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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Adjustments and Appeals - 10/09/1997 APPROVED MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1997 7:30 P.M. CITY CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS 8080 MITCHELL ROAD BOARD OF APPEALS MEMBERS: Chair Kathy Nelson, Cliff Dunham, Delavan Dye, William Ford, Louis Giglio, Matthew Hansen, Michael O'Leary STAFF LIAISON: Steve Durham, Zoning Administrator Elinda Bahley, Recording Secretary MEMBERS ABSENT: None CALL TO ORDER Chair Nelson called the meeting to order at 7 : 30 p.m. • ROLL CALL All members were present. I. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Dye moved, seconded by Dunham, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 7-0. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - September 11, 1997 MOTION: Dye moved, seconded by Giglio, to approve the minutes of the September 11, 1997 Board of Adjustments and Appeals meeting as published. Motion carried 7-0. III. VARIANCES A. Request #97-15 by Doug and Nancy Heltne for property located at 6941 Beach Road, Eden Prairie: 1. To permit the construction of a single family home 79, from the Ordinary High Water Level of Bryant Lake. (City Code requires a shoreland setback from the Ordinary High Water Level of 100' . ) BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 2. To permit the construction of a single family home with a front yard setback of 1051 . (City Code requires a front yard setback to be equal to or greater than the average of the principle structureson either side, in this case 1261 . ) John Atkinson, architect, representing the Heltnes, reviewed the variances requested to construct a home 79 ' from the Ordinary High Water Level of Bryant-Lake with a front yard setback of 1051 . He explained they would like to be 20 feet closer to the shore than the allowed and an extra 20 feet off the road. He referred to a letter he received from the owner of Lot #18 which indicated they feel moving the house closer to the Lake with a 15 ' side _-yard__setback will be infringing on their view of the lake. Atkinson said both lot lines are well treed making it very difficult to see the lake anyway. He explained why they have situated the house in this particular spot. Dunham asked if they have explored other options in terms of the footprint of the house to minimize the variances . Atkinson said yes . Instead of a three car garage, they would be willing to make it a two car garage which would take 12 feet off the front. Dye said with some -consideration of changing the pad, such as centering the house more, it might change the variances and stop the letters the City has received from Lot #18 . Atkinson explained why this was the best spot for the house and why other considerations were not feasible. Nelson asked if they considered moving the master bedroom toward the street rather than going back out. There are some site lines from the house next to it and it would not necessarily change the arrangement of the room. She asked if anything has been looked at for keeping that end of the house not quite as close to the lake by jogging the plan a bit. Atkinson said they might be able to come up with something but it ' s a matter of preference at 2 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 this point. Durham reviewed the staff report and noted the property is located in the Cove Addition and is zoned R1-22 . Most of the homes in the Cove were constructed in the 1960 ' s prior to the City' s Shoreland Code regulations. Letters have been sent to the DNR notifying them of the variances requested and there was no reply. However, there are concerns from the neighbors to the south. Staff discussed alternatives with the applicants architect prior to coming to the Board about placing the house in different positions to lessen the variance or design the house to completely meet Code. The applicant preferred coming to the Board. Hansen asked what the distance is to the lake from the existing home. Durham said the existing home is 86 feet from the Ordinary High water Level but the deck on the existing house was 74 feet from the Ordinary High water Level . The distance from the lake to the proposed home is 79 feet including the deck. The public hearing was opened. Mrs. Molde, residing at 6961 Beach Road, noted they live in the house to the south in lot #18 . She said they will be glad to have new neighbors because the house has been vacant for a while. The plans look beautiful but her concern is with the variances . She was concerned that the variance would impact their views of the lake from the ncrth side of the house. Each foot that is granted in the variance towards the lake will impact their view to the lake on that side. They did not oppose them going closer to the street because it does not impact them. It would not impact anyone because there' s a large pond there. They would prefer the setback to be kept at 100 feet and go closer to the road in the front. Carolyn Bjelland, 6881 Beach Road, noted they live three doors down from the home to be built. She 3 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 said they are not impacted at all by what they do because she does riot see it. She was concerned about making variances become a principle way of buying -a lot, tearing the house down and then --wanting a variance. When someone buys a house they should know what the lot is and what the setback rules are and live with it. Mr.Molde, 6681 Beach Road, said he looks forward to new neighbors and commended the architect on the plan . 11 He said he has no objection to moving closer to the street. His primary concern was the major value of these lots and the taxes . The taxes _ are high because of the lake views and they have to protect that value. The public hearing was closed. Hansen-asked if the architect looked at floor plans that didn' t have an L-shaped footprint. There is a huge building area but there' s a lot of envelope that ' s taken out by a driveway, and there' s a lot of it unused on the north side of the garage. It seems if the architect started with that envelope, they could put a larger house than proposed in there not requiring any variances . Atkinson said they tried a lot of different schemes and nothing was really to their approval. Hansen asked what the depth of the house is not including the garage. Atkinson replied the depth of the house is maybe 45 to 50 feet without the garage. Ford asked if they would consider he moving the foot building to the north maintaining t request or less and going to a two car garage. Atkinson replied they would be willing to move the house more to the north and loosing the third garage. This would give them 12 additional feet on the end of the house. Then they could move it back an additional 12 feet making it 91 feet from the lake and only needing a 9 foot variance. They could also move it slightly further to the north. 