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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-07-24 City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 1 of 11 July 24, 2012 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS CITY OF LIVONIA MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING HELD JULY 24, 2012 A Special Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Livonia was held in the Auditorium of the Livonia City Hall on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. MEMBERS PRESENT: Matthew Henzi, Chairman Craig Pastor, Vice President Sam Caramagno, Secretary Edward E. Duggan, Jr. Elizabeth H. McCue Robert E. Sills MEMBERS ABSENT: Kathleen McIntyre OTHERS PRESENT: Michael Fisher, Assistant City Attorney Scott Kearfott, City Inspector Helen Mininni, Court Reporter 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 was 1 person present in the audience. (7:05 #1/65) APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-07-38: Timothy Orlowski, 17754 Golfview, Livonia, MI, 48152, seeking to maintain a reconstructed accessory building, which is located in the side yard. Accessory buildings requiring permits must be located within the rear yard. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 of 11 July 24, 2012 The property is located on the east side of Golfview (17754) between Northgate and Bobrich. Henzi: Mr. Kearfott, anything to add? Kearfott: Not at this time. Henzi: Any questions for the Inspection Department? Sills: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Sills. Sills: Scott, I was just concerned is the AC unit on the side of the house is that in violation or not? Kearfott: I can’t answer that. I don’t know. I don’t know what the requirements on the air conditioner are. Sills: Mike, could you maybe make a comment on that? Fisher: Well, I’m just going to take a look at the section we’ve cited that’s called the residential accessory building. I don’t think there’s any rule that says you can’t use the side yard to have the air conditioning. I think the case we had last time about the front yard was due to the unique rule for front yards. Sills: Yes, I remember the last meeting they had two units in the front yard. Fisher: Right. Sills: I didn’t know whether the side yard was affected the same way or not. Kearfott: Not in the manner you’re thinking. I thought maybe you thought the air conditioner unit itself had a requirement that needed so much space around it to operate properly, but you were talking about -- Sills: Just positioning of the unit. Kearfott: No, there’s nothing about it not being in the side yard. Sills: Okay. Henzi: Scott, I had a question. There’s a notice of violation in the packet that required the Petitioner to obtain the permits by July 11th; do you know if that happened? Kearfott: I do not know if that happened. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3 of 11 July 24, 2012 Henzi: Okay. Any other questions for the Inspection Department? None. Good evening. Petitioner: Good evening. Henzi: Can you tell us your name and address? Petitioner: Timothy Orlowski, 17754 Golfview Street, Livonia, Michigan. Henzi: Tell us why you want to maintain the accessory building in the spot where it exists. Petitioner: Mainly, I purchased that house three years ago. There’s a shed in the same location that was kind of falling apart and not salvageable, so I basically rebuilt the shed. I’d like to keep it there. I do have one letter a neighbor didn’t mail her thing in on time and then I printed up a couple little packets I made. Just on my block alone there’s eight sheds in the same exact location its kind of where the majority of them are. There are 21 in just the three blocks around my block. Mainly, that’s where it was when I purchased the house. Initially, I didn’t know to redo it I had to pull a permit for it. I tried to pull a permit and they just sent me straight to here. Henzi: There’s a notice of violation in our packet, so on June 5th you would have been mailed something that said that you were to comply by July 11th. You were supposed to secure the required zoning permits. Did that mean you were suppose to file an application with the Zoning Board? Petitioner: Right. Henzi: That’s the way they explained it. Petitioner: I’m not sure which inspector, but yeah, he came in and that’s when he – I tried to pull the permit. He said you don’t need a permit. You need to go in front of the Zoning Board. Henzi: And then the shed that you replaced was it about the same size as the one you have? Petitioner: It was an 8 x 8. I put a 10 x 12. Henzi: What’s your relationship like with your neighbors? Petitioner: Excellent. Henzi: Okay. Petitioner: The neighbor directly to the north of me actually encouraged me to put it there, you know, for whatever reason or rebuild. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4 of 11 July 24, 2012 it there. Across the street, the only two people that really can see the shed this is one letter it’s from the one neighbor. I had no complaints about it from the neighbors directly around me, or anything I get along with everybody. Henzi: The last thing I was going to ask you. You talked about the fact that there were eight homes on your block that have a shed. Petitioner: I think seven, yeah, seven. Henzi: I drove around the entire neighborhood. I absolutely saw sheds in the side yard. I don’t remember seeing eight on your block. Are you talking about that these are sheds that are closer than the rear line of the house, or are they just sheds in the backyard but off to the side? Petitioner: No, they’re either directly on the side like mine, attached to the rear of the house, or on the side, but no there’s about four more that are on the back fence line. Those addresses I wrote down are -- City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5 of 11 July 24, 2012 Henzi: So, you’re saying they’re all on Golfview? Petitioner: Some are on Golfview, some are on Fairway on the back side, Bobrich. Henzi: Okay. I got it. Thanks. Any questions for the Petitioner? Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: You said you built this a little bit larger? Did you put new concrete down as well? Petitioner: Yes. Pastor: And why did you think you didn’t have to come to the Building Department to get a permit? Petitioner: I guess I’ll just pled negligence. There was a shed there I just – Pastor: What do you do for a living? Petitioner: I’m a pipe fitter. Pastor: You know you get permits when you’re doing piping; right? Petitioner: Well, I don’t. The contractors might. Pastor: Well, you know they’re required? Petitioner: I understand now. Pastor: Okay. Did you have all this concrete replaced in the backyard? Petitioner: No. Pastor: Because I see a little – it looks like the sidewalk going up to the shed looks brand new. Petitioner: Just the walkway up in front of it connecting it to the patio. Pastor: Is there any power in the shed? Petitioner: No. Pastor: Are you planning on putting power in the shed? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 6 of 11 July 24, 2012 Petitioner: Only if it’s allowed. I haven’t looked into that part yet. Pastor: What are you using the shed for? Petitioner: Just to clear out my garage. My lawnmower, snow blower, the bikes, so I can park my cars in there in the garage. Pastor: That will be it for right now. Henzi: Any other questions? I’ve got one for Scott. Scott, do you know how the Inspection Department was made aware of this case? Kearfott: I was told it was a complaint. There was a complaint. Other than that I don’t know. I don’t know who complained. Was it phoned in or did the person come in? I don’t know, but I was told it was a complaint by somebody. Henzi: Okay. Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: Scott, seeing as you put up the property line is that within our codes for a shed? Kearfott: It’s supposed to be 2-ft. off the property line as a minimum. Pastor: Okay. So, he meets that requirement? Kearfott: I didn’t measure. Pastor: According to this is says 2-ft, but I assume it is. Henzi: I had one more question. Mr. Orlowksi, you mentioned in your packet that you had considered putting a line of shrubs or something like that? Petitioner: Yes, definitely. Henzi: Are you still willing to do that? Petitioner: Yeah, I have been doing the landscaping in front of the house. Yeah, I’m waiting for this to make sure and yeah, I’m going to put some of the taller evergreens up to cover most of it. Henzi: No neighbors came to you and said, hey, we don’t want this? Petitioner: Nope, all of them were quite shocked that someone complained about it. Mine looks more like a house with the side. It doesn’t look like a lot of these barns that City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 7 of 11 July 24, 2012 look out of place and it’s not aluminum. It’s pretty nicely constructed kind of matches everything. Henzi: Any other questions? Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: So, you’re saying you didn’t pour this back patio and all this concrete around the house brand new because it looks like your driveway is brand new and the piece of concrete on the side the house. In your pictures it looks new. Did you not follow that all the way around the back of the house, too? Petitioner: No, I just did the path to the shed with the rat wall and the little walkway connecting the existing patio that’s in front of the shed. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Henzi: Do you have a door on the shed now? Petitioner: It’s in the shed. We’re waiting if I had to move it, we didn’t want to have to take it off. I got dual steel doors. Henzi: So, is that it up against the wall in this photo? Petitioner: Yes, that’s it leaning inside there. Henzi: All right. Any other questions? Pastor: Excuse me. Henzi: Go ahead. Pastor: What kind of door is this? Is it a garage door type or is it a -- Petitioner: It’s a steel entry door. Pastor: It’s just a doublewide entry door? Petitioner: Yeah. Pastor: Okay. So, you have doorknobs? Petitioner: Yeah. Pastor: Okay, so it’s not a roll up. Okay. Thank you. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 8 of 11 July 24, 2012 Henzi: Anything else? Anybody in the audience want to speak for or against the project? No one coming forward. Are there letters? Caramagno: Yes. Anthony Chimento [17751 Golfview] approval (letter was read). William LaFerle [35995 Northgate Drive] approval (letter was read). John (& Stella) Grima [17687 Golfview] approval (letter was read). James Rembacki [17755 Fairway] approval (letter was read). Richard Parent [17819 Golfview] approval (letter was read). Gregory Hamel [17750 Parklane] sends an approval (letter was read). Ronad McLachlan [17786 Golfview] approval (letter was read). R.J. Stafford [17721 Fairway Drive] approval (letter was read). Anne Ford [17830 Fairway] has an objection (letter was read). Kerry (& Laura) Henrikowski [17852 Fairway] objection (letter was read). Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: You have a pool in your backyard; right? Petitioner: Pardon me? Pastor: You have a pool in your backyard? Petitioner: Nope. Pastor: Is that a hot tub? Petitioner: Yes. Sills: It’s a hot tub. Pastor: Okay. So, we don’t have to screen a hot tub, do we? We don’t have to have a fence around a hot tub, do we? Kearfott: No. Pastor: Okay. That’s all. Thank you. Henzi: Mr. Orlowski, is there anything you would like to say in closing? Petitioner: Just hopefully the shed can remain where it is at I feel that it’s an improvement to my property. I don’t feel it affects anyone else’s property in a negative way and just hopefully you guys agree. Henzi: Okay. Thanks. I will close the public portion of the case and begin the Board’s comments with Mrs. McCue. McCue: I will support this. I realize that you are replacing an existing structure. I go along with one of the letters that was written that states what you could have done is left City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 9 of 11 July 24, 2012 that slab there and made something not very attractive out of it, so it looks nice. It compliments the house, so I will support. Henzi: Mr. Duggan. Duggan: I, too, will support. I think it looks great. I would like you to put up some shrubs in the front of it like you talked about, but I do think the improvement looks good, but I would like the shrubs. Thanks. