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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBZA 09-26-22 , ... .„... City of C \\ a, !NDIAti/ Carmel Board of Zoning Appeals Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, September 26, 2022 Location: Carmel City Hall Council Chambers,2'Flr., 1 Civic Sq.,Carmel,IN 46032 Members Present: Alan Potasnik(President),James Hawkins(Vice President),Brad Grabow,Leo Dierckman, Kent Broach DOCS Staff Present: Angie Conn—Planning Administrator;Joe Shestak-BZA Secretary;Mike Hollibaugh—Director of DOCS Legal Counsel: Sergey Grechukhin,Allison Lynch-Mcgrath Time of Meeting: 6:00 PM Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting: A Motion made by Grabow and seconded by Dierckman to approve the meeting minutes from the August 22,2022,BZA meeting.Approved 5-0. Public Hearings: (V)Napleton Genesis of Carmel Sign Variances. The applicant seeks the following development standards variance approval: 1. Docket No. PZ-2022-00123 V UDO Section 5.39.H.2- 1 sign allowed,4 signs requested. 2. Docket No. PZ-2022-00138 V UDO Section 5.39.H- Signs must face a street frontage(east); Signs facing south requested. The site is located at 4240 E. 96th Street. It is zoned B3/Business and is partially in the SFHA/Special Flood Hazard Area. Filed by Rick Lawrence of Nelson& Frankenberger LLP on behalf of EFN Crossroads Property, LLC. Petitioner: Rick Lawrence: • We are seeking variance approvals for additional signage • Presented Site Location and Site Plan, the dealership will be constructed on the SW corner of the site • Presented Elevations that show the locations of the three wall signs • Presented Rendering of the ground sign that will be located off of the roundabout • Presented Landscape Plan at the base of the ground sign • We ask for approval to allow the installation of the ground and wall signs presented at tonight's meeting Public Comments: None Rebuttal to Public Comments: Department Report: Angie Conn • The Petitioner has requested two variances related to signage. They have worked with Staff to address all of our concerns and comments. • Staff recommends positive consideration of the variances and the adoption of the Petitioner's findings of fact Board Comments: Brad: What is the level of compliance in this area with the car dealership test drives going through the Williamson Run subdivision and with inventory cars from the dealership parked along Randall Drive?Angie Conn: We did receive written correspondences from a neighbor of Williamson Run of these issues. I will defer to the Petitioner to address these. Rick Lawrence: We did receive copies of the neighbor's comments of the cars parked on the street. Those parked cars Iare from construction workers and not dealership cars. There has been a delay in the construction of the service center, but once completion of the parking lot is done,those workers can park in the lot. Code Enforcement has been to this site, and since it's a public street and cars are allowed to park on a public street, no violations have occurred. There's currently a "No Test Drive"sign on Randall Drive but we are willing to add a second sign if needed. The dealership management has been telling the sales team not to do test drives through the subdivision. 1 BZA Regular Meeting Minutes 9-26-22 A Motion made by Grabow and seconded by Dierckman to approve PZ-2022-00123 V&PZ-2022-00138 V with the Condition the Dealership to relocate or add a"No Test-Driving"sign and the adoption of the Petitioner's Findings of Fact submitted. Approved 5-0. (V)King Residence Variances. The applicant seeks the following development standards variance approvals: 3. Docket No. PZ-2022-00159 V UDO Section 3.64.C.1 — Maximum 55' house width allowed,80' requested. 4. Docket No. PZ-2022-00161 V UDO Section 3.64.C.11 — Buildings shall not exceed the height of the tallest dimension of the nearest 2 Character Buildings by more than 7', 12' requested. 5. Docket No. PZ-2022-00162 V UDO Section 5.79.J — Maximum 24"window well encroachments into yard allowed; 42"encroachment requested. The site is located at 401 1st Ave NE(CW Weidler's Addition Lot 1 and part Lot 2). It is zoned R3/Residence and Old Town Overlay Character Subarea. Filed by John Hefton of Old Town Design Group on behalf of Thomas& Yvonne King, owners. Petitioner: Justin Moffett,Old Town Design Group: • We represent the homeowners who want to build a new home in Old Town • We know there's a difference of opinion and sensitivity in content to the adjacent homes • After I spoke with the homeowners and got a better idea of what they wanted • Presented an aerial view of the previous existing home,the home has been recently demoed • Our clients wanted a wider home to match the width of the actual lot space • Across the street are two duplex units of with an average of 74-ft wide structure widths • We have unique situation at each block in Old Town,and some lots are wider than what is a typical lot in downtown Carmel. The subject lot is 90-ft wide. • Presented photo of a wide home on a corner lot that was supportive of Planning Staff for a lot width variance • The existing lot is a wide lot, and the owner wants to have a wider home to preserve the rear yard space • Presented floor plan, they will stair stepping back the home, so the width isn't felt at the street front per the full degree of the variance request for house width • Presented elevations, after hearing Staff's feedback,we removed 2-ft off the height • Presented floor plan, there's a contradiction between building code and window well building standards. We would