CAUCUS PRIOR TO STRONGSVILLE BOARD OF ZONING & BUILDING CODE APPEALS Meeting of 7:30 p.m. Present - Board of Appeals Members: Kenneth Evans, Richard Baldin, John Rusnov, David Houlé Administration: Assistant Law Director Daniel J. Kolick Building Department Representative: Anthony Biondillo Recording Secretary: Kathryn Zamrzla The Board members discussed the following: NEW APPLICATIONS There are no new applications. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1) LAWRENCE COLA, OWNER/ Direct Construction, Representative Requesting a 15 Rear Yard Setback variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.04 (f), which requires a 50 Rear Yard Setback and where a 35 Rear Yard Setback is proposed in order to replace an existing non-conforming Sunroom; property located at 8395 Barton Road, PPN 391-04-084, zoned R1-75. The Board members noted that it s about the same depth as it was before. It s only about a 2 difference, and it is still 16 to the property line. They did not think there would be a problem with it, but wanted to hear if any neighbors had anything to say about it during the hearing. 2) SHIRLEY SKAPES, OWNER/ Sam Hubby, Representative Requesting a 528 SF Floor Area variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.15, which permits a 192 SF Floor Area and where a 720 SF Floor Area is proposed in order to construct an Accessory Structure; property located at 16380 Glendale Avenue, PPN 397-15-010, zoned R1-75. The structure is a stand-alone garage. The Board noted that the owner currently has a one car garage that is too small for their needs. The Board also noted that the cost of replacing it with an attached garage was not feasible due to the way the house was built. The purpose for this new structure is for car storage only, and the owner would also put in a new hard surface driveway. The Board stated that it was not staked out like they had asked during the last meeting. Board members were concerned by the impact that allowing the size of the garage would have as a precedent for future applications. They debated whether a smaller two car garage may be a better option.
Page 2 of 8 STRONGSVILLE BOARD OF ZONING & BUILDING CODE APPEALS MINUTES OF MEETING The meeting was called to order at 8:00 PM by the Chairman, Kenneth Evans. Present: Also Present: Mr. Baldin Mr. Rusnov Mr. Evans Mr. Houlé Mr. Kolick, Assistant Law Director Mr. Miller, Building Department Representative Ms. Zamrzla, Recording Secretary Mr. Evans Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I d like to call this meeting of the to order. I hereby certify that this meeting has been posted in accordance with Chapter 208 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Strongsville. Kathy if you d call the roll please? ROLL CALL: Mr. Baldin Mr. Rusnov Mr. Evans Mr. Houlé Mr. Baldin I d like to make a motion to excuse Dr. Goist for just cause. Mr. Houlé Second. Mr. Evans Thank you, we have a motion and a second, Kathy would you do the roll call please? ROLL CALL: ALL AYES: MOTION PASSED Mr. Evans Thank you. We have minutes in our packet from March 11, 2015; if there are no changes we will submit them as presented. Anyone in our audience this evening that wishes to speak before this Board, I ask that you stand now and be sworn in by our Assistant Law Director, also including our Recording Secretary, and our Representative from the Building Department. Mr. Kolick then stated the oath to those standing.
Page 3 of 8 NEW APPLICATIONS There are no new applications. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1) LAWRENCE COLA, OWNER/ Direct Construction, Representative Requesting a 15 Rear Yard Setback variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.04 (f), which requires a 50 Rear Yard Setback and where a 35 Rear Yard Setback is proposed in order to replace an existing non-conforming Sunroom; property located at 8395 Barton Road, PPN 391-04-084, zoned R1-75. Mr. Evans This evening we have two items on our public hearing agenda. The first is Lawrence Cola, if you or your representative would come forward. We ask for your name and address for the record, and if you would briefly tell us about the circumstances and reason for requesting this variance please. Mr. Myers Hello, Joshua Myers, 4516 Liberty Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44129. This is for a variance around 15 from the rear lot. You require 50 and we re pushing it a little bit further. We ll be roughly about 35 from the rear. Mr. Evans This is an existing structure that is being replaced? Mr. Myers Yes. It s an old aluminum patio, non-conforming. We re updating it with a three season room. We re pushing it out roughly four feet further. It was 12 originally, you guys were saying, that was right. We re going 16. The width is going to be the same. There will be concrete footers, the whole nine yards because right now it s on an old, probably four inch pad, if even that. That is half of the reason why this is going on. The old patios where all the doors