Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/12/1996 W H E A T R I D G E B OAR D O F A D J U S T M E N T MINUTES OF MEETING September 12, 1996 1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chairman WALKER at 7:32 P.M. on September 12, 1996, in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 7500 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Tom Abbott Bi11 Echelmeyer Paul Hovland Bob Howard Susan Junker Karen Thiessen Robert Walker MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT Linda Mauro Meredith Reckert, Planner Sean McCartney, Planner Mary Lou Chapla, Secretary PUBLIC SEARING The following is the official set of Board of Adjustment minutes for the Public Hearing of September 12, 1996. .A set of these minutes is retained both in the office of the City Clerk and in the Department of Planning and Development o_f the City of Wheat Ridge. • SgiHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJiTSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 2 2. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA Motion was made Board Member HOWARD, seconded by Board Member JUNKER to approve the agenda as amended withdrawing Case No. WA-96-31. Motion carried. 3. PUBLIC FORUM (This is the time for anyone to speak on any subject not appearing on the agenda.) No one came forward to speak. 4. PUBLIC HEARING A. Case No_ WA-96-29: An application by David Kaiser for the approval of a 25' lot width variance to the 100' lot width requirement and a 650 square foot lot area requirement to allow a duplex on a property zoned Residential-Two and located at 7765 Three Acre Lane. Sean McCartney presented the staff report. All pertinent documents were entered into the record, which Chairman WALKER accepted. Board Member ECHELMEYER asked what the situation is on the trailer, and Mr. McCartney said he was told the motorhome is owned by the applicant's mother. Her stay is temporary and the motorhome will be removed. Code Enforcement has sent a warning notice regarding other code violations. Board Member ABBOTT asked if any other physical changes are required other than the parking, and Mr. McCarthy replied no, parking is the only thing that distinguishes this from a single family. There are several smaller lots in the area that are all single family residential. Board Member THIESSEN asked if there will be a separate entrance for the second unit, and. Mr. McCartney said there is a separate entrance already on the north. The footprint of the house will not change at all. Board Member THIESSEN questioned if each unit had the one entrance, and Mr. McCartney answered yes. Board Member HOWARD said there are five homes in this subdivision and asked if they are all zoned Residential-Two and Mr. McCartney answered all the lots to the east are zoned R-2, except for the R-3 zoning across the street. • VPSEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • Ms.v~iES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 3 The applicant, David Kaiser, 6732 W. 65th Avenue, Arvada, CO, was sworn in. He said both driveways were existing when he bought the home. He will pave both driveways and do upgrades to the house that are necessary. Mr. Kaiser bought the duplex for his family to live there. His brother and family will live in one side, and a single sister will-live in the smaller side. Board Member ECHELMEYER wanted to know what the plans were for the. trailer, and Mr. Kaiser explained the motorhome does belong to his mother who is staying there and helping with the clean up of the property. She was planning on staying to the end of the month, but if she has to leave tomorrow, that will be fine. Variance or not, the trailer (motorhome) will be moved. Dino Pesci, 3815 Garland Street, was sworn in. Mr. Pesci owns the house directly east of the proposed duplex. He has no objection to the duplex however, does have a few requests: • 1. That only two families live on the premises, 2. That the existing structure not be modified to increase the physical size, 3. The number of vehicles parked across the street (5-6) be moved, and 4. They provide off-street parking. Mr. Pesci feels these are not unreasonable requests. Julie Kaiser, 7765 Three Acre Lane, was sworn in. M5. Kaiser lives on the property in question ( her brother is the owner). The property is large and has room for two families. There cannot be any overloading of the property because one side has one bedroom and the other side has two small bedrooms. There will only be-two cars in each driveway. No further questions were asked Motion was made by Board Member HOVLAND, that Case No. WA- 96-29, an application by David Kaiser, be APPROVED for the following reasons: • 1. The Board finds that based upon all evidence presented and based upon the Board's conclusions relative to the nine specific questions to justify the variance, the evidence and facts in this case do support the granting of this request. WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJIISTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETYNG: September 12, 1996 Page 4 WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: 1. The conversion will be an internal enclosure only and not effect the footprint of the building as it exists. It has to comply with the existing setbacks and total lot coverage. 2. A building permit must be acquired. 