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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA 2012-08-23 Minutes MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS AUGUST 23, 2012 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Tom Duer at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL PRESENT Chairman Tom Duer Jim Kemp Fonda Kunkle Jerry Henry Brian Crowson ABSENT Bill Gibbs Robert Housewright CITY STAFF Director of Planning & Dev. John Pitstick Building Official Dave Pendley Teresa Koontz Recording Secretary 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Tom Duer led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 26, 2012 MEETING Jim Kemp motioned to approve the minutes from the January 26, 2012 meeting. The motion was seconded by Brian Crowson and approved (5 -0). August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 1 Chairman Duer stated that the Zoning Board of Adjustment is a little bit different type of board. By state statute to get any variance approved or motion approved it takes a super majority which is 75 % or % motion to approve. With us being a 5 voting member board it requires 4 affirmative votes. So if a motion carries 3 -2 vote that does not pass based on the state statute of meeting the 75% majority. Chairman Duer opened the Public Hearing and asked staff to present the case. 5. BA 2012 -02 A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A REQUEST FROM D'LEE PROPERTIES, LLC FOR A VARIANCE TO THE SIDE YARD SETBACK AND REAR YARD OPEN SPACE AREA REQUIREMENT AS SPECIFIED FOR LOT 5, BLOCK 1, PARKWOOD ESTATES ADDITION AS SPECIFIED IN SECTION 118 -333 OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS CODE OF ORDINANCES. Chairman Duer called the applicant forward and swore him in. Doug Terry, 1001 Edgewater Ct, Colleyville, TX came forward with a request for variance regarding Lot 5 Block 1 in Parkwood Estates Addition, 7932 Bella Court in North Richland Hills. This lot was acquired by D'Lee Properties, my wife's company, Lee Martin in 2010. We currently are building a house on Lot 16 and have in turn sold Lot 5 to Trent and Andrea Edwards for the purpose of building a single family custom home. When we bought the lot and started designing a plan for the Edwards, the plot plan was showing the lot to have a width of 113.53 feet with being down the side of Lots 5 and 6. We designed the plan, which the Edwards paid for to include plot plan, final plan, foundation design plan and submitted them to the City of North Richland Hills Building Permits for review and approval. The plan was approved, we have a permit on that particular plan and we got ready to start construction. The previous plan based upon the dimensions of what we thought were accurate fit within the building lines at laid out on the current final plat. When we got into the survey stage, the surveyor came back and showed that the actual dimensions are 80.15 feet, not 113.53 feet. Therefore we found out that the final plat was incorrect. We went back to our plan designer and foundation designer and met with David Pendley with the City of North Richland Hills to see what, if anything can be done with the existing plan or if we would have to go into a re -plan process. With the way the lot is set up with a 20 foot front building line on one side and 20 foot building line on the other side, the previous plan it would not fit even if we received a variance. Therefore we had to go back and redesign the plan, which you should have a copy of in your packets. At the time we did not submit this to the ZBA for the application process, the second floor, nor have the elevations been prepared at that time. Mr. Terry showed the first floor layout as it sits today. He said the first and second floor will contain roughly 3500 total square feet of living space. The minimum in that subdivision is 2500 square feet and the minimum of R -2 is 2200 square feet. The bottom line is to get a house with any kind of curb appeal based upon the way the lot is laid out with the existing building lines, it is not possible. It would not be a sellable or marketable home because everything would have to go upstairs due to lack of space. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 2 We are requesting a variance basically from the 20 foot line on Bella Ct. to a 10 foot line, or 10 feet of additional space. This will allow us to lay the house out so we'll have a wonderful curb appeal, wonderful living space and meets the dimensions and requirements of our client, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards from the stand point of square footage for the bottom floor and upstairs as well. The house itself will match and work beautifully with remaining and existing homes that are in the subdivision now and the ones we are in process of building. We are currently building a 2900 square foot home on the corner, Lot 16 as you enter into Bella Lane. The reason we gave it the address of 7932 Bella Court, is because that is the physical address that the City has on file for fire and police purposes. Therefore on the plot plan that we have laid out we actually have the walkway from the porch coming down and curving down to Bella Court, which in turn there will a mailbox and will match up the physical street address of 7932 Bella Court. It can go with way but we were trying