UNAPPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS,
WHICH TOOK PLACE
ON TUESDAY,
AT 6:30 P.M., IN
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL,
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN
1. ROLL
CALL
PRESENT: Board Members - Green, Higgins, Holthof, Lichtenwald, and
Steele
ABSENT: Board Members – None
OTHERS PRESENT: Daryl Poprave, Cheri King, and 4 others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
It was moved
by Green and supported by Holthof to approve the minutes of the
Page 2 –
Question, “Higgins asked . . .” “the
minimum variance is 1,000 square foot garage.”
This was stated by the petitioner.
It should be moved up under where Higgins asked the question. There were many questions asked and few of
them were answered. If the petitioner
does not answer, there should be something in the minutes that “the petitioner
did not answer” or “the petitioner refused to answer.
Page 3, after the Findings of Fact and the motion, the paragraph that
starts with “Higgins felt “makes no sense. It needs to be cleaned up. Also, the third sentence in this
paragraph. Under the paragraph that
begins “Siemer agrees, it should read “The building codes were different than
what exists today.”
The Chairman explained the public hearing procedures and how the Board decides if the variance request is approved based on the five ordinance criteria.
3. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a.
No. 07-13 – Monarch Building Company for an area/dimension variance to allow the
construction of an 896 square foot attached garage at
Mr. Poprave showed an aerial photograph of
the subject property. This structure is
not yet built. It is located south of
Wackerly, east of Jefferson. The
property is located in the Residential B zoning district. There are two additional streets that could
go in as a result of the platting process.
To the east and south is RA-1.
There are some condominium and apartment uses to the west of this
property. This variance request is to
construct an 896 square foot attached garage at
David Rapanos, Monarch Building Company,
stated this is the standard size garage for this size house in the city. He thinks that about 90 percent of the last
number of houses he built have 3-car garages. This house is a duplicate of a house he
built several years ago. Considering the
size of the home and the cost of the lots, it makes no sense to have only a
2-car garage. It almost makes the house
obsolete from the beginning.
Higgins stated he has no opinion whether
3-car garages are needed in this area of town or not. He would like to know when Mr. Rapanos
expects to build this house. Mr. Rapanos
stated he plans to start construction within the next 30 days. Higgins stated in order to vote “yes” on this
variance request; he must be able to answer “yes” to all of the five
criteria. He had a lot of trouble with
“c” and “d”. Mr. Rapanos stated he could
build the houses with two-car garages, however, with all the toys out there
today, the house would never sell. You
can go out to Larkin Township and build a comparable house with a 3-car garage
so why would someone build it in the city if they cannot have a 3-car garage
here? The sizes of the homes increase as
you go further back in the subdivision.
There are covenants on the houses in this area that specify the minimum
size of the houses in this area. The
minimum size house in this area is 2400 square feet. There are no problems with the side yard
setbacks even with the 3-car garage. It
is a 120 ft. wide lot, which is unique in the city.
No one spoke either in favor of or in
opposition to this request.
Findings of
Fact:
1.
The
structure is not built at the present time.
2.
The
location is Scenic Estates #6, 6106 Peachtree Circle and is zoned RB, that is
also bound by property zoned RA-1 and RA-2.
3.
The
request is to construct an 896 sq. ft. attached garage, which will require a
variance of 96 sq. ft.
4.
There is
one letter of support and no letters of opposition to this project.
5.
The
majority of the houses in that particular development were built with three car
garages.
6.
The
house as proposed will meet the existing zoning setback requirements.
7.
According
to the petitioner, the price of houses in this area is $300,000-$500,000. As a developer, he is stating the market
requires a 3-car garage.
8.
2400 sq.
ft. minimum house size, per private deed restrictions.
It is moved by Steele and supported
by Higgins to approve Petition No. 07-13 based on the findings of fact to allow
the construction of an 896 square foot attached garage at
Steele stated he certainly can understand the desire for a 3-car garage. He is also looking for a house.
Higgins stated he feels the burden is buying a house that the market mandates a larger garage. Criteria B is a given. Criteria C – there is no market for a $350,000 house with only a two garage. This answers criteria D also in that the larger house requires a larger garage. That size house will not sell if it only has a 2-car garage. Higgins states this also addresses Criteria E.
Holthof stated that the uniqueness of this property is the ability to have a 3-car garage. It will conform to the houses surrounding it – which detracts from the uniqueness. It makes it conform to the houses surrounding it. Perhaps this issue should be tabled until the Planning Commission makes a decision whether or not to allow larger garages.
Green agrees with Higgins. They have certain criteria that they have to address. There are some potential problems that could be created by granting this request, but the Board is supposed to look at each case on its own merit.
Lichtenwald is in agreement – it would be nice if the petitioner could wait three or four months but the petitioner would like an answer tonight. Lichtenwald stated he can support the criteria for this variance request.
Voting on the motion:
Green: Yes
Higgins: Yes
Holthof: No
Lichtenwald: Yes
Steele: Yes
The motion to approve the Petition 07-13 was approved 4-1.
b.
No. 07-14 – Greystone Homes, LLC for an area/dimension variance to allow the construction
of a 986 square foot attached garage at 5608 Powder Horn Trail.
