CITY OF MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS

Transcription

1 CITY OF MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS Regular Meeting, September 26, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. City Hall, 111 West Vine Street, Council Chambers, 1 st Floor 1. Call to order A G E N D A 2. Consideration of minutes for the regular meeting on August 22, New Business Sign Variance Requests a. Application S by Mr. David McDaniel for Panther Murfreesboro/Integra Creek, LLC, is requesting a variance from Section 25¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement on property located at 3625 Manson Pike. b. Application S by Mr. Michael Rubino of GPD Group, for Thornton s, Inc., is requesting a variance from Section 25¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement on property located at 2908 Medical Center Parkway. c. Application S by Mr. Bill Jones, for Secure Self Storage, LLC, is requesting a variance from Section 25¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement on property located at 1620 Lascassas Pike. Variance Request d. Application Z by Mr. Mike Chaudhary, is requesting a 200-foot variance from Section 21(B)(4) of the City of Murfreesboro Zoning Ordinance, which states that the sale or distribution of gasoline, diesel, and other fuels for motor vehicles will be permitted in the Commercial Fringe (CF) zoning district only when developments for such are setback a minimum of 200 feet from any property zoned in the RS or RD classifications. The request is pertaining to property located at the southwest corner of New Salem Highway and Saint Andrews Drive.

2 Special Use Permit Requests e. Application Z by Ms. Stacey Beasley, is requesting a special use permit in order to conduct a home occupation (hair salon) at her residence located at 1328 Farmwood Drive. The property is located in a Residential Single-Family (RS-15) zone. f. Application Z by Pastor Eddie Turner, for Family Worship Center, is requesting a special use permit in order to expand an existing institutional group assembly use (a church) in a Residential Single-Family (RS-15) zone for property located at Memorial Boulevard. The applicant is seeking approval to expand the existing parking lot and to construct a solid waste enclosure. 4. Staff Reports and Other Business a. Consider adoption of 2013 Board of Zoning Appeals calendar of meeting dates and submittal deadlines. 5. Adjourn

3 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Address: Applicant: Zoning: Request: S Manson Pike Mr. David McDaniel for Panther Murfreesboro/Integra Creek, LLC Residential Multi-Family (RM-16) and Gateway Design Overlay (GDO-1) A variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement The Applicant, David McDaniel representing Panther Murfreesboro/Integra Creek, LLC is requesting a variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a foundation or signs placed in or over a public utility or

4 drainage easement without consent of the easement holder and Board of Zoning Appeals approval. The sign location proposed at 3625 Manson Pike is within a RM-16/GDO-1 zone. The applicant is requesting permission to erect two (2) Development ID, externally illuminated freestanding wall signs with 20 sq. ft. display area each and an overall height of 8. The signs will be located within a 30 Consolidated Utility District (CUD) water easement and a 20 drainage easement. The Agreement for a Sign in a City of Murfreesboro Easement has been signed by the City of Murfreesboro City Engineer, the Director of Building and Codes as well as an approval letter from CUD s Project Manager. The applicant will comply with all other setbacks and regulations. Mr. John Riddle of Summit Contracting, representing Mr. McDaniel, will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.

5 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Address: Applicant: Zoning: Request: S Medical Center Parkway Mr. Michael Rubino of GPD Group, for Thornton s, Inc. Commercial Highway (CH) and Gateway Design Overlay (GDO-1) A variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement The Applicant, Michael A Rubino with GPD Group representing Thornton s Inc. is requesting a variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a foundation or signs placed in or over a public utility or

6 drainage easement without consent of the easement holder and Board of Zoning Appeals approval. The sign location proposed at 3625 Manson Pike is within a CH/GDO-1 zone. The applicant is requesting permission to erect one (1), internally illuminated freestanding wall sign with 55 sq. ft. display area, an overall height of 10 and 38 sq. ft. of the 55 sq. ft. display area of the sign will be an automatic price changer with an opaque background. The sign will be located within a 40 public utility easement. The Agreement for a Sign in a City of Murfreesboro Easement for this location has not been received at this time. All approval signatures from the Director of Building and codes, Murfreesboro Water & Sewer, Murfreesboro Electric, Atmos Energy, AT&T and CUD will be required prior to the BZA meeting. Due to the sensitivity of placement of the sign in regards to utility lines, staff recommends that the sign be located on site by a Tennessee registered engineer or surveyor and that a form for Certification of sign placement be provided prior to permitting. The applicant will comply with all other setbacks and regulations. Mr. Rubino will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.