to match up with the City on the address of file. Mr. Terry continued saying the driveway itself off of Bella will have wood doors on the garage doors. There will be a lot of rock and stone on this house, elevation wise will match up the other homes in the subdivision. Mr. Terry said they sent a letter to all of the homeowners in that subdivision telling them about what was going on and gave them a copy of the plat and letter requesting the variance. It included the floor plan of the first and second floor and proposed plot plan. We asked all the homeowners if they had questions and I have not received any phone calls from anyone asking questions positive or negative. The Edwards have been out a substantial amount of money, basically paying for two sets of plans, foundation designs and permit. Once this done and if we can receive a variance tonight, they are ready to get started and be residents of North Richland Hills. Trent Edward's father was Tim Edwards, former football coach at L.D. Bell High School. He is a school teacher at Grapevine — Colleyville ISD for the Special Needs Division. Andrea grew up in this area and is a licensed massage therapist. Chairman Duer asked Doug Terry to come to the podium and clarify what the current plat on file with the City. He asked how the 113 feet be typed on the current lot. There was general discussion about where the property line actually was located and who the original developer was. Chairman Duer asked for questions from the Board. Brian Crowson asked if there was picture of the elevation. Doug Terry said he did not bring a picture of the elevation with him this evening. He said it would be a two story elevation with brick and rock front and sides, 8 foot front door. Brian Crowson said he was concerned about the one window on Bella Court and how it would look. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 3 Doug Terry said the floor plan shows the master bedroom wall to sit on that side. There will be decorative stonework inside the rock to look like windows to give it an architectural feature that will look like it is supposed to be there and not just a solid brick wall. Jerry Henry asked what the building set back on Lot 6 would be. There was general discussion from Staff, the Board and Mr. Terry on the setbacks. Brian Crowson asked if this issue with the lot cause any problems with the mortgage company. Doug Terry said no, not at all. This has already been discussed with the mortgage company and they have already been approved for the mortgage. The new survey accurately reflects the 80 feet. Brian Crowson asked if there were sidewalks. Doug Terry said they would do exactly what the sidewalks show on the plat. They will connect to the two residents on both sides of the property, 4 foot wide with handicap ramp on the corner which meets the City requirements. They are extended sidewalks so there will be additional sidewalk cost for the resident who builds on this lot. There will be landscaping on all sides driveway to fence. Chairman Duer opened the Public Hearing and said he would read off the cards in the order they were handed to him. Eric Autrey, 7408 Bella Lane came forward with concerns with the size of the home in relation to how it sits on the lot, it would be the largest home in the subdivision. It looks like the front of the house is facing the court and the lane. It will cause an issue with line of site and take away from curb appeal for the house next door inside the cul -de- sac. He said he has plan from the previously developer that was able to make it fit on that lot, therefore a house can be built without a variance being granted. There was discussion between the Board, Staff and Mr. Autrey regarding his comments and concerns. Phillip Davis, 7404 Bella Lane came forward stating he upset because he never received notification about the other houses being built on the property, which does not have the same aesthetics that this new proposed house will have such as wooden garage doors. He is against the house being built because of existing easements, spacing between houses, emergency procedures, driveway will be too small if cars are parked outside. He said there has been no contact with the builder until be received the letter about the variance and they are not the nicest people to deal with. There was a discussion between the Board, Staff and Mr. Davis regarding his comments and concerns. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 4 Randal Shircel, 7928 Bella Court came forward with concerns stating he is the house directly next door and being affected. He said he just moved into the property two months ago, has been out there several times before purchasing the house measuring the property. He stated he had been burned on his last house and was very cautious about the purchase. He would be staring at a back fence if the home is built as presented. He has concerns with the curb appeal, what the fencing material will be and line of site. He stated the builder was not the nicest person to deal with when he called to get the grass mowed on the vacant property and other lots that are not being maintained. Jerry Henry asked about his fence concerns and if there has been any discussion about a fence in a particular spot. Mr. Shircel said based on the plans presented there would be issues with seeing a