Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes 9-10-2008MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AMES, IOWA SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 The Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) met, pursuant to law, in regular session at 7:00 p.m. on September 10, 2008, in the Council Chambers of City Hall with the following members present: Bruce Calhoun, Denise Link, Bradley Miller and Thomas Weber. Lucy Martin was excused. Staff members Charlie Kuester and Judy Parks were also present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Moved by Link, seconded by Calhoun, to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 13, 2008. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion carried unanimously. CASE NO. 08-16 SPECIAL HOME OCCUPATION PERMIT - JAMES CORNWELL, PROPERTY OWNER; IVA NELSON, APPLICANT, 2707 LUTHER DRIVE, APT. 1 Public Hearing on Application for a Special Home Occupation Permit to allow a family day care home at 2707 Luther Drive, Apt. 1 City Planner Kuester stated that the applicant is seeking a home occupation permit for a daycare business in an apartment that is located in a twelve-unit building. He stated that the daycare has been in operation for a few years, but the City only recently became aware of it; since then, the applicant has been working with staff to get a permit. He said that the first child sometimes arrives at her home as early as 6:00 a.m., and the last child usually leaves by 7:00 p.m. Care is usually provided five days per week, but occasionally on weekends as well. He said that Mrs. Nelson has state certification allowing her to have up to six children under her care, and her grandchildren sometimes assist. Mr. Kuester described the location and physical layout of the day care home, noting that Mrs. Nelson resides in a two-bedroom apartment and one of the bedrooms is used for the children’s activities. Planner Kuester explained the standards that must be met in order for approval of this permit and summarized staff’s findings and analysis as follows: · Staff believes the business will be conducted in a manner that does not alter the residential character of premises or neighborhood; this is evidenced by the fact that the daycare has been in operation for several years without any complaints being registered to either the City or the landlord. · Although one small sign is allowed, there isn’t one and none are proposed. · The only equipment being used is stuffed animals and other play items which are normally found in a home. · The business activity is taking place within the principle building and occupies less than 25 percent of the available square footage, as required by Code. Mr. Kuester stated that while the children do sometimes use the bathroom, kitchen, or media area, the primary care area is about 160 square feet. · The home business can only employ persons who live in the household, unless granted approval by the ZBA. He stated that the applicant’s grandchildren do assist during holiday times and in summer, so the Board should consider this. 2 · The only “deliveries” to the daycare are related to parents picking up and dropping off their children. Mr. Kuester explained that there are some concerns about additional traffic, and staff believes that visits should be limited to five drop offs and five pick ups per day. He said that, in most cases, there is a 30-minute interval between client visits and the trips are staggered throughout the day, so the ten extra daily visits generated by this business are probably unnoticeable to the neighborhood at large. In the past, pick up and drop off has taken place on the street and there have been no complaints; however, Planner Kuester said that staff also recommends that parents use the driveway on the north side of the building, rather than the street out front for that purpose. · The Ames Municipal Code allows for up to six pre-school-age or up to five school-age children in a home daycare. This daycare includes a mix of ages and staff was originally concerned that there could be as many as six children in the house at one time. However, Mr. Kuester said that one of the school-age girls no longer attends because her bus route has changed, so now there are never more than five children present at any one time. Mrs. Nelson is aware of the City’s regulations. · No other home occupations are currently operating in this unit or in the building as a whole. Planner Kuester stated that staff recommends approval of the permit, with stipulations to address traffic issues as a means of heading off potential problems in the future. There was discussion about the proposed stipulations and how the various children arrive at the apartment. It was learned that the school-age girl who comes after five p.m. walks, two of the children are siblings and come in the same vehicle, and the school-age boy rides his bike. Iva Nelson, 2707 Luther Drive, Apt. 1, stated that she first opened a daycare in 1965. At that time, there was no code in the City of Ames that pertained and she was told to go ahead. When she moved to Grand Avenue, she occupied a building that had been a nursing home and the daycare use was grandfathered in. Mrs. Nelson said she had regular inspections, but no permit was needed. When she moved to Luther Drive, some of her clients wanted her to continue watching their children. The landlord did not object, she was registered with the State, and City staff did not indicate that she needed a permit, so she didn’t realize the regulations had changed. Mrs. Nelson explained that she set up this business to care for children part time and at hours when other facilities might not be open. She also clarified that her grandchildren come to visit, but they are not employees, nor do they drive or park any vehicles. She said her grandson was working on a badge for Boy Scouts when he started helping her out, and children still enjoy seeing him. Her granddaughter also comes to play with them occasionally. With regard to staff’s proposed stipulations, Mrs. Nelson indicated that she felt the driveway is the least safe place for the children to be dropped off, because most of the car seats are on the passenger side in the back and people driving out from their garages would not expect them to be there. She said she believed it was safer for parents to park on the west side of Luther Drive so they could get the children out next to the curb and take them inside, as they have for the last three years. She said there is very little traffic on the street at those times; usually only one car is parked at that end. She also stated that she had timed drop offs recently and found that they only took about three minutes. 3 Planner Kuester advised the Board that after notification about this meeting was sent out, he received one phone call from the owner of the property at 615 Luther who asked some questions. He also received a call from one of Mrs. Nelson’s clients, who expressed positive comments about her business and supported approval of the Special Home Occupation Permit. Finally, Mr. Kuester stated that he had driven past the apartment building early in the morning on three occasions and noticed that there were only one or two cars parked on the street. He said that staff recommended off-street parking because that is consistent with previous recommendations for home occupations, but conceded that this apartment building’s driveway is rather long and once a car enters it, the driver must either go all the way into the parking lot in the rear to turn around or back up about 40 feet to get out. He felt it might actually be safer for parents to park in southbound lane of the street, as Mrs. Nelson suggested. He said because traffic is relatively light, there have been no problems to date, and the safety of the children is an important issue, the Board might be able to make findings to support on-street drop offs. Board member Calhoun asked if requirements of the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) affected this property or the operation of a business in a building like this. Attorney Parks stated that the issue had not come up in the past with respect to home operations and noted that the State Department of Human Services (DHS) inspects daycare homes as a part of the certification process and the matter would have been addressed if it were a problem. Mrs. Nelson added that a DHS representative had dropped in on her the previous day. They discussed the driveway and the drop off arrangements and the representative agreed that on-street access was a good idea. No state official has ever asked about wheelchair accessibility. Moved by Miller, seconded by Calhoun, to ADOPT ORDER NO. 08-16, granting a Special Home Occupation Permit to allow a family day care home at 2707 Luther Drive, Apartment 1, and to allow the applicant’s grandson (Matthew Nelson) and granddaughter (Megan Nelson) to assist in the day care operation, subject to the following conditions: 1. that no employee may drive to the premises to work; 2. that no more than five (5) vehicular drop offs and no more than five (5) vehicular pick ups shall occur during the day; and 3. that child care shall be limited to no more than five (5) children at any one time. Roll Call Vote: 4-0. Motion declared approved unanimously. COMMENTS: None ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m. Karen C. Thompson, Recording Secretary Bradley Miller, Chair The next meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment will be a Regular Meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24, 2008, in the Council Chambers of the Ames City Hall at 515 Clark Avenue.