3. A site plan showing adequate on-site parking be submitted to the building department. Board Member ECHELMEYER reminded the Board of the off-site parking problem and Board Member HOVLAND believed it would be covered in the on site parking plan to be submitted. Motion was seconded by Board Member THIESSEN. Board Member ABBOTT stated he will be voting no on this request because there are no unique circumstances or specific differences. Board Member ECHELMEYER commented on the conversion only being internal. Chairman WALKER was concerned because each side only has one • entrance/exit. Ms. Reckert added the building department will be reviewing this before the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. Board Member HOWARD will be voting no on this because all of the five residences on that street are identical and feels if this request is granted they will see four other applicants for the same request in the future. Mr. McCartney said that block has a strong chance of having multi-family because of -the R-3 zoning across the_street. It is zoned for medium to high density so it will not lose character. Mr. PeSCi spoke again saying the applicant has the largest house on the block and most have small additions currently and cannot enlarge any further. Motion denied by a vote 4-3, with Board Members ABBOTT, HOWARD, and WALKER voting no. Resolution attached. C. Case No. TiTP-9F-1q: An application by Greg Jeffreys for Chesrown Automotive Group, Inc. for approval of a temporary use permit to allow vehicle storage and employee parking on property zoned Planned Commercial Development located at 3601 Wadsworth Boulevard. WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 5 Meredith Reckert noted on the staff report the recommendation of continuance based on the outstanding issue of the wetlands on the property that have not been adequately addressed. The applicant did request for staff to go ahead and give the presentation as they are requesting approval tonight. Ms. Reckert entered into record two pieces of correspondence labeled Exhibit 'A', a letter from an area resident, and 'B', a letter from the Corps of Engineers. Ms. Reckert presented the staff report. All pertinent documents were entered into record, which Chairman WALKER accepted. Board Member THIESSEN asked how the cars will get in and out, and Ms. Reckert replied there are substantial grade changes from north to south and also from the existing Friendly Ford lot; substantial grading is required for the property to be used as shown on the site plan. Emphasis should be placed on the internal access rather than Yukon Court, however this would be hard to monitor. • Board Member HOVLAND asked what the surfacing would be, and Reckert said at minimum they would require compacted road base. Board Member JUNKER wondered how many employees there are, and Ms. Reckert deferred the question to the applicant. Board Member HOWARD asked if they are talking about 3.3 acres or about 1/3 of the lot, and Ms. Reckert agreed saying the entire property is about 10 acres. There is no guarantee they will not overflow that 3.3 acres, and Ms. Reckert said staff could request some sort of barrier along the south side. Board Member ABBOTT wondered if staff feels the run-off from this three acres could impact the wetlands to the south and do they know exactly what that impact will be, and Ms. Reckert replied yes. Ms. Reckert said the survey submitted shows the limits of the what has been defined as wetlands. She reiterated the concern with the grading that will have to occur. Board Member HOVLAND asked if the TUP is approved tonight will it still have to be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, and Ms. Reckert said absolutely. The applicant • is asking for approval of a TCJP contingent on getting the Army Corps approval and EPA approval. WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT . MINUTES OF MEETYNG: September 12, 1996 Page 6 Ms. Reckert added the applicant did prepare a drainage report originally, however once the wetlands issue came up, it no longer applied. Board Member ECHELMEYER asked if the City has any previous relationship with the Corps of Engineers and wetlands, and is it possible they will take the whole acreage. Ms. Reckert answered there are several different options available to the developer and one is moving the wetlands entirely off-site and finding another site within the City of Wheat Ridge to re-create that. To her knowledge the city has no previous contact with the Army Corps of Engineers. They have had smaller wetlands projects but nothing this large. Greg Jeffreys, (pernzanent residence in Spokane, WA) 1880 Arapahoe Street, Suite 2102, Denver, CO, was sworn in. Mr. Jeffreys said this is phase one of.a two part action, with a parallel action going on with the Army Corps of Engineers. The -city has not received information to where they are at because up until last week they were unsure how they would mitigate. They have now concluded that if mitigation occurs on-site that they will lose too much developable acreage (about 3.7 acres). They will eventually build a new Ford facility on the vacant land and for this size of dealership there are. industry standards for the amount of employee parking and inventory. They were given the option of going off-site for the wetlands issue either in an existing open space or finding one of their own. The ecologist they hired and the team of engineers are locating a site within the given basin dictated by the Corps of Engineers. Regardless of location, Mr. Jeffreys will approach that city and ask permission to expand the existing wetlands at their expense and also reimburse whatever city entity that is for the land. The Corps of Engineers will need a deed restriction on the land precluding future development. The Corps of