fence or their back patio. There was lengthy discussion about how the new home could be placed on the lot to accommodate his concerns. There was a discussion between the Board, Staff and Mr. Shircel with his comments and concerns. Roger Venable, 7416 Bella Lane came forward with concerns that the proposed house it too large for the lot, the other houses meet the setbacks, and this house will stick out. He said he is very sorry for the people building the house, but not the builder because he does have a reputation in the subdivision. He doubts the aesthetics proposed because the recently built house does not have wood on the front garage doors. Chairman Duer asked Mr. Venable to clarify who he and the other are referring to as the builder. Roger Venable said Doug Terry. Joe McFadin, 7412 Bella Lane came forward He said if this works out he would love to have the Edwards be their new neighbors — he told him his sons played football for his dad and he was wonderful man. He has issues with the proposed home is the effect it will have on Randal Shircel at 7928 Bella Court, front entry garage on subdivision entry and sidewalk. He said Mr. Terry has not taken care of the lot or other lots around it and is he has been very disrespectful. Brian Crowson asked if there was homeowner association in this neighborhood. Mr. McFadin said no there is not but in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions he received in his closing paperwork, it states no side or rear entry garages. There was a general discussion between the Board, Staff and Mr. McFadin regarding his comments and concerns. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 5 Ralph Westmoreland, 7921 Bella Court, against the home being built but did not wish to speak. Margaret Hester, 7920 Bella Court, against the home being built but did not wish to speak. Dave Pendley, Building Official, presented the Staff report. Regarding the side yard setbacks, the corner lot seems to always get penalized because we allow one side to pick the driveway which would make someone adjacent to a corner lot be looking at a garage door. He said there could have been a straight shot driveway going in from Bella Court if the floor plan been different and it could have still met our requirements. Chairman Duer said he understands but when this floor plan was done it was with 30 more feet, therefore you have to go upstairs and squeeze the house down to meet the 20 foot setback from and 20 foot setback side still make room for the turn garage on the other side. Brian Crowson said he is not in agreement with the house facing the wrong address. There was general discussion about the address. Dave Pendley said this house with the front door facing Bella Lane would not have been given a Bella Court address. We have the option on switching the direction on certain lots. Concerning the latest version of the plan, the door facing 45 degree angle gives us some options and there is nothing that restricts it from being a Bella Court house. The driveway is correct as far as zoning is concerned. The driveway is actually 20 feet — it's just 18 feet in width. Also we have not seen the elevations due to fact the drawings are being prepared once the error was discovered. So depending on the outcome of tonight's meeting they will have to be reviewed and make sure it meets the requirements. We just want to make sure the front entry looks like it faces Bella Court not Bella Lane and emergency services will have no confusion on the address. Jerry Henry said as it is right now they are asking for two variances; the variance for the front set back from 20 to 10 feet and the variance from the percentage of rear yard from 20% down to approximately 7. If the dimensions on that lot had actually been what were stated, so that house as we are looking at it right now was moved back to the 20 foot line and there was sufficient back yard behind it, would we even be here? Dave Pendley said no, we would not; they would be meeting all the requirements. If there is a super restriction in the deed restrictions that make it a point to say the way the city interprets a side entry garage is different from the deed restrictions, that is something we do not enforce. If it is part of the subdivision deed restrictions, then those are enforced by the HOA. For instance, if Mr. McFadden's house has deed restrictions that may or may not supersede the City's, it's the citizen's enforcement that controls those. We do have minimum zoning regulations like we are discussing, but anything stronger than that is enforced privately. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 6 Fonda Kunkel said she is bothered that the house next door is 770 feet larger lot than and yet it's a 2500 square foot house. Comparing it to others on the cul -de -sac it's the second smallest lot and yet it's so much larger than the other houses. Brian Crowson asked if the square footage was accurate with the 81 feet. John Pitstick and Dave Pendley said yes. Fonda Kunkel asked based on that you can build the biggest house ever as long as you meet the easements. Dave Pendley said you would have to meet the setbacks, height restrictions, 20 % rear yard open space requirements. Chairman Duer asked since only part of this variance has been addressed it is something we would want to divide up into two motions. John Pitstick said you can do that but it's hard to say what would effect that. The rear yard may or may not be a problem for the neighbors but until we see the footprint it's hard to determine what the rear yard is. Dave Pendley said in most cases we are talking about the area behind the house and 20% of the lot has to be in the back and open. No pool can be put there, but you can put a shed in it. This will be too tight to meet that with the floor plan, we can stretch it a little if we wrap the corner but 11 % is about the best we can do. Zoning Board of Adjustment can put some restrictions if you chose to do something and approve this variance. Jerry Henry said he is concerned that if we turn this down then we would be here again soon because someone else would be in the same situation. There was a discussion between Staff and Board about the ways the home and fencing could be placed on the lot. Chairman Duer called the applicant, Mr. Terry back up the podium to address questions. Doug Terry said he would be happy to address all the questions and concerns. Regarding mowing of the lots, we are on a mowing schedule with a professional landscaping company that mowed our lots on an ongoing basis every three weeks. The areas on the lots the gentleman was talking about that had the rock on it facing Starnes, was something that we did not put there, it was there before we got it. We have not cleared it off yet because we are not ready to build on those lots but we have mowed around best we could. They are still on the mowing schedule at least once a month; we have never received a citation or even a notice from the City of NRH regarding mowing. Doug. Terry said regarding the house itself, we are custom home builders. We are not tract builders. As a custom home builder we think outside the box. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 7 Chairman Duer stopped Mr. Terry and addressed the audience saying that this is an emotional issue for all of us, but please refrain from commenting. Doug Terry continued saying this is thinking outside the box. We met our client's desires for a home. This home when built and appraised will be the most expensive house per dollar per square foot of any house in this subdivision. On the Declaration Covenant and Restrictions regarding the garage doors, there is nothing that says you must have a wood faced garage door. The house on the corner at Lot 16 Block 1 coming into the subdivision appraised at over $340,000. This house will appraise for even more than that. Then how can this house, even though it is larger in size be a detriment cost wise or appraised value to any house in the subdivision. Financially and economically it's not even possible. It will only benefit the subdivision to every home owner in this subdivision. Doug Terry said regarding the upstairs area we did not have the ability at the time of submittal to the ZBA to have the entire first and second floors plus elevations designed. All we had time to do was the first floor. We realize there is a home on the other side and have designed the house so in the middle of the house is where the second floor it; it does not look out on to the neighbor's lot to the right. The windows look to the street. The front door doesn't look directly onto anyone's front porch. It looks to the middle of the cul -de -sac. We just moved from the Forrest Glen West Phase II and III and there are 3 or 4 houses in that subdivision on corner lots with the exact look priced in access of $450,000.00. Fonda Kunkel asked what the size of those lots was. Doug Terry said 80 x 120, but it's a corner lot. We have a corner lot in Forrest Glen and it's 90 x 130 deep where this lot is not. We didn't develop this subdivision. My point is from a standpoint of aesthetics this house is going to have an extremely appealing look to it. This one will be just as nice. The house we are building on the corner that is almost finished is all brick, rock and stone. Brian Crowson asked how many square feet was this house. Doug Terry said 2900 square feet, two stories. Brian Crowson asked if the customers came to him asking for a 3600 square foot house. Or do you have floor plans? Doug Terry said yes they did. We are custom builders and there are no floor plans to pick from. He said they came to us and said they want a media room and master bedroom downstairs, an oversize family room and or kitchen, bedroom upstairs and study downstairs. That is what they told us they wanted. When we laid that out based on the dimensions of what they wanted per in their rooms, this is the size the house came out to be. We actually had shrunk it , it was actually larger than that. It's a gorgeous home and I'd be happy to share with the whole group if they can put it on the screen, the first and second floor looks and how gorgeous it is. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 8 Doug Terry said the outside will have complete rock columns on the front, rock and brick elevations all over it front and back, decorative window treatments around it like the other houses. Every other house in the subdivision has the same type look. But again, I want to point out we are not tract builders, we are custom builders. One issue that I want to point out, the house next door is sitting back 10 feet further than every other house. His is 30 feet back and the others are 20 feet back. Several people said that is not true, if you pull it up its not accurate they stated out loud. There was a general discussion about the size of the lots in the subdivision. Jerry Henry said he has some other issues. He said it seems like none of the neighbors feelings have been known to Mr. Edwards until tonight. Doug Terry said that is correct, nor to him. Jerry Henry asked Mr. Edwards if he even wants to build this house in the neighborhood with all the input said tonight. Chairman Duer called Mr. Edwards to podium. Trent Edwards came forward saying he was so mad at the moment he couldn't answer so just to ask him some questions. Jerry Henry said given what the neighbors are saying what they have said; do you still want to build that home on that lot? Trent Edwards said he didn't know if he wanted to build a home on the lot at all the way everyone has acted. Brian Crowson said he would take up with the residents by saying they are not mad at him. There was an argument between the neighbors about what said "not good neighbors." Trent Edwards introduced himself to the audience stating he has been a football coach, a special education teacher for 15 years, co -lead Special Olympics coach for Grapevine Colleyville ISD. Mr. Edwards told Mr. Shrivel that he has been nothing but rude the entire time and if he steps on his yard one more time he was going to slap criminal trespassing charges and have him arrested, he had his turn now let the others talk. Chairman Duer tried to calm Mr. Edwards but stating he knows his is very difficult and not the let personal attacks to interfere with facts of the case. Trent Edwards said they purchased the lot with assumption that it was a certain size and the City approved it. The first floor plan was smaller than what have now. It had to grow because of halls upstairs, bigger room and moving a room upstairs. The actual slab shrunk. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 9 Doug Terry interjected saying that is where the additional footage comes in because the hallways are getting from one side to the other. There was another discussion between Board, Staff and Mr. Edwards about what could happen if this doesn't get resolved tonight and how the house could fit the lot. Jerry Henry said there are four findings of fact that we have to go with before making a decision, but he wanted to hear from the homeowner if he even wanted to go forward even if he got the variance. Trent Edwards said he is concerned about the neighbors smaller homes impacted his property value and that is would be brought down. It has a commercial grade kitchen it in and has other great things. He said they have never owned a house and this is what they wanted. If this variance is granted tonight, we would break ground and file with the City tomorrow and get the plans approved and start immediately. I'll bet these neighbors have seen me out there driving out Toyota Camry on a nightly basis. We have seen the progress and have been so excited. When we saw the stake on the bottom corner was lying on the ground and knew there was a problem. But yes, will build on that lot and build the house we have planned right now. Regarding the garage door, I specifically said I wanted a wood garage door, in fact the neighbors to the south it will be almost the same except for the arches. Doug Terry said Trent Edwards has spent more time, money and hours designing this plan than any client that my wife has worked with for over 15 years. We build houses that are typically in access of 5000 square feet. He knows what he wants and where he wants it. Trent Edwards said the front elevations are on his phone but not able to show tonight. He gave examples on the monitors about what the elevations would look like. Chairman Duer asked if it was appropriate to ask how much money Mr. Edwards has spent so far on the lot and engineer work. Trent Edwards said right now, roughly $23,000 - $26,000. There is a storage unit behind the cul -de -sac that has commodes, sinks, plumbing just waiting to go. There is $10,000 plus just sitting in the storage unit. The lot is another $48,000 and has been paid for already. Doug Terry said the water tap and building permit fee was in access of $6000 for the first one. The plan design was in access of $3000 per plan and has drawn 2 plans. Trent Edwards said add another $9000 to the original price. Brian Crowson asked Doug Terry if any time he told his client his house was too big for this lot. Doug Terry said no, we discussed it, but it is really not my call to say as a home builder to tell a client you are building too much for too little. