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Home My WebLink AboutA001 - Application received September 13, 2019 RECEIVEDApplication Form Last Updated: August 8, 2017 SEP 13 Nig �/�/�-- x6 76,, p 9 CITY OF AMES,IOWA Variance DEPT.OF PLANNING&HOUSING Application Form (This form must be completely filled out before the application will be accepted) 1. Property Address for this Variance Application: it vt? IM A eu.^� 2. Legal Description (attach if lengthy): ✓' L 2 l ' 3. 1 (We) the undersigned, do hereby respectfully appeal to the Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment to grant a "Variance"to the Zoning Ordinance to allow the issyance of a Zoning Permit to permit: P.&(9 tm -2 5 �. 4. The Zoning Permit was refused be ause: 5 /1 5. Property Owner: Business: — l�� J L Address: 79 l V �7��1�{� P/� (Street) (City) (State) (Zip) Telephone: 5�"✓ " �� (Home) (Business) (Fax) 6. Applicant: L yy, Business: Address: (Street) (City) (State) (Zip) Telephone: (Home) // , (Business) (Fax) 1 7. Contact Person: ,1,5Pr Business: Address: L (Street) // (City) (State) (Zip) Telephone: �� ' ��9 • 5Iea (Home) (Business) n (Fax) E-mail address: 3 i Application Form Last Updated: August 8, 2017 The Zoning Board of Adjustment may grant a Variance, provided the Board members can make a finding that the Variance will not result in unnecessary hardship, will not be contrary to the public interest, will observe the Spirit of the Ordinance, and shall result in substantial justice. This appeal will not be granted unless sufficient facts are presented in this application to justify the variance in light of the standards and to show that the granting of the variance relates to the intent and purposes of the Zoning Ordinance and the Land Use Policy Plan. Approval of the Variance by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in no way absolves the applicant from subsequently obtaining the necessary building permits or other permits from the City of Ames or from other applicable agencies. 1(We) certify that I(we) have been denied a Building/Zoning Permit,that I(we) have submitted all the required information to appeal for a Variance,and that said information is factual Signed by: Date: 9 //I Property Owner(s) (Note: No other signature may be substituted for the Property Owner's Signature.) 4 VARIANCE REQUEST SUMMARY: 1113 Maxwell Ave.Ames, IA We are requesting a variance to allow the existing*tx40ft paved area to be considered sufficient space for off-street parking. We are attempting to finalize the Letter of Compliance for our rental property at 1113 Maxwell. This segment of Maxwell Ave has residential houses on the west side and the Ames Cemetery on the East. Our property is a small, one-bedroom, 480 square ft. unit built in 1920. We have met all the building code specifications to receive a Letter of Compliance except the two off-street parking spaces do not meet the exact requirements because the driveway does not"lead to the side or back yard." ep i 1 1 I Existing pavement is 9 V2 ft wide by 40ft long h,u lI�,; Existing Single lane access from Maxwell Ave 1 r 40ft. by 10ft pavement 7ft to side property line from to front property line pavement 10ft from building The city code requires two off-street parking spaces.The current paved area between Maxwell Ave to the house is 40ft long by 9 Y2 ft.wide.This pavement area meets the requirement to park two cars. However,this space is technically in the front yard. If the requirements of the code are required to be met,then we will need to remove the landscaping and pave additional portions of the front yard to widen the access, pave the entire side yard and part of the back yard nearly reaching the shed.The result will be an estimated 350ft2 of paving and loss of the outdoor patio space and landscaping. The entire 750sq ft. of paving will be enough to park three cars, but these cars will not be able to maneuver around each other and will not likely be used. There is no simple way to extend the existing parking areas to the side yard because the curb cut is in line with the house not the side yard,and the jog in the house moves the defined "front yard" back an additional 10 ft. The end requirement seems excessive for such a small house. There will be more pavement than house,increased water runoff,which drains towards the shed,and 4400 Ibs of greenhouse gasses (CO2). (www.ctre.iastate.edu). Some aspects of the current Municipal Code do not always fit the location,especially in part of the community built 100 years ago. 2 Standards A.Variance will not result in injury or endangerment to other property or persons, nor will it devalue nearby property. The house was built in 1920. It is a 480 square foot home with one bedroom. It was used as a rental for at least 20 years prior to our ownership. The paved driveway and parking situation has not changed for many decades and has not been a safety hazard or aesthetic detriment to the neighborhood. The variance will