all the way around the unit, some of them open, some of them don t. I never saw a point in all those doors anyway, but that was the big thing, I guess, way before I was born. Mr. Evans Thank you Mr. Myers, questions from Board Members? Mr. Baldin No questions, I think there was an answer to my question. I wanted to know about the footers under the pad. He already answered that. Mr. Myers We re going to raise it a little bit. He has a patio around the rear of the house, and right now he has some steps that come down. There s a big set of steps there that are kind of taking up a good part of the room. We re going to lift it up a little bit, so when he comes out the patio door, one step down is the floor, then outside the patio doors there will be two patios, concrete on each side. One larger than the other, and he ll have one step down onto the patio. It ll be a little more even. Plus, I like the idea of lifting it up a little bit,
Page 4 of 8 everywhere has a lot of moisture now. I just like the idea of lifting up and we ll do brick to grade. We can t get those large bricks anymore because they don t make them. They ll be smaller, but they will be the same color though so it all blends, all meshes together. Mr. Baldin Sounds good. Mr. Evans Anything else, anyone? Mr. Houlé I think the size of the yard kind of dictates that you ll have to make it smaller with that kind of a depth. Mr. Myers Right, he just wanted a little bit. Originally we were going to go bigger because of the steps, like the table that s in there. Then we made it a little bigger, now he actually has more room than he needs. He s going to take the one tree down too, I think you mentioned that. Mr. Rusnov - It s already down. Mr. Myers It is down already? See, you guys know more than I do. Mr. Evans Anything else? This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in our audience this evening that would like to speak in favor of the granting of the variance? Is there anyone in our audience this evening who would like to speak against the granting of this variance? Hearing none, and seeing none, I will then accept a motion. Mr. Houlé - I make a motion that we approve the variance request for a 15 Rear Yard Setback variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.04 (f), which requires a 50 Rear Yard Setback and where a 35 Rear Yard Setback is proposed in order to replace an existing nonconforming Sunroom; property located at 8395 Barton Road, PPN 391-04-084, zoned R1-75. Mr. Evans Before we ask for a second on that, Mr. Houlé, that is a 15 Rear Yard Setback is that not correct? Mr. Houlé Yes. Mr. Evans Thank you. Mr. Rusnov Second. Mr. Evans Thank you, we have a motion and a second. Kathy would you do the roll call please? ROLL CALL: ALL AYES MOTION PASSED Mr. Evans The variance has been granted by the Board. There is a 20 day waiting period during which time Council has the opportunity to review that. You may contact the building
Page 5 of 8 department; they ll make you aware of when that will become available so you may begin work. Mr. Myers Three sets of prints, correct? Mr. Rusnov That is correct. Mr. Myers Okay, that s what I thought. Mr. Evans Very good, thank you very much, you are set then. Mr. Myers Thank you, I appreciate it. 2) SHIRLEY SKAPES, OWNER/ Sam Hubby, Representative Requesting a 528 SF Floor Area variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.15, which permits a 192 SF Floor Area and where a 720 SF Floor Area is proposed in order to construct an Accessory Structure; property located at 16380 Glendale Avenue, PPN 397-15-010, zoned R1-75. Mr. Evans Our second item on the agenda is Shirley Skapes, and if we could have the representatives come forward. Please give us your name and addresses for the record, and then we will proceed with a quick description. You heard some of the comments in Caucus there so you may wish to address those when presenting why you need the variance. Mr. Hubby My name is Sam Hubby, 4102 Greenwich Road, Norton, Ohio. Mr. Skapes I m Greg Skapes, 1910 George Drive, Brunswick, Ohio. Mr. Evans Thank you gentlemen, and if you ll give us a brief description of why you need the variance? Mr. Hubby We re requesting a 528 SF variance for this property. It s for an accessory building of 720 SF to supplement the existing garage that is too small for modern day vehicles and different uses for yard and maintenance. Mr. Evans We did discuss at the meeting that architecturally it would be a problem to just add on to the existing building and make that one car garage either larger or take it out and put a larger one on because of the way it is constructed. Mr. Hubby Yes. Mr. Skapes What started the whole process was a safety issue for my mother because with the garage space being so small with yard equipment and stuff. She s almost 80, we ve lived there our whole lives. Dad built the house in 56. We don t plan on leaving. I m eventually going to take over her residence once Mom passes. I have an agreement with my brothers.
