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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/25/2010 MINUTES OF THE WATERLOO BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING HELD ON MAY 25, 2010, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL Chairperson Anfinson called the regular monthly meeting of the Waterloo Board of Adjustment to order on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Board members in attendance were: Anfinson, Goldsberry, Mixdorf, Mohr and Holdiman. Staff in attendance was Shane Graham, Tim Andera and Adam Poll. There were 8 people from the public in attendance. I. Approval of the Agenda for May 25, 2010 It was moved by Holdiman, seconded by Mohr, to approve the agenda as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. II. Ap Rrnvval of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting-on April 27 0 It was moved by Mixdorf, seconded by Holdiman, to approve the minutes as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. III. Tlericinn Ttems 1. Request by Rodney Anderson at 140? T,ngan Am'for a special permit to allow for the establishment of the Lifeline Resources, LLC youth center with related recreational and educational services, and a variance to the 51 parking stalls required, to allow for the business to provide 23 parking stalls, 28 stalls less than the minimum required. Andera gave the staff report, noting that the office building at 1402 Logan Avenue,built in 1966, is a 2-level building with 4,532 SF on each level, for a total building square footage of 9,064 SF. The 2nd level of the building would be used for office purposes, and the Zoning Ordinance requires that for office buildings less than 50,000 SF, there be 1 parking space for every 200 SF of floor area. Staff has subtracted out 160 SF for the area to be used for filing, and a total of 336 SF for the stairwells, for a total office area of 4,036 SF,which would require 21 parking stalls. Staff calculated the parking requirements for the lower level based on the parking needed for a Health/Sports Club, which requires 1 parking space for every 100 SF and 2 spaces per court. Staff counted the gym and boxing ring areas as courts, which would account for 4 parking spaces, and the remainder of the area, minus storage and stairwells, for a total of 26 parking stalls, for a grand total of 30 parking spaces needed for the lower level. Overall, the parking requirements for the entire site would be 51 spaces. Currently, the property owner of the building is in the process of splitting off a portion of the ground in question from the industrial buildings to the south and east, and once it is split, there will be approximately 24 parking stalls upon the property, not including ground to the east of the building. In speaking with the applicant, the age range of the children attending the center will be between 5 and 17 years of age, therefore, the majority of the youth will not have cars. Also, the applicant has indicated that there would be 12 employees at the site when it becomes fully operational, however, they noted that the counselors at the site are out in the community the majority of the time, and the offices would be used on a minimal basis. At the May 4, 2010 Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission meeting, the applicant noted that the use would be similar to the Boys and Girls Club that is located at 515 Lime Street. That site has 23,386 SF of space, which would include a gymnasium, office and other activity space. By doing a manual count of the parking spaces at the site through examining the aerial photo of the location, it would appear that there is 20 parking stalls at that location, and staff has not heard of any issues or conflicts due to the small parking amount. Andera noted that The request to establish a youth activity center at this location would not appear to have a negative impact upon the surrounding area, as the majority BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT May 25,2010 Minutes 3. Request by Honey Garden Family Restaurant at 896 T.a Pnrty Rd for a variance to the Alcohol Sales Provision of the Zoning Ordinance to allow for the establishment of a restaurant with limited alcohol sales less than 100' from a residential use. Andera gave the staff report, noting that the In November of 2009, the Zoning Ordinance was revised at the request of the City Council to place more stringent review upon alcohol related businesses, partly due to a large influx of liquor stores being established within the City. Council members had received numerous complaints from residents that the recent establishment of alcohol related businesses was negatively impacting the City. The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4976 on November 23, 2009, which placed a more thorough review upon alcohol related businesses requesting to be established within the City. The ordinance also specifically defines Protected Uses, which could be a residential use, day care center, house of worship, school, park, etc., and in this particular instance, the limited alcohol sales establishment proposed for 826 La Porte Road would be required to meet a setback of 100' from a Protected Use. The proposed restaurant is less than 100' from the nearby residence at 913 Dena Street, therefore a variance to the Alcohol Sales Ordinance is needed. It would appear that the proposed use is approximately 65' to 70' from the residence in question, 30' to 35' less than what is required by the Ordinance. The building in question where the new restaurant would be established is a strip-mall building that has 5 separate units for multiple tenants, and the total size of the building is 7,920 SF. Andera noted that in this particular situation, the proposed restaurant at 826 La Porte Road is a limited alcohol sales establishment, as more than 50% of its gross income is derived from the sale of prepared food, and therefore, a special permit would not be needed for this particular request. If more than 50% of the businesses income was received through the sale of alcohol, the request would need to go before the Planning,Programming and Zoning Commission, as well as the Board of Adjustment, and a special permit would need to be issued. The applicant will have to enter into an agreement to continue to be a limited alcohol sales use in the future. Andera noted that this request is the first time an applicant has requested a variance to the new Alcohol Sales Ordinance. Staff believes that the proposed use would not negatively impact the surrounding area, as it would be similar to the existing limited alcohol sales restaurants within the nearby. Those particular restaurants were established before the alcohol sales ordinance was adopted. Also, the proposed restaurant would be located in the middle of the strip-all and other non-alcohol sales uses would be located between the restaurant and the residence at 913 Dena Street. Andera noted that staff recommends approval of the request, as it would not appear to have a negative impact upon the surrounding commercial and residential areas, as the proposed use would be similar in characteristics of the existing nearby limited alcohol sales establishments, and it would appear to be unique, as the proposed use would be located within the middle unit of the 5 unit mini-mall building, and would not be in direct view of the nearby residences to the west, which would appear to lessen the impact that the restaurant would have upon the surrounding areas. Jack Kaphle with Honey Garden Family Restaurant indicated that there is one house located behind the building, but has no direct access to their property. It was moved by Holdiman, seconded by Mohr, to approve the variance to the Alcohol Sales Provision of the Zoning Ordinance to allow for the establishment of a restaurant with limited alcohol sales less than 100'from a residential use. Motion carried unanimously. VARIANCE REQUEST APPROVED. 4. Request by JSA Development at 51 -512 Mnllwrry,St for a variance to the vehicular use provision requiring a parking lot to provide storm water detention, to allow for the existing legal non-conforming parking lot without a storm water detention area to be reconstructed 3