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04-15-2002BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT APRIL 15, 2002 The Schertz Board of Adjustment conducted a public hearing on Monday April 15, 2002 at 6:30 p.m. in the Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz Texas. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Earl Hartzog, Chairman Ted Duigon James Harden Kathy Hill William Sommers, P & Z Commissioner Norman Slocum MEMBER'S ABSENT None CITY STAFF Ron Youngblood, City Planner Misty Nichols, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT Ray Cornish, 1406 Circle Oak Harold Jones, 4200 Spanish Oak Jeff Engelke, 524 Jonas Dr. Robert Brockman, 4505 Grand Forest Charlie Kucherka, 1328, Circle.Oak Jacqueline Middleton, 1402 Circle Oak Robert Canalas, 1664 Royal Palm Lee Brannon #1 Call to Order: Chairman Hartzog called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. #2 Approval of minutes: Chairman Hartzog asked if there were any comments or changes to the minutes of February 11, 2002. Mr. Duigon stated he reviewed the minutes at an earlier date although Mr. Hartzog was still spelled incorrectly Chairman Hartzog stated that on pages 2, item number 3 the name Ms. Hill should be Ms: Brown. Chairman Hartzog stated on page 3 when talking about voting procedures the where it said The Board then went to City Council to change the voting to be 75% of the vote....,.Should state of those present. He then stated there should be something in parenthesis stating a Quorum is 4. Chairman Hartzog mentioned on page 5, second to the last sentence, that Ms. Brown should replace Ms. Hill. Mr. Duigon moved to approve the minutes of February 11, 2002 as amended. Mr. Harden seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. Chairman Hartzog explained to the citizens that there are 4 public hearings on the agenda. He stated each one will be presented and citizens will be asked to speak if they have any questions or comments. #3 Public Hearing: On a request from Plantation Homes, 524 Jonas Drive block 7, lot 16, Jonas Woods Subdivision for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for a rear yard setback from 20' to 16' for the addition of a wood deck (BOA # 168-02). Mr. Hartzog opened the public hearing and asked for staff input. Mr. Youngblood stated there would be no utilities affected by this encroachment. He then stated there were 2 letters sent and none were opposed and that the staff recommends approval. Chairman Hartzog then asked if the 2 letters sent were the ones for the lots that were sold. Mr. Youngblood stated these letters were only to the builders of this Subdivision since this is a new Subdivision there are no residents. Mr. Slocum asked if this is a model home would the deck remain after being sold. Mr. Youngblood stated the deck would remain as part of the home. Mr. Sommers stated this went before Planning and Zoning on March 26, 2002 and the commissioners recommended approval of this item. Mr. Engelke stated he is a representative for Plantation Homes and would be available to answer any questions. Chairman Hartzog asked if the homeowners have been notified of this. Mr. Engelke stated these lots are still under contract and lots are only now being cleared for construction. Chairman Hartzog explained this is a Public Hearing to receive citizen comments; all comments will be taken into consideration when making this decision. There were no further comments and Mr. Hartzog closed the Public Hearing. #4 Public Hearing: Mr. & Mrs. Robert Canalas, 1664 Royal Palm block 32, lot 62, Greenshire Subdivision request for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for a rear yard setback from 20'; to 5' and 6' for a room addition and a West side yard setback for construction of a handicap ramp (BOA # 171-02). Chairman Hartzog asked if there were any comments from City staff. Mr. Youngblood stated there were 24 notices sent, 5 replies were in favor and 0 were opposed. He then explained to the Board that the ramp would be encroaching into an electric easement, to which G.V.E.C has written a letter stating they have no issues with the ramp encroaching onto their easement. Mr. Youngblood. stated the reason for this construction is due to a handicapped child needing access to other rooms in the house. At this time the child is staying in the living room. Staff supports this issue. Mr. Sommers stated this went before Planning and Zoning on March 26, 2002 and the commissioners recommended approval of this item. Mr. Sommers then stated if there should ever be a reason to grant a variance this is a model one. 2 Mr. Hartzog added that this property is backed up to Woodland Oaks Drive; therefore this affects only a few