Engineers agreed to allow work simultaneously with the temporary action. They will not let them go ahead and start construction on the new facility without this off-site mediation being 100% completed. Mr. Jeffreys requested that their case be heard at this special meeting because of the expediency of their temporary parking necessary. There is no room for employees to park and the people on Yukon Court and adjacent areas cannot get in or out because of the congestion. They are going to • elaborate lengths internally to where they will have WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 7 employee and inventory traffic moved from the existing facility to the temporary parking which would alleviate traffic on Yukon. Mr. Jeffreys said they have no argument with staff's recommendation. They will do all of the landscaping on the west and south-boundaries as well as the screening fence when the temporary parking facility is built. They will be fencing the south property between the future developed area and the temporary parking for security purposes. The city°s overall utilities plan included putting in a manhole and interceptor at 38th Avenue & Wadsworth which indicates sooner or later they would need to run an 18" sewer line down Yukon. The wetlands were not there 15 years ago, it is the storm water run off-from the adjacent properties that created them. They will be running a sewer line down Yukon to take care of their retention pond for their site plus the apartment run-off. Mr. Jeffreys went on to say they will pave the entire site with 2" of asphalt for the temporary parking lot, put in the retention pond, fence and landscape on the west and south • sides. When the new dealership is built, they will remove the asphalt and replace it with concrete. At the time they put in the storm sewer line in Yukon Court they will run the other sewer and water at their own expense. Mr. Jeffreys stated when the City extends Yukon Court to the south for the purpose of fire protection they would have to deal with the same issue. with the Corps of Engineers because it will go through the wetlands. He is asking for approval contingent upon them meeting the criteria for a 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Jeffreys went over the plan again for Board Member ABBOTT. Board Member ABBOTT asked what is the language of contingent on the temporary use, and_ Mr. Jeffreys replied that contingency relieves the Board of any liability. When they put in the new dealership they will have to meet the requirements and he does not want to do any redundant actions. Board Member HOWARD asked how much dirt would be 'transplanted' on the proposed temporary lot before the surface is put down, and Mr. Jeffreys answered they will clean the entire site and do all the landscaping and all the dirt moving at that time. • WHEAT RIDGE SOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETINGe September 12, 1996 Page 8 Board Member HOWARD asked if they have a timetable, and Mr. Jeffreys replied they are at the mercy of the city and the Corps of Engineers. The entire facility should be done within 6 weeks with the biggest portion of the work being the extensive grading work between the existing dealership and the new property. Mr Jeffreys stressed that parking will not be for inventory, but for employees and new cars waiting for detailing. Board Member HOVLAND asked how long will the temporary use permit be needed, and Mr. Jeffreys elaborated saying 10-12 months including the building of the new dealership. Board Member ECHELMEYER suggested using the lot on W. 44th Avenue and Wadsworth, and Mr. Jeffreys responded that this is not feasible due to dealership franchise agreements and non-adjacency. Discussion continued regarding the timing of issuance of the- 404 permit and when actual construction could start on the property. Mr. Jeffreys confirmed the approval would be contingent until every one is satisfied with the Corps of Engineers decision. Chairman WALKER called for a five minute recess. Upon reconvening, Mr. Al Hajka, project engineer, 1360 So. Clarkson, Denver, CO, was sworn in. He presented the plan of design regarding drainage and grading of the site. The required on site detention area is designed to handle all water flow from the existing site, the area west, and from 35th Avenue. The plan also showed landscaping and buffering along the west side of the site. The proposed re-alignment of Yukon Court will follow the same route as the fire lane access south to West 35th Avenue. Tim Brown, 1360 So. Clarkson Street, Deriver, CO, was sworn in. He has done most of the legwork in obtaining the 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers. They hired an ecologist to help with the wetlands determination that is based on soil, vegetation and wildlife on the property. He said again they will lose too much developable area if they mitigate on-site. Mr. Brown reiterated they will purchase the land and expand the wetlands. They will also obtain an agreement to restrict any building on the site. Ms. Reckert said the key point to be made is that going on the assumption that this is acceptable to The applicant would still have to go through final development plan and plat. No one knows what city they are the city. council WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 9 will permit since this off-.site mitigation is something they have not had a lot of time to address. Board Member ABBOTT questioned the city having authority in not permitting them to proceed along the proposed avenue, and Ms. Reckert stated she is not 