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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-20 City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 1 of 18 March 20, 2012 MEMBERS PRESENT: Matt Henzi, Chairman Craig Pastor, Vice Chairman Toni Aloe Sam Caramagno Ed Duggan Betsy McCue MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert Sills 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 were 6 persons present in the audience. (7:01 #1/30) APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-03-08: Infinity Acquisitions, LLC, 37785 Pembroke, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to construct a single family dwelling upon property, resulting in deficient front yard setback. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS CITY OF LIVONIA MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING HELD MARCH 20, 2012 City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 of 18 March 20, 2012 Front Yard Setback Required: 25.00 ft. Proposed: 18.34 ft. Deficient: 6.66 ft. The property is located on the south side of Curtis Court (18072) between Curtis Avenue and the cul-de-sac. Aloe: Mr. Chair, I will be stepping down on the first case. Henzi: Okay. Scott, anything to add to this case? Kearfott: Not at this time. Henzi: Any questions for the Inspection Department? Hearing none, will the Petitioner please come forward? Petitioner: Good evening, everyone. Henzi: Good evening. Petitioner: For the record, Enrico Soave, for the Petitioner, 37771 Seven Mile Road, Suite C, Livonia, 48152. Just a few remarks, Mr. Chair. When this was first brought to my attention across my desk and looking at the preliminary site plan, I had a hard time understanding why this required a variance whatsoever in order to proceed for a building permit. But then that squiggly line as you go towards the back of unit 9, which is also in the rear of unit 8 and unit 10, there’s a floodplain in the back which almost comes out say in the middle of unit 9 as it goes closer to Curtis Court. And, as you may know, you can’t build within the floodplain. So, with half the building envelope shrinking and you have to deal with cul-de-sac frontage, which pushes that building envelope further back as compared to its adjacent units 10 and 8, you’re dealing with a very restricted building envelope. This house as proposed is under lot coverage. This house is being built on units 10 and units 11. It’s only a 1,900 sq. ft. colonial, which most of the houses there are actually bigger than that whether they’re ranches – I don’t believe there’s any ranches there, but most of them are colonials or larger first- floor master or cape cods. Also, there is no surprise why this unit 9 is the last one to be built upon or one of the last vacant lots here in Curtis Creek Condominium because of uniqueness idiosyncrasies especially as it relates to unit 9. This is the last lot in the subdivision, as I believe the other one there that is vacant is sold. And for the Board’s information, my client, the Petitioner wasn’t the developer of Curtis Creek Condominium; he bought the remaining five lots in the subdivision so I think the developer knew this problem or should have known this problem at least by their engineer going into this. It was approved by the City of Livonia Engineering Department and it has a severe deficiency on this which hopefully this Board can actually resolve that and allow a house to be built on it because in my view or interpretation this is an unbuildable lot as it stands now without any variance or relief this Board may grant tonight. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3 of 18 March 20, 2012 Henzi: Do you want to tell us about the building materials? Petitioner: The building materials, I’m not sure if every Board member has had a chance or opportunity to drive through there, it’s the exact same house which is a four-bedroom colonial. There’s two under construction, unit 10 and unit 11. They are both under construction, one is bricked and one is sold without being bricked, the same exact house. Henzi: Okay. The only question I think I have is could you build any other model and be compliant on this lot? Petitioner: As the Board would know, colonial has the smallest footprint of any house. A ranch would just make it bigger, the first-floor master would only make it bigger and this is 1,900 sq. ft. And you’re dealing with potential restrictions with the actual master deed, which I didn’t see any restrictions on lots with the actual sizes of houses in there, but you also want to keep in conformity and harmony with the rest of the neighborhood as well. Henzi: I did think of one more. I have driven by the subdivision many, many times and it seems like all of a sudden now there’s some activity, which is great because it was a pretty empty development for a long time. When has the activity happened? Has this all been within the -- Petitioner: In the past eight months. Henzi: Okay. Petitioner: There hasn’t been – the acquisition didn’t occur probably until 7 months ago and now there’s only one house that’s available, which is this unit 9 that’s before you tonight. Henzi: It must be unit - it’s either 7 or 11. I can’t remember. The one that’s sold. Petitioner: That’s the one that’s still vacant; correct? Henzi: Yeah. Petitioner: Yeah, that’s sold. Henzi: Has there been a contract to construct an identical model colonial on that lot as well? Petitioner: I don’t know. Henzi: Okay. Is that your client’s lot or no? