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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/21/1992 - Regular Minutes - Zoning Board of Adjustments MINUTES Zoning Board of Adjustment CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS City Hall Council Room July 21, 1992 7:00 P.M. i~ MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairperson Baker, Members Sawtelle, Gaston and Birdwell and Alternate Member Whittlesey. Alternate Member Davis was in the audience. (Council Liaison Hubbard Kennady was in the audience.) MEMBERS ABSENT: Member De Otte, and Alternate Members Phinney, Mc Kean and De Loach. STAFF PRESENT: Staff Planner Kuenzel, Planning Technician Thomas and Assistant City Attorney Coates AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Presentation of service plaques by Mayor Larry J. Ringer. Mayor Ringer presented service plaques to Brett Henry, Gayla Smith and Hubbard Kennady and thanked them for their dedication and service on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Call to Order -Explanation and Functions of the Board. Chairperson Baker called the meeting to order and explained the functions and limitations of the Board. AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Approval of Minutes from the meeting of June 16, 1992. Mr. Sawtelle moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of June 16, 1992 as written. Mr. Birdwell seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5 - 0). Chairperson Baker informed the public that item number five would be considered before item number four. AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Consideration of a rear setback variance request by J' nmy Riddle to Ordinance #1638, setback requirements, for the property located at ~~ Manassas Court to allow the addition of a carport and workshop structure within ten feet of the rear property line. Staff Planner Kuenzel presented the staff report requesting a variance to the rear setback requirements. The southeast corner of this lot is v~nthin the 100 year floodplain and this particular area of Raintree experiences a high level of flooding. Most single family houses • are built directly on the twenty-five foot front setback line m order to create as much useable yard space in the rear as possible. This house was built back further from the building line because the front portion of the lot, although not on the designated floodplain, is also prone to flooding. The applicant proposes a ten foot setback for a storage building, a variance of five feet, and a ten foot setback for the carport, a variance of ten feet. The • applicant intends to enclose the garage and convert it into a recreation room. At present, this house has 1425 square feet of heated area. The addition will increase this area to 1887 square feet. The Board must decide if the topography and floodplain in addition to the position of this building in relation to the site constitute special conditions. The applicant argues that they are in need of additional living space. The only place to expand that would be in compliance with setback requirements would be within the rear yard area. This alternative would block light and air to the back part of the house. The intent of the ordinance is to maintain low density and to provide adequate separation of buildings for the purposes of safety and open air. Eighteen surrounding property owners were notified with no response. Applicant Jimmy W. Riddle approached the Board and was sworn in by Chairperson Baker. He stated that he is requesting the variance in order to allow more living space. He has talked with the neighbors that adjoin the rear property line and they have no problem with the addition. Mr. Riddle explained that drainage in this area of Raintree is an ongoing problem. There is usually one foot of water at the intersection of Manassas and Wilderness and with the recent rains, Wilderness Drive has been under five feet of water at times. There have also been times when water is one foot deep in the driveway which would make an addition to the front of the home impossible. The proposed driveway will be located further away from Wilderness Drive and further away from the floodplain. The house was originally setback further than the required twenty -five feet in order to preserve a large water oak tree. With the new driveway and carport, the truck and boat that are currently parked in the street, will be moved. Mr. Riddle concluded that the proposed storage building cannot be added to the existing garage because the only windows of the living area would be blocked. • Mr. Birdwell informed the applicant that parking a boat in the street for a prolonged period of time is prohibited by City ordinance. Assistant City Attorney Coates explained that a boat or trailer could not be parked in the street for more than seventy-two hours in a thirty day period. Mr. Sawtelle questioned staff as to purchasing a home near the 100 and 500 year floodplain creating a hardship. Does this create a hardship for all properties located near or in the floodplain? Assistant City Attorney Coates stated that past Zoning Board of Adjustment cases have considered topography and size of a lot a factor in granting a variance. A hardship is generally something natural that cannot be altered; however, it is ultimately up to the Board to determine a hardship in each individual case. Mr. Sawtelle informed the Board that the "Zoning Handbook" states that a personal hardship is not grounds for a variance; however, a unique condition to a property is grounds for granting a variance. The flooding in this area could potentially be a unique condition. Mr. Sawtelle