1000 confident about the lines of communication just who takes precedence over who. The city has to approve the drainage report as well. Board Member ABBOTT Commented if they are unsuccessful in going off-site, he feels the TUP could impact the existing wetlands. He sees a responsibility on the Board's part to make sure that does not happen. Mr. Jeffreys added that issue was brought up in the original meeting, and Mr. Gidley's opinion at that time was this is not a wetlands. Since questions were brought up, he guessed staff needed to make sure they would not have a liability issue. Mr. Jeffreys understands that council does not want the wetlands moved but the governing body here would be the Corps of Engineers, so there should be no reason why city council would not approve this. It was noted again that this TUP property cannot be put to use until the 404 permit is granted. Board Member HOVLAND questioned if the extension of Yukon Court stops at 35th Avenue or the dealership, and Ms. Reckert stated she cannot adequately respond to this because she has not seen the new plan and design. She believes the concept is it would extend from Yukon Court south and then veer over towards the western property line. This plan is conceptual at this point, but Mr. Hajka commented they plan on following the same basic alignment with the contour around the west side. Mirium Hanna, 7770 W. 3$th Avenue, was sworn in. Ms. Hanna in on the board of directors for the Wheat Ridge Plaza Condo Association. She feels they do have a vested interest because their eastern border follows this property in question. The association's concern is their fence that ran along the entire length of their property was torn down by Chesrown workers. They have been assured there will be a replacement, but have already suffered from the lack of privacy and safety and well being of the people. The alley they speak of for emergency access is actually their parking lot and carports. They are totally opposed to any sort of • access onto their private property, and Ms. Hanna added she WHEAT REIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • Mii~uiaS OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 10 does not believe the fire marshall knows anything of this plan. Ms. Reckert stated the city knows they have adequate fire protection in this area if this property develops. The city needs to have some sort of extension of Yukon, but she does not know if this configuration has been discussed. Ms. Reckert said for clarification purposes there is an existing emergency access which runs up the eastern side of the Valencia condos, and it was the city's intent to require the connection farther south. Ms. Hanna added they are also opposed to the detention area because of the odor problem. Mr. Hajka interjected the idea behind a detention pond is not to be permanent, but to handle a large amount of water and to keep it from flooding the existing storm sewers. It i5 not a permanent lake that stands at all times and in most instances the pond would be dry. The water mentioned coming from the west is more from the Valencia area. • Chairman WALKER asked Ms. Hanna if they have a driveway from 35th Avenue going north into the parking area now, and Ms. Hanna replied yes, it runs next to Valencia and up to the south border of their property. Board Member ABBOTT asked why is this an issue since the applicants cannot go onto other people's property. Ms. Reckert said their misunderstandings have been the engineer showing this when it was never the city°s intention to allow cross access into the Wheat Ridge Plaza`s property. Again, there has to be an extension of Yukon Court but it needs to connect with the existing emergency access lane farther south. In order to allow the applicant to build on the condominium property, they would have to have a formal cross access agreement and that is different from what the city wants to see happen there. Ms. Reckert suggested an amendment to the site plan showing it as buffered area and alleviate that entire emergency access. Eventually when they do their full build-out, there will be a road connection. Board Member ECHELMEYER asked Ms. Hanna how many people does she represent in the home owners association, and she replied ten. • WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 11 Board Member ECHELMEYER asked staff could the City by right of eminent domain take that parking lot for a street, and Ms. Reckert answered it has not been historically used as that and besides that is not something the city would do. Ms. Reckert stressed to the board that this conceptual plan in no way has been approved by the city; it is premature and giving people the false impression that it is an improvement. Ms. Hanna wants to go on record that all 80 units are opposed to this. Loretta Tafoya, 3739 Yukon Court, was sworn in. Her concer-ns are trying to gain access to Yukon Court with the traffic as it is, and the existing parking lot with the speed and noise. People use Yukon Court as a testing street for cars now and. opening it up is not the solution as it will create a lot of problems for the people that live on that street. She is also Concerned with the moving of the wetlands and the retention pond. • Board Member THIESSEN asked Ms. Tafoya if she sees this as alleviating a parking problem, and she said no, because they will still be using Yukon Court to gain access to the lot. Mr. Jeffreys stated there is no way to get to the temporary parking facility from Yukon Court, therefore the majority of the traffic will be using the ramp