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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes 10-11-2017MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AMES, IOWA OCTOBER 11, 2017 The Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment met, pursuant to law, in regular session at 6:02 p.m. on October 11, 2017, in the Council Chambers of City Hall with the following members present: Amelia Schoeneman, Matthew Koehler, and Susan Bradbury. Board Members Shelby Ebel and Kyle Perkins were absent. Assistant City Attorney Victoria Feilmeyer and City Planner Julie Gould were also present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Moved by Schoeneman, seconded by Bradbury, to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 27, 2017. Vote on Motion: 3-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. CASE NO. 17-21 SPECIAL USE PERMIT – Elliot Thompson, The Love Club LLC, Public Hearing on application for a Special Use Permit to allow a retail sales/ services and restaurant use to operate on a pre-existing building lot that exceeds the maximum lot area of 30,000 square feet in a Neighborhood Commercial zoning district on the property located at 4625 Reliable Street City Planner Julie Gould displayed a site plan for the project. The Love Club, LLC desires to use an existing building and site that is zoned Neighborhood Commercial (NC) and is over 30,000 square feet in site area. Section 29.801(3) of the Neighborhood Commercial zoning regulations requires that any lot over 30,000 square feet can be utilized in the Neighborhood Commercial zoning district subject to a Special Use Permit being issued by the Zoning Board of Adjustm ent. Neighborhood Commercial is a minor zoning district applied to a few unique sites that have potentially sensitive surroundings. The Special Use Permit requirement is intended to guide development towards compatibility with the unique surroundings of a site. The building and site were originally developed prior to annexation to the City. Prior uses of the site have included a grain elevator and most recently an auto mechanics shop. The existing building is nonconforming for the NC zoning district, but can be occupied with conforming uses. The main floor of the building will be used as an art gallery/commercial art and reproduction space and coffee shop. The outdoor yard located on the east side of the building has been holding ancillary entertainment and recreational activities on a periodic basis. All of the aforementioned uses are permitted within the NC zoning district at Retail Sales and Services – General and Entertainment, Restaurant and Recreation Trade. The site plan depicts 32 parking stalls. The proposed art gallery requires one parking space for every 300 square feet as a retail space, and the coffee shop requires nine parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet as a sit-down restaurant, totaling 33 required parking stalls. The applicant proposes acceptance of on-street parking to meet requirements. The outdoor activities in the open area have had no calculated parking rate applied to them as they appear to be informal and ancillary uses at this time. If uses become more formal as primary uses of the site, additional parking would be needed. Any additional buildings or changes in activity type would require an amendment to the Special Use Permit. In June of 2017, a new ordinance was adopted allowing on-street parking immediately adjacent to a site to count towards required parking at a 1:1 ratio for comm ercial uses only in an NC zoning district. On-street parking is permissible along Reliable Street with no specifically striped stalls. The site has approximately 650 feet of street frontage to the east of the on-site parking area. Staff estimates 22 to 24 feet is necessary to account for parallel parked cars, therefore, a maximum of 29 parallel parking spaces could be accounted for along the street as parallel spaces. The applicant intends to utilize this area as head-in parking unless directed differently by the Traffic Engineer. If the Board does not approve use of on-street parking, the applicant can revise their plans and construct a parking lot to the east of the building. Staff believes accounting for 29 parallel spaces with four on-site spaces complies with parking requirements. The Shift structure is located in the public right -of-way and is in the process of review for an encroachment permit. It is meant to act as a parklet, inviting the public to interact with and admire the structure as both functional space and art. Any structures placed in the front yard would be required to comply with the NC zoning district standards. The site plan also identifies a monument sign located on the property near the intersection of Reliable Street and North Dakota Avenue. The sign is not approved as part of this application and will need a sign permit, if one has not yet been issued. The site plan, project description, applicable law, and Findings of Fact and Conclusions were reviewed in detail by Ms. Gould. There will be no changes to the existing building or site, with the exception of some interior construction to provide restrooms and divide the space between uses. The presence of the existing structure and proposed uses do not create conditions which cause a conflict with the surrounding neighborhood or alter the intended character of the surrounding neighborhood due to its scale and location on the property. Although the building is nonconforming, the proposed uses of the site are consistent with the goals of small commercial facilities integrating into surrounding residential areas. It was said that the outdoor activities in the open space are ancillary activities intended to be inviting to