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4 of 18 March 20, 2012 Petitioner: Correct. Henzi: It is. Petitioner: The remaining properties are my client’s lots. This is the last one that is available for sale and the reason why he’s asking for the petition now rather than later because he wants to close out that subdivision and no matter what house, we would have built there and it would require a variance. So, he is being proactive in seeking a variance now rather than after the fact. Henzi: Okay. Any questions for the Petitioner? Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: Your garage here is 27 ft, 27 ft 8 inches deep. Is there any way of pushing that back a couple feet to help with this situation? Petitioner: Pardon my ignorance, but I don’t follow you. It appears to be 20 ft. deep to the west side; correct? Pastor: My plan shows it -- Petitioner: Are you looking at the building plans or site plans? Pastor: I’m looking at the building plan. Petitioner: I was going by the site plan. Pastor: No, I only have the building plan. Petitioner: It’s 20 ft. deep. Pastor: Do I have a different building plan then? Petitioner: I’m looking at the foundation plan, yes. Pastor: It says 27.8 inches? Henzi: 27, yeah. Pastor: All of ours say 27.8. Petitioner: Unless someone switched the building plan, but I have the building plans in front of me, and it reads – City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5 of 18 March 20, 2012 Pastor: Look at page 3 of 10. I’m not sure what page you’re on. Look at the garage. Petitioner: Yeah, that’s the depth – you’re actually taking part of the house with that if you’re looking at that dimension. Pastor: I understand, but the depth of the garage is 27.8 inches. Is there any way of decreasing that a little bit? I’m not talking about a lot, but a little bit to help with the situation. I understand that there is probably a 4, and maybe even a 5 ft. wall where that bathroom is. I can’t tell, it doesn’t give me a dimension there so I can’t tell exactly what it is. Petitioner: As it reads to this plan and the site plan, I respectfully disagree with that because I’m looking at the actual – I have a two-car garage and the actual depth is 20 ft. from outside corner to outside corner on the site plan that would be at the western side of the garage. Pastor: Yeah, you’re taking the outside wall of that. Petitioner: Correct. Pastor: But it also jogs in a couple of feet twice, now it’s 4.5, right there. So it’s actually – well, its probably 22 ft. deep to get a car in there. Okay. I see. That answered my question. Henzi: Any other questions? Hearing none, is there anyone in the audience who wants to speak for or against this project? If so, come on up to the table. I see no one wants to speak on this topic. Are there letters on this case? Caramagno: No, no letters. Henzi: Is there anything you would like to say in closing, Mr. Soave? Petitioner: I have nothing further to add. Thank you. Henzi: Okay, thank you. I will close the public portion of the case and begin the Board’s comments with Mrs. McCue. McCue: To me, I think the challenge of the flood zone goes without saying. I get that all the way around. So I would be inclined to go along with the plan. Henzi: Mr. Duggan. Duggan: Yes, I too, will be in support. You are restricted by the floodplain. I think the plans look great. I think it will add to the neighborhood so I absolutely will be in support. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 6 of 18 March 20, 2012 Pastor: I also will be in support. It’s nice that this neighborhood is getting built out. So, I can support this. Henzi: Mr. Caramagno. Caramagno: I will be in support as well. The lot coverage is much smaller than what’s allowed there. Clearly the problem is the floodplain and it’s good to see the lot’s getting filled up and lived in I suppose, so I am in support. Henzi: Yes, I agree with the other members. To me this was probably the most visible floodplain deficiency and that’s a hardship that wasn’t the Petitioner’s doing so I’m also happy to see this development coming along. It’s a nice subdivision and it looks a lot better full than it did with only two homes built. The floor is open for a motion. Upon Motion by Duggan, supported by Pastor, it was: RESOLVED, APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-03-08: Infinity Acquisitions, LLC, 37785 Pembroke, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to construct a single family dwelling upon property, resulting in deficient front yard setback. Front Yard Setback Required: 25.00 ft. Proposed: 18.34 ft. Deficient: 6.66 ft. The property is located on the south side of Curtis Court (18072) between Curtis Avenue and the cul-de-sac, be granted for the following reasons and findings of facts: 1. The uniqueness requirement is met because of the restrictions created by the floodplains located in the rear yard. 