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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes 7-12-2006 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AMES, IOWA JULY 12, 2006 The Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment met, pursuant to law, in regular session at 7:00 p.m., on July 12, 2006, in the Council Chambers of City Hall with the following members present: Denise Link, Mary Ann Lundy, Lucy Martin, and Charles Samuels. Board Member Bradley Miller was excused. Staff members Seana Perkins, Dominic Roberge, Bob Kindred, and Judy Parks were also present; along with Planning Intern Anu Minhas. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Moved by Martin, seconded by Link, to approve the Minutes of the June 28, 2006, Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion declared carried. CASE NO. 06-19 PARKING EXCEPTION - 2709 LINCOLN WAY - SUITES ON LINCOLN WAY, L.L.C., PROPERTY OWNER; DEAN JENSEN, APPLICANT Public Hearing on Application for an Exception to allow non-standard parking stall sizes at 2709 Lincoln Way Planner Perkins stated that the exception request is for 12 of the 35 parking spaces being created and only the depth of the spaces is being considered for exception. The parcel where this parking lot is being created was recently purchased and cleared to create new parking for the existing building. It will be paved with landscaping and infrastructure standards being met. Staff believes that the criteria have been met to grant this parking exception. Link asked if the owner isn’t required to bring the property up to current standards by providing the correct number of parking spaces for the building. Parks explained that since the existing building is non-conforming, Code specifically says that these types of non-conformities are not to increase the level of non-conformity. You try to get it as close to code as practicable, but as long as the non-conformity is not being increased code is met. Douglas Saltsgaver, 2413 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, spoke as the representative for the applicant. The developer purchased this property to create additional parking for an existing building. They want to add as much parking as possible to meet the parking needs of the residents and meet the requirements. Parking lot traffic flow should not be impeded with the proposed layout. There will be 48 units in the building, all are one bedroom or efficiencies, and with this new parking there will be a total of 35 parking spaces available. Mr. Saltsgaver agreed that the shorter spaces could be marked as compact spaces. Parks noted that the applicant was advised to get a parking exception because Municipal Code states that no more than 20% of the parking spaces will be compact spaces. Moved by Martin, seconded by Link, to approve ORDER NO. 06-19 granting an exception to allow 12 non-standard parking stall sizes at 2709 Lincoln Way, with the stipulation that the shorter spaces be clearly marked for compact cars. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion carried unanimously. CASE NO. 06-20 VARIANCE - 1315 SOUTH DAYTON AVENUE - THEISEN’S DEVELOPMENT INC., L.L.C., PROPERTY OWNER; THEISEN’S, INC., APPELLANT; CHRIS THEISEN, CONTACT PERSON Public Hearing on Appeal for Variance from fence height restrictions to allow a twelve-foot fence in the rear setback for an outside storage area at 1315 South Dayton Planning Intern Anu Minhas stated that the staff report had one correction; current Code allows only a six-foot fence in the rear setback, not eight feet as stated, because the fence is within the building setback. The appellant would like a 12-foot, chain-linked fence to use as an enclosure to store merchandise, to increase security and help deter theft. On the back side of this property is a storm water detention pond, so there will not be any other businesses impacted by constructing a 12-foot fence in the rear setback. Staff believes that three of the six standards have been met. The appellant’s representative, Scott Renaud of 1601 Golden Aspen Drive, stated that this request to increase the fence height is important because an average person of six feet in height could reach over the top of an eight-foot fence, and certainly would be able to easily scale or throw items over it. It would be much more difficult to throw an item over a 12-foot fence than to push something over an eight-foot fence. This is an area that is industrial in nature, so the neighbors should not be affected. The fence will not detract from the look of the building and facility. This is a request for a preventive measure to stop theft before it starts. Link asked if this type of request had been denied previously by the Board. Parks stated that she could not recall definitively, but thought that none had been. Moved by Link, seconded by Samuels, to approve ORDER NO. 06-20 granting a Variance from fence height restrictions to allow a twelve-foot fence in the rear setback for an outside storage area at 1315 South Dayton. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion carried unanimously. COMMENTS: The meeting of July 26, 2006 has been cancelled due to lack of applications. 3 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 p.m. ______________________________________ ___________________________________ Suzanne Thompson, Recording Secretary Mary Ann Lundy, Chair The next meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment will be a Regular Meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 9, 2006, in the Council Chambers of the Ames City Hall at 515 Clark Avenue.