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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesBOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES January 13, 2010 PRESENT: Robert Cornell, Cheryl Hentz, Dennis Penney, Dan Carpenter, Ed Wilusz, Jane Cryan EXCUSED: Mark Nielsen STAFF: Todd Muehrer, Associate Planner /Zoning Administrator; Kathleen Fredrick, Recording Secretary Chairperson Cornell called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. The minutes of December 16, 2009 were approved as presented. Hentz /Carpenter 5 -0. ITEM I: 1008 ELMWOOD AVENUE Jeffrey P. Scherer - applicant, Jeffrey P. / R.J. Scherer - owners, request variances to permit a multi - family parking facility to establish an 11' wide two -way drive aisle and to reduce the required parallel parking space curb width to 20'. Section 30 -36 (E)(7)(a) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code: Off - Street Parking Facilities requires a multi - family parking facility to provide a 24' wide two -way drive aisle and parallel parking space curb width to be 22'. Mr. Muehrer presented the item and distributed photos of the subject site. The parcel is currently developed with a 4,464 s.f. two -story to -rise apartment building that features four living units with four bedrooms per unit. Additionally a 22' x 55' detached carport is constructed in the rear (east) yard. Vehicular access to and from the property is provided via a 20' wide driveway located on the north side of the existing apartment building. The applicant is proposing to formally stripe and designate four parallel parking stalls on the north side of the existing principal structure to provide further off - street parking spaces for tenants. Under the proposed scenario, the existing legal nonconforming 20' wide two -way drive aisle would be reduce to 11' in width and requires a variance to be approved. Likewise, in order to stripe four parallel stalls a variance is required to reduce the stall width from 22' to 20'. Jeff Scherer, 501 Merritt Ave, was present for the meeting. Mr. Scherer stated that Mr. Muehrer did a great job communicating what Mr. Scherer was trying to accomplish in the staff report. He also commented that the tenants have been parking this way since 1994. The variance would designate that tenants could continue to park this way. Mr. Cornell asked Mr. Scherer since there is inadequate parking, are some tenants required to find on street parking. Mr. Scherer replied his property has the potential for sixteen cars that need parking spaces if each tenant has a car. This very seldom happens, however when it is an issue than yes, some tenants have to park on the street. Mostly, the property averages between ten and twelve cars. Mr. Scherer believes the addition of the four new stalls along with the six parking spaces already there will alleviate his tenants having to find on street parking. Mr. Penney asked if there was room to widen the 20' driveway. Mr. Scherer replied no. Mr. Cornell commented even with the four new striped parking spaces there would still be room for ingress /egress traffic. Mr. Scherer confirmed the statement of Mr. Cornell. Ms. Hentz noticed that Mr. Mokler accompanied Mr. Scherer to the meeting and inquired what, if any, his involvement is in this project. Board of Appeals Minutes 1 January 13, 2010 Mr. Scherer indicated that Mr. Mokler was working with people interested in the property or interested in managing the property so he was in the audience to observe the meeting. Ms. Hentz declared she would abstain from voting on this item. Motion by Penney to approve the request for variances to permit a multi family parking facility to establish an 11 'wide two -way drive aisle and to reduce the required parallel parking space curb width to 20' Seconded by Carpenter. Motion carried 4 -0. Ayes - Carpenter, Penney, Wilusz, Cornell. Abstentions - Hentz. Finding of Facts: Least variance required Improved safety DISCUSSION OF BOA PROCEDURES At 3:42 p.m. City Attorney Lynn Lorenson and Assistant City Attorney David Praska joined the meeting to continue the workshop from the previous meeting in December. The board discussed the Procedures and Regulations — City of Oshkosh Board of Appeals Under Article II, Paragraph 1, sentence one will read "The Board shall consist of five (5) members recommended by the Mayor and appointed by the City Council for three (3) year terms ". The following will be added to the end of the paragraph: The Board may, as situations so deem, petition the Mayor to change the order of the alternate board members. Under Article III, Paragraph 5 will read "Immediately after the vote of the members, one or more members who voted in the majority shall state the agreed upon findings of fact and reasons that support the decision of the majority ". Under Article VII, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph b will read "Financial hardship, loss of profit, self imposed hardships, such as that caused by ignorance of the law, deed restrictions, proceeding without a permit, or illegal sales are not sufficient reasons for granting a variance ". Subparagraph (f) will read: "In considering an application for a use variance, proof of unnecessary hardship requires that the property owner demonstrate no reasonable use of the property can be permitted without the granting of a variance ". Under Article VIII, Paragraph 1 will read: " Decision : The Board shall, through the office of Community Development, within thirty (30) days of the final hearing, transmit a signed copy of the Board's decision to the petitioner and/or property owner." Paragraph 3, after subparagraph b will read "The zoning administrator and petitioners are entitled to a fair and impartial hearing. The Board shall only consider information presented at the hearing when making its determination. Any information gathered outside of the hearing such as a site visit must be disclosed and must be included in the hearing record ". Subparagraph 5 will read " Enforcement : Follow -up on any violation shall be made by Director of Community Development or designee, and then submitted to the City Attorney for prosecution ". At 4:30 p.m. City Attorney Lynn Lorenson and Assistant District Attorney excused themselves from the meeting. With regard to the Procedures and Regulations, Ms. Hentz asked if, going forward, city staff could inscribe the meeting agenda to mirror Article III, Paragraph 3, Order of Business. Specifically, she would like to see "Communications" added to the agenda before "Discussion of BOA Procedures ". Mr. Muehrer is worried that adding "Communications" opens the door for inappropriate discussion of items not specifically listed on the agenda. He will discuss this issue with City Attorney Lorenson and report back to the Board. Mr. Cornell added he would like the agenda to be consistent with the Procedures and Regulations. Board of Appeals Minutes 2 January 13, 2010 The Board discussed technical tools which could aid them in making their decisions. Mr. Muehrer gave a brief explanation of the following: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, ArcView G.LS 3.3, Bing.com Mapping, City of Oshkosh Assessor's Office web page, City of Oshkosh Inspection Services Division Electronic Property File /Permit System, and Sony Cyber Shot Video Mode. Ms. Hentz added Google Maps is also a great mapping tool. Mr. Wilusz stated the staff reports are very informative and tell him what he needs to know. Something that might be helpful would be some sort of animation that would, for example, place a sign on a building so you could view it exactly how it would be. Mr. Cornell stated it would be helpful to members in the audience who wish to speak on an item if the color photos that are passed out to board members are shown on the pull down screen. The Board discussed what should be done regarding voting when a board member votes "present" or abstains. It was discussed that a board member should declare at the beginning of an item that he /she will be abstaining from voting. Then the chairperson can instruct the alternate(s) to vote, therefore keeping the quorum. The question arose that if a member abstains, it counts as a vote. Consequently, the alternate vote also counts, adding up to six votes. Only five are votes allowed. Also, the Board is confused on the difference /consequences of voting "present" or abstaining. Mr. Muehrer will ask the city attorneys to clarify these questions. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m. (Hentz /Carpenter). Respectfully submitted, Todd Muehrer Associate Planner /Zoning Administrator Board of Appeals Minutes 3 January 13, 2010