Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/19/1993 - Regular Minutes - Zoning Board of AdjustmentsMINUTES Zoning Board of Adjustment • CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS October 19, 1993 7:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Members Gaston, Sawtelle, DeOtte and Rife. (Alternate Member McKean was present to consider agenda item number four.) MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Birdwell and Alternate Members Poston and Hollas. STAFF PRESENT: Staff Planner Kuenzel and Planning Technician Thomas. AGENDA ITEM NO.1: Call meeting to order -explanation of functions of the Board. Mr. Gaston called the meeting to order and explained the functions and limitations of the Board. AGENDA ITEM N0.2: Approval of minutes from the meeting of October 5, 1993. Mr. Sawtelle moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of October 5, 1993 as written. Mr. Rife seconded the motion which passed unopposed (4 - 0). Mr. Sawtelle moved to consider agenda item number four (106 Walton Drive) prior to number three • (Oakwood School) due to the absence of Mr. McKean. Mr. Rife was unable to consider th e0akwood School variance request due to a conflict of interest. Mr. DeOtte seconded the motion which passed unopposed (4 - 0). AGENDA ITEM N0.3: Consideration of a previously tabled special exception request by Michael Layne and Scott Baker to the parking requirements to allow a restaurant at 106 Walton Drive. Mr. Sawtelle moved to remove the special exception request for 106 Walton Drive from the table. Mr. Rife seconded the motion which passed unopposed (4 - 0). Staff Planner Kuenzel informed the Board that at the last meeting, the Board tabled a request to replace the Wilson Plumbing Store with a chicken finger restaurant. The Board was not satisfied that the applicant met the criteria that the proposed use would be less detrimental than the original use. The Board suggested that the following information be provided: (1) a floor plan to the Building Department to determine maximum occupancy; (2) a site plan showing the layout of the drive-through, including proposed traffic flow through the area; and, (3) sign details of all attached and traffic control signs. Staff Planner Kuenzel stated that a formal site plan review, which will take place if the special exception is granted, will determine whether access to adrive-through would be allowed through the existing alley. The portion of the alley on the subject property would have to repaired and later maintained by the City; however, the drive-through concept is acceptable. The new parking requirement with the drive-through would be 1 space per 100 square feet totalling 12 required parking spaces. The applicant is able to provide only 8 spaces which does not include the parking located in the state right-of--way. The Board agreed that the drive-through would work more efficiently if the traffic entered through the alley and exited in the front of the building. • Mr. Gaston informed the audience that the public hearing has remained open to allow for public input. Applicant Scott Baker of 701 Cherry Street in College Station approached the Board and was sworn in by Mr. Gaston. Mr. Baker referred to the Texas Avenue Widening Project and stated that the highway department will provide parking within the state right-of--way. He proposed to allow employee parking in the right-of--way to free up parking on the site for customers. Since the parking requirement has been lowered through the use of adrive-through, virtually all of the parking spaces will be available on site and in the right-of--way. Mr. Gaston closed the public hearing. Mr. Sawtelle stated that he was not convinced that the proposed use is a less intense use than Wilson Plumbing. At best, the proposed use is equally intense to the existing use. Mr. DeOtte informed the Board that there would be a definite improvement to the property even though the proposed use would probably be an equally intense use. Mr. Rife stated that because of the difference in parking requirements between a restaurant and a plumbing business, the proposed use is probably more intense than the existing use. Staff Planner Kuenzel informed the Board that the Zoning Ordinance would require a plumbing business of this size to have a total of five parking spaces; however, because of the success of his business, Mr. Wilson is moving to a larger site. At his new location, he is providing twice the number of parking spaces required by ordinance. • Mr. Gaston stated that Wilson Plumbing normally has four to five company vehicles in front of his existing building. The proposed use would not have as much owner generated parking as the existing use. Mr. Gaston stated that the proposed use is an improvement in that the site will be cleaned up including the outside storage area of water heaters, pipes and other plumbing supplies and the addition of landscaping to bring the site closer to code compliance. However, if another plumbing company wanted to move into the building, they would not have to come before the Board for approval and all of the improvements proposed by the current applicant could not be enforced. Mr. Sawtelle moved to deny the substitution of one non-conforming use for another because the extent of the substituted use is not less detrimental to the environment than the first. The motion to deny the request died due to lack of a second. Mr. Rife questioned staff as to how many parking spaces would be available in the right-of--way area. Staff Planner Kuenzel stated that immediately in front of the building approximately 7 or 8 spaces with a total of 25 to 30 spaces for the shopping center. However, with the widening project, the center would lose a few spaces overall. Mr. Gaston stated that there is usually parking available in the right-of--way area in front of the shopping center. Mr. Sawtelle informed the Board that by denying the request, the shopping center would be greatly improved once it was eventually brought up to current standards. Mr. Sawtelle made the same motion to deny the substitution of one non-conforming use for another because the extent of the substituted use is not less detrimental to the environment than the first. Mr. Rife seconded the motion which passed (3 - 1); Mr. Gaston voted in opposition to the motion. ZBA Minutes October 19, 1993 page 2 Mr. Gaston informed the applicant for the next agenda item, Lisa Cantrell, that Mr. McKean was on his way to the meeting; however, since Mr. Rife is unable to consider the case due to a conflict of • interest, there will only be four members present to consider the case. Ms. Cantrell agreed to allow only four members