Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2016 09 21

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Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes August 17, 2016 Page 5 of 10 Public Comment Against: None. Closed Public Hearing and discussion by Commission: Malmquist says this is a great part of Louisville and you have been in there for many years and owned it for three years. I think it is in keeping with the character of Downtown. I drove down the alley and saw that you are basically on the alley, so you have no pre-existing setback as Scott briefed. It says one foot in the Staff Report but I thought it was more like inches. It looks attractive and looks fine. Meseck says I think one of the nice things about this Board is you get to see some really interesting properties around town. This is one of the more unique ones. I didn't realize that there were some Tots with 3,000 SF and structures basically on the property line. At least from my standpoint, going through all the criteria, I agree with Staff that they are all met. The small amount of overage on the square footage is the size of a large closet. Given the layout on this lot and the appropriateness of the design, I will be voting in favor of it. Ewy says I did the math on the allowable building envelope, which is a footprint of only 645 SF if you built it per Overlay code. The modest house there now does not comply with that particular item. I am not concerned with the setbacks because of such a small building envelope. The portion that projects to the front on Caledonia Street is tucked well back of the existing porch. The rear addition is within 20' and is a reasonable setback to the yard. They are not trying to encroach the side yard at all. I feel the addition, while it encroaches into the setbacks, is a modest addition and is supportable for a variance for those encroachments. The second item is lot area coverage. These percentages were put in place assuming an overlay on a standard Old Town lot which is significantly larger. This is why we see large homes in the Old Town Area currently as they scrape the smaller and more modest homes. This modest addition exceeds the lot coverage and floor area ratio by 67 SF. I find that variance very supportable in light of the small lot. I am supporting both variances. Campbell says I am not inclined to grant variances, maybe one out of ten. I am curious about other lots in Downtown Louisville and what their size is. Robinson says a standard lot in Old Town is about 6,000 SF, generally 50' by 125' deep. There is a wide variety of that. We have some that are upwards of 12,000 to 14,000 SF. There are a few scattered around Old Town that are similar in size to this that were subdivided after the original plats were put in place. Ewy says if I do my math correctly, 40% lot coverage on the larger lots allow a lot coverage of 2,500 SF for comparison. Robinson says the way the Old Town Overlay works is it has different percentages based on size. They go down with the larger sizes. Campbell says I am familiar with the Overlay and the reason it was adopted was it basically granted everybody in the Old Town District a variance. Everybody in Old Town has already received one variance. I am puzzled by the size of this lot versus other lots that I am familiar with and why this lot would be subject to a variance. Ewy says I don't think every single lot in the Old Town Overlay was test fitted. It is possible that they didn't go through the entire map of Old Town and make sure everything complied. This home as existing is nonconforming, even with the Overlay. Malmquist says that is the subject of the variances. Just driving down the alley, you'll see that if you modify one piece of that current structure, you will need a variance. It is not a fair and reasonable expectation to be able to keep that structure as is. Campbell says I am having trouble with the drawings on what is existing and what is proposed. Robinson says the dashed lines show what the existing building envelope would be to comply with the Old Town setbacks. Ewy and Meseck discuss limitations to build a new home on the small lot. Campbell asks if this lot was subdivided previously. Robinson says when it was originally platted, it was the full width of the half block, from Main Street to the alley. In 1982, this back portion was subdivided off.