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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBOA Minutes 2007-11-27 Regular11/27/2007 ZBOA 026 State of Texas )( City of Friends wood )( Counties of Galveston/Harris )( November 27,2007 )( Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Friendswood Zoning Board of Adjustment that was held on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 7:00 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 Linda Thornton Carol Thelen Bobby Gervais Frank Manigold Melinda Welsh Alternate members Glen Grayban and Mike Czarowitz were absent from the meeting. Chairman Greg Hughes called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 7:00 PM - REGULAR SESSION Chairman Hughes explained the process for holding the public hearing. Chairman Hughes called the hearing to order to receive public input regarding seeking a variance for property located at 1201 Oak Hollow Drive, situated in Lot 24, Block 9 of Wilderness Trails Subdivision, Galveston County, Texas, requesting a variance Side Setback. Variance request from the requirements of Appendix C, Section 7.Q.3 Regulation Matrix-Residential Districts, Side Setback, of the Friendswood City Code. Ruth and Gary Ray, property owners, stated they purchased the property in 1985, did have title company and attorney but no realtor, five days after closing they discovered that the builder built over the line, recently put property on the market to sell, realtor opened title and said they will not give a clear title unless they get a variance on side setback. No one spoke for or against the proposed request. Hearing no further input the Public Hearing was closed. Chairman Hughes asked Mr. and Mrs. Ray if they were the original purchasers and they said no, it was 3 years old when they bought it. Vice Chairman Knis asked if the Rays added on and Mrs. Ray said they added a porch. Mr. Ray said one side of the garage is over the line. Building Official Frank Manigold stated all comer houses in that neighborhood have the same problem. Chairman 11/27/2007 ZBOA 027 Hughes asked clarifying questions about location, General Homes was the builder, asked the Building Official if this neighborhood was ever given a variance. Chairman Hughes stated the Board ought to grant the variance, will not ask people to tear their houses down, should grant for economic hardship. Boardmember O'Brien made a motion to approve adoption of order approvmg the request regarding 1201 Oak Hollow Drive. Seconded by Boardmember Kendrick. The motion was approved unanimously. Chairman Hughes called the hearing to order to receive public input regarding appealing the decision of the Zoning Official regarding Sign Ordinance for property located at 405 W. Parkwood, situated in Block 1, Reserve B of HEB Priendswood Subdivision, Galveston County, Texas, to allow signs to be installed on the front wall elevation which is at the front of the lease space. Appeal the decision of the Zoning Official from Appendix A, Section 5c of the Priendswood City Code. Steve Wise with Sign City stated he is the applicant, initial sign was denied, sign was being placed on the structure and not the building, his opinion is it should be allowed on the parapet wall, looked up the definition of parapet, is an architectural feature, thinks it is a parapet and should be allowed. The sign itself maintains a uniform look for the center, is not an eyesore, if sign is not allowed on parapet wall the sign would be blocked by the parapet wall. Vice Chairman Knis asked for a better picture of the sign and Mr. Wise provided one. Charles King, owner of the business, stated he is interested in the Board granting a variance and would answer any questions. No one spoke for or against the proposed request. Hearing no further input the Public Hearing was closed. Boardmember O'Brien stated he read the ordinance and does not think it is a parapet, is an architectural feature similar to HEB, sticks up way above the roof line. Chairman Hughes stated he looked up the definition of parapet and could not find one that matches, asked Mr. Wise where he got his definition and he answered www.answer.com. Chairman Hughes asked Building Official Prank Manigold if the teal colored wall is a parapet and Mr. Manigold answered that it is like a false wall to hide air conditioning and so you cannot see the pitched roof. Vice Chairman Knis asked how big is the sign and Mr. Wise answered 42.32 sq. ft and this lease space would allow a 60 sq. ft. sign so this sign is smaller, wanted to make it look uniform so they scaled it down, this is the most aesthetically pleasing with the parapet wall, there are other signs from other tenants on the back wall but they have no parapet wall in front of them. Vice Chairman Knis asked how HEB did it and the Building Official stated it was part of the building. Boardmember Dyer asked about the HEB sign and the Building Official explained it was part of the building. Boardmember Dyer stated it looks like this is part of the building too. Mr. Wise stated the parapet wall was built into the building to support the canopy and handed out more photos. Chairman Hughes stated the question being is it a parapet wall and further stated he thinks it is. Vice Chairman Knis stated it is structural because the roof might fall down if it was not there. Boardmember Kendrick asked if it supports it or does it run through it and the Building Official answered that it has to be certified for wind storm. Chairman Hughes asked if this was part of their original plan for the shopping center and the Building Official 11/27/2007 ZBOA 028 answered yes it was part of it. Chairman Hughes stated it was not built just for a sign then. Vice Chairman Knis made a motion to approve adoption of order approving the request regarding 405 W. Parkwood to grant the appeal based on the fact that, by definition, it is a parapet wall and is allowed in the City Code. Seconded by Boardmember O'Brien. The motion failed 3-2 with Boardmembers Dyer and Kendrick opposed. Discussion was held between the City Attorney and Boardmembers regarding the recommendation to City Council on authority for special exceptions. City Attorney Bobby Gervais explained the document he created for the Board to request special exception authority on temporary special exceptions and permanent special exceptions. Boardmember O'Brien stated he thinks the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) ought to consider and clarify when the Zoning Board of Adjustment ZBOA) makes a decision, ZBOA tries to interpret and P&Z makes the law, needs to make it a practice that P&Z looks at the problems. The City Attorney stated Building Official Frank Manigold should present to P&Z to change the code to legislate that. Boardmember Kendrick asked if there was an example for temporary special exceptions and Chairman Hughes answered that Perry & Sons Market & Grille's case last year is an example. They were doing online business using a storage building for Christmas season and were denied their variance for rear setback. Vice Chairman Knis stated that City Councilmember Peden had another example of a warehouse where owners put in an apartment and needed time to move out. Building Official Frank Manigold stated a temporary building would be a good example for commercial, is not allowed in the ordinance. Boardmember Dyer asked if the 90 day timeline could be flexible and Boardmember O'Brien stated yes they can make it whatever time frame they want. Chairman Hughes stated he likes what City Attorney has done, only has general suggestions for changes in the document, would like to keep the document as brief as possible. The City Attorney stated it could be combined. Vice Chairman Knis stated if this was going to be easy Council would have granted a long time ago, would rather have more words than less to allay Council's fears for granting. Boardmember Kendrick stated the City Attorney did a good job and gave credit to Vice Chairman Knis who worked hard on this and did all the research. Building Official Frank Manigold stated he is trying to stay within the guidelines and does not get offended when they vote against them. Vice Chairman Knis asked the Building Official if this would increase the requests for ZBOA and Mr. Manigold stated yes it would increase the requests. Boardmember O'Brien stated a $100 fee is nothing when someone has a million dollar building. The Building Official stated there are more cases now because the City Manager has no authority to overrule the Building Official. Alternate member Thornton suggested that the fee could be raised by Council. Lengthy discussion was held between the Boardmembers and City Attorney detailing the suggested wording changes to the document to prepare it to be presented to City Council. Vice Chairman Knis moved to approve the document with amendments and move forward with presenting it to City Council for consideration. Seconded by Boardmember O'Brien. The motion was approved unanimously. Boardmember Dyer moved to approve the minutes for the September 25,2007 meeting. Seconded by Vice Chairman Knis. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 8:05 PM. 11/27/2007 ZBOA 029 Greg Hughe Chairman Attest: lrlrJle(( Melinda Welsh, Deputy City Secretary ZBOA Staff Liaison