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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-12-21 BOA MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1001 NORTH IDAHO ROAD APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA DECEMBER 21, 1987 7.00 P.M. WORK SESSION ON AGENDA ITEMS AT 6.55 P.M. PRESENT ABSENT GUESTS Mrs. Blatterspiel Mr. Hindahl List in Mrs. Castro Mrs. Lynch Planning Mr. Pfeifer Office Mr. Schaffer Mr. Sanchez, Chairman Mr. Dunn, Staff Mr. Nakagawa, Staff Mrs. Reid, Staff Mr. Newcomer, Executive Secretary Mrs. Pruitt, Recording Secretary SYNOPSIS• Agenda dated December 21, 1987 approved as submitted. .... Minutes dated November 9, 1987 approved as submitted. BA-4-87 denied. 1. Roll Call Five members present with two absent as noted above. 2. Mr. Newcomer explained that Mr Hindahl had been appointed to the Board of Adjustment but was away on Christmas vacation and would join the Board in January. 3. Chairman welcomed Mr. Jim Pfeifer who had recently Joined the Board. 4. Schaffer/Castro M/S "I move that we approve the agenda dated December 21, 1987. " Motion passed 5-0-0. 5. Blatterspiel/Castro M/S "I move we approve the minutes dated November 9, 1987. " Motion passed 4-0-1 with Mr. Pfeifer voting present. 6. Chairman instructed public as to rules of order. He then asked staff to brief Board on BA-4-87. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE TWO 7 Mrs. Reid briefed Board on BA-4-87, an application of Howard A. and Ruth S. Miller, to appeal the Zoning Administrator's decision that there are no non- conforming or "grandfathered" rights that would allow more than one dwelling unit for their property at 684 South Hilton, located on the West side of Hilton approximately 330 feet North of Broadway. She showed photographs to the Board and slides of aerial photos taken in 1972, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985 of the subject site. 8. Chairman asked applicant if he wished to address the Board. 9. Howard Miller distributed copies of letters from six neighbors to the Board members. He explained when he bought the property there was a second mobile home located on the property which was there for almost six months. He had a gentleman 's agreement with Mr. Bancroft that Mr. Bancroft could remove it whenever he wished. The mobile home was removed and Mr. Miller wished to now place a second mobile home there for his daughter and baby to live in. He commented there had been two water meters at one time. He said the Mayor had looked at an aerial photo and told him the area was "grand- fathered" and he could place a second mobile home there. 10. Chairman asked Mrs. Reid if she had copies of these letters. 11. Mrs. Reid examined letters and determined these letters were all included in the Board of Adjustment packet of materials. 12. Chairman asked Mr. Coleman if there had been any effort to determine when water and electric service was connected on this property. 13. Charles Coleman answered no, and that these records were not available to the Building Department, but the utility companies would probably give to Mr. Bancroft or Mr Miller whatever records were theirs. He further indicated the utility companies might or might not give them to the Building and Zoning Department. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE THREE 14. Board asked Mr. Miller if he was under the impression the land he owns was under nonconforming or "grandfather" status and if so, and by whose direction was he under that impression. 15. Howard Miller answered he was under that impression by the city code because it says if there was an existing structure on property at the time of purchase, the right to have that structure was transferred to the purchaser. He added that he might not understand the "grandfather clause" right. 16. Board asked if he talked to someone at the Planning and Zoning Board before this. 17. Howard Miller said he didn't get any information from them in that respect. 18. Chairman explained what "grandfather rights" were. He said these cover any item that may have been on the property prior to the adoption of the city code in 1985 Anything located there prior to that time would be considered "grandfathered in". If anything was moved, then it was no longer grandfathered 19. Board asked Mr. Miller when he bought the land. 20. Howard Miller replied he bought the land in April 1986. 21. Board asked when the City of Apache Junction adopted a "grandfather clause" . 22. Mrs. Reid answered in March 1985. 23. Howard Miller commented the dwellings were on the property in 1985 and had been there since 1968, according to some neighbors ' information. Mr. Bancroft' s in-laws had lived there for some time. 24. Chairman asked Mrs Reid to show the 1985 aerial photo again. 25. Mrs. Reid showed the 1985 aerial photo and said there was no third dwelling on the property at that time. 26. Howard Miller said the property actually had three residences on •-• the lot at one time. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE FOUR 27. Chairman said if anything was removed or changed after March 1985, it is no longer "grandfathered". 28. Howard Miller asked where the term "grandfathered in" is used. 29. Mrs. Reid explained "grandfathered" is a slang terminology for nonconformity. Nonconforming is the legal term for "grandfather" . 30. Chairman asked Board if they had any other questions of Mr. Miller. There were none. He asked if there were any persons who wished to speak in favor of the application. 31. Fred Lazzell said he has lived there since 1974 and does not see anything wrong with Mr. Miller's having another trailer on the property. 32. Chairman asked if Board had any questions for Mr. Lazzell . There were none. He asked if anyone else wished to speak in favor of the application. AIMMIlle 33. Dale Bancroft said he was not in favor of nor opposed to the application. He wanted to explain some historical facts. He said he originally bought .8 of an acre. Then he bought additional land in 1983 which he added to the .8 acre to make a total parcel of 2.5 acres. The mobile home he had placed on the property would have cut through the center of the 2 5-acre lot. In 1986 the property was split into two 1.25-acre lots. He indicated he had no objections to Mr. Miller' s putting another dwelling on the property. 