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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBOA Minutes 2007-10-02 Regular10/02/2007 ZBOA 020 State of Texas )( City of Friendswood )( Counties of GalvestonlHarris )( October 02, 2007 )( Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Friendswood Zoning Board of Adjustment that was held on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 at 6:00 PM at Friendswood City Hall Council Chambers, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following present constituting a quorum: Chairman Vice Chairman Regular Member Regular Member Regular Member Alternate Member Alternate Member City Attorney Building Official Staff Liaison Greg Hughes Steve Knis David O'Brien, III Ronald Dyer Delvin Kendrick Mike Czarowitz Linda Thornton Bobby Gervais Frank Manigold Melinda Welsh Alternate members Carol Thelen and Glen Grayban were absent from the meeting. Chairman Greg Hughes called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM. 6:00 PM - SPECIAL MEETING Chairman Hughes stated that due to the applicant for the hearing not being in attendance at this time the meeting would begin with the discussion regarding seeking special exception authority from City Council. Discussion was held among the Zoning Board members, Building Official Frank Manigold and City Attorney Bobby Gervais regarding seeking special exception authority from City Council. Vice Chairman Knis explained the PowerPoint handout regarding the special exception authority the Board is proposing to request from City Council and stated a medical variance is the right thing to do but the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBOA) does not have explicit authority to do that, should go before City Council again and ask for very specific exceptions, proposes they ask for two types of exceptions, permanent special exceptions and temporary special exceptions. Boardmember O'Brien stated he would like the people that write the laws such as the Planning and Zoning Commission to be more explicit in their language and define things more clearly. Building Official Frank Manigold explained the Planning and Zoning Commission process by stating Planning and Zoning makes a recommendation and then it goes before Council after an ordinance has been prepared and Council can approve or not. Vice Chairman Knis stated the second permanent exception proposed is for a medical necessity and also need a temporary exception, gave example of Perry & Sons Market & Grille doing online service in their building that was out of compliance and it was a busy time of the year since it was close to Christmas, give extra time to get in compliance such as 30, 60 or 90 days, have significant economic reasons that action cannot be taken and it does not affect any health and safety codes, asked Board to take home the PowerPoint handout and review it and then give feedback 10/02/2007 ZBOA 021 to Deputy City Secretary Melinda Welsh. Building Official Prank Manigold stated the ZBOA hearing request forms are being reconfigured, going to one form for appeal and one for variance request and further stated that the City Manager would like to put instructions on the back of the form on how to fill it out. Chairman Hughes stated he thinks one form is good and told Mr. Manigold not to give legal advice to applicants on how to fill out or what to say to the ZBOA Board. Mr. Manigold stated he wants to understand what the applicant wants so that he can get the right documents to the Board. Alternate member Czarowitz stated the form should suggest getting legal advice if applicant has questions. Alternate member Thornton stated the applicant should complete application and do all the legal work to get the documents to the City. Chairman Hughes stated the applicant should put what the City should do in the form and what part is expected of them and stated he likes what Vice Chairman Knis put before the Board, it should include same basic things that are required of a variance. Boardmember O'Brien stated the City should post the agenda and legal ad to say appeal/variance so they can decide. Chairman Hughes stated the City should put less information on the agenda and legal ad, do not put appeal or variance on agenda or legal ad, just put address and what appeal/variance that the applicant wants. Vice Chairman Knis stated the City should have two agenda items to vote on both instead of writing appeal/variance. Boardmember O'Brien stated the Board should get feedback from Council on this. Vice Chairman Knis asked the City Attorney if the City could put two items on the agenda and the City Attorney stated it was legal but would confuse the applicant since there is an either/or on the form, appeal or variance. Alternate member Thornton stated they would need to put in two applications and asked if two fees would be charged. Chairman Hughes stated that could be made part of the Board's request to Council when they talk to Council about special exceptions, the Board - could ask for authority to ignore hyper technical items on an application and do what they need to do. Alternate member Thornton stated they need to have either a variance, appeal or administrative review. Vice Chairman Knis asked if the Board could give feedback to Deputy City Secretary Melinda Welsh by the next meeting and the Board will go before Council a month after that and put special exceptions on the next agenda. The City Attorney stated the Board should do discussion and consideration and possible action on the next ZBOA agenda. Boardmember O'Brien stated he is concerned about temporary exceptions and people abusing it and just wanting for a short time such as during the holidays. Vice Chairman Knis stated it should be for existing buildings only. Alternate member Czarowitz and Chairman Hughes stated to leave it broad and the Board will determine on a case-by-case basis. Chairman Hughes explained the process for holding the public hearing. Chairman Hughes called the hearing to order to receive public input regarding an appeal of the Building Official's denial of applicant's request for sign permit to add an LED readable display to an existing non-conforming sign located at 214 E. Edgewood Drive, situated in Abstract 20, Perry & Austin Survey (0-1), Salinas Village, Priendswood, Galveston County, Texas. Applicant is appealing Building Official's interpretation that the proposed changes to the existing non-conforming sign constitute a 'structural alteration' pursuant to Section 26 b, of Appendix A of the Priendswood Code of Ordinances. Building Official Prank Manigold explained the applicant is trying to attach an LED to a non- conforming sign and putting power to it is a structural change. Chairman Hughes asked if it blocks any other sign and Boardmember Dyer stated no. Boardmember Kendrick stated the Sign Ordinance 10/02/2007 ZBOA 022 states if the change is more than 50 percent it has to be in compliance. Boardmember O'Brien stated this is just an upgrade to an existing sign. Vice Chairman Knis asked for the purpose of changing the sIgn. Mr. Sharu from Momentum Signs arrived at the meeting and stated he is at the meeting on behalf of property owner/applicant David Salinas and further stated he will not be programming the sign but tenants change often and it would save pulling the sign out to add or delete business names and also wanted the capability to update messages to the public. No one spoke for or against the proposed request. Hearing no further input the Public Hearing was closed. Boardmember Dyer asked Mr. Sharu if he knew the value of the existing sign and Mr. Sharu answered it is between $25,000 to $50,000 for a new sign and the LED sign is $8000. Boardmember Dyer asked what work would be done and Mr. Sharu answered that the clips need to be placed into the cementlbrick which would hold the LED in place. Boardmember O'Brien made a motion to approve adoption of order approving the request regarding 214 E. Edgewood Drive since electrical wiring and conduit are not structural. Seconded by Vice Chairman Knis. The motion was approved 4-1 with Boardmember Kendrick opposed. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 6:53 PM. Greg Hughes ./ Chairman Attest: C~<(l Melinda Welsh, Deputy City Secretary ZBOA Staff Liaison