not cause any changes to the property values for this home and the neighborhood. Instead, it is more likely that the strict enforcement of the code will reduce the aesthetics of the property and diminish the property values because of the overbearing amount of paving and loss of landscaping. Outdoor open space and landscaping are known to increase property values. If the variance is granted,then the aesthetics and character of the neighborhood will remain intact. B. That without granting of the variance,and due to special conditions,a literal enforcement of the ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship. (i) The land in question cannot yield a reasonable return if used only for a purpose allowed in the zone If the variance is not granted,then a Letter of Compliance will not be issued.We will not be able to legally rent the house. (ii) The plight of the owners is due to unique circumstances and not to the general conditions of the neighborhood. The majority of properties in this neighborhood have a curb cut and single lane driveway access that leads directly to the side yard or back yard.This parcel has a single lane curb cut and driveway that leads to a jog in the house and the side entrance. If the original driveway had been constructed on the property line (similar to the other houses) instead of where it is now, then the existing pavement area would meet city code with only slight modifications. In addition, the land slopes towards the west. The pavement will cause additional drainage directly towards the shed or require re-grading and extra fill that would then result in a drop off on the north side of the pavement where it enters the rear yard. 3 It's not likely that the new paved area would even be used for the proposed parking when completed because it will be awkward to access because there technically won't be enough room to maneuver around a car parked in the driveway. (iii) The use to be authorized by the variance will not alter the essential character of the locality. As mentioned previously,the other homes in this neighborhood have just a single-lane driveway access to their respective parking spaces or garages. We are requesting that the existing single lane driveway conditions be considered sufficient and therefore no changes to the character of the locality will occur. We believe that the requirements of the ordinance will instead cause a negative change in the character of the area. In order to meet the letter of the ordinance, the site conditions would require that the driveway be widened to establish access around the house and extended nearly all the way to the shed. The installation of this hard surface would end up covering over all of the side yard and create an 18ft-wide surface in much of the front yard giving the appearance of a double wide driveway which is incongruous to the neighborhood. The reduced open and green space and expanded width will make this property become an anomaly in the neighborhood if the additional pavement is required. All of the extra paving would bring the entire paved area up to 750 square feet with enough room for three cars. The paved area would be 1 Y2 times the size of the house. C.The spirit of the ordinance shall be observed even when the variance is granted We are attempting to meet the spirit of the ordinance because we are not requesting any less than what the ordinance already expects.There is sufficient pavement to allow two off-street parking spaces. In addition, Maxwell Ave has on-street parking and is not a snow route.There are houses only on the west side of the street because the Ames cemetery is on the east side.The likelihood of insufficient parking in this neighborhood is low. D. Substantial justice shall be done as a result of granting the variance We've worked to take excellent care of this property.The previous owner rented it for nearly 20 years without any improvements or complaints. We cleaned up the property, painted the interior and exterior, refinished the wood floors, replaced windows, reconstructed the stairs to the basement and brought the living conditions up to code. The house rents for$675.We would like to keep it that way. Increasing the rent to recover the costs of the paving is not fair to the tenant and would put this property out of range for typical rental rates for a one- bedroom house. Even an extra $50/month will likely take 5 years for us to recover.The variance will allow us to work to keep the rental rates reasonable in an area near the hospital medical district,where support staff can walk to work. 4 We are requesting that the existing conditions be considered sufficient for this situation and size of house. �r ...... .... �Ev I � tC7 I lI I � r I i +, r fi7F��ff' I� Existing conditions r' -- T _ • 5CALE�; Lirl IF] c-wcy •i r f With 1 i t required paving e 1 I .} 1 Ajb— A Iab - r FYTEA .._. i r_. � T f MIC1W s r * }dr If 16, Of. I TPU t III �R 1 .�w4 •' � I�w rh , t t• I i i f -�.�. - � 1 