neighbors. Mr. Canalas explained his son is a paraplegic and is currently residing in the living room where he has to be sponge bathed due to not being able to access a restroom. Mr. Slocum asked if there were any standards on this by the State or Federal code. Chairman Hartzog stated the information of this is in the packet. Mr. Brannon stated this is being supervised by the State. Chairman Hartzog explained this is a Public Hearing to receive citizen comments; all comments will be taken into consideration when making this decision. There were no further comments and Mr. Hartzog closed the Public Hearing. #5 Public Hearing: Mr. & Mrs. Cornish, 1406 Circle Oak, block 4, lot 10, Oak Forest Subdivision on a request for a special exception to the zoning ordinance to encroach into a drainage easement from 36.86' to 20' for construction of a driveway (BOA # 170-02). Mr. Youngblood stated there were 22 letters sent 2 replies were in favor and 2 were opposed and 1 undecided. Staff has reviewed this and found no issues or concerns, and recommend approval Mr. Duigon asked where the location of the opposed citizen homes are and if there were any statements explaining their opposition. Mr. Youngblood stated that Mr. Kucherka at 1328 Circle Oak wrote he was opposed due to the volume of water that runs through this area. Mr. Slocum asked if staff has been to the property. Mr. Youngblood explained that the Building Official has inspected this lot and stated this does not interFere with the flow of water. He explained to the Board that the staff advised the Comish's to hire an engineer to verify this is not going to affect the flow of water. Mr. Youngblood then stated this is the only way of being able to build on this lot. Mr. Sommers stated this request went before Planning and Zoning on March 26, 2002 and the commissioners had 2 issues on this matter, one being the water flow calculations and the other being in compliance to the tree mitigation. The water flow calculations were done by a licensed professional engineer Daniel J. Wiedner. The Cornish's have planned the construction of their home to meet the requirements of the UDC (Unified Development Code) on the tree mitigation issue. At this point the Planning and Zoning Commission decided to recommend approval of this request to the Board of Adjustment. Mr. Comish presented the document showing the survey that was done at the time the property was purchased. He stated the easements on this property are shown, the section the drive will be on is a flat part of the easement. The Engineer explained this variance is not for the drainage canal of but rather for maintenance of the drainage easement. Mr. Comish then presented pictures of the property to the Board. Mr. Harold Jones at 4200 Spanish Oak, at the intersection of Circle Oak and Spanish Oak. He has lived at this address for 18 years, in these 18 years he has never seen it flood on 3 this properly. He stated since Arroyo Verde was developed the water shed has changed and the flow of water has a blockage further down the drainage system. Ms. Middleton stated when .Arroyo Verde was developed they explained in many meetings that the development would not affect the Oak Forest Subdivisions drainage. She then stated this did develop into a problem. Her concern is she is being told once again that this will not effect the flow of the drainage. She was misled once and does not want it to happen again. Mr. Slocum asked Ms. Middleton if she was opposed to the building of a home on Mr. Comish's lot. She stated no that she was just concerned with the drainage. Mr. Kucherka at 1328 Circle Oak Dr. stated he has lived in the Oak Forest Subdivision for 20 years and that before the ditch was built for Arroyo Verde Subdivision there was not a problem with flooding. The residents of Oak Forest now have a problem. Although he is not opposed to the Comish's building a home, he is still concerned the- flooding may become worse. Mr. Duigon stated this is an issue that City Council needs to deal with, the Board of Adjustment cannot help on this matter. City Council can review the upstream and downstream developments, which may be affecting this drainage situation. Chairman Hartzog explained this is a Public Hearing to receive citizen comments all comments will be taken into consideration when making this decision. There were no further comments and Mr. Hartzog closed the Public Hearing. #6 Public Hearing: Mr. & Mrs. McClain 3700 Limestone Cove, block 9, lot 28 Carolina Crossing Subdivision request a special exception to the zoning ordinance for a rear yard setback from 20' to 12' to extend a wood deck to the existing swimming pool (BOA #169-02). Mr. Youngblood stated that there were 30 letters sent; 2 replies