4 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 Nelson commented the deck is sticking out quite a bit beyond where the house sticks out. She said there is a large space to the north and they could put a sizable deck there which would still face the lake and be accessible from the current door by just going straight across . This would also minimize the variance going out toward the lake. Atkinson said they did consider this but they prefer the deck off the family room rather than wrapping around the house. Nelson stated a two car garage would take them from 79 feet back to 91 feet and with the deck out eight less feet, they would only need a one foot variance. Also, by cutting the bedroom back a foot it would be 100 feet out from the shore without significantly changing the house plans . Dunham commented it' s a tough building site based • on the topography of the buildable area especially with the placement of the home which compounds the issue. He was comfortable with the 90 foot lake side versus the 79 feet and there would be no visual obstruction to anybody. Ford agreed with Dunham and noted moving the house to the north, eliminating the third garage and have 90 feet away from the lake is fine. Giglio was comfortable moving the house closer to the street. He suggested shaving only three feet off the deck and getting the house 94 feet away from the lake. He would like to see a six foot variance instead of a 10 foot variance. Hansen said he would not be able to support anything that would put a proposed house closer to the lake. He supported moving the house back a couple of feet to an L-shape staying away from the lake and only asking for one variance in the front. He noted it ' s more valuable in the rear than the front. O'Leary was in favor of having the house moved more 5 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 to the _north and maintaining the 90 foot setback, decreasing the deck three to four feet, and having the variance more so toward the Beach Road side. Hansen said if they granted the request to the street front yard setback of 105 feet and denied the first part, he asked if the owners would be able to fit their home within that envelope. Atkinson said they would have to work on it but it would work. Nelson said she was comfortable with the two feet closer to the lake and making it 98 feet. It seems reasonable under the situation of changing the existing house structure. MOTLON Dye moved to allow the 100 foot setback from the lake at 105 foot setback from the street, the hardship being configuration of the home would be far, the 105 foot setback from the street. The motion failed due to a lack of a second. MOTION: Hansen moved, seconded by Dye, to grant variance #97-15 to permit construction of the home with 105 foot front yard setback, the hardship being the shape of the house, and it needs to be closer to the front. Motion failed 2-5 with the no votes by O'Leary, Dunham, Giglio, Ford, and Nelson. MOTION: Giglio moved, seconded by Nelson, to permit construction of a single family home 98 feet from the Ordinary High Water Mark of Bryant Lake, permit construction of a single family home front yard setback of 105 feet, the hardship being the odd shape of the lot created by the lake. Motion carried 5-2 with the no votes by Dye and Hansen. B. Request #97-16 by Paul and Gina Steeling for property located at 6895 Jeremy Court, Eden F Prairie: To permit a side yard setback of 5.5 ' from the side lot line. City Code requires a minimum side yard 6 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 setback of 101 . Gina Seeling, 6895 Jeremy Court, reviewed their variance request for a bathroom renovation for their existing home. They proposed to bump out the existing wall to give them more space to allow them to include a sauna in the master bath which would be for health purposes . They have spoken with their neighbors and there were no objections . Paul Seeling presented photographs depicting the views to the neighbors . Dunham asked if the house is a two story house. Durham said it ' s a slit level with a split entry, so it ' s a story and a half . Hansen asked if there was a drainage swale between the two homes and if it ' s going to be effected at all . Mr. Seeling said there is drainage but it will not be effected. It pretty much runs down the fence line. Hansen asked if they looked at any other options . Mr. Seeling explained the other options they looked at and why they were not feasible. They considered expanding out the back of the home but the plumbing facilities are located at the center of the home. Nelson asked what would be under this area. Mrs . Seeling said it would be a storage room for firewood or bicycles. This area will be accessible from the outside and not from the inside. Durham reviewed the staff report. Notices were sent to the neighbors and staff received no letters or comments . The public hearing was opened. The public hearing was closed. MOTION: Dye moved, seconded by O'Leary, to approve Variance Request #97-16 and the hardship is this was the only logical place to extend the bathroom 7 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS MINUTES October 9 , 1997 and a sauna was needed for health purposes . Motion carried 7-0. IV. OLD BUSINESS Durham noted the City has received a request for the City Council to review the Board of Adjustment and Appeals decision of variance request #97-10 for Moore Leasing, Inc. It will be on the November 4 agenda. The Board discussed the situation at Highway 169 and Prairie Center Drive regarding Goodyear Tire. V. NEW BUSINESS Durham reviewed the agenda for the next meeting. VI., ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Dye moved, seconded by Nelson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 9 : 35 p.m. 8