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner because there is no other way for the home to be built on the property. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on the neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance because there have been no letters objecting to the project and it has the support of the neighborhood. 4. The Board received no letters of approval and no 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 the property is classified “Low- density Residential” under the Master Plan, and the proposed variance is not inconsistent with that classification. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 7 of 18 March 20, 2012 FURTHER, This variance be granted with the following conditions. 1. That the home be built as presented to the Board. 2. That the home be built within 18 months. 3. That the home be built in compliance of Council Resolution 181-02. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Duggan, Pastor, Caramagno, McCue, Henzi NAYS: None ABSTAIN: Aloe ABSENT: Sills Henzi: The variance is granted with those three conditions, build it as presented, build it within 18 months and then build it according to the Council Resolution regarding the neighborhood, amount of brick, et cetera, all those particular requirements. Thank you. Good luck. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 8 of 18 March 20, 2012 7:14 #1/477) APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-03-09: Jeffrey Street, 15650 Ingram, Livonia, MI 48154, seeking to construct a detached garage while maintaining an attached garage, resulting in excess number of garages, total garage area and excess detached garage height. Number of Garages Garage Area Garage Height Allowed: One Allowed: 720 sq. ft. Allowed: 16 ft. Proposed: Two Proposed: 1395 sq. ft. Proposed: 22 ft. Excess: One Existing: 675 sq. ft Excess: 6 ft. Excess: 720 sq. ft. The property is located on the east side of Ingram (15650) between Five Mile and East Myrna Ave. Henzi: Mr. Kearfott, anything to add on this case? Kearfott: Not at this time. Henzi: Any questions for the Inspection Department? Hearing none, will the Petitioners please come forward? Good evening. Street: Good evening, my name is Jeff Street. I live at 15650 Ingram. My wife, Lynn Street, is also here tonight. So, I am asking for a variance to allow an accessory building to be put up. I am in an RUF area. I understand that that’s a pretty wide variety of sizes of lots and this is a full acre lot so I believe it’s at the higher end of the RUF. Although the building exceeds the detached, the total lot coverage is still well under what is allowed by almost 50%. Hopefully, I caused much less controversy than the goats. Prior to submitting my request, I did speak to all of my adjacent neighbors. I received support from all of them, there were no complaints, no concerns voiced to me about putting the building up. And finally on the one block of Ingram between Five Mile and Myrna, they are all acre lots on both sides of the street. There are 10 homes that have accessory buildings in excess of the zoning requirement. Of those 10, five of them have a second floor or a loft as part of it. I am in a two-story house, I believe the intent on the lot plan was to keep the building in line with the house that from the street I think the house will more than cover that building. Henzi: Can you tell us a little bit about the plan, construction meaning is this a prefabricated structure? Petitioner: No, it will be built from scratch. When I filed the request, I asked, did I have to have detailed, and they said no. My plan is to have detailed architectural drawings created in line with the concept that is presented in the plan. I expect it to be a 2 x 6 wood structure framed, typical framing, to be vinyl sided to match the house. There is a possibility there is some remaining brick on the lot from the house that a portion of the City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 9 of 18 March 20, 2012 front of that building could maintain a brick similar to the house. The intent is that the building will be fully insulated and heated. Henzi: You have a rendering in our packet, is this what it is