to consider the request because the school board is also meeting tonight and waiting to hear the results. Mr. Gaston called a short recess to allow Mr. McKean time to arrive. • AGENDA ITEM N0.4: Consideration of a variance request by the College Station Independent School District to the 8' parking lot setback requirements at 105 Holik, Oakwood Intermediate School. Mr. McKean arrived and Mr. Gaston called the meeting to order. Staff Planner Kuenzel presented the staff report to allow the parking lot to be located 2' from the property line for a total variance of 6'. The school district is currently working with the City to dedicate 20 additional feet of right-of--way to Anderson Street. Once the planned improvements to Anderson Street have been completed (sidewalks, bikeways, etc.), about 20 feet will remain between the parking lot and the paved section of the street. In this area of the site, the topography varies; the length of the handicap ramp does not leave adequate room for parking lot dimension requirements. On March 2, 1993, the Board granted a 3' parking lot setback variance for the parking area located off of Holik Street. Setback variances have been granted when there is an unusual amount of right-of--way or when the subject site is tight. Mr. Gaston opened the public hearing. Representative of the applicant, Lisa Cantrell, approached the Board and was sworn in by Mr. Gaston. She informed the Board that the school district and the City are negotiating additional right-of--way along Anderson Street. At this time, the right-of-way has not been dedicated. The additional right-of- way is needed for improvements such as the widening of the street by one lane, a 10' bike lane and an 8' walkway. With the requested variance, there will be approximately 22' from the beginning of the parking lot to the curb of the widened Anderson Street. The City is requesting a total right-of--way width of 90 ; larger than most streets of this size. The additional right-of--way will create a hardship for the applicant in that the parking lot cannot meet the setback requirements without negatively effecting the handicap ramp facilities and overall slope to the building. There is a 9' difference in topography between the parking lot and the building in which a handicap ramp must be installed. Ms. Cantrell informed the Board that the school district has proposed sidewalks throughout the property; however, Anderson Street is a major thoroughfare. Mr. McKean stated that the intent of the ordinance is maintained because more than adequate green space will be located between the parking lot and the street. Jesse Quintanilla of 308 Holik approached the Board and was sworn in by Mr. Gaston. He stated that he was not opposed to the variance request but was interested in what was going to happen to Holik Street. Ms. Cantrell stated that there were no immediate plans for Holik Street past the existing stadium. Mr. Gaston closed the public hearing. Mr. McKean moved to authorize a variance to the parking requirements, section 9, ordinance number 1638, from the terms of this ordinance as it will not be contrary to the public interest, due to the following special conditions: the large right-of-way with bike lane and sidewalk will provide the open space which meets the intent of the ordinance; and because a strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship to this applicant being: sacrifice of property without adequate consideration of the restriction of the use of the property and such that the spirit of this ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done. Mr. Sawtelle seconded the motion. ZBA Minutes October 19, 1993 page 3 Mr. DeOtte moved to amend the motion to grant the variance to include the limitation that the College Station Independent School District dedicate the additional 20' of right-of--way to the City. Mr. Sawtelle seconded the amendment which passed unopposed (4 - 0). . The original motion to approve the variance as amended passed unopposed (4 - 0). AGENDA ITEM NO. S: Other business. There was no other business. AGENDA ITEM N0.6: Adjourn. Mr. Sawtelle moved to adjourn the meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. McKean seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5 - 0). APPROV Cha-rman, Dic Btrdw I TT r P amm~g Tec mcian, atalie omas • ZBA Minutes October 19, 1993 Page 4 Oat ~w~~e ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • FORMAT FOR POSITIVE MOTION Variance from Section 15, Ordinance Number 1638. I move to authorize a variance to the and because a strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship to this applicant being: yard (Section 8.7) lot width (Table A) lot depth (Table A) 1./~ minimum setback parking requirements (Section 9) • from the terms of this ordinance as it will not be contrary to the public interest, due to the11 followinng special conditions: ~ / / v/ v i ~~ G7 j`~ Gv N// ~ Gi/~~/ ~'`D l/~G~"~° //~ E 4`~/C"`i 3jO<,~ C ~' Gl~l., i c `, S~~'s~itiC ~ O~ d~~'z%~~ Gl///l o~ ~~'/~9C~~Z° ~ o Li 5' r G~'~ vain, n !~ o ?" ~~ r p ~T~- ~ ~" ~ ~ ~/ e T , 7~ ~° Li S e ~%y and such that the spirit of this ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done subject to the following limitations: ~Q~ ~~~s~~ ~~!~~ ~~ ~ ~~/~~ ~ ~, // ~ , ~~~~1 _~'~`7` Date ``~~ - - 2 i Motion made by ~ V ~~ ~ 7 Seconded by oting Results '7 " Chair Signature YARP1638.DOC io~(,~~. • ZONIIVG BOARD OF ADJUSTNlb'.NT FORMAT FOR NEGATIVE MOTION Special Exceptions -From Section 15, Ordinance Number 1638 I move to deny the: a. ~ substitution of one non-conforming use for another because the extent of the substituted use is not less detrimental to the environment than the first. b. enlargement of a building devoted to a non- conforming use where such enlargement is not necessary and incidental to the existing use of such building and does increase the area of the building devoted to anon-conforming use more than 25% and does prolong the life of the non-conforming use and prevents a return of such property to a conforming use. c. reconstruction of anon-conforming structure on the lot occupied by such structure as the cost of reconstruction is more than 60% of the appraised value of the structure and because the reconstruction would prevent the return of such property to a conforming use and increase the non-conformity. Motion made by /",~:~/1,~ Motion Seconded by `;~,~ ~..,,,,r: ~~ Voting Chair Date SPCN1638.DOC r Zoning Board of Adjustment i• Guest Register Date ~ 3 Name ~, 1. ~ :. 3. ~~~~~. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Address ~~i~ ~e~sn . c ~ s ~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~ F-~o t; k . c. S ~ ~ ~8 yc ~ °f1 ~G~~-F-~ ~- s