7 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Address: Applicant: Zoning: Request: S Lascassas Pike Mr. Bill Jones, for Secure Self Storage, LLC Commercial Highway (CH) A variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a sign placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement The Applicant, Bill Jones with Secure Storage, LLC representing Secure Storage is requesting a variance from Section 25 ¼-24 (A)(22) of the City of Murfreesboro Sign Ordinance which prohibits a foundation or signs placed in or over a public utility or drainage easement without consent of the easement holder and Board of Zoning Appeals approval. The sign location proposed at 1620 Lascassas Pike is within a CH zone.

8 The applicant is requesting permission to erect one (1), internally illuminated sign with 90 sq. ft. display area, an overall height of 16 consisting of a 50 sq. ft. top cabinet sign and a 40 sq. ft. manual changeable copy bottom cabinet sign The sign will be located within a 45 public utility easement. The Agreement for a Sign in a City of Murfreesboro Easement for this location has not been received at this time. All approval signatures from the Director of Building and codes, Murfreesboro Water & Sewer, Murfreesboro Electric, Atmos Energy, AT&T and CUD will be required prior to the BZA meeting. Due to the sensitivity of placement of the sign in regards to utility lines, staff recommends that the sign be located on site by a Tennessee registered engineer or surveyor and that a form for Certification of sign placement be provided prior to permitting. The applicant will comply with all other setbacks and regulations. Mr. Jones will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.

9 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Location: Applicant: Zoning: Request: Z The southwest corner of New Salem Highway and Saint Andrews Drive Mr. Mike Chaudhary Commercial Fringe (CF) A 200-foot variance from Section 21(B)(4) of the City of Murfreesboro Zoning Ordinance, which states that the sale or distribution of gasoline, diesel, and other fuels for motor vehicles will be permitted in the Commercial Fringe (CF) zoning district only when developments for such are setback a minimum of 200 feet from any property zoned in the RS or RD classifications

10 The subject property is located at the southwest corner of New Salem Highway and Saint Andrews Drive. It is currently a part of a larger tract that extends south to the Belle Haven Subdivision. The majority of the subject tract is zoned RS-15 (Residential Single- Family). However, the frontage along New Salem Highway, as well as a portion of the frontage along Saint Andrews Drive, was re-zoned to CF (Commercial Fringe) in The applicant has a contractual interest in the property and proposes to construct a gas station/convenience market on the northeast corner of the property -- on a 1.42-acre lot that would be subdivided off of the larger tract. There would also be a liquor store attached to the convenience market. The proposed building will be 9,083 square-feet in area. The CF district regulations state that The sale or distribution of gasoline, diesel, and other fuels for motor vehicles will be permitted in this district only when developments for such are setback a minimum of two hundred feet from any property zoned in the RS or RD classifications. The required distance shall be measured from property line to property line. The applicant is unable to meet this requirement and has submitted a request for a variance. Included in the agenda materials is a letter from the applicant addressing Section 10 of the Zoning Ordinance as well as a site plan of the proposed development. Staff has included photographs of the subject property as well for the Board s reference. In addition, the applicant has submitted a site plan for review by the Planning Commission, and the Planning Commission is scheduled to review the site plan at its September 19 th regular meeting. The Planning Commission has been advised that a variance request for the proposed development is pending before the BZA. As mentioned earlier, the proposed lot is currently a part of a larger tract, some of which is zoned CF and some of which is zoned RS-15. The site plan shows the proposed gas station lot to be located 40 from the RS-15 zoning boundary line. However, because the Zoning Ordinance requires the distance to be measured from property line to property line, the applicant has requested a full 200-foot variance. With the current property line configuration, the overall tract directly abuts properties to the south and to the west that are currently zoned RS-12. In addition, after the proposed subdivision is recorded and the gas station lot created as a separate lot of record, it will still be directly abutting the remainder of the overall parcel, which is partially zoned RS-15. In either instance, a 200- foot variance would be required. The applicant indicates in his letter to the Board that he anticipates a rezoning application being filed at some point for the balance of the overall tract. He states that, in lieu of the property owner requesting rezoning for the remainder of the overall tract now, this variance request has been made. The Board should note that there is currently no rezoning application pending for the balance of the property. For the Board s reference, Staff has included the following information regarding the vision for the area set forth in the Salem Pike Study Area Land Use Plan. The plan recommends the clustering of commercial uses at major intersections. It identifies the intersection of New Salem Highway and Saint Andrews Drive as a Neighborhood Commercial Node, which is defined as neighborhood-scale commercial uses that serve a nearby and limited residential market. On the future land use map, it more specifically identifies the