the neighborhood and community and not a primary use of the site. Traffic approaching the site has multiple routes, with the most convenient being North Dakota and then onto Reliable Street for parking. The use of on-street parking will provide for adequate parking to serve the proposed uses and would not be detrimental to other property owners in the area as no other uses are on the north side of the street. In the event the City was to modify parking regulations on Reliable Street, the property owner would need to seek an amendment to the Special Use Permit and provide parking on-site to meet Zoning Ordinance standards. Ms. Gould clarified that the Special Use Permit is needed with the parking approval since the site is over 30,000 square feet. If the site was less than 30,000 square feet, a Special Use Permit would not be necessary and the parking would be acceptable. Discussion was held on why parking had to be listed as a condition. It was said that the site would not meet parking requirements if the parking condition was not approved. Elliot Thompson, 3211 Lettie Street, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath. Mr. Thompson said he has been working with Council for over a year on this site. Initially, 33 parking spaces were needed on-site, but since the area has low traffic, they requested to use on- street parking. He added that the first floor of the building is the focus right now, and it is intended to have a workspace/gallery for his wife and a coffee shop. The gallery will be open to the public, and the hours of operation will most likely be 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. He said it is possible the gallery will be open seven days a week, but that is to be determined. Small events will be held occasionally. Mr. Thompson mentioned that all events occur outside at the moment, since the interior of the building is not operational, and have concluded by 10:00 p.m. Sharon Stewart, 437 Hilltop Road, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath. She stated that the coffee shop will be open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. It will be a small business with minimal food prep. Their goal is to work with local farmers, which will limit the number of deliveries. At this time, a state certified vending cart is used three days a week. No permits were required by the City since the cart is located on private property and is in a permitted zone. Ms. Stewart said she is the only employee. April Katz, 4626 Reliable Street, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath. Ms. Katz expressed her support for the café, and believes it has made a positive impact on the neighborhood. She stated that there has been a lot of community engagement with the business in the neighborhood which she did not see before. Ms. Katz added that the music can be heard from the inside of a house, but it is no louder than the passing trains. The owners have ensured that the music is over by 10:00 p.m. Austin Dunn, 3403 Woodland Street, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath. He believes the uses are compatible and beneficial to the town. In his opinion, required parking on- site would make it less compatible. He added that the green space is nice, and there is plenty of parking on-street. It was said that once the ancillary activities become regular, an amendment to the Special Use Permit would be needed. An example would be if the activities are scheduled for every Saturday, and are advertised. Ms. Gould reminded the Board that the Special Use Permit is only required since the site is over 30,000 square feet with this type of use. Mr. Koehler and Ms. Schoeneman read two letters that had been sent in. Both were against approval of the Special Use Permit. Lyndsay Nissen, 3211 Lettie Street, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath. Ms. Nissen addressed the concern of music, and stated that band practice has been held on premise. She added that they have cooperated with police by taking decibel readings from various areas of the property, and found that they were within acceptable range. She understands that some neighbors may not be use to the noise, but they do have the right to hold band practice on premise. She said that practice occurs a few times a month, and is usually held from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Legally, they are allowed to play until midnight. Ms. Nissen stated there is no running water on the site. A port-o-potty is on premise, and is serviced weekly. She also said the use of fireworks occurred once, and the person using them was reminded that it is illegal to light fireworks within City limits. She added that no one lives on the property. Event advertisement is sent through social media, and only a few official events have occurred. The meeting recessed at 7:06 p.m. and reconvened at 7:08 p.m. Mr. Koehler asked the applicant if he was satisfied with proceeding after hearing the complaints submitted. The applicant stated that the complaints are not a surprise, and he believes the comments are exaggerated. Mr. Thompson requested a recess. The meeting recessed at 7:10 p.m. and reconvened at 7:14 p.m. Mr. Thompson requested to continue the hearing to the next meeting. Moved by Bradbury, seconded by Schoeneman, to table ORDER NO. 17-21 to the regularly scheduled meeting to be held on October 25, 2017. Roll Call Vote: 3-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. COMMENTS: There were no comments by the Board. ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Schoeneman, seconded by Bradbury, to adjourn the meeting at 7:18 p.m. _____________________________ _____________________________ Heidi Petersen, Recording Secretary Matthew Koehler, Acting Chair