Mr. Poprave introduced this petition with an
aerial photograph showing the location of the subject property. It is located in Foxfire Subdivision, which
is a newly developed subdivision. It is
located at the end of Powder Horn Trail.
This lot is the last one in Foxfire #1.
It is at the end of Trail Ridge, off of Dublin. These are some of the largest homes in the
City of Midland. It is a pretty secluded
area with a marshy pond in the middle of the subdivision. If approved, this variance will allow the
petitioner to construct a 986 sq. ft. attached garage to be built onto this
structure. This lot is RA-1 and it is
surrounded by RA-1 development. This
petitioner went through some more research in this area. They would like to store the lawn mower, the
snow blower and the bikes, as well as the three cars in the garage. Deed restrictions for this subdivision do not
allow detached accessory buildings. The
minimum size of houses in this subdivision is 2700 sq. ft. in a single story
home. It is 2800 sq. ft. for a
multi-level home. There is a home in
this development that is 5000 sq. ft.
Kelly Wall, owner of Greystone Homes, is the
petitioner. He is representing the
homeowners at 5608 Powder Horn Trail.
Mr. Wall showed several photographs of houses in this area that have
3-car garages and even three homes with 4-car garages. These homes range from 2600 sq. ft. to 5200
sq. ft. All of these homes have garages
from 720 sq. ft. to 1374 sq. ft. There
are private deed restrictions that prevent detached structures on these
lots. These homes are in the $400,000 to
$700,000+ in this subdivision. Four of
the homes in this subdivision have garages that exceed the 800 sq. ft.
limit. From the front, you see brick and
windows. You do not see the garage
doors. All the side yard setbacks are
met so there are no variances required in order to build the larger garages. Mr. Wall plans to start digging on Monday for
the building of this house. They are
anxious to get concrete poured before the snow flies.
Higgins asked what is unique about this house
as Mr. Wall stated there are three houses out of seven in this subdivision that
have garages that are less than 800 sq. ft.
He sees nothing unique about this lot that mandates it having a 3-car
garage. These three houses were built
when the ordinance allowed garages larger than 800 sq. ft. and they were able
to accommodate the needs of the owners.
Mr. Wall stated that, in this subdivision, the 986 sq. ft. garage will
fit in nicely. Four out of the seven
garages are already larger than the 800 sq. ft. allowable by the
ordinance. This house would be unique by
not having a 3-car garage. Mr. Wall
stated that the garage should be scaled to fit the size of the house. This is a 3200 sq. ft. house and the garage
fits in with the design of the house. It
is possible to construct a 3-car garage within the 800 sq. ft. limit, however
it is tight. What is unique about this
property is that there are no accessory buildings allowed in this
subdivision. The petitioner stated they
cannot modify the size of this garage without substantially modifying the plans
for the house. He stated that an 800 sq.
ft. garage on a 5000 sq. ft. home would adversely affect the price of the
home. The stairway into the house is in
the garage; however, it is not counted in the square footage of the
garage.
No one spoke either in favor of or in
opposition to this request.
Mr. Poprave read the private deed
restrictions for the Foxfire Subdivision that are registered at the Midland
County Register of Deeds Office.
Findings of
Fact:
1. Private subdivision deed restrictions do not allow detached accessory structures.
2. Zoned RA-1.
3. Proposed garage is 986 sq ft.
4. Located at 5608 Powder Horn Trail.
5. Four of the seven existing homes have garages that exceed 800 sq. ft. and three are less than 800 sq. ft. in size.
6.
The
structure is not built at the present time.
7. One letter of support and no letters of opposition.
8. The proposed house will meet the zoning setbacks requirements.
9. The house size will be 3559 sq. ft. in size and there are minimum house sizes required by the subdivision deed restrictions
10. The attached garages were documented to range from 725 to 1374 sq. ft. in size.
11. The garages can vary from two to four vehicles in size, according to the private subdivision deed restrictions.
It is moved by Holthof and supported
by Steel to approve Petition No. 07-14 based on the findings of fact to allow
the construction of a 986 square foot attached garage at 5608 Powder Horn
Trail.
Holthof stated that the smaller garages may affect the value of the homes. This will affect the builder and the purchaser in the re-sale value. In looking at the existing garages, it is difficult to tell which garages are larger than 800 sq. ft. He has no problem meeting Criteria B. The home is designed to be larger, not smaller, and the proportion of the garage to the house should be consistent. The zoning ordinance created the problem of the need for larger garages.
Steele stated he agreed with Holthof.
Green stated he has no problem supporting what has been said this evening.
Higgins stated when he walked in here tonight that he was not in favor of either of these petitions. He is going to have to vote no on this petition because the petitioner has no adequately addressed criteria C or D. He also thinks that 800 sq. ft. is the minimum necessary to provide substantial relief to the home owner.
Lichtenwald stated that the petition did not meet criteria C and he also feels the floor plan can be modified to meet the requirements of the zoning ordinance.
Voting on the motion:
Green: Yes
Higgins: No
Holthof: Yes
Lichtenwald: No
Steele: Yes
The motion to approve the Petition 07-14 was approved 3-2.
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS (not related to items on the agenda)
None
5. OLD
BUSINESS
None
6. NEW BUSINESS
None
7. DECISION SHEET SIGNATURES
8. ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no further business, the Chairman adjourned the
meeting at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Daryl Poprave
Deputy Planning Director