11 northern portion of overall subject tract at the southwest corner of this intersection as Mixed Use Limited Planned Development, which is defined as all medium and highdensity residential; Institutional; Offices with a maximum 30 percent floor area ratio; and General Farming. It recommends that the southern portion of the tract develop as Medium-Density Residential, which is defined as All single-family and two-family residential uses that involve a density of at least three units per acre but less than eight units per acre; Institutional; Convenience-scale commercial uses on a selective and limited basis; and General Farming. The applicant also notes that the nearest residentially-zoned property to the proposed gas station lot is the balance of the subject tract, which is zoned RS-15 and is undeveloped. As mentioned previously, the RS-15 zoning boundary is 40 from the proposed gas station lot. Staff estimates that the nearest developed residential lots to the west (in the Belle Rive Subdivision) are approximately away from the proposed gas station lot, while the nearest developed residential lots to the south (in the Belle Haven Subdivision) are approximately 1,000-1,100 away. Mr. Chaudhary or a representative will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.

12 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Address: Applicant: Zoning: Request: Z Farmwood Drive Ms. Stacey Beasley Residential Single-Family (RS-15) A special use permit in order to conduct a home occupation (hair salon) at her residence The subject property, 1328 Farmwood Drive, is located west of Brinkley Road and south of Cloverhill Drive. It is a large single-family residential lot, approximately five (5) acres in area and zoned RS-15. It is bounded on all four sides by single-family residential uses and zoning. It is part of a larger area that was annexed into the City effective October The applicant currently operates a hair salon out of her residence. Prior to her property being annexed into the City, she held a Rutherford County business license but had never received the required conditional use permit for a Major Home-Based Business from the County s Board of Zoning Appeals. Now that it is in the City,

13 because the home-based hair salon did not have proper zoning approval from Rutherford County, it is not considered a lawfully-established non-conforming use and thus is not grandfathered in. In her letter to the Board, the applicant states that when she was granted her business license with Rutherford County, she was not advised to inquire with the Rutherford County Planning Department regarding making application for the required conditional use permit. Now that the applicant is in the City and must obtain a City business license in addition to her existing County business license, she has been advised that she needs a special use permit from the City s Board of Zoning Appeals in order to continue operating her home-based hair salon. Accordingly, she has made application for a special use permit for a home-based hair salon at her residence. She has submitted a letter addressing Sections 8 and 9 of the Zoning Ordinance, as well as a site plan and photographs of the subject property and a floor plan of the house. Staff expects the applicant to also submit a floor plan of the salon area as well. Staff has also included additional photographs of the subject property for the Board s reference. The applicant states in her letter to the BZA that she received her business license from Rutherford County in 2007 and that she has been in operation at her residence for the past five (5) years. She has indicated to Staff that, if approved, she will continue to operate her salon in much the same manner that it has been operated for the past five (5) years. The home-based business will be conducted entirely from within the principal structure. The principal structure forms a U shape and the salon area is contained in a room in the rear part of the house. The salon has direct access via an existing external door from the inside of the U. While no floor plan of the salon area itself has been submitted yet, the applicant has indicated that it is a one-chair salon with one washing bowl, and that it contains some other miscellaneous salon equipment. Clients will visit the salon by appointment only. Days of operation will be Tuesday through Saturday. Hours of operation will be 8:00 AM thru 8:00 PM, with the last client of the day leaving no later than 8:00 PM. The applicant has indicated that the maximum number of appointments that she will schedule per business day will be five (5) and that she expects between two (2) and five (5) appointments per business day. The applicant has indicated that she will have some hair care products for sale in her salon, but the products will only be sold at the time of an appointment. There will be no walk-in customers. The applicant has indicated that she holds a license from the State as a master barber stylist. However, she informed Staff that she was unaware that her residential barber shop also needed to be licensed by the State Barber Board. If approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, she intends to apply for the required licensure with the Barber Board. She has indicated in her letter that no signage is proposed for the home-based business. Staff has contacted the Barber Board and has confirmed that no signage is required by the State for a residential barber shop. The Zoning Ordinance dictates that not more than 25% of the area of the principal structure is allowed to be devoted to the home occupation. According to the Property Assessor s website, the total square-footage of the home is 4,702. According to the applicant, the salon is 288 square-feet in area, which is roughly 6% of the area of the principal structure, falling well within the requirements. In addition, Ms. Beasley has indicated in her letter that she will have no employees, that there will be no alteration to

