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Z-8729 Staff AnalysisITEM NO.: 7. Z-8729 NAME: McMath Short -form PD-R and Alley Abandonment LOCATION: located at 822 Beechwood Street Planning Staff Comments: 1. Provide notification of property owners located within 200-feet of the site, complete with the certified abstract list, notice form with affidavit executed and proof of mailing. The notice must be mailed no later than December 21, 2011. The Office of Planning and Development must receive the proof of notice no later than December 30, 2011. 2. What is the total square footage of the upper floor and the lower level including all halls and stairways? Provide the square footage of any attached storage areas, floored attics and above -ground basements. 3. The request includes a reduction the in the side yard setbacks for a 3.5 foot setback along the south property line and a 2.5 foot setback (existing) along the north property line. Variance/Waivers: None requested. Public Works Conditions: 1. The alley should be replatted as a drainage easement and an access easement following the abandonment. Utilities and Fire Department/County Planning: Wastewater: Sewer available to this project. Entergy: No comment received. Center -Point Enerav: No comment received. AT & T: No comment received. Central Arkansas Water: No objection. All Central Arkansas Water requirements in effect at the time of request for water service must be met. Contact Central Arkansas Water if additional fire protection or metered water service is required. Fire Department: Maintain access at least 20-feet wide. Contact the Little Rock Fire Department for additional information. County Planning: No comment. CATA: The site is not located on a dedicated CATA Bus Route. Item # 8. Parks and Recreation: No comment received. Building Codes: The required fire separation distance (building to property line) prescribed by the building code terminates at five (5) feet. Buildings are allowed to be closer than five (5) feet if they have properly constructed firewalls, which provide the requisite one (1) hour fire resistance rating. When buildings are five (5) feet or more from the property line, the requirement no longer applies to the wall itself, only the projections such as eaves or overhangs. Openings such as doors and windows are limited when the exterior wall is three (3) feet from the property line, and are prohibited when the exterior wall is less than three (3) feet from the line. There is no restriction on openings when the exterior wall is more than three (3) feet from the property line. Contact the City of Little Rock Building Codes at 371-4832 for additional details. Planning Division: This request is located in the Heights/Hillcrest Planning District. The Land Use Plan shows Residential Low Density (RL) for this property. Residential Low Density is for single-family homes at densities no greater than six dwelling units per acre. The applicant has applied for a rezoning from R-2, Single-family to PDR to allow the addition of a carport to the home in the rear yard. The site is within the Hillcrest Design Overlay District. Master Street Plan: Beechwood Street is a Local Street. The primary function of a Local Street is to provide access to adjacent properties. Bicycle Plan: There are no bike routes shown in the immediate vicinity. Landscape: No comment on this single-family rezoning request. Revised Pat/plan: Submit four (4) copies of a revised preliminary plat/plan (to include the additional information as noted above) to staff on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Item # 8. FILE NO.: Z-8729 NAME: McMath Short -form PD-R and Alley Abandonment LOCATION: Located at 822 Beechwood Street DEVELOPER: James Bruce McMath 822 Beechwood Street Little Rock, AR 72205 6*111 MOK013 Global Surveying Consultants, Inc. 217 West 2"d Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, AR 72201 AREA: 0.15 acres CURRENT ZONING ALLOWED USES PROPOSED ZONING: NUMBER OF LO R-2, Single-family Single-family residential FT. NEW STREET: 0 LF PROPOSED USE: Carport addition — Hillcrest Design Overlay District VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST/APPLICANT'S STATEMENT: The request is a rezoning from R-2, Single-family to PD-R for this home located at 822 Beechwood Street, which is located within the Hillcrest Design Overlay District. The request also includes the abandonment of an unused portion of the alley located behind Lots 2 and 4 in this block. The home was constructed in 1914, and at one time the home had a one car car -shed, which was removed several years ago when the structure became unsound. Since that time uncovered parking has been employed adjacent to the alley at the rear of the lot. As part of the renovation/remodeling project of the house, the applicant would like to upgrade the parking and eliminate a safety hazard inherent in the current arraignment. The later related to the fact that the alley is not negotiable from Lot ILE NO.: Z-8729 (Cont. 3 north and there is no practical way to turn around in the existing parking area. Vehicles leaving must, back down the alley to the south for half a block, past two houses, one of which is a rental house on Lot 9 and at times has had children among its tenants. The later is of particular concern because there is no fence where Lot 9 abuts the travel portion of the alley, only a frequent broken hedge. Moreover, the final portion of the alley involves a significant drop in grade, which renders the driver blind to anything at or near ground level when backing. The proposed plan adjoins the carport to the house in approximately the same general location as the original car -shed and in the current uncovered parking area. The area will be accessed from the existing alley. Additional paving will be added to the alley where it is not currently being used to facilitate back -out and turning vehicles around when leaving the carport. A variation from the typical zoning setbacks for the rear and side yard setback is required to implement this concept. The portion of the alley to be closed has apparently never actually been used as an alley. It does not appear to ever have been paved and has a very large oak tree growing in the middle of it between Lots 3 and 9, this property and the property to the west. Lot 9's (the property located behind this property) eastern fence line runs near the middle of the platted alley and likewise a parking pad serving Lot 2 (the property to the north of this property) has been constructed within the platted alley. Should the abandonment be approved Lot 9 has agreed to sell the narrow strip of land that would fall east of the existing fence to this property owner so that lot lines will conform to the existing use. The alley will be retained as a utility easement. The applicant has indicated the alley closure is not necessary to the carport addition but is sought for two reasons. One is to allow the applicant to pave the portion of the current platted alley to be used to access the new carport/parking area and clean the area up esthetically. The second is to align lot property lines so that they conform to long standing use by the adjoining property owners. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: Like most areas of Hillcrest this area contains a mixture of single-family and multi -family units. To the northeast is Alsop Park and to the south is the commercial district located on Kavanaugh Boulevard. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing, staff has received several informational phone calls from area property owners. All property owners located within 200-feet of the site and the Hillcrest Residents Neighborhood Association were notified of the public hearing. 2 FILE NO.: Z-8729 (Cont.) D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: The alley should be replatted as a drainage easement and an access easement following the abandonment. E. UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer available to this project. Entergy: No comment received. Center -Paint _Energy: No comment received. AT & T: No comment received. Central Arkansas Water: No objection. All Central Arkansas Water requirements in effect at the time of request for water service must be met. Contact Central Arkansas Water if additional fire protection or metered water service is required. Fire Department: Maintain access at least 20-feet wide. Contact the Little Rock Fire Department for additional information. Count Planning: No comment. CATA: The site is not located on a dedicated CATA Bus Route. Parks and Recreation: No comment received. Building Codes: The required fire separation distance (building to property line) prescribed by the building code terminates at five (5) feet. Buildings are allowed to be closer than five (5) feet if they have properly constructed firewalls, which provide the requisite one (1) hour fire resistance rating. When buildings are five (5) feet or more from the property line, the requirement no longer applies to the wall itself, only the projections such as eaves or overhangs. Openings such as doors and windows are limited when the exterior wall is three (3) feet from the property line, and are prohibited when the exterior wall is less than three (3) feet from the line. There is no restriction on openings when the exterior wall is more than three (3) feet from the property line. Contact the City of Little Rock Building Codes at 371-4832 for additional details. 3 FILE NO.: Z-8729 Cont. F. ISSUES/TECHNICAUDESIGN: Planning Division: This request is located in the Heights/Hillcrest Planning District. The Land Use Plan shows Residential Low Density (RL) for this property. Residential Low Density is for single-family homes at densities no greater than six dwelling units per acre. The applicant has applied for a rezoning from R-2, Single-family to PDR to allow the addition of a carport to the home in the rear yard. The site is within the Hillcrest Design Overlay District. Master Street Plan: Beechwood Street is a Local Street. The primary function of a Local Street is to provide access to adjacent properties. Bicycle Plan: There are no bike routes shown in the immediate vicinity. Landscape: No comment on this single-family rezoning request. G. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (December 8, 2011) Mr. James McMath was present representing the request. Staff presented the item stating the property was located within the Hillcrest Design Overlay District. Staff stated there were two variations from the typical DOD standards related to setbacks. Staff stated the side yard setbacks did not comply with typical ordinance standards and the rear yard setback would not comply with the typical ordinance standard. Staff stated the request also included the abandonment of the alley located behind the home. Staff questioned the total square footage of the upper floor and the lower floor of the home. Staff also questioned if there was any attic or storage space under roof. Public Works stated the alley was to be replatted as a drainage easement and an access easement following the abandonment. There was no further discussion of the item. The Committee then forwarded the item to the full Commission for final action. H. ANALYSIS: Mr. McMath provided a revised cover letter and site plan to staff addressing the issues raised at the December 8, 2011, Subdivision Committee meeting. The revised plan indicates the total square footage of the home on the upper floor and the lower floor. The revised plan also includes attic and storage space under roof. The applicant states the abandoned alley will be retained as a drainage and utility easement. The site is located within the Hillcrest Design Overlay District. The DOD has specific development criteria related to lot coverage, building height and setbacks. The DOD states for residential structures with more than two floors GI FILE NO.: Z-8729 (Cont. (i.e. built -out attics) located on lots with less than 8,000 square feet there shall be a maximum floor area (FAR) ratio of 0.55. The structure along with the proposed additions contains a total of 3,689.3 square feet. The maximum building square footage allowed per the DOD is 3,928.1 square feet or a FAR of 0.51. The DOD states the maximum lot coverage for all structures under roof shall not exceed fifty percent. The site plan as proposed complies with this minimum standard (41.3 percent). The site plan as proposed does not comply with the typical setbacks per the underlying zoning district. The request includes a reduction the in the side yard setbacks for a 3.5-foot setback along the south property line and a 2.5-foot setback (existing) along the north property line. The rear yard setback also does not comply with the typical 25-foot setback. The setback, including the alley abandonment, is approximately 16-feet. The DOD states if for any reason the DOD cannot be adhered to the applicant must seek a rezoning to a planned zoning district with the intent to devise a workable development plan, which is consistent with the purpose and intent of the overlay standards. The request includes the abandonment of a portion of the alley located behind the home. All affected property owners have signed the petition for the abandonment request. The applicant has contacted all the utilities and Public Works Department concerning the abandonment. The alley will be maintained as a utility and drainage easement as requested by Public Works and the various utilities. Staff is supportive of the request. Although the setbacks do not fully comply with the typical standard of the ordinance staff does not feel the variances as proposed will negatively impact the adjoining properties. To staff's knowledge there are no remaining outstanding technical issues associated with the request. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the request subject to compliance with the comments and conditions as outlined in paragraphs D, E and F of the agenda staff report. Staff recommends approval of the right of way abandonment for the alley as proposed by the applicant. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JANUARY 5, 2012) The applicant was present. There were no registered objectors present. Staff presented the item with a recommendation of approval of the request subject to compliance with the comments and conditions as outlined in paragraphs D, E and F of 5 FILE NO.: Z-8729 Cont. the agenda staff report. Staff also presented a recommendation of approval of the right of way abandonment for the alley as proposed by the applicant. There was no further discussion of the item. The Chair entertained a motion for approval of the item as presented by staff. The motion carried by a vote of 7 ayes, 0 noes and 4 absent.