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: You did a nice job I will say that. Upset that you didn’t come to the City and that you built bigger than what was there. I think I will be on board with this, but I would recommend either double or triple the building permit cost because we have a problem with people doing this without asking permission. They just start building things and then they come to us and say, well, I built it here why can’t I keep it? And if you would have come to the City to get a building permit, you would have nullified that or you would have had to come here first to be able to place it there. You being in the trades you know that there are permits required. So, I think I will be on board with this, but I think we have to consider permit fees. Henzi: Mr. Caramagno. Caramagno: The fact that there was a shed prior to this one being there speaks to the location and I don’t have a huge problem with the location especially the fact that you are going to put some shrubbery around it and hide it to some extent. I agree with Craig I think there should have been a permit pulled just for the reason that it should have been inspected. It should have been inspected and made sure it was done right. It looks like it was done right, but that’s why we have the process in the City. So, I will be in approval for this case tonight certainly with a permit pulled. Henzi: Mr. Sills. Sills: I concur with my colleagues. I think that it’s necessary for you to pay a penalty for the permit and if you put the natural barrier in front of the structure, I think that would go a long way. You have a beautiful yard. You have a beautiful home, well kept up. I wouldn’t want your water bill, but you’ve got the nicest greenest lawn I have seen in the whole city and after viewing the neighborhood all I saw was pontoon boats and sheds next to homes and any violation that you could think of was there. So, it would be sinful for me to turn you down on a case like this because everybody all around you is in violation and they certainly don’t keep up their homes the way you keep yours up. So, I’m going to go along with this and I see that you’ve got almost all of your neighbors are supporting you, so I don’t think we can turn you down. I will be in full support. Henzi: I have to admit when I first drove by I thought it was an odd location, but I’m convinced that the Petitioner built in this spot only because there was a shed that existed for probably decades seeing as the shed was in disrepair and had to be replaced. I think it would be really unfair to make him move it after somebody had one City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 10 of 11 July 24, 2012 there for quite a long time. So, I think the natural barrier of some arborvitaes at the Petitioner’s discretion would look really nice to help to block this off and it sounds like he was looking to landscape anyway. So, the floor is open for a motion. Upon Motion by Duggan, supported by Caramagno, it was: RESOLVED, APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-07-38 Timothy Orlowski, 17754 Golfview, Livonia, MI, 48152, seeking to maintain a reconstructed accessory building which is located in the side yard. Accessory buildings requiring permits must be located within the rear yard. The property is located on the east side of Golfview (17754) between Northgate and Bobrich, be granted for the following reasons and findings of fact: 1. The uniqueness requirement is met because there was a pre-existing structure in that location on the property. 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner because it would be unfair for the Petitioner to move the structure after the original structure had been previously built there. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance because there is neighbor support. 4. The Board received eight (8) letters of approval and two (2) letters of objection from neighboring property owners. 5. The granting of this variance will not adversely affect the purpose or objective of the Master Plan because this property is classified “Low-Density Residential” under 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 cost of the permit be doubled for not following the correct process for filing a permit. 2. That a shield of arborvitae or shrubbery be planted. 3. That the electricity shall not exceed 110 volts. 4. That no other buildings will be allowed on the property. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Duggan, Caramagno, McCue, Pastor, Sills, Henzi NAYS: None ABSENT: McIntyre City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 11 of 11 July 24, 2012 Henzi: The variance is granted with those conditions. You can’t have other accessory buildings. Your electricity is limited to the typical standard 110 volt service. You have got to put the shrubs up and double the fine. So, you just go to the Inspection Department and pull the permit. They will help you. Petitioner: Thank you very much. Henzi: Good luck to you. Petitioner: Thanks. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. _________________________ SAM CARAMAGNO, Secretary _________________________ MATTHEW HENZI, Chairman /hm