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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Adjustments and Appeals - 07/20/1981 ,APPROVED MINUTES BOARD OF APPEALS AND ADJUSTMENTS CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE Monday, July 20, 1981 7:30 p.m. , City Hall GOARD MEMBERS: James Wedlund, Chairman STAFF: Chris Enger, Planning Director James Dickey Wayne Sanders, Building Official Ronald Krueger Betty Shaughnessy, Secretary Richard Lynch Karen Michael , Recording Secretary Roger Sandvick CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL 1. Minutes for June 4, 1981, Rescheduled Meeting MOTION: Moved by Lynch, seconded by Dickey, to approve the minutes of the June 4, 1981, rescheduled meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 2. Minutes for June 18, 1981, Regular Meeting. Continued to next meeting. 3. Variance request #81-17 submitted by I.F,C. Construction requesting a side yard setback from 10' to 6' . Located at 7425 and 7435 Scot Terrace. Variance found to be unnecessary. Request withdrawn. . 4. Variance request #81-18 submitted by I.F,C. Construction requesting a side yard setback from 10' to 6' . Located at 7405 a-nd 7415- Stdt Terrace, Petitioner was late acted upon after #10. 5. Moving request #81-19M submitted by Alfred R, Schendel . House to be moved to 13890 Forest Hill Road, Now located at Shady Oak -and '169. The petitioners, Mr, and Mrs. Alfred R. Schendel , spoke to the request to move their home to 13890 Forest Hill Road,, The home was built in 1960 and is brick with hand split cedar shakes. It has 4 bedrooms, 22 baths, kitchen/family room, living room, and dining room. They plan to increase the living area to 4125 sq. ft. by adding a large family room with loft in the existing 21-, car garage. The new garage will be a drive under. There will be a walkout basement, which will include a recreation room with fireplace, two bedrooms, bath and laundry room. A redwood deck will go across the back. The trim on the house will be sanded and painted. All outside wood, including the hand split cedar shake roof will be painted and/or stained and varnished, The house will have a market value of $255,000. They estimate the completion date to be about two months. Trees, sod- ding, and landscaping will be done first. Residents of the neighborhood, Steve Steele, Mr, and Mrs, Don Hartford, Joel Rogers, Mr. Kershaw, and Bill Koch expressed their concerns which included the age of the Schendel house compared with those in the neighborhood. Board of Appeals -2- July 20, 1981 Sandvick asked how old the oldest home in the neighborhood is and was in- formed it was built in 1974. He quoted from Ordinance 79-34, Section 5, para. G. which pertains to moving homes into an area in which there would be a difference of ten or more years age. Residents expressed concern about the cul-de-sac and what would become of it. At some time Forest Hill Road will be continued to Baker Road, but this will be quite some time in the future, A cul-de-sac will remain -- within the City right-of-way. The house behind the lot which the Schendels own was built in 1967 while the Schendel '9 home was built in 1960, according to building permits. Dickey asked why the original application to move to Cardinal Creek had been withdrawn? Mrs. Schendel said it would have been too much of a hassle because word had gotten out that a small frame house was to be moved into that area instead of the house under discussion. Also there was only one lot in Cardinal Creek on which this house would fit. Attention was called to the report from Building Inspector Dennis Nesbitt in which the house was said to be in good condition. Bill White, owner of the lot which the Schendels are purchasing and owner of a lot in Cardinal Creek, said there was no negative response to the moving of the house. • MOTION: Moved by Sandvick, seconded by Lynch, to grant Variance #81-19M, building moving request submitted by Alfred R. Schendel , subject to the following: adherence to Ordinance 79-34, section 5, para. A - G, and with the following stipulations: the shakes are to be bleached, the landscaping is to be completed according to the plan shown, the driveway is to be black topped, trees are to be planted, and the cul-de-sac is to remain as is until Forest Hill Road is completed. Motion carried with Dickey voting "no." 6. Variance request #81-21 submitted by Haakon J. Nyhammer (Lil Red, ) Located at 7447 Eden Prairie Road, Requesting a variance from Ord, #135 req­uirin each lot to have frontage on a public Street. Variance from side yard Setback. t. Nyhammer spoke to the reasons for the request. Planning Director Enger answered questions regarding the request. MOTION: Lynch moved, seconded by Dickey, to approve Variance Request #81-21 to Haakon H. Nyhammer, granting a variance from Ordinance 135 requiring each lot to have frontage on a public street. Variance from side yard setback. Motion carried unanimously, 7. Variance request #81-22 submitted by Sever Peterson for property located at 9391 Creekwood Drive. Requesting a variance for side yard setbacks from 10' to 6' . Chairman Wedlund asked why this item is on the Agenda because it had been acted upon in January, at which time the Board said the request should be denied. The decision was not appealed to the City Council . Peterson was not the applicant Board of Appeals -3 July 20, 1981 initially. The Ordinance does not preclude an applicant from returning • repeatedly to the Board, however unless new circumstances are present, the proper procedure would be to appeal the decision to the City Council . Discussion centered on due process and proper procedure. Peterson stated he was not present at the January meeting and explained the circumstances regarding the building of the deck. He felt the deck rather than a catwalk was not only more practical but greatly added to the appearance of the home. He said that Hustads had chosen to speak for him without