Page 6 of 8 So with her walking with a cane, almost tripping over mowers etc., that s what got this ball rolling; also with it being my property eventually, I also have collector cars of value that I need storage for. They are complete and valuable. I have 23 years in the fire department. I ll sign something if I have to stating that I m not changing careers. I m not a mechanic, and don t plan on it. Nobody but my family is ever going to own this property so nobody is going to be running a business out of our garage. If I need to sign something about that, I will also. Mr. Evans Members of the commission, questions? Mr. Baldin Mr. Skapes, you said that you are a collector of old cars and this is the reason why you want that much other than for a lawn mower, etc.? Mr. Skapes No, what started the whole process was a safety issue for my mother. She s almost 80 years old, and she walks with a cane, and she can even hardly get out of her compact car. She can hardly get into the house, tripping over mowers and such and that s what started this. I will take ownership of the property eventually, and I do have collector cars that are complete and valuable, and I will need storage then. They will stay inside the garage. Mr. Baldin So that s the long range plan, and the reason why you re requesting what you re requesting. Mr. Skapes No, it s both. It s for the sake of my mother, and for eventually when I do take ownership, my vehicles will be stored there. Mr. Baldin I m thinking the yard is a pretty good size, but I do think the building is a little bit too large. Do you have any qualms with scaling it down? Mr. Skapes I honestly would prefer to keep it the way it is, but if I do need to scale it down. The gentlemen said 24 by 24, yes, I can do that. Mr. Baldin OK and you do understand that you need a hard surface going all the way back. Mr. Skapes Absolutely. Mr. Baldin Thank you. Mr. Houlé Those were my concerns too, it just seemed like the whole back yard would be nothing but building. It seems like it would be way out of whack for that part of the neighborhood. Just didn t seem like it would be conducive to the rear of the neighborhood. Mr. Skapes The value of the home, it s really the only house really within miles that has a one car garage. Not that I ever plan to get rid of the property, but it would help my neighbors with making the property a little bit more valuable also. I m not planning on just putting a shack back there.
Page 7 of 8 Mr. Evans Mr. Skapes as you heard us discussing in Caucus, one of the problems is that when this Board grants a variance, it is always a precedent. When people look at precedents it s always the case that people say, well they got theirs and I would like to get mine. While your neighbors probably would appreciate you having a big garage they might have the conclusion that they would also like a big garage back there. Putting those kinds of garages on smaller lots has always been a problem for us. Usually it s not a problem for the current owner, but down the road because many of us have been on the Board, we have lived to regret some decisions for variances that we ve made because people have taken advantage of them. We try to be very judicious on granting them on smaller residential lots when it s something like this. Often times it leads to what Mr. Baldin said is a concern that we have. If that is what you think is appropriate for you to request reducing that to a 24 by 24 from the original proposition, we would be happy to entertain that as a change on the floor here. I m assuming that you would keep the 15 Setback on each side as you proposed it and just lower the size from 30 by 24 to 24 by 24 then. Mr. Skapes Sure, we ve been there almost 60 years and we plan on being there a lot longer. Mr. Evans Are there other questions? This is a public hearing and I don t know whether Mr. Hubby if you have anything else you needed to add then? Mr. Hubby No sir, I don t. Mr. Evans Is there anybody in the audience who wishes to speak for the variance? Is there anyone audience who wishes to speak against the granting of the variance? Hearing none and seeing none, I will entertain a motion. Mr. Baldin Excuse me, I just started to think about height. What is the height of this going to be, 14? Mr. Hubby 14 we re going to maintain the ceiling height. Mr. Evans It was within code. We did talk about that at the last meeting. So then hearing none and seeing none, in the way of audience comments, I will entertain a motion. Mr. Baldin We d need some new numbers then, did you figure them out? Mr. Kolick 384 SF variance would be the request, 192 SF would stay where it s at, and where a 576 SF floor area is proposed. Mr. Evans Thank you, Mr. Kolick. Mr. Baldin I m sorry, 500 and what? Mr. Kolick 576 square feet.
Page 8 of 8 Mr. Baldin Mr. Chairman, I d like to make a motion to request a 384 SF Floor Area variance from Zoning Code Section 1252.15, which permits a 192 SF Floor Area and where a 576 SF Floor Area is proposed in order to construct an Accessory Structure; property located at 16380 Glendale Avenue, PPN 397-15-010, zoned R1-75 be approved. I would also like to make a note that Mr. Skapes has agreed to cut down the size, and that is why there is a change in the numbers. Mr. Houlé Is there a condition on the hard surface driveway? Mr. Evans Code requires that so I don t think we need to mention it. Mr. Baldin He knows that already. Mr. Houlé Second that. Mr. Evans We have a motion and a second. Kathy if you would call the roll please? ROLL CALL: ALL AYES MOTION PASSED Mr. Evans Thank you, Mr. Skapes, the variance has been granted as you amended it. We appreciate your consideration in choosing a little bit smaller size there. We wish you well with doing that. There is a 20 day waiting period during which time council has the opportunity to review that. You will be notified by the Building Department when that 20 days has expired, then you can move forward with the project. Mr. Skapes Thank you very much. Mr. Evans Alright, thank you. Is there any other business to come before the Board this evening? Ms. Zamrzla Mr. Hubby, we ll need a new set of drawings from you. Two sets. Mr. Hubby Yes, I understand. You said drawings and everything. Yes, OK. Mr. Evans Thank you very much. Is there any other business? Alright, then this meeting will stand adjourned. Signature on File Signature on File April 8, 2015 Mr. Evans, Chairman Kathryn A. Zamrzla, Sec y Approval Date