14 the existing house, that there will be no outdoor storage associated with the business, and that there will be no group instruction. As mentioned previously, the subject property is approximately five (5) acres in size. The house is set back approximately 300 feet from Farmwood Drive. The driveway into the property, which primarily consists of a gravel surface, loops around the back of the house. A portion of the driveway adjacent to the house is composed of a concrete surface, however. The applicant has committed in her letter to the Board that she will properly maintain the existing gravel driveway. Considering the size of the property, there is ample room for customer parking as well as for personal household parking. The applicant has indicated that there is a carport near the salon that is devoted to customer parking and that she does not expect any on-street customer parking occurring on Farmwood Drive. If the Board approves this request, staff recommends the following conditions: 1) The home-based business must be properly licensed by the State of Tennessee. 2) All appointments shall end no later than 8:00 PM. 3) All client visits shall be by appointment only and there shall be a maximum of five (5) appointments per business day. Ms. Beasley will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.

15 MURFREESBORO BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS STAFF COMMENTS SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Application: Address: Applicant: Zoning: Request: Z Memorial Boulevard Pastor Eddie Turner, for Family Worship Center Residential Single-Family (RS-15) A special use permit in order to expand an existing institutional group assembly use (a church). The applicant is seeking approval to expand the existing parking lot and to construct a solid waste enclosure. The subject property is located along the west side of Memorial Boulevard south of Regal Drive. The subject property is zoned RS-15. In 1988, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special use permit for a church at this location. The front building was subsequently constructed. In 1996, the BZA approved a special use permit for the expansion of the existing church. A second building was then constructed to the rear of