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 10 Trent Edwards said the original plan was 260 square feet smaller. When we went to this one, it jumped up to almost 37 and we brought it back down. The square footage is misleading because our daughter, who is a pre -med student at Baylor, will have a room upstairs when she comes back and it's 13x16. It's a huge room but it's upstairs so that increased it a little. There was general lengthy discussion from the all parties at the monitor about measurements, setbacks, house design, and fence locations between all parties. Jerry Henry asked Randal Shircel if the conditions could be restricted with the variance, is there any way to satisfy him to have a view of the street. Randal Shircel said honestly there is not, because of the angle of how the house would be sitting, you will see brick and fence out my daughter's window. At the 20 feet you would barely see the home; it would not obstruct the view to the cul -de -sac. But with the extra 10 feet it would obstruct the view; you would look out the window and see the back of a house if this plan approved as is. Jerry Henry said we could also require him to put in some landscaping to cover up the corner of the house. Randal Shircel said nothing against the homeowners. He said he is sorry he came across rude to them, but to the builder, most definitely just because of the past. My front yard is tiny now so with this variance, it makes it look even smaller. I would rather look at driveway for 10 feet and the possibility of a car sitting there than have a building there, regardless of landscaping or not. Jerry Henry said given that 20 foot setback on the other side, I don't think there is physically a way to get a 2000 square foot home on that lot and put the garage on your side. Chairman Duer walked to the monitor and said asked about the possibility of curving the front of the house instead of at a straight line. There was a general discussion between the Board, Staff and homeowners about this possibility. Doug Terry came forward stating that the fence would be in place no matter what, it would be the same scenario. He said even if he could reconstruct the home and pick up two feet, is two feet enough? Chairman Duer asked Mr. Shircel if that would be enough? The reason we have to make these decisions for traffic studies on corner lots but that is not a concern here because it is a circle, but is something additional that would allow a little more of what he is asking for. Randal Shircel said it goes back to the fact that I would not have bought the house. Fonda Kunkel asked what did he envision next door when he bought the house. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 11 Randal Shircel said when he asked what the restrictions were and measured from the sidewalk 20 feet from my property line, marked and walked it on my property line and both my wife and I stood there and asked each other if we were ok with this, we said yes. Plus all the homes in the neighborhood have that style of line of site, not one sticks out in front of the other even in some of the larger homes on odd shaped lots. We decided to stay because of the school and the house fit us. Jerry Henry said the fence would have still been there all the way to the 20 foot line regardless with another house. Randal Shircel said he would have been fine with that. Jerry Henry said that is more restrictive than this house to your view. There was a discussion about walking the property line and measuring what would take place. Jerry Henry said the fence will be there when he builds his house we can tell him not to bring the fence past a certain point so you still get the same view you were going to have. Randal Shircel said no because you would not be looking a t the back of a house. Jerry Henry said no, would not, the fence will be there and you won't see the house. There was a discussion about what would be seen from the window whether it be a fence or the house. Jerry Henry said if we turn this down, the next person that comes in can put that fence without ever having to ask us for anything and it would be in the exact same spot that it would be if we grant this variance. There was another discussion between all the parties about how this scenario could work and satisfy all involved. Margaret Hester, 7920 Bella Court came forward saying she objects to the comment that a house cannot be put on that lot and it wouldn't fit because of it was not measured properly. A house substantially smaller could go there and look nice. The only problem that most of the homeowners have is it is too large for the lot. She said no one is angry with the Edwards at all, this is just sad that there is a problem. There was more discussion between all parties about the placement of the house. Chairman Duer asked Doug Terry to show what portion of the second floor would be in the front of the 20 foot building line. Doug Terry came to the monitor and showed where it would be placed; there was another discussion about this placement. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 12 Chairman Duer asked Staff if we break this up into two variances because we cannot get past the front building line issue then we can't go to the rear space. Dave Pendley said yes, you can probably do that. If you did that you would ease up the rear yard but then another plan to address the front yard. If the variance is denied the applicant cannot come back for another variance unless it is substantially different so there would have to be a plan change and the City attorney would have to approve it. This is not the place to argue how much of a change would be substantial; the attorney would have to be involved in that. Chairman Duer said he doesn't see how we can get around the rear percentage because this lot was just so strangely drawn, even if they pull the back of the house forward to allow for the 20 % they are even more restricted on the depth of the house even with the 20 foot building line. Jerry Henry said that clarifies his point, you can