were in favor and 1 opposed, no comments were made on the returned letters. Mr. Sommers stated this went before Planning and Zoning on March 26, 2002. The reason for the extension of the deck to pool is necessary due to Mr. McClain's handicap. This will provide him with easier access to the pool. Mr. Sommers stated he feels this gentleman has a back injury prohibiting him from being able to climb into the pool. The commissioners recommended approval of this item. Chairman Hartzog explained this is a Public Hearing to receive citizen comments all comments will be taken into consideration when making this decision. There were no further comments and Mr. Hartzog closed the Public Hearing. #7 Consider and take appropriate action: On the above request for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for Plantation Homes (BOA # 168-02). 4 Mr. Duigon made a comment that people who purchased these lots need to be notified if at all possible. Mr. Sommers mentioned the State law explains that only the current property owner needs to be notified. The UDC (Unified Development Code) could be changed to state it will be the builder's responsibility to notify the property owners. Mr. Youngblood asked the developer if the lots are still. under contract. Mr. Engelke stated yes that these lots have been under contract for about a month. Ms. Hill moved to approve the request from Plantation Homes for construction of a wood deck. Mr. Duigon seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. #8 Consider and take appropriate action: On the above request for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for Mr. & Mrs. Robert Canalas (BOA # 171-02). Mr. Duigon •moved to approve the request from Mr. & Mrs. Canalas for construction of a room and a handicap ramp. Ms. Hill seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. #9 Consider and take appropriate action: On the above request for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for Mr. & Mrs. Cornish (BOA # 170-02). Mr. Harden moved to approve the request from Mr. & Mrs. Comish to construct a drive way in a drainage easement. Mr. Slocum seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. #10 Consider and take appropriate action: On the above request ,for a special exception to the zoning ordinance for Mr. & Mrs. McClain (BOA # 169-02). Mr. Harden moved to approve the request from Mr. & Mrs. McClain for the extension of a wood deck to meet up with the existing pool. Mr. Slocum seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. #11 Consider and take appropriate action to recommend to City Council: Applicants selected for vacant Board of Adjustment position: • Otto Wiggins • Joe Potempa • Edwin Pfeil Chairman Hartzog asked applicants if they would step out of Chambers. He explained they would be called in one at a time to answer questions. Mr. Pfeil was present earlier but had left through a portion of the meeting. He was contacted by phone, he stated he did not feel he was as qualified as the other applicants therefore he chose to drop out. Mr. Wiggins and Mr. Potempa were interviewed separately. Each Board member asked the applicants a question. The Board members voted on a ballot card with a 1 for first choice and 2 for second choice. The applicant with the lowest total number would be forwarded to City Council for approval. 5 Mr. Hartzog explained this to the applicants. The ballots were counted. Mr. Potempa won the vote 7 to 8. Mr. Duigon moved to recommend the Boards selection of Joe Potempa to City Council. Mr. Slocum seconded the motion. A vote was taken. The motion carried. #12 Items by Board and City Planner: Mr. Hartzog stated he apologized for the long meeting. He believes there are some members due to be re-appointed and would like a copy of the list of Board members. Mr. Youngblood reminded everyone of Mr. Simonson's retirement party and if you would like you may make a presentation to him at the party. It starts at 6:30. till 9:OOpm. Mr. Duigon stated he strongly feels that staff should contact any potential owners of the new developed lots within 200 feet of the requested variance. He also explained there should be suspense to the responses by the property owners so that the Board members could review them prior to the- meeting. Chairman Hartzog stated he has a problem with this and thinks this would need to be looked at in the legal aspect. Mr. Harden wasp pleased to have an agenda sent to him prior to the meeting. He felt he was able to take his time getting out to see the properties earlier then getting the information the weekend before the meeting. #13 Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:30pm. Chairman, Board of Adjustment ATTEST: Misty Nichols, Recording Secretary 6