Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2017 02 15

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Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes December 21, 2016 Page6of8 Adams says this neighbor is okay. The deck is essentially the same shape as currently, it just extends out a couple of feet. It will look very similar but will be 2' deeper. The only real change is the pergola on one end to block the sun. Meseck asks to see the overhead shot of the design. Stuart asks Adams if they bought the house or if they built the house. Adams says we purchased the house two years ago. It was built in 1989. We have gutted the house and put about $700,000 of improvements into the house. The inside of the house has been completely remodeled. The landscaping is completely different as well. When we bought the house, we were told by the house inspector that we would need to replace the deck within one year because it was structurally unsound. When we did the renovations on the house, the contractor said that the deck would have to be replaced. We had them do some temporary shoring of the deck so it would last us through one year, and then we would get designs done in order to move forward. Gorsevski asks about the topography and lay of the land. Are you on a slope relative to your neighbors? Are you above them? Adams says it is relatively flat but all of the other houses were built essentially at grade. Our house has a full basement with 5' high windows that look out onto the backyard. This is what forces the designer to raise this deck. When you open the back door of the house from the basement, the only way to get out is to raise the deck high enough so the doors open. Meseck asks if there are window wells in front of the windows or are they above grade. Adams says the windows are above grade. Meseck says so you have egress from the basement. Does that come up under the deck? Adams says yes and if we don't elevate the deck, we will have no egress from any of the windows or the basement back door. vik Meseck asks Adams to point out the loca''nn of the egress on the elevation drawing. Adams points out the door going into the basement. To the left, there are two windows. Looking down the other side, there are two sets of windows. Building an at -grade deck will block egress from the windows and the back door. Stuart asks if this is unusual in the neighborhood. Are most of the houses at grade? Hashman says I drove around the neighborhood and saw two other models out of 50 houses that are similar, but the lots are very different. Adams says my wife and I went around the neighborhood and looked at houses of the same model. They are all elevated like ours and they all appear to have decks on the back from what we could see and are of a similar character. DeJong asks about other models that are similar. Do they have similar decks? Hashman says yes, some of them are similar; some are different. DeJong asks if there are similar models with larger decks. Hashman says I don't know. Stuart says I would imagine that this is such a modest addition, you might not be able to tell by just looking at someone's deck whether it is too big or exactly correct. Adams says there are no setback issues at the other houses. We are adding a couple of feet to the deck. Seen from the neighboring homes, it will look no different except the addition of the pergola. Public Comment in Favor: None. Public Comment Against: None. Summary and request by Staff and Applicant: Staff recommends denial. Closed Public Hearing and discussion by Commission: Malmquist makes motion to close Public Hearing, seconded by Stuart. Passed by voice vote.