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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Adjustments and Appeals - 09/10/1998 APPROVED MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1998 7:30 P.M., CITY CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD BOARD OF APPEALS MEMBERS: Cliff Dunham, William Ford, Louis Giglio,Ismail Ismail, Kathy Nelson, Michael O'Leary, and Mary Vasaly BOARD STAFF: Zoning Administrator,Jean Johnson; Recorder,Dave Hix CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Nelson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL • Board Member Ford was absent (excused). 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Dunham moved, seconded by Vasaly to approve the Agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of August 13, 1998 MOTION: Vasaly moved, seconded by Ismail to approve the August 13, 1998 meeting minutes as submitted. Motion carried 5-0-1 (Giglio abstained). III. VARIANCES A. Request No. 98-15 by Jasper Development Corporation of Waconia, to approve the moving of a single-story-wood-frame house located at 7128 Baker Road to 13895 Forest Hill road. (City Code requires all buildings moved into the City to be reviewed and approved by the Board of Adjustments and Appeals.) • Nelson opened the floor to the applicant for his presentation. • BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 2 Jim Jasper, Jasper Development, gave his presentation as follows: The building that will be moved, if approved, is a one-story wood frame dwelling measuring 50' x 26'or 1300 square feet. The house has a roofed open porch across a portion of the front, which will be retained. The existing two-car garage will be removed and replace with a new three-car garage. The existing deck will be replaced with a 10' x 10'deck off of the back of the house. The homes current roof and siding are cedar shake and cedar lap siding respectively. The homes new basement will be a rear walkout and will not be finished by Jasper Development. The home is presently sitting on property that has been approved by the City of Eden Prairie for development into a new housing development, the future Windstone Development. The owner of the home wants to continue living in Eden Prairie, thus the application to move the home to a new piece of land. The home's new location, if the application is approved, would be Lot 4, Block 3, Forest Hill Road, Forest Hill Second Addition. The existing home was built in 1966. The neighborhood that it will be moved into is made • up of similar age and architecture. Jasper's plan is to: "Move the home, build a new garage and deck, paint and repair all of the exterior surfaces, bring the house up to code, pave the driveway, install new sidewalks, fully landscape the lot, sprinkler the lawn, sod the entire yard and add shrubs and trees similar to what is existing around the house now." All required setbacks will be maintained along with the appropriate erosion control and grading of the site. Nelson returned the floor to the Board for questions of the applicant. Dunham asked if the new location would have City sewer and water. Mr. Jasper told the Board that as part of the Windstone Development, sewer and water would be extended to Lots 4 and 5, Block 3, Forest Hills Road, Forest Hills Second Addition. Dunham asked the applicant if he would be improving the road in front of the home's new lot. Mr. Jasper stated Eden Prairie's City Engineers had indicated the City is doing a feasibility study with the intentions of improving that section of Forest Hills Road. There currently exists a cul de sac at the end of the road that doesn't serve Lots 4 and 5. Jasper Development's agreement with City is that Jasper Development will bear, if not all, at least . the "brunt" of the cost of improving the road when the feasibility study is complete. • BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 3 Ismail expressed concern that the house would fit in with the homes in the neighborhood that it will be moved into. Nelson requested the staff report. Johnson gave her report as follows: The home, in its current location, is located 450 feet southeast from 13895 Forest Hills Road, its new location. The home will be moved across a field that separates its existing location and the new site. The proposed siting of the house meets setback requirements of the R1-13.5 District. Due to slopes in the backyard, a grading permit and erosion control plan will be required by the City. The applicant needs to review the plan with the Watershed District to determine if other permits are needed. Because Forest Hills Road is a narrow gravel surface, an assessment agreement was recommended by the City Engineer prior to moving the house. • Staffs recommended conditions were stated as follows: Prior to the issuance of a moving permit, 1. Apply for and receive any necessary grading permits and install required erosion control required by the City and/or Watershed District. 2. Enter into an assessment agreement regarding needed improvements to Forest Hills Road. A letter from Karen Bowen, stating her concerns in regards to the planned cul de sac for the end of Forest Hills Road was reviewed by the Board. Nelson returned the floor to the Board for questions of staff. Vasaly asked if the neighbors surrounding the Forest Hills Road lot had made any comments to the proposed move. Johnson stated there had been some phone calls that had come into the City's staff in regards to the project. Of the calls that had been received, none were in strong opposition to the house moving but there has been concern related to the road improvement project. • Dunham requested that all improvements that had been verbally stated in Jasper • BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 4 Development's report be included in the conditions of approval for the project. Nelson opened the public hearing. Glen Bowen, 7025 Mariann Drive, expressed his opposition to developing a cul de sacq at the end of Forest Hills Road. Mike Koash, 13890 Forest Hill Road, expressed his opinion that the Windstone Development should be responsible for paying for the road improvements that are a direct result of the development of this new neighborhood. Nelson explained to Mr. Koash that the City Council would make the ultimate determination as to what would happen with the road improvements on Forest Hills Road. Don Opheim, 13950 Forest Hills Road, spoke in favor of moving the home to the new location on Forest Hills Road. He also stated that any road improvements to the end of Forest Hills Road should be paid for by Jasper Development. • Nelson closed the public hearing and returned the floor to the Board for their consideration of the application. O'Leary stated he would be in favor of the project because it would be keeping the house and its resident with the City of Eden Prairie. He recommended that a "specific list of work to be