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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/23/2010 MINUTES OF THE WATERLOO BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING HELD ON MARCH 23, 2010, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL Chairperson Anfinson called the regular monthly meeting of the Waterloo Board of Adjustment to order on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Board members in attendance were: Anfinson, Goldsberry, Mohr and Holdiman. Member absent was Mixdorf. Staff in attendance was Noel Anderson, Aric Schroeder, Shane Graham, Tim Andera and Adam Poll. There were 6 people from the public in attendance. I. Approval of the Agenda for March 23, 2010. It was moved by Goldsberry, seconded by Holdiman, to approve the agenda as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. II. Apprnval of the Minlites of the Regular Meeting nn February 71, 7010 It was moved by Holdiman, seconded by Mohr, to approve the minutes as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. III. Decision Items 1. Request by Masjid Al-Noor Islamic Community Center at 2110 ,Sager Ave for a variance to the 90 parking spaces required, to allow for the property to provide 55 parking stalls, 35 parking stalls less than the minimum required. Andera gave the staff report, noting that the applicant is requesting to provide 55 parking stalls at the Islamic Center that is currently under construction at 2110 Sager Avenue. Initially, when the special permit was approved in August of 2007 for the construction of the center, the prayer hall had a proposed square footage of 2,842 SF,which had an occupancy rating of 406. The Zoning Ordinance requires for a religious facility that 1 parking space be provided for every 4 persons of the maximum occupancy, so 102 parking stalls would have been needed. Since that time, the square footage of the prayer hall has been reduced to 2,512 SF, which now has an occupancy rating of 359 persons, thus requiring that 90 parking stalls be provided on site. As currently proposed, the site would be deficient on parking by approximately 35 stalls. The approved site plan for the site presents the ability for additional parking to be added north of the building if more parking is needed for the center in the future. Also, with less pervious ground being paved over with parking, this would lessen the amount of storm water runoff being created by the development. The applicant has noted that their weekly gatherings on Friday afternoons generally attract 70 to 100 people, and based on determining the amount of parking in relation to occupancy, parking requirements for that amount of people would equate to 18 to 25 parking stalls. Also, sites that provide for 51 to 75 parking stalls are required to provide 3 handicap parking stalls, and only 2 handicap parking stalls are shown within the areas of parking the applicant is requesting to construct at this time, and they would be required to provide an additional handicap parking stall if the variance is approved. If the variance is denied, and 90 stalls are required to be constructed, 4 handicap stalls will be needed. The existing Islamic Center at 728 West 2nd Street has no off-street parking, and staff has not heard of any issues arising due to that situation. Andera noted that within the applicant's appeal, they note that once or twice a year there may be larger gatherings than what occurs at their Friday afternoon prayer services, and that there is plenty of land upon the property to accommodate any overflow parking, however, the Zoning Ordinance requires that all parking shall be on an approved hard surface and would not allow BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT March 23,2010 Minutes consists of industrial buildings. John Rutledge indicated that they have taken care of the property for the past 5 years until the City recently took ownership of it and tore the house down. Rutledge noted that many homes today have more than a 2-stall garage on their property. Rutledge noted that they would seed the lot and plant trees on it. Dan Rookaird, 1836 Sycamore St, noted that they are not proposing what they said they were going to do with the lot on their original petition, as it said it would be a gazebo and a small garage, and now they want a very large garage. Rookaird noted that he was opposed to the large garage, but not the original plan of a gazebo and small garage. Anfinson questioned if this would set a precedent, and Anderson noted that if the Board believes that there is a uniqueness with this request, then it would not set a precedent. Anderson indicated that it was staff's belief that the large industrial use across the street and legal non-conforming business nearby are uniquenesses. It was moved by Goldsberry, seconded by Holdiman, to approve the variance to allow a total of 1,556 SF of accessory structures, based on the uniqueness of the nearby industrial uses making it compatible to the area. Motion carried unanimously. VARIANCE REQUEST APPROVED. IV. Discussion Items There were no discussion items. V. AdjovrnmPnt It was moved by Holdiman, seconded by Goldsberry, to adjourn the meeting at 4:29 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, TV Shane M. Graham, Planner II 3