16 the first building. The church building is addressed as 3045 Memorial Boulevard. The parsonage, which is addressed as 3041 Memorial Boulevard, is located directly to the south of the subject property on a separate lot of record. Several single-family lots in the Regency Estates Subdivision on Regal Drive border the subject property on its north side. At the southwest corner of Regal and Memorial is a vacant lot zoned CH (Commercial Highway). Directly to the west of the subject property is a large tract zoned RS-15. A church is considered an institutional group assembly use, and all such uses (and expansions to such uses) are required to obtain a special use permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals when located in the RS-15 zoning district. Family Worship Center, which has its current facility on Sulphur Springs Road, has a contract to purchase the subject property. According to the applicant, the church will need more parking than what is currently on-site. This special use permit request is for a parking lot expansion, as well as the construction of a new solid waste enclosure. No additional buildings are proposed. The applicant has submitted a conceptual site plan, a photometric lighting plan, and a letter addressing Sections 8 and 9 of the Zoning Ordinance. Staff has included photographs of the subject property as well for the Board s reference. The Board may also wish to note that the Planning Commission will consider the site plan at its September 19 th meeting. The Planning Staff has noted in its staff comments to the Planning Commission that a special use permit is required. There is currently parking located on both the north and side south sides of the existing church building, as well as to the rear. The applicant proposes to construct additional parking to the rear of the building as well as to the south of the building. The Board will recall that the previous church that occupied this property was approved for a special use permit amendment in order to add a daycare center as an approved accessory use. The previous church never followed through with its plans to open a daycare center. The parking lot expansion along the northern property line will be constructed in the area where the playground for the daycare center was proposed to be located. According to the applicant, the church has no plans at this time to operate a daycare center or to construct a playground at any other location on-site. The total number of new parking spaces proposed is 66, bringing the total number of spaces on-site to 212. With the seating in the sanctuary at 800, this number of parking spaces more than doubles the minimum number required by the Zoning Ordinance for a church. Because the southern expansion of the parking lot crosses the lot line onto the lot where the parsonage is located, the two (2) lots will need to be combined, so that the parking lot improvements are all located on one (1) lot of record. The applicant is aware of this and is planning to have a resubdivision plat recorded in order to combine the two (2) lots into one (1). Adjacent to the proposed parking expansion in the northwest corner of the site is an existing privacy fence and a tree line. While a tree survey has not been performed to determine whether or not the tree line is located on the subject property or on the neighbors properties to the north, the applicant is committing to not disturbing this tree line in the construction of the parking lot. In addition, he is committing to maintaining the existing privacy fence adjacent to the parking lot expansion. The preservation of this existing fence along the northern property line is important in order to minimize headlight glare into those residential lots.

17 The Dumpster for the previous churches on the subject property has typically been kept unenclosed in the parking lot near the north property line. The applicant is proposing to construct a solid waste enclosure to the rear of the proposed parking lot expansion near the west property line. The applicant states that the enclosure will be of masonry construction and will also be further screened with landscaping. Not only does this plan propose to screen the solid waste elements, it will also move those solid waste elements further away from the existing residences along Regal Drive. New parking lot lighting is also proposed to be installed. The photometric lighting plan submitted depicts minimal lighting spillover onto the adjacent properties to the north and demonstrates compliance with the City s maximum allowable 0.5 footcandles at the property line. With regards to the other standards for institutional group assembly uses, the lot size meets minimum requirements for the proposed use, there will be no external broadcast or speech or music, there will not be any new accommodations for recreational vehicles or travel trailers, and the applicant is not requesting any variances. There are several revisions to the submitted plans that need to be completed before the BZA meeting. 6 copies of the revised plans (including both the site plan and the photometric lighting plan) should be submitted no later than 12:00 PM on Tuesday, September 25 th. The revisions are listed as follows: The applicant has committed to a masonry solid waste enclosure and landscape screening around the enclosure. The site plan needs to be revised to label the enclosure as being of masonry construction and to also show the landscape screening referenced. Label the width of the perimeter planting yards both north and west of the proposed parking lot expansion. Provide a landscape island in the row of parking spaces along the north property line where the existing parking lot meets the new parking area. The area that is hatched-out, where the Dumpster has historically been placed, can be striped into additional parking stalls. Include a note that the existing striping in the driveway aisle, where the existing parking lot connects to the proposed parking area, is to be removed. This existing striping conflicts with the proposed continuation of the driveway aisle. The row of new parking that runs north-south to the rear of the building should be terminated with a landscape island at its south end. After making all of the changes noted above, the parking tabulations should be revised accordingly. In addition, after all of the above revisions are completed, the photometric lighting plan should be revised to reflect the revisions to the site plan. The photometric lighting plan should be revised to either provide a detail or a note on the plan regarding the height of the proposed lighting fixtures. According to the Zoning Ordinance, the proposed light fixtures cannot exceed 20 in height. The photometric lighting plan needs to demonstrate compliance with this requirement.

18 If the Board approves this application, staff recommends the following conditions: 1) The existing privacy fence along the north lot line adjacent to the proposed parking lot expansion must remain in place. If it is ever replaced, it must be replaced with a privacy fence of the same height. Pastor Turner will be in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions that the Board may have.