The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About~Master - Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes 06/23/2021 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AMES, IOWA JUNE 23, 2021 The Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment met, pursuant to law, in Regular Session at 6:00 p.m. on June 23, 2021, in the Council Chambers of City Hall with the following members present: Amelia Schoeneman, Chad Schneider, Ronald Schappaugh, Rob Bowers, and Leila Ammar. Also present were Assistant City Attorney Victoria Feilmeyer and City Planner Eloise Sahlstrom. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Moved by Schneider, seconded by Ammar, to approve the Minutes of the meeting of June 9, 2021. Vote on Motion: 5-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. CASE NO. 21-08 An application for a Special Use Permit to allow expansion of a religious institution use in the Highway Oriented Commercial (HOC) Zoning District for property at 3329 Lincoln Way Ames, Iowa City Planner Eloise Sahlstrom stated any expansion or use of property within the Highway Oriented Commercial Zone District has to have a Special Use Permit. This property was purchased in 2019 by Lutheran Church of Hope. A Special Use Permit had previously been granted for a portion of the building (2,900 sq. ft.) for weekly religious services by Stonebrook Community Church in October 2007 (Case # 07-16). The peak use of the site was Friday evenings. The remainder of the building had uses not associated with the Church, such as the laundromat and a cafe. City Planner Sahlstrom stated when properties are non-conforming, where the properties don’t align with current zoning, which this location is, the City tries to get them up to the Zoning Code standards with any new permits. This location is permitted to be used as such with the preexisting non-conformities as long as there is no increase in non-conformities and there is the expectation of them improving the site, as it can be improved, to bring it closer into compliance with Zoning Ordinances. She stated that is the situation for this case. With the change of use to the facility, it was necessary to determine if all the required parking could be met on-site. A condition for granting the Special Use Permit in 2007 included approval of a Joint Use Parking Agreement between Stonebrook and St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church (at 209 Colorado Avenue) for the remote use of 53 paved parking spaces. The Joint Use Parking Agreement limited use of the remote parking spaces to Friday evenings from 6:30 pm – 12:00 am. An encroachment into the west alley for building egress was also approved in 2007. Required on-site parking for religious institutions is calculated based only on the worship area. The applicant is proposing to enclose a 300 sq. ft. space as a storage room in the mezzanine to reduce the worship area to 2,201 sq. ft. in order to meet the on-site parking requirement. A worship area of 2,201 sq. ft. requires 37 parking spaces (one parking space per 60 sq. ft. of worship space). 2 Access to the site is via two driveways from Colorado Avenue and an alley along the west property line. One-way circulation occurs across the front of the building parallel to Lincoln Way. Additionally, the Zoning Ordinance includes several opportunities for reducing the total number of required parking spaces by providing bicycle parking and removal of pavement to provide enhanced landscaping. Staff would like more landscaping; there is a lot of pavement at this location. Through these mechanisms, the applicant is able to reduce the required parking down from 37 to 31 and satisfy the required parking for the facility. The applicant has proposed a mix of parking types to meet these standards: Thirty-one spaces are provided on the site plan. These include: • 2 Accessible Parking Spaces. • 23 Full Size Parking Spaces (9’ x 19’); and • 6 Compact Parking Spaces (9’ x 16’). One truck parking space is also included to accommodate Hope’s large box truck, which is currently used to transport media equipment between the site and City Hall. Truck parking does not count towards credit in the calculation of on-site parking spaces. The proposed truck parking space is located outside of the front setback, as required by the Zoning Ordinance for storage. The site is located between two bus stops on an active bus route corridor. Users of the site will have the opportunity to arrive by car, bus, bike, or by foot, as all of these forms of transportation are supported by the site improvements. It should be noted that in 2016, the City completed improvements to the nearby Franklin Avenue intersection and Lincoln Way to the Wilmoth Avenue intersection. As part of the City’s project, 7.5 feet was acquired from the site for the construction of a sidewalk along the site’s frontage. The proposed reuse of the site removes commercial uses from the site, but provides for site improvements to meet the minimum needs of the proposed use and improvements to the site conditions. Due to the accessibility of the site via multiple modes of transportation, staff believes that the reduced vehicle parking for this non-commercial use of the site is workable. With the proposed site improvements to serve the proposed non-commercial use, the site would still be able to be reused for a commercial use in the future of retail or office uses based upon available parking. Staff concludes that the expansion of the existing religious institution at 3329 Lincoln Way is consistent with the general and specific commercial standards required for granting a Special Use Permit. Staff asked the Board to approve Alternative 1: The Zoning Board of Adjustment can approve this request for a Special Use Permit to allow expansion of the existing religious institution at 3329 Lincoln Way into the entire facility, and replace Case #07-16, by determining that the Findings of Fact and Conclusions in the Addendum meet the criteria of Section 29.1503(4) and with the following conditions for updates to the proposed Site Development Plan reflecting City standards: • The sidewalk along the Colorado Avenue frontage through the drives will need detectable warning panels on both sides of each driveway. 3 • The sidewalk connection to the ramp at the northwest corner of Lincoln Way and Colorado needs to be verified that it meets City of Ames ramp standards. Otherwise, it may be necessary to remove part of all of the existing ramp to make a compliant connection. • The proposed sidewalk from Colorado Avenue is illustrated as crossing onto the applicant’s property in order to align with the grade of the Lincoln Way sidewalk. When making this connection, portions of the sidewalk that cross private property will need a pedestrian easement. • Areas where pavement is proposed to be removed for new landscape areas will also require removal of compacted material. New soil meeting organic content requirements of the City will need to be used as backfill in these areas. Board Chair Schoeneman asked if there were any questions for staff. Rick Stessman, 925 Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines, representing Lutheran Church of Hope, was sworn in. Mr. Stessman said he agreed with everything staff had recommended for improvements. They have no complaints or concerns with staff’s report. Board Chair Schoeneman opened the public hearing. No one requested to speak, and the hearing was closed. Board Member Schappaugh asked staff about sidewalk construction. There was a brief discussion on the sidewalk construction and the need for an easement for the proposed diagonal sidewalk. Motion by Bowers, seconded by Ammar, to approve Alternative 1: The Zoning Board of Adjustment can approve this request for a Special Use Permit to allow expansion of the existing religious institution at 3329 Lincoln Way into the entire facility, and replace Case #07-16, by determining that the Findings of Fact and Conclusions in the Addendum meet the criteria of Section 29.1503(4) and with the following conditions for updates to the proposed Site Development Plan reflecting City standards: • The sidewalk along the Colorado Avenue frontage through the drives will need detectable warning panels on both sides of each driveway. • The sidewalk connection to the ramp at the northwest corner of Lincoln Way and Colorado needs to be verified that it meets City of Ames ramp standards. Otherwise, it may be necessary to remove part of all of the existing ramp to make a compliant connection. • The proposed sidewalk from Colorado Avenue is illustrated as crossing onto the applicant’s property in order to align with the grade of the Lincoln Way sidewalk. When making this connection, portions of the sidewalk that cross private property will need a pedestrian easement. • Areas where pavement is proposed to be removed for new landscape areas will also require removal of compacted material. New soil meeting organic content requirements of the City will need to be used as backfill in these areas. Vote on Motion: 5-0. Motion declared approved unanimously. 4 ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Schappaugh, seconded by Ammar, to adjourn the meeting at 6:22 p.m. _____________________________ _____________________________ Renee Hall, Recording Secretary Amelia Schoeneman, Chair