SOUTH JORDAN CITY
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING
November 21, 2007
Present: Chairman Gary Chandler, Board Member Frank Wareham, Board Member Dan Fallows, Board Member Aleta Taylor, Board Member Troy Teeples, City Planner Greg Schindler, Planner Damir Drozdek, City Recorder Anna West.
Others: Mitch Hardy, Kregg VanRiy, Vilas Patil, Lalitha Madhavan, Jay Ambelang, Peter Ambelang, Lennie Ambelang, Vasili Lyhnakis, John Lyhnakis.
6:30 P.M.
I. GENERAL BUSINESS ITEMS – 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Chairman Chandler welcomed everyone and noted that all Board Members are present.
Board Member Aleta Taylor motioned to approve the November 21, 2007 Board of Adjustment Meeting Agenda. Board Member Dan Fallows seconded the motion. Motion passes unanimously with no one opposed.
C. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting held on October 17, 2007.
Board Member Frank Wareham motioned to approve the October 17, 2007 Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes. Board Member Troy Teeples seconded the motion. Motion passes unanimously with no one opposed.
None
Chairman Chandler asked Assistant City Attorney Ryan Loose to remind the audience and the Board Members of the criteria used for approving variances.
Assistant City Attorney Ryan Loose reviewed the guidelines aloud. He said he has been asked to do some training with the Board of Adjustment members like what is done with the Planning Commission to make sure the City is consistent when applying the rules.
Chairman Gary Chandler congratulated Aleta Taylor on her election to City Council.
III PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS
A. File # BOA-2007.06, Request for a variance to Section 17.32.110 Letter “B” Number “2” of the South Jordan City Zoning Ordinance pertaining to side yard setback requirements for accessory buildings on a property located at 10472 South Royal Tee Cove, Mitchel S. and Paula Hardy, (applicants).
Chairman Gary Chandler reviewed this agenda item and opened the Public Hearing.
Mitchel Hardy 10472 S. Royal Tee Cove (applicant) said the reason we are asking for the variance is because of the way the house sits on the property at the end of a cul-de-sac and is a dramatic wedge, the back line of the property has an easement as well as the side. He said the house is positioned too close to the neighbor’s property line. He said the surveyor’s told him that if they had known about this the house would have been disallowed for being too close to the property line. He said he can not access the property from the back so the only way to build an accessory building would be on the opposite side of the house, which is where we positioned it. He said in order to be wide enough to accommodate a large trailer and a boat we had to tilt the angle of the way it site. He said the small shaded area on the drawing is the variance.
Chairman Gary Chandler asked about the 10’ easement on the back of the property line.
Mr. Hardy said he has filed applications and has received letters of release from all interested parties and has copies of all of them. He said there are no Public Utilities on the back.
Board Member Wareham asked Mr. Hardy why he could not put it on the west side of the house.
Mr. Hardy said there is no access from the west side of the house.
Planner Damir Drozdek commented about the existing concrete driveway on the side it for the variance. He said the City Code does not allow it to be on the west side.
Board Member Frank Wareham asked why he can’t just rotate the garage so that it lines up with the house.
Mr. Hardy said in order to do that we would have to cut down the length drastically and then it would not accommodate both the boat and 5th wheel trailer. He said the length needs to be 34 feet inside so he made the outside length 37 feet.
Board Member Wareham asked Mr. Hardy if he has considered storing both vehicles off site.
Mr. Hardy said yes, but would rather have ready access to them on site.
Chairman Gary Chandler asked to go back to the original variance application. He asked Mr. Hardy to help the Board understand how his letter of proposal complies with the conditions to be met for a variance.
Mr. Hardy said the unreasonable hardship is that it would be a real inconvenience to store his recreational vehicles at a location away from his home. He said with regards to special circumstances attached to the property would be that most of the other properties in the area are square perpendicular that are laid at right angles to their roads. He said because the cul-de-sac is curved it causes his to be the odd property in the area.
Board Member Aleta Taylor asks if South Jordan has a restriction on garage sizes.
Planner Drozdek said that any accessory building including garages may not exceed the total floor area of the house. He said there is also a percentage that only 40% of the lot may be occupied by buildings.
Mr. Hardy said that his drawings were certified as meeting both of these limitations.
Board Member Aleta Taylor asked if any of Mr. Hardy’s neighbors to the east are present that are against this variance.
Mr. Hardy said no. He said his neighbor was in favor of this.
Chairman Gary Chandler refers to item #2 for special circumstances, and the second part which is deprived of privileges of other properties in the same residential zone.
Mr. Hardy said that the odd shape of his property is a special circumstance and the difficulty of building the garage he needs on this odd shaped property.
Board Member Aleta Taylor said she feels that the lot does create the special circumstances for the Hardy’s due to the shape of the lot.
Jack E. Pola – 10481 Royal Tee Cove. He said he feels Mr. Hardy needs to build the garage to get his vehicles off the street.
Chairman Gary Chandler closed the Public Hearing on this item.
Board Member Aleta Taylor motioned to approve the variance as the application stands because it does not substantially affect the comprehensive plan of the zoning in the City and there are logical reasons for why he is doing what he is doing for reasons that were created by the lot and that the size is in line with the City standards and would be deprived of the normal privileges of a property owner if some garage is not approved. Board Member Dan Fallows seconded the motion.