done" be included in the conditions for approval of the application and that an agreement be made between Jasper Development and the City as to how much of the road improvement cost would be paid for by Jasper Development. Ismail agreed with the inclusion of conditions as stated by OZ eary. Dunham stated he would be in favor of the project with the inclusion of conditions as stated in the staff report and inclusion of a "list of work to be completed." Giglio asked what the time table for the project was. Mr.Jasper stated the house could be moved and completed within 60 days from the date the project is started. MOTION: Vasaly moved, seconded by Ismail to approve Variance Request No. 98-18 subject to the conditions that the applicant apply for and receive any necessary grading permits, install erosion control required by the City and the Watershed District, enter into an assessment agreement regarding any needed improvements to Forest Hills Road, costs • BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 5 to be determined. Site improvements that were outlined by the applicant be inventoried and completed. Motion carried 6-0. B. Request No. 98-19 by Mikkal Gust for 7280 Prairie View Drive for approval to construct a garage and house addition 12 feet from he south side lot line (Code minimum is 15 feet). Nelson opened the floor to the applicant for his presentation. Mikkal Gust, 7280 Prairie View Drive, gave his presentation as follows: The applicant was applying for a variance that would allow him to add on to his home and have the new structure located within 12 feet of the property line. The existing two car garage will be expanded from 22' feet wide to 26'wide by 35'long. A new dining room, great room(above the garage) and mud room will be added to the home. There are future plans for a deck off of the back of the house as was indicated in the plans presented for the Boards consideration. Photographs showing all current elevations of the home were presented to the Board. Plans and elevations of the proposed addition were presented to the Board. Mr. Gust stated that all of his neighbors had been contacted and there was no opposition stated to the remodeling plans. Nelson returned the floor to the Board for questions of the applicant. Vasaly clarified that the request is for a large double, not a triple size garage. She asked the applicant if any alternative plans had been considered, other than what was being presented by Request No. 98-19. Dunham suggested minimizing the variance by making the garage 24'wide. Gust stated the dollars that would be spent for the 24'versus the 26'would be a waste of money and they would not end up with the usable space that they had wanted in their kitchen and great room. Mikkal Gust Jr. told the Board that even if they went with the 24'width, the garage would still need a variance of one foot. He stated the hardship for the variance was making a feasible floor plan out of a house that was built many years ago. Alternative widths and floor plans were then discussed. Nelson asked for the staff report. • BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 6 Johnson gave her report as follows: The word "triple" as used in the report was in error and should be changed to a large double. The home is located in R1-22 District. The character of the homes in the areas is a combination of single garage, double garage, and one or two triple garages that are in the neighborhood. There have been no calls in favor of or in opposition to the proposal. Two letters in favor of the remodeling project were submitted to the Board tonight for their consideration. Nelson returned the floor to the Board for questions of staff. Dunham asked if there were any side-yard easements that would need to be taken into consideration. Johnson stated there were no easement. Nelson opened the public hearing. Tom Schram, 7151 Prairie View Drive, spoke in favor of the project. Marsha Engvaldson, 7282 Prairie View Drive, spoke in favor of the project. Nelson closed the public hearing and returned the floor to the Board for their consideration of the application. Ismail stated he would be in favor of the project. O'Leary stated he would be in favor of the project. He added it is important to update and add value to the older homes in the City. Vasaly stated she was opposed to the project because the hardship, as stated, didn't meet the City's requirements for issuing a variance. Giglio stated he saw the hardship as the difficulty of achieving modern design standards, i.e., bigger garages, more storage space, and improving the value of one's home. Dunham observed a one-foot variance would be needed even if the garage was only being expanded to 24'. So it would make sense to grant the variance for the requested three • feet. He stated he would be in favor of the project. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS September 10, 1998 Page 7 Nelson stated she would be in favor of the project because of the value it would add to the home. She stated she agreed that it would be a hardship to improve an older home's limited floor plan. Vasaly expressed the opinion: "Sometimes it is necessary to preserve some homes of different sizes, and to have a range of different neighborhoods. And it is not necessary to, just because it would be nice to have a bigger house, to just put a bigger house on a lot that may accommodate it." In the case of this application, Vasaly stated she didn't see the need to make the garage as wide as was being requested just to add an accessory door. She stated the project could easily be accommodated within the required ordinance. Giglio stated the design as presented was not out of character in the neighborhood and it is not out of character in Eden Prairie. "The Board has the opportunity to approve projects that have merit and will add value to the community, and they have the opportunity to deny the projects that are not good for the City," he added. Vasaly stated the issue isn't whether the Board likes the design or not, but does it meet the City's variance requirements. In this particular case there hadn't been adequare attempts to . explore alternate designs for the addition. MOTION: Giglio moved, seconded by Ismail to approve Request No. 98-19 for 7280 Prairie View Drive for approval to construct a garage and house addition 12 feet from the south side lot line (Code minimum is 15 feet). The hardship stated as: "The layout and size of the existing garage does not lend itself to an addition being built off of the back of the house." Motion carried 5-1(Vasaly) IV. OLD BUSINESS V. NEW BUSINESS No new business was considered. VI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Giglio moved, seconded by Vasaly to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. There being no further business before the Board of Adjustments and Appeals Nelson adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.