going to look like? And then can you go into some detail as to why you need this. And let me preface that by saying that we get a lot of garage cases and we hear all kinds of detail and we’re looking for as much detail as possible about why you need it. And we acknowledge that this a very large lot and that you have extra yard equipment et cetera than a smaller lot might have, but there wasn’t much detail in the application about exactly what you plan to be doing in this structure. Petitioner: All of your documentations said garage, although it looks like a garage my intent is not to use it as a garage it is to be used as a hobby shop. It has always been my dream to be able to build that consistent with the usage - in the neighborhood there are accessory buildings. My intent is to put my workshop in that building and use it for that. I am retired. It is not a business. There is no commercial traffic coming forward and back there. There are no hazardous materials. It’s not a garage repair type of activity where there is material left around in the building. Mr. Kearfott was in the yard this evening. I think he would verify that the yard is very well maintained and I expect it to stay that way. Henzi: What is your hobby? Petitioner: I build furniture. Henzi: Okay. Will you use it for anything else; for example, storing boats, watercraft, anything? Petitioner: No, I expect to store some lawn equipment on the second floor, snow blower in the season, that kind of stuff. There’s no boats or other vehicles to be stored there. Henzi: I think the last question I have for you; hopefully is, why the excess height, that is a relatively rare request that we see. Petitioner: For the type of work I am requesting the ability to put a 9 to 10 ft. ceiling on the first floor to give me the room needed to move material, to turn sheets of plywood or boards around that I can’t do in an 8 ft. ceiling. That extra height then pushes the second floor to have a minimal center tunnel down the second floor to be able to walk there to use for storage. Henzi: Okay. Any questions for the Petitioner? Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: What kind of storage do you plan on doing in the second floor? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 10 of 18 March 20, 2012 Petitioner: As I said, it might some yard chairs and patio furniture in the winter, snow blowers, that kind of stuff. It would also be used for lumber storage. Pastor: How tall is your upstairs? Petitioner: On my current home? Pastor: On this, you don’t have any height dimensions on this. Petitioner: I don’t have the detail because I don’t have the detail of the upper floor truss to be built. The goal is to be able to have a 6-1/2 ft. clearance to be able to walk there. Pastor: So, how do we come up with 22 ft. proposed height? Petitioner: That was an estimate based on a 10 ft. ceiling on the main floor and then a truss room above that for 6-1/2 ft. above. Pastor: I thought you said you were going to have this heated and, obviously, you have high-powered tools you need regular service out there? Petitioner: We will need electric service there as well, yes. Pastor: 100 amp, 200 amp service? Petitioner: We would probably request in the building permit 100 amp service. I am - about 80 amps would be maximum usage at any time. Pastor: That will be all for right now. Henzi: Any other questions? Aloe: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mrs. Aloe. Aloe: Mr. Kearfott, what is the height of the house, the existing house that’s there? It say’s one and-a-half stories, do we get a height with that? Petitioner: I’m sorry, I don’t have that information, but I can tell you although it said one and-a-half, there is a full second story. It is a two-story home. Aloe: What would you estimate the height of your home is? Petitioner: Probably pretty close to 22 to 25. Aloe: Okay, thank you. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 11 of 18 March 20, 2012 Kearfott: 35 ft. is the restriction for a house, R-1 through R-5. Petitioner: I know it’s not that high. Aloe: 35 ft., my God, what would that be? Kearfott: Well, if you had two stories plus, you know, if you had a 12/12 roof, it can get pretty high up there. Aloe: Okay, thank you. Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: Give us a little more detail on what kind of machinery that you’re having in this – if this is only a machine shop, why do we have two garage doors? Petitioner: That was the style – I mean, I need - it could be done with one garage door. I do need that room to move things in and out, a wide door, so it could be done with one as opposed to two. The type of machinery that’s in there, there’s a table saw, band saw, jointers, planers, that type of standard woodworking equipment. Pastor: Yes, but this is a large building, a table saw does not take up – I mean, it takes up some room, but -- Petitioner: My current workshop is in my basement. My goal is to get it out of there because of the dust that is created even though I have pretty high efficiency dust collection and air filters in there, it still does generate dust. The space allocated in the basement is exactly the space that I am asking for in this garage. So, the workshop does consume that much floor space. Pastor: Including the upstairs? Petitioner: No. Pastor: So, you’re adding for the upstairs? Petitioner: I am adding the ability to have some storage for garden, you know, patio furniture, and that from wintertime. Pastor: This is a large shop for a wood shop. I happen to be in the construction industry and I know that. Petitioner: I have a picture of my current shop on phone if you care to see it, but that is the size of the shop that is in the basement at this time. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 12 of 18 March 20, 2012 Mrs. Street: I can vouch for that. Pastor: That will be all for right at this moment. Henzi: Mr. Street, do you plan to have a hard surface leading back to the garage? Petitioner: No, the intent would be there would be a short apron 4 to 6 ft. in front of the building, but no hard walkway between the buildings. Henzi: What kind of equipment do you use to take care of your lawn; like for instance, riding lawnmower, et cetera. And can you tell us a little bit about that and then where you’re going to put that kind of stuff. Petitioner: My father-in-law lives across the street from us, that equipment, the tractor is stored in his accessory building. Henzi: Okay. Scott, I have a question for you. I think it’s two doors down from Mr. Street’s house, I think it’s 15928, I’m not certain, but there is a pretty large white, what appears to be block barn-looking structure. Petitioner: There are two other buildings that are larger than that one on the block. Henzi: I’m not surprised, but my question was do you have any idea how old that is and would it predate the ordinance? Kearfott: I do not know how old that is. I did look up in the history file cases that came before the Zoning Board and there is actually quite a few in that general area, Auburndale, Ingram, and Myrna that do have excess number of accessory buildings and excess square footage. Henzi: Do you have any idea -- Kearfott: But I don’t know the one that you are talking about, that you are addressing? Henzi: You don’t remember the white one? Kearfott: No. Henzi: Mr. Street, do you have any idea what size that building is? Petitioner: That building, yeah, I know which one - the building that you’re talking about. That building is about 20 x 28, I think. The footprint is probably just a little bit smaller. I’m guessing that that is certainly in excess of 16 ft. in height though that’s a pretty tall building. Henzi: Yeah, okay. That’s my guess, too. Thank you, any other questions? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 13 of 18 March 20, 2012 Pastor: Mr. Chair. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: Going back to the hard surface, if you aren’t having a hard surface back there, how are you getting all your material back there? Petitioner: Carry it or with a tractor. Most of my material comes in as, you know, a board, a piece of lumber. Pastor: Well, you were talking about plywood earlier. Petitioner: Or a sheet of plywood. So, I would carry it or I would put it on – Pastor: You’re not going to drive a vehicle back there, or you’re not going to get a bulk delivery of 30 sheets of whatever and -- Petitioner: No, I don’t. I go and buy a few sheets of plywood at a time and I would carry it or put it on a cart to go back there. Pastor: Okay, thank you. Petitioner: I don’t – when I say I build furniture, I build a few pieces a year. I don’t have that much material flow in and out of the facility Henzi: Is it something that you build for family and friends? Petitioner: Family and friends, it’s not a business. There is no commercial – I don’t charge them. It’s just something that I enjoy doing. Henzi: Any other questions? Fisher: Mr. Chair, can I just ask a question? Henzi: Mr. Fisher. Fisher: Do you have a motor home or some kind of vehicle like that on the back of your property? Petitioner: We used to store the motor home in the back. That is now stored off site, has been for several years now. So, you may see a previous Google image, Google map or image that shows a motor home there, it hasn’t been stored on the lot for several years. Fisher: And your intention is not to bring it back. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 14 of 18 March 20, 2012 Petitioner: Not to bring it back. Henzi: Did you have your home constructed? Petitioner: Yes, we did. Henzi: That’s a fairly recent build. Petitioner: 1988, and then there was a second floor dormer put on in about in 19 – we were talking about that earlier today, 1998, 1999. Henzi: And who is going to build the structure? Petitioner: TBD at this point. We will get a commercial builder to put it up. Henzi: Okay. Any other questions? Hearing none, is there anyone in the audience who wants to speak for or against this project? If so, come on up. I see no one coming forward. Are there letters? Caramagno: Yes. William Zombory [15571 Ingram] writes an approval (letter was read) [15571, 15670, 15928 all in Ingram Ave.]. We have an approval from Ken Lundberg [15570 Ingram] and an approval from Eileen (& Thomas) Walsh [15610 Ingram]. Henzi: Mr. Street, is there anything you would like to say in closing? Petitioner: Nothing else, I realize it is a large building, and I think the lot can support it. I think it has been demonstrated by – there’s several other large buildings in that neighborhood and I don’t believe it’s affected the value or the aesthetic look of the neighborhood. I think it can fit in there very well. Henzi: Thank you. I will close the public portion of the case and begin the Board’s comments with Mr. Duggan. Duggan: You are asking for a large area, I mean, you asked for 720 in excess, but if you need that much room, if your basement is already a similar length and that’s the amount you need. You do have a big property, so I do think you can support it and I will be in support. Henzi: Mr. Pastor. Pastor: You have done a beautiful job on these plans. I’m not really convinced about the upstairs; the size is a little bit large. You’re not storing any equipment in there other than your woodworking equipment. I don’t know that I can support this because my fear is when you move someone is going to use that for an apartment. It is going to be fully heated it is going to have the same amount of power. We didn’t talk about facilities for restrooms or anything. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 15 of 18 March 20, 2012 Petitioner: My intent is not to have water. I do not need water to the building and that would also then mean no sewer, so the intent is not to have a restroom in the building. Pastor: But nevertheless, I am not fully comfortable with this. At this particular second, I am not in support but I could change my mind. Henzi: Mr. Caramagno. Caramagno: I think it’s a good-looking piece here. I figured you had hot rods or snowmobiles or motorcycles or something when I first saw it. But everybody has their own little hobby and yours just happens to be woodworking. Matt asked the question earlier about the other buildings on the street and the size of them and to be quite honest with you driving down that street if you’re not looking for big outbuildings in the back, you don’t even see them. They don’t even impact the neighborhood at all. It’s an acre lot. This is a very nice and classy design. I like it and I am going to be in support of it. You mentioned you might put some brick on the front of it. Petitioner: I think that is a possibility. There is some remaining brick to at least put a ribbon on the front. Caramagno: That certainly does something for me. I’d like to see a ribbon on it and I think it would only make it look that much better. You already have a good looking property, good looking home. I can’t see you doing anything that would hurt that and you mentioned that you were going to put an apron on the front of the building. We didn’t talk about size, but I see you have got to have something out there. Petitioner: It would be a small landing spot maybe in the 6 ft. range or something like that. Caramagno: So at this point, I am in support. Henzi: Mrs. Aloe. Aloe: Well, it is a large building and I am struggling with it. I think when Petitioners come in and they name and diagram all these things they want to store in a building, the tendency is more to say, yeah, they need it. They’ve got the boat, they’ve got the snow – you know, you see it all in the building, but like Mr. Pastor stated that the fear is what’s going to happen when you leave? That’s another issue with it. I agree, I mean, your lot supports it. It’s consistent with other buildings in the area. So, I somewhat can support it, I guess that’s what I can say. Henzi: Mrs. McCue. McCue: I found it really original, very attractive. I like it a lot, very nice. I again just like they had said, the lot definitely supports it. With the information that the others around you also have similar types of structure, I think when you’re talking about not having it City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 16 of 18 March 20, 2012 plumbed it, makes more sense to me and we can kind of deviate from the concern that somebody is going to move into the upstairs there. It’s not going to happen. Petitioner: Right. McCue: So, I would be in support. Petitioner: Thank you. Henzi: The main problem I have with it is the garage height because I just