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Home My WebLink AboutZBOA Minutes 2006-01-24 Regular 241 State of Texas )( City of Friendswood )( Counties of Galveston/Harris )( January 24,2006 )( Minutes of a regular meeting of the Friendswood Zoning Board Of Adjustment that was held on Tuesday, January 24, 2006, at 7:00 PM at Friendswood City Hall Council Chambers, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood,Texas,with the following present constituting a quorum: Chairman Ron Decker Regular Member David O'Brien,III Regular Member Ken Boggs Alternate Member Elisabeth Wagner (left 7:05 PM) Alternate Member Steve Joiner Alternate Member Ernie Kyle Alternate Member Steve Knis City Attorney Loren Smith Building Officials Frank Manigold Staff Liaison Melinda Welsh Vice Chairman David Dannemiller and Regular Member Greg Hughes were absent from the meeting. Chairman Decker called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Chairman Decker appointed alternate member Steve Joiner and Ernie Kyle as regular voting members for this meeting. 7:00 PM—REGULAR SESSION Staff Liaison Melinda Welsh administered the Oath of Office to appointed alternate member Ernie Kyle. Chairman Decker called the hearing to order to receive public input regarding seeking a variance for property located at 103 Victoria Way, 8975.33 square ft.of land situated in Lot 3,Phase 4 of the Replat of The Park, Galveston County, Texas,for an attached carport to be built on the existing property. Variance request from the requirements of Section 7.Q.3, Interior Side Exception, of Appendix C of the Friendswood City Code. Charles Incerta, 103 Victoria Way, stated he is the applicant and presented his case. He further stated he appreciates the opportunity to address the Board, would like a variance because he would like to build a port a' che, which is an attached carport to an existing house, researched and found there had been a change in the zoning law concerning properties at The Park from Single Family Residential (SFR) to Multi-Family Residential (MFR) dwellings, thinks his house was mistakenly classified as MFR since he is SFR, will be just like the one at 102 Victoria Way, also researched that he has the same color brick as his property to build, will add beauty to the area, the Homeowner's Association (HOA) approved it, and stated he respectfully requests that this variance be approved. No one spoke for or against the proposed request. Hearing no further input the Public Hearing was closed. 242 Discussion was held among the Zoning Board members, Building Official and City Attorney regarding this request for a variance. The discussion included questions regarding the location of the carport,what constitutes the front and back of the house, if the carport matches the neighbors will the carport come out any further than theirs would, is applicant receiving complaints from other neighbors, stated HOA sent letters and they were all okay and no objections,Chairman Decker explained the law on requirements for granting a variance and stated it has to be a hardship, Dr. Incerta explained that his mother-in-law is in a nursing home and is wheelchair-bound and the carport would help for protection and easier access. Building Official Frank Manigold stated this property is zoned SFR and the separation needs to be 10 ft. because of the zoning ordinance, at the time they were built they were 5ft. In this case the zoning is incorrect in that SFR is zoned MFR and MFR is zoned SFR. Boardmember Knis stated that the builder ran out of money and all the other houses were built by individuals. Chairman Decker stated it is possible that someone in Permits made a mistake and granted a permit for someone to build MFR in SFR or the builder ignored the zoning, he also clarified the rules on which to vote. **Boardmember O'Brien moved to approve the variance as requested for property located at 103 Victoria Way. Seconded by Boardmember Joiner. The motion was approved 4-1 with Boardmember Boggs opposed. Chairman Decker called the hearing to order to receive public input regarding seeking a variance for property located at 907 Cowards Creek Drive, 1.452 acres of land situated in Lot 1 of the Final Plat of Samson Estates, Galveston County, Texas, for a fence to be erected. Variance request from the requirements of Section 8,B of Appendix C of the Friendswood City Code Linda Samson, 907 Cowards Creek Drive, stated she is the applicant and presented her case, they are not asking for an entire front fence but a partial. Martin Samson stated he is the co-applicant and gave further explanation, the proposed fence comes 20 ft. off the house, 20 ft. off the main road of the subdivision, would like to attach partial fence to a gate that was already approved. Chairman Decker clarified that the permit was not approved because it is not 2 acres, asked what is behind this property, with Mrs. Samson stating a house is being built and the other house behind them will be torn down,and there is no restriction on the gate for the lot size. No one spoke for or against the proposed request. Hearing no further input the Public Hearing was closed. Discussion was held among the Zoning Board members, Building Official and City Attorney regarding this request for a variance. The discussion included questions regarding construction, if this is a new portion of the ordinance and City Attorney stating it has been amended numerous times, Boardmember Boggs stated he sees no hardship although he does not necessarily agree with the rule but has no reason to grant this variance,Boardmember Joiner asked if the house has 100 ft. setback and Mrs. Samson said yes, this is how it was platted,the lot is 400 ft.deep,Boardmember O'Brien stated the ordinance says required yard is 25 ft. and fences are permitted along edge of any required yard, City Attorney Loren Smith said front yard is further down in the ordinance,and Chairman Decker stated fences can be constructed on lots of 2 or more acres, Mr. Samson added that before they subdivided his property it was more than 2 acres 243 This page was intentionally left blank 244 and there used to be a fence there but they tore it down, Boardmember O'Brien stated they are 75%under the required acreage for fence permission, Mrs. Samson asked what is the difference between 1'h and 2 acres and Chairman Decker explained that it was a law that Council approved and further stated every 1110 time a case comes before the Board people have a really good reason for requesting this but there are so many odd shaped lots, they have to uphold the Zoning Ordinance, their hands are tied sometimes, Boardmember O'Brien stated there should be something in the zoning ordinance about architectural fencing and thinks this is an architectural feature, Boardmember Kyle asked if the Samson's have an alternate plan if this is not approved, with Mr. Samson answering that they would put landscape in and put a gate in,added that his dog was killed by a coyote and that is another reason he wants the fence,Mrs. Samson asked if she puts the wing walls attached to her garage would that be okay and Chairman Decker stated it would be a permitting issue not ZBOA. **Boardmember Boggs moved to approve the variance as requested for property located at 907 Cowards Creek Drive. Seconded by Boardmember O'Brien. The motion was opposed unanimously. **Boardmember O'Brien moved to approve the minutes for the November 15,2005 meeting. Seconded by Boardmember Joiner. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 8:08 PM. Ron Decker • Chairman Attest: c Melinda Welsh,Deputy City Secretary ZBOA Staff Liaison •