like the School District to complete a traffic study comparing existing traffic to projected traffic volumes, to be completed by April 1, 2013, with all costs to be paid for by the District. In addition to the traffic study, staff is recommending that the School District participate in a Safe Routes to Schools Plan to identify physical improvements,operations and management activities and public information activities necessary to establish safe and efficient access to and from the school site that also minimizes impacts on the use and enjoyment of private properties in the neighborhood. This Plan should be completed by April 30,2014,with the Ames Community School District should paying all costs for physical improvements identified therein. 2 'Mr. Benson noted that a number of other impacts that may result from the school are documented in the staff report,as well as how those impacts can be mitigated.He explained that all of the conditions listed in the staff report do not have to be approved at this point, as the District has not had adequate time to review them.Mr.Kindred noted that City staff will be meeting with the School District after the hearing, so when the case comes back before the Board, some of the conditions may change. Board Member McJimsey asked if there was an organized Neighborhood Association in the subject area. Mr. Benson said that there is not; however, the School Board and consultant team has hosted at least one neighborhood meeting,which was well-attended.The City also sent out a notice to every property owner within 200 feet of the subject property prior to this meeting, but no responses were received. Vice Chair Taylor noted that the school bus turnaround is very close to the north lot line on the site plan, and there seems to be more open space to the south side of the building. He asked if there was a reason that the whole site is crowded north. Mr. Benson said that grading plays a role, but the design firm could answer the question more thoroughly. Mr. Taylor questioned Residential Zone Standard Criterion(iii)on page 10 of the staff report,which states that the proposed use must"not generate truck trips by trucks over 26,000 g.v.w.(gross vehicle weight) to and from the site except for waste collection vehicles and moving vans."He thinks that the criterion seems very absolute, and wonders how that condition can be met. Mr. Benson acknowledged that it was a concern; the criterion is a requirement for a special use permit,which is required for a school, and yet schools are allowed in residential neighborhoods. A school cannot be operated without school buses, so staff must determine how to mitigate the impacts of the large vehicles,in part by pursuing the Safe Routes to Schools program.He noted that it may be appropriate to seek a variance for this criterion. Jason Blome, RDG Planning and Design, 2712 Stange Road, Ames, Iowa, stated that he would be answering questions about the site design. With regard to Mr. Taylor's question about the site crowding to the north, he explained that it is partly designed that way to provide enough space for the required stormwater retention volume. Another reason is to provide a large, continuous open space for the kids. Referring to the site plan, Ms. McJimsey said that the crosswalk seems close to the entrance to the turnaround. She asked if there is a plan for crossing guards there. Mr. Blome said that may be something that would come as a result of the traffic study. There has been discussion with the City's Traffic Engineer as to how the crosswalk is laid out on the site. Ms. McJimsey wonders if it can be moved farther south; it is a big concern to her. Dr. Tim Taylor, Superintendent,Ames Community School District, thanked City staff for its work on the project thus far. He noted that the School District has not had much time to review the staff report and the proposed conditions. The District feels that some of the conditions are unreasonable because they lack specificity, a timeline, a reasonable understanding of what the District can do,and do not allow for budgeting.With regard to the CyRide buses using the school turnaround,Dr.Taylor said that the District welcomes that option. However, it is not clear whether that condition is temporary or permanent.Furthermore, since the CyRide buses are considerably heavier,the District would want to know if the City would share in the cost to replace the pavement in the future. Dr. Taylor explained the School District's current position with regard to the other proposed 3 ,conditions. He stated that they have already done a traffic impact study. He is concerned about the Safe Routes to School requirement.He indicated that the Safe Routes to School Program is voluntary, funded with Federal grant dollars that have recently been suspended.The Program covers a two-mile radius around a school. If the District were required to be responsible for streets, traffic signals, lights,and pedestrian signs within a two-mile radius of the schools,it would end up being responsible for same throughout the entire city.He concluded that both entities need more time and need to make things more specific.The District is anxious to begin,but it is not in such a rush that it will enter into any agreement that may be detrimental later on. Board Member Ebel said that she shared many of Dr. Taylor's concerns. The reference to maintenance costs seems open-ended, and needs more specificity. She thinks that if CyRide is coming onto the school site and up and down Miller Avenue, they need to be held accountable for the additional wear and tear at the school drive and on Miller. She does not think it is the best solution to add more buses on Miller, although the current situation is not ideal either. The direction of traffic on the south end of the site was discussed. Dr. Taylor indicated that the current plan is to allow both right-and left-hand turns out of the drop-off area in the mornings. They anticipate that traffic coming from the north will be minimal, so people should be able to turn to the south. Upon being questioned by Ms. Ebel, Dr. Taylor said that all grades (K-5) will be in the building when it opens. Board Member Taylor inquired about the proximity of the bus turnaround to the north lot line. Mr. Blome stated that the north edge of the turnaround is outside of the setback(8 feet from the property line). The landscape buffer on the north edge, 8-foot-tall evergreen trees, exceeds what is required by Code in an attempt to reduce noise and buffer the uses. Mr. Taylor asked if any of the property owners to the north attended the public meetings. Mr. Blome indicated that he did not recall any specific conversation about the north loop. Ms. McJimsey said that she appreciates the landscaping and thinks that it does help to create a better interface between the uses. Mr. Blome added that only buses are allowed on the north loop, and they would only use it twice per day. There is also a small area on the north for staff parking only; those vehicles would arrive before and after the bus turnaround traffic. The parking and drop-off area was discussed.Upon being questioned by Ms. McJimsey,Dr. Taylor said that there are generally adults in the drop-off area in the morning to assist with traffic and help students get into the building safely.He stated that none of the existing schools have the exact layout as proposed, with the parking and drop-off area intermingling. Ms. Ebel asked if the School District would have any recourse if it disagreed with the results of the traffic study. Mr. Blome said that those types of issues would be discussed between the two staffs prior to the next ZBA meeting. Mr.Benson added that staff deals with special use permits routinely, but this is a very complex project. There will be a written agreement that will clearly communicate what's being agreed to.Board Member Taylor said that a number of important issues are recognized by both sides,particularly with respect to the road deterioration, Safe Routes, and traffic study. It is in everyone's best interest that these issues are worked out beforehand rather than leaving it to the Board to sort through. Ms.McJimsey inquired about the funding for the Safe Routes to School Program. She asked if there is an alternative framework for the City to address its concerns since the Federal program is voluntary and may not have funding.City Traffic Engineer Damion Pregitzer explained that there was a Federal program with grant dollars,but in this instance it is the City's own internal program.City staff would 4 10 -work with the School District to determine safe walking and biking route plans, safe crossing locations, etc.; it does not involve any infrastructure. This would be a tool for parents to find a safe route for their kids to walk or bike to school. It was agreed that the traffic and safety issues are important and should be discussed further between the two entities before the matter returned to the Board. Moved by McJimsey, seconded by Ebel, to continue the hearing at the February 13, 2013 ZBA meeting, or at such time as the School District is prepared to bring the case back to the Board. Vote on Motion: 3-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. COMMENTS: There were no comments by the Board. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Emily Burton, Recording Secretary Elizabeth Erbes, Chair 5