behind the existing service building. Rosemary Tourney, 3733 Yukon Court, was sworn in. Ms. Tourney does not like the idea of opening up Yukon Court and was concerned as to how many employees will be using the temporary facility every day; six days a week. Dorothy Iiams, 8690 W. 41st Avenue (they also have a condominium at the Valencia), was concerned with the traffic on Yukon Court. The people in the area, including ambulances, avoid 38th & Wadsworth, and she feels Yukon Court will be the °other' street everyone uses to avoid this intersection. Thomas Lundy, 3500-02 Allison Street, was sworn in. Mr. Lundy presented to the board a document called a 'Revocable License Agreement' between the City of Wheat Ridge and the residents on Allison Street. This eleven page document is from July 1992. He urged the board to read this document, • especially the following: NiHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT M.aavuaES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 12 'The completion of construction of an alternate traffic route other than Allison Street, which shall be required by the City as a condition of the approval for any rezoning or development request, whether instituted by the City or a third party, of all or a portion of the vacant property located at 35th and Wadsworth, provided however that residents of Allison Street may waive their right in writing to terminate this agreement at the time of construction based upon their review and acceptance of the development proposed and also provided that notice and an opportunity to review such development plans is afforded said Allison Street residents.° Mr. Lundy said this agreement is supposed to be iron clad. He said they also have test drivers coming up Allison from the dealership and know they are test cars because of the temporary plates, numbers on the windshields, and things like that. Mr. Lundy wanted to present this document because they do not want any more traffic than what they have, and per this agreement, there has to be another street to take the traffic off of Allison. Board Member ABBOTT asked Mr. Lundy if he feels this document gives the people-some authority related to the TUP use that is being requested, and he answered not the people so much as the board and he does want the board to read this --- document before they use their authority. Ms. Reckert assured this will be one of the items discussed by Planning Commission and City Council before normal approval. Chairman WALKER asked if he feels the extension of Yukon Court will alleviate or make life worse on Allison Street, and Mr. Lundy replied it would make life easier on Allison Street but he can sympathize with the people on Yukon. Ralph Hanna, 7801 W. 35th Avenue, was sworn in, and asked in the event the applicant does get the temporary permit, will they be able to bring up other objections (fence, trees, grading, etc.) at a later date, and Ms. Reckert said they could, and stated that is why staff requested a continuance because they do not have enough information. Chairman WALKER asked staff if the motion to grant this temporary use fails can they come back at a later date and ask for another, and Ms. Reckert replied they cannot apply • 'WHEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJiJSTMENT MYNUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 13 for another year, unless they substantially change the request. She believes there is a lot of open end questions. Board Member THIESSEN asked upon approval of the TUP and after obtaining the Corps of Engineers permit, will this be the last thing that is done until they come back, and Ms. Reckert replied they need to get approval from Planning and City Council, and suggested this could be continued for two weeks to see if-they have enough information at that point. Board Member HOVLAND asked if there will be neighborhood input at the final hearing, and Ms. Reckert answered the process will be a public hearing and anyone will have the opportunity for public comment. No Further questions were asked. Motion was made by Board Member ABBOTT, that Case No. TUP- 96-10, an application by Greg Jeffreys for Chesrown Ford, be continued to the next available meeting for the following reasons: • 1. Because the wetlands issue is still unresolved, staff cannot adequately analyze this aspect of the request. 2. Other impacts and open questions related to adjacent properties seem unresolved. 3. The Board needs the city attorney's opinion as to the applicability of the Allison Street Revocable License Agreement date July 27, 1992. Motion was seconded by Board Member THIESSEN. Motion carried 6-1 with Board Member HOVLAND voting no. 4. CLO5E THE PUBLIC HEARING 5. OLD BUSINESS 6. NE4d BUSINESS A. Approval of Minutes: August 22, 1996 Motion was made by Board Member HOVLAND, seconded by Board Member JUNKER, to approve the minutes as amended: Page 1, under #1: Change Members Present to read 'Karen Thiessen'. • Page 9, paragraph 5, add in words after ECHELMEYER: 'voting no'. Motion carried. WIiEAT RIDGE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT • MINUTES OF MEETING: September 12, 1996 Page 14 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Board Member THIESSEN, seconded by Board Member ABBOTT, to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 10:08 P.M. Mary L~u Chapla, Se retary i • . B O A R D O F A D J U S T M E N T PUBLIC FORUM ROSTER - September 12, 1996 - THIS IS THE TIME FOR ANYONE TO SPEAK ON ANY SUBJECT NOT APPEARING UNDER ITEM 3 OF THE PUBLIC HEARING SECTION OF THE AGENDA. Name and Address Please Print