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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/11/1998 - Regular Minutes - Construction Board of Adjustments "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" MINUTES CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS March 11, 1998 6:00 P.M. Training Room MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Dan Sears, Vice Chairman James Holster, Board Members Robert Mooney, Bill Lewis(who arrived late) George McLean MEMBERS ABSENT: Board Member Glenn Thomas, Jean C. Bailey, alternate Wick McKean,alternate Steve Abalos STAFF PRESENT: Building Official Lance Simms, Fire Marshal Jon Mies, Building Technician Lisa Hankins, Senior Secretary Melissa Rodgers AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Call meeting to order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Dan Sears AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Hear visitors for items not on agenda There were no visitors AGENDA ITEM NO.3: Approve minutes from Construction Board of Adhistments and Appeals Meeting on Monday,January 12, 199_. Robert Mooney motioned to approve the minutes, George McLean seconded the motion,The Board concurred, (4-0). AGENDA ITEM NO.4: Consider Variance request 98-003,to request modification to Section 1101.1.2, 1994 Standard Building Code and Section 407.2.2, 1994 Standard Plumbing Code. The applicant is First Federal Savings Bank. Dan Sears asked for staff to explain the variance request. Lance Simms took the floor to explain the variance request. He told the board members that the applicant wanted to change the use of two existing 14'x 24' portable buildings from storage to business(office use). Lance said that initially he understood the buildings would be open to the public, however he found out later that they would be used for staff only. CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS March 11, 1998 Minutes "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" Lance told the board that the applicant said that this proposed office use was only temporary because eventually the applicant anticipated adding on to the main bank building making the use of the portable buildings unnecessary. Lance stated that there were two issues involved here,one building code regulation and one plumbing code regulation. His recommendation was to grant a conditional variance. Specifically, require an accessible entrance to each building and specify a time limit on the use of the buildings. Dan Sears opened the public meeting. Stan Stephen,with First Federal Savings Bank,took the floor to speak in favor of the variance request. He said that these buildings would house bank employees only and they would be dealing with phone customers. He said that the main bank building did have a men's and women's restroom. George Koenig,with First Federal Savings Bank,took the floor to speak in favor of the variance request. He verified what Mr. Stephen's said stating that only bank employees would occupy the buildings, and that he didn't see a need for ADA bathrooms in the portable buildings since there would be no walk-in customers. Mr.Koenig also requested, upon the variance being granted,that the board grant a one and half year timeline to conduct business in the portable buildings until the planned building addition is completed. Dan Sears closed the public meeting. The board held discussion on this variance and directed questions at staff. The board members verified with the applicants that there would only be phone customers. Robert Mooney asked if there were any handicapped employees,to which Mr. Koenig said no. Robert Mooney made a motion to grant the variance with a one and a half year(18 mo.)time limit to occupy the buildings,allowing for construction of the add-on to the existing bank. George McLean seconded the motion, the board concurred, (4-0). AGENDA ITEM NO.5: Consider Variance Request 98-004 to request modification to Chapter 6, Section 1,Amendment No. 5(a),603.1.3 A,Code of Ordinances,"Installation and Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and Appliances." The applicant is Keith Ellis, Dan Sears asked staff to explain the variance request. Jon Mies, Fire Marshal,took the floor to tell the board that the variance involved an annexed portion of property,which included 25.79 acres. The applicant applied for a permit to construct a single family residence on part of that property. Jon said that the City of College Station recently acquired the rights to serve water to that part of town,which is currently being serviced by the Wellborn Water System, however the City of College Station's water lines do not extend to said property. Jon said the applicant is asking for a variance from the fire hydrant requirement because it would be a considerable distance to run the water lines and pose a great cost to the applicant. CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS March 11, 1998 Minutes page 2 "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" Jon also said that the applicant did not offer to install an automatic sprinkler system, therefore staff did not support the variance request as it is presented. However, staff would support the variance if the applicant agreed to sprinkle the residence as two previous applicants had in past variance requests'. Jon told the board that he obtained bids from different companies on the cost of installing a residential sprinkler system and determined that the cost of the system would be around 1.9%of the total cost of construction. Jon said that considering the cost of construction for the house was approximately$400,000, he didn't feel that requiring a sprinkler system would be a significant burden. Dan Sears asked the Fire Marshal