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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA MINUTES 2016-11-15A Regular Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Livonia was held in the Gallery of the Livonia City Hall on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. MEMBERS PRESENT Matthew Henzi, Chairman James M. Baringhaus, Secretary Leo Neville Benjamin A. Schepis Timothy J. Klisz MEMBERS ABSENT: Craig Pastor Gregory G. Coppola OTHERS PRESENT: Mike Fisher, City Attorney Craig Hanosh, City Inspector Beth Niemczewski, CER -7224 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Chairman Henzi explained the Rules of Procedure to those interested parties. Each petitioner must give their name and address and declare hardship for appeal. Appeals of the Zoning Board's decisions are made to the Wayne County Circuit Court. The Chairman advised the audience that appeals can be filed within 21 days of the date tonight's minutes are approved. The decision of the Zoning Board shall become final within five (5) calendar days following the hearing and the applicant shall be mailed a copy of the decision. There are four decisions the Board can make: to deny, to grant, to grant as modified by the Board, or to table for further information. Each petitioner may ask to be heard by a full seven (7) member Board. Five (5) members were present this evening. The Chairman asked if anyone wished to be heard by a full Board and no one wished to do so. The Secretary then read the Agenda and Legal Notice to each appeal, and each petitioner indicated their presence. Appeals came up for hearing after due legal notice was given to all interested parties within 300 feet, petitioners and City Departments. There was 1 person present in the audience. (7:00) City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 1 of 9 November 15, 2016 APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-11-76: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Joyce Frederick, 32641 Ohio, Livonia, MI, 48150, seeking to erect a six (6) foot tall privacy fence within the side yard, which is not allowed. Privacy fences cannot extend beyond the rear of the home toward the front of the lot. The property is located on the south side of Ohio (32641), between Wisconsin and Maryland, Lot. No. 135-04-2508-000, R-1 Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under City of Livonia Fence Ordinance, Section 15.44.090(B), "Residential District Regulations." Henzi: Mr. Hanosh, anything to add to this case? Hanosh: Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Henzi: Any questions for the Inspection Department? Neville: No. Henzi: Hearing none, will the Petitioner please come to the table? Good evening. Frederick: Hello. How is everybody? Board Members: Good. Henzi: Can you say your address? Frederick: 32641 Ohio Street. Henzi: Ms. Frederick, tell us why you want to construct the fence. Frederick: Well, I want to get a pet -- a dog, and the backyard is very small, and if I extend it to the Ohio side -- the south side -- to the front, it would give me more room for the dog to roam and -- you know. So that's about it. Henzi: There's a sample almond colored fence, is that exactly the one you want to -- Frederick: Yeah -- almond. Henzi: And then I know you got the approval of the next-door neighbor, Carl Lalonde. Have any of the other neighbors approached you about whether they are for or against it? Frederick: No. Both neighbors approved. So that was it. Henzi: I know this is in the packet, but for how long have you lived there? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 of 9 November 15, 2016 Frederick: Nine months. Henzi: Okay, anything else you want to say? Frederick: Am I allowed to get the six foot? I mean whether or not if I get the extension that I would like to have, can the fence be six foot tall? Henzi: You want six foot, right? Frederick: Yeah. Henzi: Okay. Well everyone will ask you more questions, and then give you their feedback. Frederick: Okay. Henzi: Any questions for the Petitioner? Neville: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Neville. Neville: Ma'am, I noticed that your paperwork that there was a reference to "our". Does anyone live there with you? Frederick: Yes, my daughter and grandson. Neville: Okay, and how old is your grandson? Frederick: Thirteen. Neville: And you're -- you're on the corner there at Ohio and Wisconsin? Frederick: Yes. Right. Neville: You get a lot of traffic in the area? Automobile traffic? Frederick: No more than usual. Not a heavy volume. Neville: And then you haven't actually bought a pet yet, right? Frederick: No. Neville: Is there a particular dog that you're leaning towards? Frederick: Yeah. My daughter and grandson want a Siberian Husky. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3 of 9 November 15, 2016 Neville: And is there any other reason, besides the -- the pet that you would like to have a six-foot fence? Frederick: Well, I would just like the privacy because the contractor showed me the four - foot, and it's --well I'm 5'1" so -- you know. Neville: Okay. And there are other homes in your neighborhood that have privacy fences similar? Frederick: A bunch. Yeah. Neville: Okay. Thank you. Henzi: Any other questions? Schepis: Mr. Chairman. Henzi: Mr. Schepis. Schepis: Mr. Fisher, I know in some cases where there is a corner Douse that's looking to -- to put up a privacy fence the -- the police department or the fire department reviews it, and makes a determination about whether or not that -- that fence would present a line of sight issue. Is that not necessary in this case, or was it not included? Fisher: No, it's not necessary in this case because there's no portion of the street that would be -- that would have a visibility problem because of this fence. That's more typically when people are putting fences all the way out to the sidewalk or something like that. Schepis: Okay. Okay. Fisher: Or there's a driveway and there's a fence along it. That's not this situation. Schepis: Okay. Okay. Thank you. Henzi: Any other questions? Baringhaus: Mr. Chairman, Henzi: Mr. Baringhaus. Baringhaus: I noticed that the owner at 32623 Ohio signed off and approved of the installation of your fence. What about the owner on Wisconsin? I think I just answered my own question. They did approve it. Just to point out, I think there's only one approval on the -- in the electronic file. And I believe that was for 32623 Ohio. There's also another City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4 of 9 November 95, 2016 signed authorization for the other neighbor. It's at 32520 Wisconsin, which is adjacent to the property. Henzi: Okay. Anything else? Well there's no one in the audience. Do we have any letters? Baringhaus: We have one letter. Henzi: Oh, one letter? Baringhaus: We do. Letter from David Shuman, 