put a house with one or the other, but not with both. If we turn this down we will still have to get a variance on this lot. Chairman Duer said this is a very unusual meeting, there are many wide differences of opinion but as a Board we have to make some kind of a vote. The Public Hearing was closed at 9:06 p.m. and opened up for discussion or motion by the Board. Brian Crowson motioned to reject the variance. Fonda Kunkel said two of the findings of fact would fit the neighbor next door if he tries to sell the house if he was coming before us. She read the four findings out loud (a) literal enforcement of the controls will create an unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty in the development of the affected property (b) the situation causing the hardship or difficulty is neither self- imposed nor generally affecting all or most properties in the same zoning district (c) the relief sought will not injure the permitted use of adjacent conforming property (d) the granting of the variance will be in the harmony with the spirit and purposes of these regulations. Jerry Henry spoke up and said he is struggling with (c) it really doesn't injure the permitted use of the lot, but I was hoping we could reach an agreed compromise that would satisfy all parties. Fonda Kunkel said there are a lot of parties involved. Jerry Henry said yes, but there is really only one affected by the four findings of fact we have to come up with. Brian Crowson said his concern is a house can go on this property without even coming to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. This house is just so big it has a hard time fitting on this lot without a variance. Dave Pendley spoke up and said we need to verify if the alternate can make the motion. August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 13 There was a general discussion about the rules of the Board. Dave Pendley confirmed that the alternate can make the motion, the meeting continued. Jerry Henry asked Dave Pendley if City Staff has looked at the new size of this lot and determined a reasonable square footage that could be built on and comply with the 20% backyard and 20 foot setback. Dave Pendley said no, we did not make that calculation. It's probably in the 2200 range, but it can be met by going two stories. Chairman Duer asked if there was second to the motion to deny. He asked if there was a motion to approve the variance. Jerry Henry read the first finding of fact. He said it is agreed by all. Fonda Kunkel spoke up and said what caused the hardship was the size of house Jim Kemp said no, it was the poor platting of the property. Brian Crowson said not poor platting, a poor interpretation. There was a general discussion about the platting and what should have happened. Chairman Duer asked if the mistake of the 113 feet discovered by the Staff? Dave Pendley said no, only when they started to work on the foundation. Jerry Henry said the one he is struggling with is "the relief sought will not injure the permitted use of adjacent conforming property ". It doesn't in the fact that a permitted house was already built. Fonda Kunkel asking to clarify what "permitted use" means. Jerry Henry said what was permitted for an allowed use of the property. There are a lot of things like the fence line and other things that will be allowed on the next person or whoever moves in. That fence can go in that exact same locations all the way across and still restrict the same vision. Dave Pendley said would granting this variance harm anyone that allowed as the next door neighbor. Jerry Henry said to clarify would it permit them to use their property that the City would permit them to use it for. Dave Pendley said here is a more classic example, if you had a house and the neighbor wanted to put a horse barn in front of it. It would never be sold with the barn in front. Will the variance cause them harm? August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 14 Chairman Duer said since there was a motion to deny but no second, the motioned was not in force. He said you have to have 4 affirmative votes to get a variance passed. If we have one person who has already rejected it, that brings it to 4 people left and we do not have anyone who has made a motion to approve. APPROVED Jerry Henry motioned to grant the variance BA 2012 -02 due to the findings of fact. He would like to stipulate that the fence not come past the 20 foot building line. John Pitstick said he wanted to clarify the motion. He went to the monitor and it was drawn on the screen. Chairman Duer asked what other things besides fences and house could be constructed up the building line. Dave Pendley said a shed, not that there is much room. We allow sheds to go up to that same front building line although they have to meet a side yard setback too with both getting narrower. The house is the only thing that could be allowed in front of the building line. Chairman Duer said it is been motioned to approve BA 2012 -02 with said stipulation that the front building line of 10 feet would only be for the house. The motion was seconded by Jim Kemp. The motion was approved 4 -0. (Crowson abstained) Chairman Duer said this is extremely hard for all parties involved. 6. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm. Chairman Tom Duer August 23, 2012 ZBA Meting Page 15