Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2022 09 21

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Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes August 17, 2022 Page 6 of 7 Cooper says if the variance does not pass, it does not seem possible to move the deck with an actual pathway. Ritchie says they have not calculated that and do not know if it is feasible. Cooper asks if staff is aware of a maximum footage in order to have a walkway. Ritchie says it is typically three feet. Firnhaber mentions that he was surprised that the original deck was over the setback and was afraid he would not get to the board until over two months. He did not want to delay construction and tried to move this variance process as quickly as possible. Nakari says where the proposed stairs are, what is on that side of the house? Firnhaber says the grading slopes downward on the sides of the house. The grade is held up at the bottom of the stairs. If a deck is built on the other side, he is not sure they could get a configuration or a size that makes sense even if the square footage could technically be larger. Hawksley says given the 10% recovery variance, had the applicant applied for that 10% in the front and rear setback, what would the total relief be from north to south? Ritchie says these properties have an 18-foot front setback so that would be one foot ten in the front and there could be the one foot six on the back so three foot four. Discussion by Board: Stuart says he agrees that the lot is unique. Privacy was already an issue when the house was bought and this is not a new problem. The size of the deck has little to do with the privacy issue. The lack of trees is what is affecting the privacy. Landscaping is not a part of our criteria. To him, all six criteria are met. He is voting to approve this application. Nakari says this is not an easy decision. He appreciates the public comment. He is unsure how he will vote at this time. Cooper says she agrees that the lot is unusual and meets that criterion. She has a hard time making a decision on this matter because this house and the surrounding houses are not standing. What is also difficult in this is construction has already started. Is it still possible to -design the deck without it affecting the footprint? Hawksley says his hesitation is that there could have been other accommodations made and still reached a similar, if not the same goal without encroaching in this direction. The timing of the construction is unfortunate but does not feel like it should affect the overall decision. Berger asks staff if they were to approve the variance, could any conditions be made to ensure there is appropriate privacy? Ritchie says yes, the board has the authority to apply reasonable and related conditions. Discuss amongst yourselves what a possible condition would look like. The applicant would also have to decide whether or not they would be comfortable with a condition. Stuart asks the applicant if he would plant trees in the back lot to create more privacy. Firnhaber says he would be in favor of planting those trees. Ritchie says trees are difficult to tie a condition to because landscaping does not require a building permit and therefore, the verification to ensure it was done is not in place.