his know- ledge at the January meeting. It was his opinion that the reason the variance had been denied in January was because of shoddy workmanship; this is not so and that is why he is back before this Board again. He feels he was not really represented at the January meeting. Dickey said he made the motion to have the deck removed. He said this was presented as a "simple builder's error" which was presented to this Board by the builder. It was his feeling that the builder misrepresented the case when it was presented in January. Sandvick wondered why the order to remove the deck was not carried out. The City must enforce the Board's orders, Dickey said this makes a mockery of the Board of Appeals and Adjustments. Issues like this should go before the City Council . Sandvick suggested this be brought before the City Council and the Council should note that Peterson was not properly represented. Enger said the question should be who owned the property at the time this was first considered. He called attention to the letter of May 8, 1981, from Ruth Hustad, in which Mr. Peterson is referred to as the "new owner." MOTION: Moved by Sandvick, seconded by Dickey, to turn this matter over to the City Council in accordance with due process. Motion carried unanimously. (Mr. Peterson is to receive a $25 refund since the variance was not acted upon by this body. ) 8. Variance request #81-23 submitted by TenRed Construction, Requesting a variance from Ord. 135, sec. 2, requiring 6500 sq, ft. per lot. Also requesting ,a side yard setback to zero lot line. Located at 7505 and 7515 Scot Terrace, Applicant did not appear. Variance continued, 9. Variance request #81-24 submitted by TenRed Construction, Requesting a variance from Ord. 135, sec, 2, requiring 6500 sq. ft, per lot, Also requesting side yard setback from 10' to zero lot line. Located at 7206 and 7212 Stewart'Drive, Applicant did not appear. Variance continued. • Board of Appeals -4- July 20, •1981 10. Variance request #81-25 submitted by Gelco Corp. located at 1 Gelco Drive. • Requesting a variance from Ord. #261, sec, office district sign ordinance. ) Emerson Greenberg, representing Gelco, spoke to the need for a sign which would identify the site and recognize it as "The Gelco Site." The sign would contain no advertising and would only call attention to Gelco's location which is now hard to identify. Dickey asked how the height of the sign was determined. Greenberg and Gelco's architect explained they had a sign company come out with a crane and the road- way was driven while a sample sign was held at various heights to determine which was the most effective. MOTION: Lynch moved, seconded by Dickey, to grant Variance #81-25, to allow a free standing sign as per model submitted. It should be noted that this is a unique situation in that Gelco has a large piece of property with the potential of five buildings. This is their corporate headquarters and needs to be iden- tified. This action should not generally apply to all situations regarding signs of this type. Motion carried unanimously, Richard Lynch was excused at this point in the meeting. 4. Variance request #81-18, submitted by I.F.C. Construction, Requesting a side yard setback from 10' to 6' . Located at 7405 and 7415 Scot Terrace. . Rod Gooler, representing I.F,C. Construction,spoke to the request. Because of a hill in the rear of the lot and the unusual shape of the lot, a variance is needed to allow a wood, main entrance deck and overhead roof on either side of the duplex, Kevin Blohm, 7465 Scot Terrace, Vicky Sherman,. 7375 Bagpipe Blvd. , Lyman E. Olson, 7350-60 Scot Terrace, and an unidentified gentleman, spoke to problems in the area. Planning Director Enger showed slides of the duplexes under construction and the surrounding area, Wedlund said it is not fair that some people come in for variances and pay $25 to do so while others go ahead and suffer no consequences, The City should not bother to collect $25 from people and should refund the $25 to those who have paid in the past or the City should enforce its Ordinances. Whether or not a deck should be considered an accessory structure or a part of the building was discussed, If a deck is an accessory structure, the setback would be reduced from 15' to 10' and would eliminate the need for many variances. Discussion from the neighbors dealt with issues which were not considered to be relevant to the issue before the Board, Dickey requested the Building Department to zero in on Stewart's Highlands relative to fencing, decks, etc, and to report back at the next meeting of this Board as to the problems noted. • Board of Appeals -5- July 20, 1981 MOTION: Krueger moved, seconded by Wedlund, to approve Variance #81-18, granting a variance for a side yard setback from 10' to 6' located at 7405 and 7415 Scot Terrace. Motion carried with Sandvick abstaining. MOTION: Dickey moved, seconded by Sandvick, to hold over items 8 and 9 on the Agenda to the August meeting at which time they will be items 1 and 2. Motion carried unanimously, 11. Other Business Dickey stated he felt he had been compromised by statements made by Mrs. Schendel earlier this evening and was willing to resign if other Board members felt he had acted improperly. These statements were relative to moving a house into Cardinal Creek. The request for a variance was withdrawn before coming before the Board. After discussion it was concluded that the house could not have been moved into Cardinal Creek because of the section of the Ordinance dealing with age of homes. Wedlund felt it was the right and duty of any Board member to qo out and discuss with local residents the issues which would come before the Board. No one should come here with a closed mind. The concensus was that Dickey had acted in a proper manner and should not resign. 12. Adjournment Sandvick moved, seconded by Krueger, to adjourn the meeting at 10 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.. •