BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS MEETING
JUNE 15, 2010
7:00 P.M.


I CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.


II ROLL CALL

Members Present: Jim Squires, Lawrence Hawkins III, Robert Weidlich,
Robert Emerson, William Reichert, Jane Huber, Chairman Dave Okum

Others Present: Randy Campion, Building Inspection Supervisor

   
III PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE


IV MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF 18 MAY, 2010

Mrs. Huber moved for acceptance the May 18, 2010 Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting minutes, Mr. Weidlich seconded the motion and with a unanimous “aye” vote the minutes were adopted.


V CORRESPONDENCE

No correspondence.

VI REPORT ON COUNCIL

Mr. Hawkins gave a summary report of the June 2, 2010 City Council meeting.


VII REPORT ON PLANNING COMMISSION

    Chairman Okum gave a summary report of the June 8, 2010 Planning Commission meeting.

Mr. Lawrence Hawkins: Is the cell tower still set to go for the July Planning Commission meeting?

Chairman Okum: We do not think it is going to be. We will mention it to Staff whether we need to send a notice out to the residents; I think the residents who were given notice need to be notified that it is not going to happen.

VIII CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT AND SWEARING IN OF APPLICANTS


IX OLD BUSINESS

No items of old business were presented at this meeting.


X NEW BUSINESS

A. Chairman Okum: The first item on the agenda, the owner of 1205 Wainwright Drive requests a variance to store a recreational vehicle on the property. Said variance is from Section 153.480(D)(1) One recreational vehicle, one boat or trailer, or one trailer used for recreational purposes may be stored in an enclosed area of the property but not closer than 5’ to the nearest lot line or any right of way line. 153.480(D)(1)(b)when stored in the front yard or in the side yard on a side street of corner lots it must leave two additional spaces not less than 9’ X 19’ or maintain the entire driveway space as originally existed less than two such spaces.

Mr. Jonathan Arroyo: I had originally applied to move the fence from my side yard,
but it involved a couple things. I went and talked to my neighbor because I would actually be pushing my trailer onto his property for a moment to get it into the back yard and he said he didn’t have an issue with that. I wanted to look into getting a tongue-jack but they are actually more expensive than I thought they would be so I need a little more time to save up to buy one. I don’t want to store it off-site because of security and the nuisance of getting it every time we use it which is every week in the summer; right now it is being repaired and it over in Colerain. It has to be plugged in to get the refrigerator running cold before you put anything in the refrigerator and then you have to load it, clean it and everything. I plan on getting it to the back yard but I need that time to save up a little more time to buy that electronic tongue-jack.

Chairman Okum: For the record photos are provided of the property with the trailer on site.

(At this time Mr. Campion read the Staff comments.)

Chairman Okum: For purposes of the record we will open this up to communication from the audience.
(No one came forward and this portion of the hearing was closed.)

Mr. Emerson: How much space is between your house and your neighbor’s house?

Mr. Arroyo: It is actually close to 10 feet.

Mr. Emerson: And how wide is your camper?

Mr. Arroyo: There is a 1 ½ foot clearance on both sides with the camper going through there.

Mr. Emerson: So it is about 7’ or 8’ wide. How much of that do you actually own and how much does your neighbor own?

Mr. Arroyo: It is literally split.

Mr. Emerson: And what if your neighbor moves, the guy that agrees to let you back to his yard?

Mr. Arroyo: That would become an issue in the future.

Mr. Squires: Mr. Campion, I assume that the letters were sent to residents at 1193, as well as, 1219 Wainwright regarding this situation?

Mr. Campion: That is correct.

Mr. Squires: And they are not present tonight?

Mr. Campion: We assume that they don’t want to voice their opinion.

Mr. Squires: It appears that you cannot move that without encroaching on 1193; can you?

Mr. Arroyo: That is correct.

Mr. Hawkins: You are indicating that you believe it is going to be the end of the summer that you will be able to make whatever changes to be able to move this trailer to a different location at the back of your home?

Mr. Arroyo: I think I should be done before the end of October.

Mr. Hawkins: I am sure that you would act diligently in making that happen. The one concern that I have is that any variance that we grant is forever despite the fact that you don’t want to do this forever, you just want to do this until October or sooner.

Mr. Arroyo: Perhaps we could have a hearing to undo it, is that possible?

Mr. Hawkins: We can’t do that with a variance. A variance can’t be done for a set period of time.

Mr. Weidlich: I noticed when I came by your home, that hill that comes up into your neighbor’s yard; will you have to be digging that out in order to get your trailer back there?

Mr. Arroyo: No; that is why I don’t want to do it with the car because it is such a tight area that when you maneuver the car, the trailer acts second and I think it would be awfully hard not to hit anything. With an electronic tongue-jack you can simply turn the jack and it will immediately turn the trailer in that direction.

Mr. Squires: This report indicates that this applicant will be in compliance by fall, do you want to expand on that a little bit?

