MINUTES
OF THE MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON
AT
1.
PRESENT:
Board Members
Dunn, Higgins, Holthof, Pelton, Sutton
ABSENT: Lichtenwald (excused)
OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Ostgarden, Secretary; Cheri
Standfest, Community Development Specialist and 8 people in the audience
Chairman Hank Holthof opened the meeting
with a welcome to the television audience viewing the first ever MGTV telecast
of a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
The minutes of
3. PUBLIC HEARINGS
The
secretary stated that Petition No. 03-16, the request of Midland Ford Lincoln
Mercury for an area/dimension variance from the maximum allowable sign area at
a.
Petition No. 03-15 Gary and Sharon
Tyrrell for an area/dimension variance from the separation requirements between
a house and garage at
The Tyrrells desire to construct a
14 addition on the rear of their house.
The addition will be 4 6 from the detached garage. The petitioners obtained a building permit to
construct the addition with the understanding that a 6 separation between the
house and a detached garage is required.
The plan to comply with the requirement is to notch 18 from the garage
should the variance not be granted. The
building code does not prevent the construction closer than 6; however, there
are additional code requirements that need to be followed. Photographs of several other principal
structures and detached garages in the neighborhood were shown which depicted
separation less than the required 6.
One letter in support of the
variance was received.
Jack Higgins inquired why the
addition could not have been 18 shorter.
The contractor for the petitioner, Raleigh Kamala, stated that it would
have been difficult to re-design the kitchen.
Sally Sutton inquired why the
problem is not self created. Mr. Kamala
stated that the garage is 20 x 20, and removing a portion of the garage would
make it unusable as a car could not fit in the garage.
Mr. Kamala explained how he went to
several other houses in the neighborhood and found that others did not comply
with the separation requirement.
No one else spoke in support or in
opposition to the request.
FINDING OF FACTS Petition 03-15
1.
The
property is zoned RA-3.
2.
There
was one letter in support.
3.
A
building permit was granted with the understanding that 18 would be notched
out of the garage.
4.
Compliance
with the Building Code is possible with fire wall construction.
5.
The
addition is 14 deep and 40 wide.
6.
The
garage is approximately 20 x 20 on an unknown type of foundation.
7.
The
lot size is approximately 60 x 120.
8.
The
separation between the house addition and the garage is 4 6 and 6 is
required.
9.
The
petitioner presented information about houses in the neighborhood being closer
than 6.
10. Four out of fifty houses surveyed
had less than the required 6 separation.
11. The subdivision has over 200 houses.
A motion was made by Sally Sutton
and seconded by Joe Dunn to approve the petition based on the findings of fact.
Jack Higgins stated he had a lot of
trouble finding how strict compliance with setbacks would make conformity
unnecessarily burdensome. He thought the
criteria could be met in the design of the house addition.
Sally Sutton thought the plight of
the owner was not unique for the neighborhood.
Joe Dunn thought a 12 addition
would not have been unreasonable. He
noted that the photographs depicted house and garage separation situations that
have been there for many years. He
thought options were available for the petitioner.
Woody Pelton offered that this is a
situation many others have and concurred there is nothing unique about the
property.
Vote: Yea -
Holthof
Nay -
Dunn, Higgins, Pelton, Sutton
The variance was denied.
b. Petition
The church has recently completed an
expansion of its parking lot and the Zoning Ordinance requires that an
obscuration screen be provided along
Two letters in opposition to the
request were received.
Leon Crossman represented the church
and stated that the church thought the open look along
No one else spoke in support of or
in opposition to the request.
Findings of fact:
1.
The
property is zoned Residential A-1.
2.
The
parking lot expansion required screening.
3.
There is residential property across
4.
Two
letters in opposition were received.
5.
A
variance was granted in October 2001, with the site plan showing screening in
compliance with the ordinance.
A motion was made by Jack Higgins
and seconded by Hank Holthof to approve the petition based on the findings of
fact.
Jack Higgins agreed that there would
be additional burden in maintaining live screening. He did not think that the variance would do
justice to the neighborhood, as there is nothing unique about the property and
the problem was self created.
Hank Holthof thought there were
limited options to provide for the screening and it would grow onto the
sidewalk. He thought a fence would be
out of place.
Woody Pelton
stated that any screen would add burden for the property owner. The only comments received were in opposition
which concerned him. He was not
convinced there is anything unique about the property.
Sally Sutton had difficulty
understanding why the petition met any of the criteria. She thought aesthetics should be
considered. The church currently has landscaping on
Joe Dunn also thought that any
barrier requires maintenance. He did
think that adding screening would be out of character as there are no other
locations with it along
The secretary reminded the Board
that a 50% screen could be accomplished with a picket fence.
Vote on the motion
Yea:
Holthof, Dunn
Nay:
Higgins, Pelton, Sutton
The variance was denied.
4. Public comments before the Zoning Board of
Appeals.
There were no
public comments before the Board.
Old/New Business.
The secretary passed out minutes and the decision
reached by the Board on Petition 03-10 made by the Eagle Ridge Church of God
for a sign height and area variance. The Board approved a sign area variance
conditioned upon a sign having a 50/50 relationship between an LED sign and the
church name. The secretary received a
call from a representative of the church stating it thought the relationship
was up to the 50/50 requirement. The
secretary explained to the petitioner that he would discuss the condition with
the Board and contact him with the Boards decision.
The Board reviewed the minutes and it determined
that the condition as written was correct.
The
Cheri Standfest made a presentation of the
highlights of the information presented at the Advanced Training for Zoning
Boards of Appeals session which was held at the recent MSP
ADJOURN.
There was
no further business and the meeting adjourned at approximately
7.
8.
9.
10. Mark Ostgarden, AICP, CFM
12.
13.
14.
THESE
MINUTES
15.