like more natural light, so we needed larger window wells. • We are not asking for lot coverage variance request, which is the number request for this area Public Comments: None Department Report: Angie Conn • Staff thinks the site could be designed to comply with the Ordinance, so Staff is considering negative recommendation of the 3 variance requests • Per building code, only one window well is required if there's a bedroom in the basement. The Client wants more window wells to allow for natural light in the proposed fitness room and sitting room • If approved, we ask for a condition of approval that the Petitioner addresses the concerns from the neighbor to the north that the construction traffic doesn't block their driveway Board Comments: Jim: With 4,000 sq. ft. for the main floor, about 2,600 sq. ft for the basement, and a 3-car garage. Is this normal for this area,or is this unique?Angie Conn: It is a trend we are seeing for this area. People are building homes to age-in-place. This lot is so large, and we think they can comply with the district standards in the Ordinance. Leo: How many feet is it to the side yard property line from the window well?Justin Moffett: 1 'h ft. Leo: How wide is a lawn mower? Justin Moffett: About 22 inches. Leo: Will a lawn mower be encroaching into the neighbor's yard. How do you get around this?Justin Moffett: This does present a challenge. Modest adjustments to the plan so a lawn mower can pass is a reasonable request. Brad: How are the two nearest character buildings identified?Angie Conn: The UDO has a marking(map)of all the 2 BZA Regular Meeting Minutes 9-26-22 character houses. Brad: For this case is one of the two-character buildings an adjacent house to the subject site?Angie Conn: There's a 1 1/2 story bungalow immediately to the north. Justin Moffett: This creates a practical difficulty question for us. The UDO markings are from 20 years ago but there hasn't been an update to show the newly constructed homes since then. IAlan Potasnik: Staff report says it's not appropriate for the Old Town Overlay District. What do you mean by it's not appropriate?Is it just the height?Angie Conn: It has to do when a Petitioner comes in with multiple variances, and the Overlay District was placed to preserve the character of the district. Alan: Do you believe a house such as this affects the overall character of the Overlay District?Angie Conn: Yes, we think it impacts the immediate area and as well as the neighborhood and goals of the Overlay District. Leo: Can you shrink the house so that there's enough room for a lawn mower to pass next to the window well and not encroach into the neighbor's yard?Justin Moffett: Presents floor plan, that's a practical solution for us. There are tradeoffs to this. We can have a deeper house and not as wide of house, but the client requested for a larger backyard. We have had similar window well requests in Old Town. Leo: What's your solution for this?Justin Moffett: The client can request a 24-inch window well or we can shrink the floor plan. Alan: Does the Petitioner wish to continue this or to go forward without the window well request?Justin Moffett: We don't wish to table,and we don't want to remove our window well request without consulting with our client. We will move forward tonight with all of our requests. Brad: What's the height of the main level?Justin Moffett: Presents front Elevation, we are 2 '/2 feet above extending grade. Getting access to the rear from the alley to the garage sets the overall level of the house. A Motion made by Dierckman and seconded by Hawkins to approve PZ-2022-00159 V.Approved 4-1,Hawkins A Motion made by Dierckman and seconded by Hawkins to approve PZ-2022-00161 V. IApproved 3-2,Grabow,Hawkins. A Motion made by Dierckman and seconded by Hawkins to approve PZ-2022-00162 V. Denied 2-3,Grabow,Hawkins,Potasnik. (V) Moffett Carriage House Variances. The applicant seeks the following development standards variance approvals for an attached dwelling: 6. Docket No. PZ-2022-00163 V UDO Section 2.18 — Minimum 0' to 10' Front Yard Building Setback required, 131.5' requested. 7. Docket No. PZ-2022-00164 V UDO Section 2.18 — Maximum 20' Rear Yard Building Setback required, 219.5' requested. The 2-acre site is located at 340 W. Smoky Row. It is zoned UR/Urban Residential and partially located in the SFHA/Special Flood Hazard Area. Filed by Justin Moffett of Old Town Design Group on behalf of Elijah & Katherine Moffett, owners. Petitioner: Justin Moffett: • Presented North End Development Community site plan, we have mixed residential around the subject site, and we have worked to transition around this single-family residential property(subject site) • The land around my brother's property has a practical difficulty with the North End Community being built next to it • We are building a 4-car garage with a carriage house floor plan. It will be a large structure on a large lot,that will be attached to the existing home • UR zoning district creates what seems like extreme variance requests. If this was a R-1,these would be reasonable variance requests Public Comments: None 3 BZA Regular Meeting Minutes 9-26-22 Department Report: Angie Conn • The Petitioner explained their requests in great detail and Staff recommends positive consideration of both variance requests. Board Comments: None A Motion made by Grabow and seconded by Broach to approve PZ-2022-00163 V& PZ-2022-00164 V. Approved 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. // , ,Y - Alan Potasnik—President Jo hestak—Recording Secretary 4 BZA Regular Meeting Minutes 9-26-22