Mr. Arroyo: Yes, I was hoping to get to the end of October and then I can complete the improvements; I have to move the gate back and it is only a single gate and I need to make it a double-wide gate.

Chairman Okum: Statutorily, if this Board is in agreement with the applicant to table to a certain period of time, findings and deliberation…

Mr. Campion: Do you mean continue it?

Chairman Okum: Yes.

Mr. Campion: I guess you could do that.

Chairman Okum: What if we continue it to the November meeting?

Mr. Campion: I think that is a possibility.

Chairman Okum: While this case is pending before this Board, the City won’t take action; just a thought. People share property access; you could literally have the driveways on two parcels next to each other and share use, cross-access points are common in many areas. If he does do an impervious improvement there, where that property line is at, if he gets in agreement with the property owner next door and as long as that neighbor is in agreement with him allowing him to do that he is able to pull his trailer into the backyard and be compliant. If the neighbor moves and sells the property then he gets rid of the trailer or he comes back to this Board for consideration and shows a difficulty and explains why, then we would consider it at that time. I don’t think the issue of him driving on the person’s next door property is a big issue, because as long as he has an agreement with him in writing or some type of agreement that should be fine.
Possibly if we would table and we wouldn’t be breeching any statutory or state regulations, I think that it would be better that we table this to the November meeting to give this individual the opportunity to make the improvements necessary to make it happen.

Mr. Emerson: I like your idea; I like that better than passing a variance.

Mr. Reichert: The neighbor’s property line is not part of the variance and parking in the backyard is not part of the variance; the only variance that we are interested in is the fact that you are supposed to have parking in front of it and if we could table it for later so that you could possibly come up with another solution with additional parking; then we would make that motion. The variance is for the amount of space in front of it.

Chairman Okum: Mr. Campion do you see any difficulty with that?

Mr. Campion: No.

Mr. Hawkins: Is the applicant o.k. with the matter being tabled till November and waiving any kind of statutory time requirements, if there are any?

Mr. Arroyo: I have to do what you guys decide.

Chairman Okum: If the Law Director’s office comes back to us and says that we screwed up here, then we would reopen the public hearing earlier than the continuation date. That motion could be a motion to continue with consideration that there are no objections by legal council.

Mr. Arroyo: That sounds good; you are postponing a decision until November.

Mrs. Huber: Can’t a driveway go right to the property line?

Chairman Okum: Absolutely.

Mr. Squires: Do you understand what we are doing?

Mr. Arroyo: You are postponing a decision until November.

Mr. Squires: It is in your favor.
I make a motion to postpone this until the November meeting; unless we run into trouble with the legal.
Mrs. Huber seconded the motion.

Mr. Arroyo: I thought of other ideas, like making a larger driveway by expanding sideways.

Chairman Okum: It is possible that if you get this agreement with your neighbor and you can get the fence moved you may not need a variance at all. You may call the Building Department and say I need to withdraw because you have resolved the issue; if you don’t, we will see you in November again.

Mr. Reichert: I would like to have it attached that there is a reason we are getting a continuance, to try to avoid a variance.

Chairman Okum: So you are adding that to the motion.
Mr. Hawkins seconded the addition to the motion.

Chairman Okum: The motion is that this hearing is continued to the November Board of Zoning Appeals meeting with the condition that the Law Director’s office has no objection with this being continued to this date and for the purpose of the applicant obtaining a solution to the problem that would not require a variance.

Mrs. Huber poled the Board of Zoning Appeals members and with a unanimous “aye” vote the request was tabled to the November Board of Zoning meeting.

Chairman Okum: Hopefully you will have it resolved and we won’t see you; once you have made your adjustments and so forth. When you have resolved it give the Building Department a call and let them know if you will need to be in here for the November meeting or not.

Mr. Arroyo: If I can’t get it together, I will store it off-site.

B.    Chairman Okum: The next item of new business is the owner of 221 Diston Lane is requesting a variance for an additional accessory structure put into place on the property. Section 153.492(B)(1) An accessory building or structure …There shall be no more than one detached accessory building, other than a garage, on a lot in a Residential Zoning District.”
   
    Chairman Okum: As the applicant for this address is not present, can we have a motion to table this item to the next Board of Zoning Appeals meeting?
    Mrs. Huber: So moved.
    Mr. Squires seconded the motion to table and with a unanimous “aye” vote from the Board of Zoning Appeals Members the motion to table was accepted.


XI DISCUSSION

Chairman Okum: We have a blight in our community that is called “Fire Blight” and it is affecting our Pear trees. It is a bacteria that is internal to the tree. I had my tree that is in front of my house treated and the City’s tree along the street. I am advising everyone because the City has about 1,500 of these trees.

XII ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Okum: Last item on the agenda, I will accept a motion for adjournment.

All members of the Board of Zoning Appeals present, signified by saying “aye” and the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________,2010 ___________________________________
            Chairman Dave Okum



________________________,2010 ___________________________________
            Secretary Jane Huber