Board Member Frank Wareham said he feels that the economic hardship condition for item #1 has not been met. He said the vehicles can be stored off site.
Board Member Troy Teeples said he feels the garage is too large and could be made smaller to fit.
Motion did not pass. Vote was 2 Yes (Board Member Aleta Taylor and Dan Fallows) and 3 No (Board Members Frank Wareham, Gary Chandler and Troy Teeples).
New motion by Board Member Aleta Taylor to pass the variance with a deduction of 2 feet of the garage size taking the measure from 36 feet to 34 feet. Changing the 14 foot door to a 12 foot door on the east side.
Board Member Frank Wareham said he wanted to get clarification from staff on the set-back needing to be greater because of the taller building.
Planner Damir Drozdek said for anything in the side yard any building has to be 10 feet away from the property line that is up to 16 feet in height and for anything above 16 feet would require an additional foot and one half taking the total set-back to 11 ½ feet.
Board Member Dan Fallows seconds the motion. Motion did not pass. Vote was 3 No (Board Members Frank Wareham, Gary Chandler and Troy Teeples) to 2 Yes (Board Member Aleta Taylor and Dan Fallows).
Chairman Gary Chandler said we have to follow our laws and the state statutes.
Board Member Frank Wareham motions to deny the variance because it does not meet the approval criteria for economic hardship. Board Member Troy Teeples seconded the motion. Motion passes 3 to 2. Vote was 3 Yes (Board Members Frank Wareham, Gary Chandler and Troy Teeples) to 2 No (Board Member Aleta Taylor and Dan Fallows).
B. File # BOA-2007.07, Request for a variance to Section 17.50.090 Letter “D” of the South Jordan City Zoning Ordinance pertaining to rear yard setback requirements for buildings in the O-S Zone on a property located at 10502 South Redwood Road, John Lyhnakis, (applicant).
Chairman Gary Chandler read the request for variance BOA-2007.07 and opened the Public Hearing.
Vasili Lyhnakis 2479 Imperial Street, Salt Lake City – said that their architect was called out on an emergency. He said there has been a lot of thought that has gone into the design of this building.
Chairman Gary Chandler directed a question to John Lyhnakis stating that the paperwork shows that you applied to have this property rezoned earlier this year from commercial to O-S and now your are asking the City to grant a variance so that you can build on this property, is that correct.
Vasili Lyhnakis said yes, that is correct.
Chairman Gary Chandler asked if he was aware of the set back requirements for this property.
Vasili Lyhnakis answered for his father John Lyhnakis, yes. He said we were given several options that would be most feasible. He said they felt that if they stayed with the one story building instead of two stories it would be more appropriate and better accepted by the neighbors behind us.
Chairman Gary Chandler asked if anyone in the audience would like to comment on this item.
Vilas Patil – 10491 Crest Haven Ct, said his property is right behind this property and said that he does not agree with this plan. He said this plan would encroach into his backyard space because his back yard is narrow it would be like a tunnel back there. He said he is worried that his property value would lessen.
Kregg VanRij – lives next to Vilas Patil. He said he loves the view from his backyard and a plan with only a 10 foot set-back would be an eye sore and ruin his entire view. He said if they put lights on the building it would light up his entire backyard and house.
Board Member Aleta Taylor asked Mr. Lyhnakis how tall the building would be as one story.
Mr. Lyhnakis said it is 22 feet high and his understanding is that he could build a two story in this zone. He said we took this into consideration when they were designing the building to keep it at one story. He said they want to keep the noise at a minimum for the neighbors.
Jay Ambelang – 10508 Cresthaven Ct. said he is a neighbor to both Vilas and Kregg. He said he is there to support them with their plans.
Board Member Frank Wareham said he has laid out a line-of-site diagram and showed everyone the impact a 22 foot building would have. He said in his judgment this is a serious impact.
John Lyhnakis said he should ask the people living behind this project what they would rather see, a parking lot or the back of the building.
Chairman Gary Chandler again reviewed the guidelines for approval of a variance.
Board Member Aleta Taylor said she appreciates the Lyhnakis’ concern for their neighbors but feels the approval criteria is not being met in this particular application.
Vilas Patil said this is zoned as office and they could put in a two story building. He said he is glad that they are all able to talk freely about their concerns. He said he just does not approve of this plan.
Kregg VanRiy said that talking to John Lyhnakis helps to see the detail of the plans they are proposing. He said the 10 foot set-back is just not a good plan.
Chairman Gary Chandler closed the Public Hearing at this time.
Board Member Frank Wareham motioned to deny this variance because it fails to meet the criteria for approval. Board Member Aleta Taylor seconded the motion. Motion passes unanimous with no one opposed.
IV OTHER BUSINESS
A. Calendaring Items
None
B. Planning Department Matters
None
ADJOURNMENT
Board Member Dan Fallows motioned to adjourn the November 21, 2007 Board of Adjustment meeting. Board Member Troy Teeples seconded the motion. Motion passes unanimously with no one opposed.
The November 21, 2007 Board of Adjustment meeting adjourned at 7:40 P.M.