don’t, I don’t have the plans, I don’t have support for 22 ft. and to me on these big garage cases the height is the most significant. But overall this is extremely large; however, and I don’t like to grant large garages like this; however, I’m looking for outbuildings as I drive up and down that street and they are everywhere. Multiple outbuildings and large ones and the neighbor two doors down has got one that’s definitely greater than 16 ft. in height and definitely greater than what would be otherwise allowed and is conspicuous because there is nothing blocking it because of the way that that lot exists which I don’t think is going to happen here because it is going to go behind the home. I don’t think people are ever going to notice. Petitioner: It will be behind the home in line with it and Mr. Kearfott can tell you on the lot line closest to the building is a very large row of pine trees that if you’re coming up from the road that would block that view. Henzi: Yes. It is an eclectic street with varying home styles and it’s a very large lot so I’d like to chop something off the garage height a few feet, but other than that I think I can live with the request. Take note, we have some consternation because typically people come in and want to store three snow mobiles, two classic cars, all sorts of things and the discussion centers around wouldn’t it look better inside than out and this is quite different. But given – in my opinion what trumps everything is the fact that almost every neighbor – I shouldn’t say almost every – many of your neighbors has structures that are this big or close to it. So, the floor is open for a motion. Upon Motion by Caramagno, supported by Duggan, it was: RESOLVED, APPEAL CASE NO. 2012-03-09: Jeffrey Street, 15650 Ingram, Livonia, MI 48154, seeking to construct a detached garage while maintaining an attached garage, resulting in excess number of garages, total garage area and excess detached garage height. Number of Garages Garage Area Garage Height Allowed: One Allowed: 720 sq. ft. Allowed: 16 ft. Proposed: Two Proposed: 1395 sq. ft. Proposed: 22 ft. Excess: One Existing: 675 sq. ft Excess: 6 ft. Excess: 720 sq. ft. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 17 of 18 March 20, 2012 The property is located on the east side of Ingram (15650) between Five Mile and East Myrna Ave., be granted for the following reasons and findings of facts: 1. The uniqueness requirement is met because the Petitioner would like to have a place to do his woodworking outside of his basement in his home. 2. Denial of the variance would have severe consequences for the Petitioner because he would have to continue to do his hobby in his basement, which creates a lot of dust throughout the home. 3. The variance is fair in light of its effect on the neighboring properties and in the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance because this is a neighborhood of very large lots and there are no neighbor complaints and there are many other accessory buildings on these properties. 4. The Board received (3) three letters of approval and no 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 the property is classified “Low- density Residential” under the Master Plan, and the proposed variance is not inconsistent with that classification. FURTHER, This variance be granted with the following conditions. 1. That the building be built as presented tonight, including removal of the shed. 2. That it match the house in terms of siding. 3. That there is an approach to the garage with apron in front of the garage. 4. That some brick be put on the front of the garage that faces Ingram. 5. That electric service not exceeding 100 amps is permitted in the building. 6. That no plumbing and no running water may be installed in the building. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Caramagno, Duggan, Aloe, McCue NAYS: Pastor, Henzi ABSENT: Sills Henzi: The variance is granted. I will read you the conditions. You have got to build it as presented. You have to match the vinyl siding to the home. You have got to City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 18 of 18 March 20, 2012 construct the concrete apron as described tonight, brick on the front. As discussed 100 amp service and then no plumbing. Good luck to you. Mrs. Street: Can I just ask a question. You said brick on the front. Do you just mean trim? Henzi: An apron. Mrs. Street: You don’t mean the whole front? Henzi: No, I think he was referencing as what was described tonight. Mrs. Street: Because that’s right out my bedroom window and I really don’t like the brick. Henzi: No. Mrs. Street: Just trim. Petitioner: Yes. Mrs. Street: Okay. Petitioner: Thank you. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. _________________________ SAM CARAMAGNO, Secretary __________________________ MATTHEW HENZI, Chairman /hdm