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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-8004 Staff AnalysisFEBRUARY 27, 2006 ITEM NO.: 13 File No.: Z-8004 Owner: David and Lisa Rapp Address: 1601 N. Tyler Street Description: Lot 22, Block 3, Englewood Addition Zoned: R-2 Variance Requested: Variances are requested from the area provisions of Section 36-156 to allow an accessory building with a reduced street side setback and an increased rear yard coverage. Justification: The applicant's justification is presented in an attached letter. Present Use of Property: Single Family Residential Proposed Use of Property: Single Family Residential STAFF REPORT A. Public Works Issues: No Comments. B. Staff Analysis: The R-2 zoned property at 1601 N. Tyler was previously occupied by a one- story brick single family residence. That structure was recently removed from the property and the foundation of a new single family residence is currently under construction. A two-story garage structure was also removed from the northeast corner of the lot. The property is located at the northeast corner of N. Tyler, and "0" Streets. As part of the property's redevelopment, a 24 foot by 27 foot garage (1 story) is proposed at the southeast corner of the property, as noted on the attached site plan. The proposed garage will be located on the rear (east) property line (adjacent alley) and five (5) feet from the street side (south) property line. The proposed garage will occupy approximately 51 percent of the required rear yard (rear 25 feet of the lot). The garage will be FEBRUARY 27, 2006 ITEM NO_: 1 3 (CON'T. connected to the house by way of a covered breezeway (unenclosed). A driveway from "O" Street will be used to access the proposed garage structure. Section 36-156(a)(2)c. of the City's Zoning Ordinance requires a minimum street side setback of 15 feet for accessory buildings in R-2 zoning. This section also allows an accessory building to occupy a maximum of 30 percent of the required rear yard, rear 25 feet of the lot. Therefore, the applicant is requesting variances from these ordinance standards to allow construction of the new accessory building. Staff is supportive of the requested variances. Staff views the request as reasonable. The size and location of the proposed accessory building is not out of character with numerous other accessory buildings in this general area. The five foot street side setback as proposed will have the accessory building lining up with existing residential structures to the east along "O" Street. Staff believes the proposed accessory garage structure will have no adverse impact on the adjacent properties or the general area. C. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the requested variances associated with the proposed accessory garage, subject to the following conditions: 1. The garage structure must be constructed to match the principal structure. 2. The covered breezeway connecting the principal and garage structures must remain unenclosed on the north and south sides. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: (FEBRUARY 27, 2006) The applicant was present. There were no objectors present. Staff presented the item and a recommendation of approval. The applicant offered no additional comments. The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved as recommended by staff by a vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays and 1 absent. 2 January 27, 2006 Board of Adjustments City of Little Rock Dear Board: My wife, Lisa, and I are building a new house to be located at 1601 North Tyler Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72207. One of the chief reasons for building this house is to make room for our 21 month old triplet girls. With the birth of these children came the need for larger vehicles and hence a larger garage able to accommodate our Suburban and Crew Cab truck as well as the assorted bikes, etc. associated with children. Our current home has a 20' by 20' garage that is incapable of holding our vehicles so we park in the drirseway that is outside the garage and the yard. We are forced to load the three toddlers as fast as we can and are worried about them running off into danger since we are always outnumbered (especially so when only one parent is performing this task). On our new property, we would like to build a 24' x 27' garage with an entrance from within the fenced yard. This will allow us to walk the children to our garage and load them up without fear of them running into the street or otherwise endangering themselves. The applicable ordinance only allows 30% of the back 25' of property to contain an accessory structure. That would accommodate a 19' x 19' structure (smaller than our current, 80 year old home's original garage). Our proposed garage would encompass just under 52% of the back 25' of property. In addition to the personal reasons listed above, we would like to offer additional reasons to support this variance. This neighborhood, as well as a most of the surrounding neighborhoods, are filled with lots that most people would call somewhat small. This creates the need to have accessory structures rather than building in large garages to the main dwelling that would increase the height, width, and/or depth of these structures sitting on same, small lots. The area is filled with accessory structures (most notably garages) that are detached from the main dwelli n. A large number of these are quite old as well as many that have been built very recently. These structures fit well with the older neighborhood and many would say add to its character. Within a 200' radius of this property there are numerous outbuildings and many occupy what appears to be larger than the 30% ordinance mentioned above. Immediately across "O" Street are the back yards of our neighbors that front on Centerwood Street. I believe everyone of these properties has an accessory structure and many appear to occupy more than 30% (one seems to occupy 100% of the back 25D. Additionally, the neighbor four houses to the north on Tyler went through this same process in obtaining a variance for his garage. Our final note on this matter involves the original garage noted on the survey. The garage was two -stories high, located within inches of the northern neighbor's property, line, and was generally thought of as a heinous structure throughout the commxmity. We had it torn down at the beginning of January 2006 knowing that we could not live with it in our yard. What we are proposing to replace it with will match the new, main dwelling and the neighborhood. In summary, we believe this variance request would fit the neighborhood well, is an improvement over what (until quite recently) was on the property, and is not without historical precedent throughout the neighborhood. We respectfully request that you grant this variance. Sincerely, Mr. & Mrs. David W. Rapp 500 NORTH CEDAR STREET • LITTLE ROCK/ARKANSAS • 72205-3921 PHONE: (501) 348-7606 • FAX: (904) 380-4771