moved to authorize a variance to the minimum setback requirements from Section 15, Ordinance Number 1638 as it will not be contrary to the public interest, due to the following special conditions: periodic flooding makes access to property difficult; and because a strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship to this applicant being inability to access property; and such that the spirit of this ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done. Mr. Birdwell seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5 - 0). • Mr. Birdwell informed staff that there have been several additional setback variances granted than listed in the staff report; including one granted for an accessory building on his property. ZBA Minutes July 21, 1992 Page 2 • Staff Planner Kuenzel stated that she tries to provide a list of cases representative of the actual request; however, the list is somewhat a summary and not all inclusive. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: Consideration of a sign variance request by Todd & Compa~r to Ordinance #1638, sign regulations, for the Brazos Square Shopping Center located m the 2300 block of Texas Avenue, east of the Target site. Staff Planner Kuenzel presented the staff report requesting to raise the existing monument sign a total of six feet in height. The current height of the sign is fourteen feet the maximum allowed for this specific location) and the proposed height is twenty feet. is variance request is part of a joint effort between the City and the two shopping centers to relocate an existing drive in an effort to alleviate poor driveway separation. The new drive will now be around the existing monument sign. The location of the existing sign, in a median in the center of the new drive, creates a sight barrier for drivers exiting the Brazos Square site. Current access to this site is provided by a shared drive with the adjacent strip center to the south and an access point located near the Target drive opening along Texas Avenue; this drive will be relocated to the center of the Brazos Square shopping center and a cross-access drive will exist between the Brazos Square and Target parking lots. One particular hardship in this case may be the fact that the shopping center owners do not wish to create unsafe driving conditions for its patrons. An alternative to the variance request is to relocate the sign to an interior median. The ordinance intent, as it would pertain to this case, is limiting the number of signs to prevent, "the proliferation of signs that creates commercial confusion and makes it difficult for travelers to locate goods and services they seek". Thirteen surrounding property owners were notified with no response. Mr. Gaston stated that he supported closing the existing Brazos Square driveway and the • right turn only lane into the Target site; however, the Brazos Square shopping center has adequate access without adding a third access point. If the objective is to decrease the number of access points along Texas Avenue, existing drives should not be relocated. Transportation Planner Hard stated that he agreed; however, in order to obtain the cross access agreement between Brazos Square and Target, the City agreed to participate in the relocation of the entrance drive. More than likely, Brazos Square would not have participated in the cross access agreement without another access drive. With the existing drive relocated, the distance between the Brazos Square and Target driveways would be approximately 300 feet apart. Mr. Sawtelle stated that he disagreed that there would be a sight distance problem if the existing sign were not raised or relocated. There are at least two car lengths from the sign to Texas Avenue; so, the first two cars should have adequate visibility of traffic on Texas Avenue. Transportation Planner Hard stated that the first car would have adequate visibility; however, the second car would have difficulty seeing southbound traffic. Brazos Square is proposing to raise the sign at their expense; the City is only participating in the relocation of the access drive. Staff is in support of applicant. Applicant Robert Todd approached the Board and was sworn in by Chairperson Baker. He stated that the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission requested that the two parking lots be tied together. Prior to this request, the owners of the shopping center were looking into modifying the existing signage of the shopping center. These plans were • postponed until the driveway relocation and cross-access agreement issues were resolved. In conjunction with City staff, the owners decided that the proposed driveway configuration would be much safer if the existing sign were raised. The overall area of the sign will not be increased; the proposal is to raise the existing sign a total of six feet for visibility purposes. ZBA Minutes July 21, 1992 Page 3 • Mr. Sawtelle stated that he would be inclined to deny the variance request. The proposed driveway relocation is not needed because there is adequate access to the site. The new Target entrance is much better than the proposed or existing entrance in that there is a dedicated right turn only lane that leads directly into the Target parking lot and provides access to the Brazos Square shopping center. Mr. Gaston agreed with Mr. Sawtelle that the proposed third access point to the Brazos Square shopping center is not needed. There are restaurants at Southwest Parkway and Texas Avenue that do not have individual access to Texas Avenue that are doing fine. Mr. Birdwell stated that this situation is different in that the Target