to explain the procedure for extinguishing a fire in this type of situation. Jon Mies said that they would have to shuttle water in because the water lines on the fire truck would not reach the closest fire hydrant,which is located over 1200 feet away. Jon said they would also have to call in the volunteer fire departments to help shuttle in water,because most fire trucks only carry about 500 gallons of water. Jon told the board that all buildings whether residential or commercial,face the problem of being a total loss in this situation. Dan Sears opened the public hearing Mr.Brian Perry took the floor to speak in favor of the variance request. Mr. Perry said that his family has been living on the property in question in an existing house and about 18 months ago the property was annexed into the city. After the property was annexed, Mr.Perry told the board he decided to build his house and was then told that prior to issuance of a building permit a fire hydrant would be required. He told the board that there was a pond on the property and a swimming pool was to be constructed as part of the new construction. Mr. Perry said that he had talked to an insurance company who said they offered discounts for residences with pond or pools for the fire department to pump out water in the case of a fire. He said that he also received quotes for a sprinkler system,which cost approximately$6,800. Mr. Perry said the main reason they objected to a sprinkler system is because of the decor planned for the house,and the sprinkler heads just didn't go with the decor. He said he talked to an insurance agent who verified that a discount of about 8%could be given for a sprinkler system and they had estimated that they would probably spend around$10,000 on a system for that size house. Mr. Perry said that it would take many years for the savings on insurance premiums to offset the cost of installation of a sprinkler system. He requested that the board grant the variance request. Dan Sears closed the public hearing. The board held discussion on the variance and asked staff questions. Robert Mooney asked Jon Mies about the possibility of extending the water lines further,and Jon said he talked to the Engineering Department and they said that was considered a capitol improvement project. Mr. Mooney asked Jon about pumping water from the existing pond on the property, and Jan said the Fire Department didn't have the equipment needed for this. Jon said in addition to the equipment needed for pumping water out of a pond,you have to have a sound surface in which to get the fire trucks close enough to the water. Jon also said that getting to a swimming pool presented the same problem. Jon told the board even if the Fire Department could get the proper pumping equipment, a pond is not a reliable source of water. Jon Mies told the board the tanks on the pumper trucks have 500 gallon tanks pumping about 175 gallons a minute,portable equipment cannot do that. Jon said it would not take long to use up that amount of water. The board again asked Jon to explain why the fire trucks couldn't get to a pond or pool. CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEAL March 11, 1998 Minutes page 3 "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" Jon said considering the weight of the fire trucks,the water tanks and all the related equipment, the trucks would only make it a few feet off a hard surface before they started sinking. Robert Mooney asked Jon Mies about the benefits of the sprinkler systems. Jon said residential sprinkler systems offer first rate protection dispersing roughly seven to ten gallons per sprinkler head per minute. He gave the board some examples of apartments which had experienced small flash fires,he said the sprinkler head extinguished the fire in minutes. He stressed how advantageous it was to have a sprinkler system. James Holster made a motion to grant the variance; no second, motion failed for lack of second. Robert Mooney made a motion to deny the variance request,George Mclean seconded,vote was 3-2, motion failed because four(4)affirmative votes are required,(Chapter 3, Section 1,E, 2, (c) ). The board held further discussion on the variance. Dan opened the public hearing again to let the applicant speak. Keith Ellis,the contractor/applicant for the proposed residence,asked for verification of water supply to the property. Jon Mies confirmed previous statements mentioned earlier in the meeting regarding water supply to the property. The owner,Mr. Bruce Perry took the floor to explain why he felt he should not be required to install a sprinkler system. He cited reasons such as circumstances involved in the annexation, the cost of sprinkler systems,etc. Dan Sears closed public hearing The board verified with staff that the previous variances granted were granted based in part on the fact that the applicant was willing to install a sprinkler system. The board held further discussion among themselves Robert Mooney made a motion to table the variance request until the next meeting. Motion failed for lack of a second. At that time, the owner agreed to provide a sprinkler system for the proposed residence. Robert Mooney made a motion to grant the variance with the condition an NFPA 13D sprinlder system be installed, George Mclean seconded the motion, James Holster abstained from voting, motion passed with 4-0 vote. AGENDA ITEM NO.6: Other Business AGENDA ITEM NO.. 7: Adjourn CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS March II, 1998 Minutes page 4 "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" APPROVED: c)Z-?/--> , Chairman: Dan Sears A ITST: B 1 ng n cian: Lisa Hankins CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS March 11, 1998 Minutes page 5