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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-27 City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 1 of 10 August 27, 2013 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS CITY OF LIVONIA MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING HELD AUGUST 27, 2013 A Special Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Livonia was held in the Gallery of the Livonia City Hall on Tuesday, August 27, 2013. MEMBERS PRESENT: Matthew Henzi, Chairman Craig Pastor, Vice President Sam Caramagno, Secretary Edward E. Duggan, Jr. Elizabeth McCue Kathleen McIntyre MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert E. Sills OTHERS PRESENT: Michael Fisher, Assistant City Attorney Steve Banko, City Inspector Bonnie Murphy, Court Reporter, CER-2300 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Chairman Henzi then 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. Six (6) 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 were 3 persons present in the audience. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 of 10 August 27, 2013 7:00 __________________________________________________________________ APPEAL CASE NO. 2013-07-23-T: Mary Gronas, 14518 Berwick, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to erect a 6-foot tall privacy fence upon a corner lot resulting in excess fence height and creating a vision obstruction from the detached garage to Lyndon Avenue and placing a privacy fence within the side yard which is not allowed. Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: I move to remove this from the table. Caramagno: Support. Henzi: Moved and support. All in favor say aye. Board: (In unisom) Aye. Henzi: Opposed? This is removed. Mr. Banko, do you have anything to add to this case? Banko: I have nothing to add, sir. Henzi: Any questions for the Inspection Department? Hearing none, good evening. Petitioner: Good evening. Henzi: Will you tell us your name and address? Petitioner: Mary Gronas, 14518 Berwick, corner house Berwick and Lyndon. Henzi: Mrs. Gronas, you were here once before on July 9th and we talked about the fact that Sergeant Gibbs had issued an opinion, so can you tell us what’s different about your plans tonight? Petitioner: Well, I think the first time when I was here, I wanted six foot on one side and four foot on the other. I do want to go six foot on both sides and I think you all have the new drawing, the new layout of it. I think I have the dimensions in there, right, correct? This is my neighbor, he’s going to help me do this. He’s the one that actually did the measuring. Henzi: And then the style of fence, you want the Wyndham model? Petitioner; Correct. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3 of 10 August 27, 2013 Henzi: Six by six? Petitioner: Yes. Henzi: Okay. And then you removed the shrubs that Sergeant Gibbs had talked about, right? Petitioner: I did, I did. Henzi: Okay. Any questions for Mrs. Gronas? None. Is there anyone in the audience that wants to speak for or against the project? Is there letters? Caramagno: Yes. We have an approval from Catherine Niland at 14454 Auburndale Street, (letter read). Anastasia Trygier at 14562 Berwick sends an approval. And Larry Carignan at 14448 Auburndale sends an approval (letter read). Henzi: Mrs. Gronas, is there anything else you wanted to say? Petitioner: No. Henzi: Thank you. I’ll close the public portion of the case and begin the Board’s comments with Mrs. McCue. McCue: From what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen, I think you obviously looked into what our concerns were and you’ve modified your request and removed the shrubs, in my mind I would support. Henzi: Mr. Duggan. Duggan: I, too, will support. You’re right on the corner, the issue revolved around that shrub and you removed that so I will be in support. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: I’ll also be in support. You did a nice job redoing the plans, you have neighborhood support so there’s no reason why we should not support this. Henzi: Mr. Caramagno. Caramagno: I think everything is very clear what you want this time and the privacy will be nice for you with the school there and living on a fairly busy corner it will be nice to have so I will be in support. Henzi: Mrs. McIntyre. McIntyre: I drove by there again and I think that will be good for you. I don’t think it will be negative for any of your neighbors or the general appearance of your property so I will be in support. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4 of 10 August 27, 2013 Petitioner: Thank you. Henzi: I, too, will support it. That’s a busy road and across the street from the Jackson Center and there are lots of privacy fences in that neighborhood. Petitioner: Yes, there is. Henzi: And I also appreciate your compliance with Sergeant Gibbs’ request. The floor is open for a motion. Upon Motion by Duggan, supported by Pastor it was: RESOLVED: APPEAL CASE NO. 2013-07-23 (Tabled on July 9, 2013): Mary Gronas, 14518 Berwick, Livonia, MI 48154, seeking to erect a 6-ft. tall privacy fence upon a corner lot resulting in excess fence height and creating a vision obstruction from the detached garage to Lyndon Avenue and placing a privacy fence within the side yard which is not allowed. Fence Height Allowed: 5 ft. Proposed: 6 ft. Excess: 1 ft. The property is located on the east side of Berwick, (14518) between Lyndon and Barkley, Lot No. 085-03-0504-001, R-1 Zoning District. Rejected by the and B “Residential District Regulations,” be granted for the following reasons and findings of fact: 1. The uniqueness requirement is met because the home is situated on a corner lot and is located off a main road. 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner because it will keep pedestrians from walking across her yard and allow her privacy. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance because it has the support from neighbors. 4. The Board received three letters of approval and no objection letters from neighboring property owners. 5. The property is classified as “Low Density Residential” in the Master Plan and the proposed variance is not inconsistent with that classification. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5 of 10 August 27, 2013 FURTHER, This variance is granted with the following conditions: 1. That it be built as presented. 2. That the chain link fence be removed. 3. That the variance is good for four months. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Duggan, Pastor, McCue, McIntyre, Caramagno, Henzi NAYS: None. ABSENT: Sills Henzi: The variance is granted with those three conditions. You have to build the type of fence you proposed in the spot where you presented it and that the variance is good for four months, it doesn’t mean it expires it just means you’ve got four months in which to erect the fence. And then you’ve got to remove the existing chain link because you can’t have a double fence. Petitioner: Right, right. Thanks very much. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 6 of 10 August 27, 2013 APPEAL CASE 2013-08-37: Mark Orzech, on behalf of Walter Owen, 19579 Brentwood, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to construct a cover over an existing front porch resulting in deficient front yard setback. Henzi: Mr. Banko, anything to add to this case? Banko: I have nothing to add, sir. Henzi: Any questions for Mr. Banko? Hearing none, will the Petitioner’s representative please come forward. Good evening. Representative: How’s everyone doing tonight? Henzi: Good. Representative: Very good. Henzi: Can you tell us your name and address? Representative: Mark Orzech, which address do you have there? I just moved, that’s why I’m not sure, 3550 12th Street, Wyandotte. Henzi: So, are you the builder? Representative: Yeah, I’m going to help him out putting it up, yes. Henzi: Can you briefly describe why he wants to construct a covered front porch? Representative: He doesn’t have any roof over his front door so it’s like he’s elderly and his knees aren’t too good so just to proTect from the ice, snow, weather, safety purposes. Henzi: And the only other question I had for you is can you tell us about the building materials, like what are the shingles going to be like, will they match, stuff like that? Representative: Yes, they will all conform to the look of the house as it is now, 35-year three dimensional shingles, lumber constructed to Code. It’s going to be sided which matches the siding that’s there. I don’t know how else you want me to describe it. Henzi: You said shingle to match? Representative: Yes, the shingleS match, they’re black three dimensional shingles with a 35-year guarantee. Henzi: It looks like it’s going to resemble exactly what’s across the street. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 7 of 10 August 27, 2013 Representative: It could very well be. You know, to tell you the truth, I never really looked across the street, I just looked at the porch and said okay, we can do this. Henzi: Okay. Any questions? Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: You are going to check to make sure there’s footing underneath the porch so it doesn’t move? Representative: I’m sorry? Pastor: You’re going to check to make sure there’s proper footing underneath the porch so it doesn’t move? Representative: Absolutely. Pastor; That’s all I have. Henzi: Anything else? They’re going to keep it open, right, they’re never going to enclose it? Representative: They have no intention of enclosing it. Henzi: There’s nobody in the audience, so are there letters? Caramagno: Donna Pierce-Chambers at 19568 Brentwood writes an approval (letter read). An approval at 19578 Brentwood, Stephen Giertych, (letter read). William Greenwood, 19605 Brentwood, sends an approval. Dorothy Greenwood, same address, approval (letter read). And Maxine Bibik at 19516 Brentwood sends an approval (letter read). Henzi: Mr. Orzech, anything you want to say in closing? Representative: No. Thank you very much. Henzi: I’ll close the public portion of the case and begin the Zoning Board’s comments with Mr. Duggan. Duggan: I will be in support, I think it’s an upgrade. I think it will upgrade the neighborhood. I know we know that street well in our experiences here, it’s nice to see that they want to upgrade it and I think you absolutely need a covered porch. I think it looks great and I will be in support. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 8 of 10 August 27, 2013 Pastor: I also will be in support. You have great neighborhood support. Actually even though this is deficient, the house next door is more deficient with the porch on it so I don’t see any reason why we should deny this person a porch. Henzi: Mr. Caramagno. Caramagno: I don’t see any reason to deny either. There’s a lot of different homes on that street. The porch needs some sort of cover, there’s no doubt about it but I think for safety reasons keeping the weather off of it, but I think it will make the house look better in my mind. It looks plain right now with a porch and I think it will add some spark and look a lot better. Henzi: Mrs. McIntyre. McIntyre: I concur with everything that’s been said, I’m in full support. Henzi: Mrs. McCue. McCue: I would agree, it’s enhancing the house, the neighborhood and adding safety so I will support. Henzi: I agree. It’s a unique street with homes from various decades and almost every house has a covered front porch, some which look like they were added on probably years after and some of them blend in. I think your plans fall in more of a blend in category so I’m all for it. The floor is open for a motion. Upon Motion by McIntyre, supported by McCue, it was: RESOLVED: APPEAL CASE NO. 2013-08-37: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Mark Orzech, 6346 Rosemont, Detroit, on behalf of Walter Owens, 19579 Brentwood, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to construct a cover over an existing front porch resulting in deficient front yard setback. Front Yard Setback Required: 50. ft. Proposed: 42 ft. Deficient: 8 ft. The property is located on the west side of Brentwood (19579), between Seven Mile and Pembroke, Lot No. 003-99-0037-000, RUF Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under Zoning Ordinance 543, Section 5.05 “RUF District Regulations - Front Yard.” 1. The uniqueness requirement is met because of the nature of the house and others on the street. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 9 of 10 August 27, 2013 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner because of his exposure to the elements when entering and exiting his home. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance because it doesn’t detract from the tone and character of the neighborhood and has the full support of his neighbors. 4. The Board received 5 letters of approval and no objection letters from . 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 footings be to Code. 2. That it be built as presented with the materials described. 3. That it be completed within 90 days. 4. That it not be enclosed. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: McIntyre, McCue, Duggan, Pastor, Caramagno, Henzi NAYS: None. ABSENT: Sills. Henzi: The variance is granted, I’ll read the conditions one more time. You have to have footings according to Code, you’ve got to build it as presented with the materials you talked about, it’s got to be completed within 90 days and it can’t be enclosed. Representative: Correct. Henzi: Good luck. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 10 of 10 August 27, 2013 Upon motion by Pastor, supported by McCue, the minutes of May 28, 2013 were moved for approval. Motion carried, all ayes. Upon Motion by Pastor, supported by Duggan to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried, all ayes. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. _________________________ SAM CARAMAGNO, Secretary _________________________ MATTHEW HENZI, Chairman /bjm