HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Use Permit for Guest Lodging to allow a Vacation Lodging use in an Apartment Building located at 708 Douglas AvenueCO-1 1(E'
,JUL 2 1 2020 CITY OF ANIES,IOWA
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF UT PROSIM REVOCABLE FAMILY CASE NO. 20-17
TRUST (SUSAN HURD, TRUSTEE), FOR A
SPECIAL USE PERMIT, SECTION 29.1503 GEOCODE NO. 09-02-330-070
OF THE AMES MUNICIPAL CODE, FOR
GUEST LODGING TO ALLOW A DECISION & ORDER
VACATION LODGING USE FOR 708
DOUGLAS AVENUE IN THE RM ZONING
DISTRICT WITHIN THE HISTORIC
OVERLAY DISTRICT AND SINGLE-
FAMILY CONSERVATION OVERLAY
DISTRICT
Applicant Susan Hurd is requesting a Special Use Permit for Guest Lodging to allow a Vacation
Lodging use in an Apartment Building (3 or more units) located at 708 Douglas Avenue. The site
is located within the Residential Medium Density (RM) Zoning District with the Historic District
Overlay (0-H) and Single -Family Conservation Overlay (0-SFC).
This matter was first heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustment on May 13, 2020. At the May 13"'
meeting the Board heard from both the City and the Applicant before continuing the hearing to
June 24, 2020. Prior to the June 24th meeting, the Board was provided a new Staff Report
containing amended Findings of Fact and Conclusions.
Planner Justin Moore reviewed the site plan, project description, applicable law, and Findings of
Fact and Conclusions. The property contains a four -unit apartment building (conversion of a
single-family home) and an accessory garage in the rear with nonconforming parking and driveway
access from the alley. The property has a three-year Letter of Compliance that was issued on
1/17/2019 and will expire on 1/17/2022.
Applicant is request approval of a 1-unit apartment dwelling with 1-bedroom available for Guest
Lodging and 2 adults as guests. Parking must comply with the dimensional, location and surfacing
requirements of Section 29.406 of the Zoning Ordinance. Generally, parking is not allowed to be
located between the building and the street, however, the standards include an exception for
stacked driveway parking for single family homes. The total required parking for the apartments
and proposed guest lodging is 7 spaces. The access to the garage is currently gravel and will be
paved along with the required parking spaces. The applicant has submitted a Minor Site
Development Plan for paving and improving the gravel nonconfon-ning area of the property to
meet Guest Lodging standards and Apartment parking standards. The site will also provide
compliant paved parking for her neighboring rental property at 700 Douglas. A Variance
permitting off -site parking was approved at the June I 01h Board meeting to serve 700 Douglas
Avenue on this site. The driveway and parking spaces will be located in the rear yard and accessed
from the alley. This improvement would satisfy the Guest Lodging requirement for Vacation
11,
Lodging which requires a compliant parking space at a rate of one per bedroom. The site will also
be compliant for parking for the rental use with the planned paving improvements.
Regarding the 1,000-foot separation rule, formal separation requirements for Vacation Lodging
only apply to one and two-family dwellings; however, apartments are limited by the number of
units that may be licensed within a parcel or development. The limitation is one unit or up to 10%
of the total units. Therefore, as long as 708 Douglas is licensed, no other units in the building may
be licensed for Guest Lodging.
Applicant Susan Hurd, 3275 4001h Street, Roland, Iowa, testified that she plans to pave the gravel
parking lot as soon as she is able to get someone out to perform the work.
Applicant appeared before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on June 10, 2020 requesting a variance
to allow off -site parking for 700 Douglas Avenue, on the property located at 708 Douglas Avenue.
The variance request was granted with conditions. A remote parking agreement is currently under
review and will need to be approved by City Council.
The Board considered the facts as detailed above and provided in the amended staff report and
found that all of the relevant standards in Section 29.1503 were met and established by the
Applicant.
wtain
WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Applicant is GRANTED, pursuant to Section 29.1503
of the Ames Municipal Code, a Special Use Permit for Guest Lodging to allow a Vacation Lodging
use in the RM/0-SFC/0-H Zoning District at 708 Douglas Avenue with the following
requirements:
1. Approval of a Minor Site Development Plan that complies with zoning standards.
2. The gravel parking lot must be paved to City standards according to an approved Minor
Site Development Plan. Improvement of the driveway and parking lot is required no
later than December Is', 2020. This is similar to a condition approved recently on
another site applying for a Guest Lodging license.
Any person desiring to appeal this decision to a court of record may do so within 30 days after the
filing of this decision.
Done this 24 1h day of June 2020.
tJ'ue H q. gins
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eta to the Board'
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AmeliaSc oen!man
Chair