entrance drive is not a street busy street like Southwest Parkway. He moved to authorize a variance to the sign regulations, from Section 12, Ordinance 1638 from the terms of this ordinance as it will not be contrary to the public interest due to the following unique special conditions not generally found within the City: complying sign restricts sight distance; and because a strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in substantial hardship to this applicant being: restrict sight distance of cars entering Texas Avenue; and such that the spirit and intent of this ordinance shall be preserved and the general interests of the public and applicant served. Mr. Gaston seconded the motion and moved to amend the motion to include that the square footage of the existing sign will not be increased. Mr. Whittlesey seconded the amendment which passed (4 1 ; Mr. Sawtelle voted in opposition to the amendment. The motion as amended passed 4 - 1); Mr. Sawtelle voted in opposition to the motion. Assistant City Attorney Coates explained that in order to grant a variance, there must be at least four votes in favor of granting the variance. He questioned Mr. Whittlesey as to • whether he lived within the city limits of College Station. Mr. Whittlesey stated that he did not live within the city limits; however, he did live with the extra territorial jurisdiction of the City. Assistant City Attorney Coates informed the Board that Mr. Whittlesey could not serve on the Zoning Board of Adjustment because he did not reside within the city limits; however, Mr. Davis, an alternate member to the Board, is present in the audience and could serve in Mr. Whittlese 's lace and vote on this articular case. Y P P Chairperson Baker asked Mr. Davis if he would be willing to serve and vote on this case. Mr. Davis agreed and approached the Board. Chairperson Baker asked the applicant if he would be willing to allow Mr. Davis to vote in this case; if not, another public hearing could be scheduled to reconsider the variance request. Mr. Todd agreed to allow Mr. Davis to serve on the Board and vote on the variance request. Mr. Birdwell moved to authorize a variance to sign regulations, from Section 12, Ordinance 1638 from the terms of this ordinance as it will not be contrary to the public interest due to the following unique special conditions not generally found within the City: complying sign restricts sight distance; and because a strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in substantial hardship to this applicant being: restrict sight distance of cars entering Texas Avenue; and such that the spirit and intent of this ordinance shall be preserved and the general interests of the public and applicant served, subject to the following limitations: construct sign according to drawing presented and there shall be no increase in square footage from existing sign. Mr. Gaston seconded the motion which passed (4 - 1); Mr. Sawtelle voted in opposition to the motion. AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Other business. • Staff Planner Kuenzel addressed Mr. Sawtelle's concern raised in a previous meeting regarding the location of trees directly under power lines. She stated that the City has started to look at this problem when approving landscaping plans for new developments; ZBA Minutes July 21, 1992 Page 4 • however, there is a problem when there is not room on the site to relocate the trees. In order to meet the landscaping ordinance requirements, half of the required points must be claimed in canopy trees. n order to mitigate the damages caused by locating trees under power lines, the City is requesting slow growing trees and locating the trees off-center of the power lines. Mr. Sawtelle informed the Board that the City has approved the location of trees directly under power lines all along Texas Avenue. In the near future, a major thoroughfare will be lined with flat top trees. Mr. Sawtelle suggested the use of crepe myrtles in place of the trees currently located under power lines. Staff Planner Kuenzel informed the Board that a crepe myrtle is not classified as a canopy tree and would not be an acceptable substitute under the current ordinance. Mr. Sawtelle stated that the City has caused this problem and should buy back the existing trees located under power lines and replace them with crepe myrtles. The City should place v 'd t is roblem with future develo ments. overhead utilities under round so as to a of h g P P Mr. Birdwell stated that placing the existing utilities along Texas Avenue underground would be a very costly endeavor. He suggested that Mr. Sawtelle approach the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Community Appearance Committee as a concerned citizen and request their assistance in resolving the problem. Staff Planner Kuenzel updated the Board on the details of the parking variance request for the previous Rita's Eaterie and Cantina site. She explained that the adjacent Culpepper Plaza parking lot is under the same ownership and that the Zoning Ordinance would not . require a parking variance in this particular case. AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: Adjourn. Mr. Sawtelle moved to adjourn the meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. Birdwell seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5 - 0). APP D: irperson, nd er ATT lanni g echmcian, ata ie omas ZBA Minutes July 21, 1992 Page S i~ ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT GUEST REGISTER DATE NAME ADDRESS 1. 2. r`-e ~ 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. ig. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. a „/`~I