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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-8836 Staff AnalysisJANUARY 28, 2013 ITEM NO.: 1 File No.: Z-8836 Owner: Kaufman Lumber Company Applicant: Joe White, White-Daters & Assoc. Address: 3216 S. Monroe Street Description: Northwest corner of S. Monroe Street and Brack Avenue Zoned: 1-2 Variance Requested: Variances are requested from the area provisions of Section 36- 320, the building line provisions of Section 31-12 and the easement provisions of Section 36-11 to allow construction of a new building with reduced front setback, encroachment across a platted building line and encroachment into an easement. Justification: The applicant's justification is presented in an attached letter. Present Use of Property: Lumber Yard Proposed Use of Property: Lumber yard with new building STAFF REPORT A. Public Works Issues: No Comment. B. Landscape and Buffer Issues: An upgrade in landscaping may be required, based on the percentage of building expansion. There will be flexibility in the application of this requirement, as to where on the property the upgrade is located. C. Utility Company Comments: • Little Rock Wastewater — no objection to the encroachment into utility easement. There are no sewer mains located in this easement. • Central Arkansas Water — no objection to easement encroachment. No existing or planned facilities located in easement. 5 Entergy — no objection to easement encroachment. JANUARY 28, 2013 ITEM NO.: 1 CON'T. Centerpoint Energy — no objection to the easement encroachment for proposed lumber storage building. AT&T — no objection to easement encroachment. AT&T has no facilities within this easement. D. Staff Analysis: The 1-2 zoned property at 3216 S. Monroe Street contains multiple buildings associated with a lumber company. The property was previously occupied by the Lyman Lamb Lumber Company and is now part of the Kaufman Lumber Company development. Additional Kaufman Lumber facilities are located to the south and west. The property contains four (4) buildings. Three (3) of the buildings are used for warehousing and lumber storage. The fourth building, near the southwest corner of the property was occupied by the Lyman Lamb offices. The property contains a 45 foot front building line along the Brack Avenue frontage. There are various utility and drainage easements running throughout the overall property. The applicant proposes to remove the existing lumber storage building near the northwest corner of the property and the existing office building near the southwest corner of the property, and construct a new lumber storage building, as noted on the attached site plan. The new lumber storage building will be 30, 625 square feet in area. The new building will mirror the existing building immediately to the west. The proposed building will cross the 45 foot front platted building line along Brack Avenue and be located approximately 11 to 16 feet back from the front (south) property line. The northeast corner of the proposed building will slightly encroach into the utility and drainage easement running east/west through the property. Because Carl Street ( which ran along the west side of the proposed building) was closed some years ago, the west side of the building will face interior Kaufman Lumber development. Section 36-320(e)(1) of the City's Zoning Ordinance requires a minimum front setback of 50 feet for 1-2 zoned property. Section 31-12( c) of the Subdivision Ordinance requires that building line encroachments be reviewed and approved by the Board of Adjustment. Section 36-11(f) also requires that easement encroachments be reviewed and approved by the Board of Adjustment. Therefore, the applicant is requesting variances from these ordinance standards to allow the new lumber storage building with a reduced front setback, encroachment across a front platted building line and encroachment into a utility/drainage easement. Staff is supportive of the requested variances. Staff views the request as reasonable. It is likely that in the near future Brack Avenue will be abandoned and closed as were Monroe Street, Carl Street and several alley rights -of -way to the north and the portion of Brack Street to the west. At that time the proposed building will be completely interior to the Kaufman ownership, which is essentially how it will function when constructed. The proposed lumber storage building will replace an existing lumber storage building and office building located on the site. JANUARY 28, 2013 ITEM NO.: 1 (CON'T. The existing office building as well as another lumber storage building to the east currently cross the front platted building line by over 20 feet. Staff believes the proposed new lumber storage building will be a quality improvement to the overall Kaufman Lumber Company development, and should have no adverse impact on the adjacent properties or general area. As noted in paragraphs A. and C. above, none of the public utility companies or Public works object to the easement encroachment. If the Board approves the building line variance, the applicant will have to complete a one -lot replat reflecting the change in the platted front building line for the new building. The applicant should review the filing procedure with the Circuit Clerk's office to determine if the replat requires a revised Bill of Assurance. E. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the requested setback, building line and easement variances, subject to the following conditions: 1. Completion of a one -lot replat reflecting the change in the front platted building line as approved by the Board. 2. Compliance with the Landscape comments as noted in paragraph B. of the staff report. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: (January 28, 2013) The applicant was present. There were no objectors present. Staff presented the application with a recommendation of approval, with conditions. The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved, as recommended by staff with a vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays and 0 absent.