32740 Ohio Street, (letter read). Henzi: Ms. Frederick, anything you want to say in closing? Frederick: No. Henzi: Okay. Thank you. I'll close the public portion of the case and begin the Board's comments with Mr. Klisz, Klisz: I think these are pretty standard. When we come across corner lots, that a six-foot fence of this style is fairly consistent. Again, there's the letter in support, which also makes a difference to me. That a dozen houses in the neighborhood have that kind of fence. So based on that, no other objections, I would be in support. Henzi: Mr. Baringhaus. Baringhaus: I agree with Mr. Klisz. Six-foot fence is pretty well standard. There were no objections from the police department in terms of visibility issues. You have one neighbor supporting it. Both of your adjoining neighbors have -- you apparently discussed it with them, and they've approved of the installation of the fence. Based on that, I'll support the variance. Henzi: Mr. Schepis. Schepis: I'd also support this variance. You know -- as far as some of the fences that we've seen, I don't think this is unreasonable. You're looking to come to the front of the house on -- on one side. It's not going out to the sidewalk or anything like that. I think you've -- you've -- in my mind, in a lot of cases, being on a corner lot, is a hardship in it of itself, especially on certain main streets. So I would support it. Henzi: Mr, Neville. Neville: I agree with my colleague's observations, and also I think that the layout that you have here in with respect to the -- I would say to the intrusion into the side lots -- you've City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5 of 9 November 15, 2016 kind of restricted and limited it to an area where that I find to be very reasonable, given the configuration of your lot and the property, and I would be in support of granting the variance. Henzi: I, too, will support it. I mean -- there are similar fences across the street. I think that those are more -- those have almost no side yard setback, they're all the way out. I think this is very reasonable. I think the fact that you want to buy a pet and asked for a fence first, is the exception, and I wish that it was the rule because too often we have petitioners who get the pet or get whatever, and then they come and ask for the fence. I thought that what you're asking for is very prudent. I love that neighborhood, especially that street that leads into Grant. So I'm all for it. Floor's open for motion. Baringhaus: Mr. Chairman. Henzi: Mr. Baringhaus. Upon Motion by Baringhaus and supported by Schepis, it was: RESOLVED, APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-11-76: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Joyce Frederick, 32641 Ohio, Livonia, MI, 48150, seeking to erect a six (6) foot tall privacy fence within the side yard, which is not allowed. Privacy fences cannot extend beyond the rear of the home toward the front of the lot. The property is located on the south side of Ohio (32641), between Wisconsin and Maryland, Lot. No. 135-04-2508-000, R--1 Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under City of Livonia Fence Ordinance, Section 15.44.090(B), "Residential District Regulations," be granted for the following reasons and findings of fact: 1. The uniqueness requirement is met due to the corner location of the property. 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner due to the purchase of a dog and the security for the child in the home. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance due to the support of the neighboring properties. 4. The Board received one letter of approval and zero objection letters from neighboring property owners. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 6 of 9 November 15, 2016 5. The property is classified as "Low Density Residential" in the Master Plan and the proposed variance is not inconsistent with that classification. FURTHER, This variance is granted with the following conditions: 1. That the 5 -day waiting period to obtain the permit be waived. 2. That the fence be installed as presented. AYES: Klisz, Neville, Schepis, Henzi, Baringhaus NAYS: ABSENT: Pastor, Coppola Henzi: Okay. It was approved with two conditions. You have to build the type of fence that you proposed in the spot where you proposed, and then we waived the five-day waiting period. Normally, you have to wait five days from today to get a permit. But because we know that it's going to be nice for a few days, and the weathers going to turn, you can go get a permit tomorrow. Frederick: Oh really? Henzi: Yeah. Frederick: Thank y'all. Thank you so much. Henzi: Just go to the Building Department, and they'll tell you what to do. Good luck. Frederick: Thank you. Thank you. I'm happy. Wait until I tell my grandson. So that's it? Board Members: Yeah. You're all set. Thank you. Frederick: Thank y'ail so much. Neville: You're welcome. Henzi: So did everybody see the 2017 proposed schedule? Marilyn did that today. So if you just want to flip through and see if it falls on a bad week. She's already made sure that there's no elections on those days. Fisher: And the tradition is, we try to avoid holidays and all that kind of stuff. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 7 of 9 November 95, 2016 Neville: Looks very reasonable. Henzi: I mean -- I -- yeah -- I liked it, and then -- you know -- if we get to February and there's no cases, you know -- we can rearrange or cancel. I hate to cancel meetings if there's one in the hopper at all because, like for here, she would have to wait until next year if we cancelled tonight. Fisher: Right. Well that's not really an issue in February though, but. Henzi: True. True, but just I don't know. I just don't think should have to wait if they get their stuff in on time. But -- you know -- when you've only got one case and then --- or no cases then you can delete. But as for now, let's just do it. Neville: So do we need -- Henzi: A motion. Neville: I'll make a motion to approve the proposed to schedule for 2017 meeting schedule. Klisz: Support. Henzi: Moved by Mr. Neville, support by Mr. Klisz. All in favor, say aye. Board Members: Aye. Henzi: Make a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes of October 11, 2016, Henzi: And the 25th. Neville: And the 25th. Klisz: Support. Henzi: Moved my Mr. Neville, support by Mr. Klisz. All in favor, say aye. Board Members: Aye. Neville: Motion to adjourn. Baringhaus: Support. Henzi: Moved by Mr. Neville, support by Mr. Baringhaus. All in favor, say aye. Board Members: Aye. Henzi: We're adjourned. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 8 of 9 November 15, 2016 There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Matt Her i, Chairman Jim Bari t ha4 Secretary /ban City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 9 of 9 November 15, 20,16