34. Chairman asked Board if they had any questions of Mr. Bancroft. 35. Board asked Mr. Bancroft if he had been before the Board at one time in the past for a variance. 36. Dale Bancroft said no, he had not. 37. Della Johnson stated she doesn 't object to Mr. Miller' s request if he took care of a second dwelling the way he had taken care of the first one. 38. Chairman asked Board if they had any questions of Ms. Johnson. There were none. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE FIVE He asked if any one else wished to speak in favor of the request. 39. Emanola Combs stated she did not object to Mr. Miller's request because if the land is there, he should be able to use it. 40. Chairman asked if there were any others who wished to speak in favor of the request. There were none. He then asked if there was anyone who wished to speak in opposition to the request. 41. Larry Anderson said he owns 2.5 acres adjoining Mr. Miller's property to the South. He bought this property in 1986 because it was zoned General Rural , one residence per 1.25 acres. He commented that Mr Miller does a good job of keeping his front yard clean. However, he felt if a variance were granted it would be detrimental to the area. 42. Chairman asked Board if they had any questions of Mr. Anderson. There were no questions. He asked if anyone else in the audience wished to speak in opposition to the request. 43. Ross Lueck said the Northeast corner of his property joins the Southwest corner of Mr. Miller's. He bought his property in 1978 with one dwelling per 1.25 acres. He stated the back of Mr. Miller' s property was junky and the mobile home Mr. Miller had pulled in there was somewhat beat up. 44. Chairman asked Board if they had any questions of Mr. Lueck. There were none. He asked if any others present wished to speak in opposition to the request. 45. Annabelle Richards stated she was opposed to Mr. Miller's request because in Section 22 the minimum per family is 1.25 acres. To allow this request would be going against the General Plan and most people who live in that area do not wish to live on small lots. 46. Chairman asked if any others present wished to speak in opposition to the request. 47. Neil Halk (?) said he is Chairman of the Superstition Horsemen 's Association, and he understood the City Council had determined this area was not "grandfathered. " BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE SIX 48. Dawn Anderson said she was against the request because this area was low density and it was the only section left that was low density 49. Chairman asked staff for recommendation. 50. Mrs. Reid gave two recommendations. one from the Planning staff, and one from the Building and Zoning Administrator. She asked Mr. Coleman to address his conclusions directly to the Board. 51. Mr. Coleman said in 1985, this was a 2.5-acre parcel and it had two structures. The permit dated 1986 listed two structures. Even if the Building Department conceded that in 1986 there were three units, it would have to concede there was an illegal situa- tion and not a nonconforming situation. To be "grandfathered" , this property must be noncon- forming on or before March 7, 1985. He felt there were no nonconforming rights established and said he had not heard anything that established nonconformity as of March 7, 1985. 52 Chairman asked Mr. Miller if he had anything further to say. 53. Howard Miller repeated he had a gentleman ' s agreement with Mr Bancroft that he could remove the trailer. He stated he did pull another trailer onto the property before Mr. Bancroft removed his. 54. Board asked if the "grandfather" rights were not done away with when the permit was obtained and the mobile home was removed from the lot. 55. Mrs. Reid answered yes, if it was voluntarily removed. 56. Chairman asked if anyone wished to make a rebuttal to Mr. Miller' s rebuttal . 57. Dawn Anderson said when Mr. Miller said he had a trailer sitting there that he was refurbishing when they lived there, that was not true because Mr. Miller came to her and asked if he could use their property to move the trailer there and that it was going to be a chicken coop. The city told him he couldn 't keep it there and had to move it out. She said it was not sitting there when he moved there. 58. Chairman asked if there were any questions of Ms. Anderson. There were none He then asked if there was anyone else from the opposing side who wished to speak. There were no others, so he closed the hearing to the public. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE SEVEN He asked Board if they had any further questions, and they did not. He then called for a motion. 59. Castro/Schaffer M/S "I move that Case BA-4-87, an appeal of the Zoning Administrator' s decision concerning certain nonconforming status, be denied and that the Board rules as follows: 1. The Board affirms the Zoning Administrator's decision that the applicant is entitled to only one dwelling unit on the subject property based on our interpretation of Sections 3.0104 through Sections 3.0108 of the Apache Junction Zoning Ordinance as it applies to the subject property. Findings to uphold Zoning Administrator's decision 1. By March 20, 1986, the 2.5 acres became conforming through the removal of all but one structure and with Building Permit #7145 placed one new structure to replace the last existing one on the 2.5 acres. ._. 2. At the time the Millers acquired the South half of the 2.5 acres, it was conforming. It was vacant according to both the Bancroft building permit (#7145) and the Miller build- ing permit (#7273) where both property owners certified that such was the case. 3. Any structure placed other than those listed on Building Permit #7145 and Building Permit #7273 would have been placed without benefit of a building permit and without benefit of zoning clearance. 4. Once a nonconforming structure is volun- tarily removed, it no longer has any nonconforming rights. " Motion passed 5-0-0. 60. Chairman told Mr. Miller his request for an appeal had been unanimously denied. He should see Mr. Newcomer as to any further action Mr. Miller might wish to take. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1987 PAGE EIGHT 61 Pfeifer/Schaffer M/S "I make a motion we adjourn. " Vote was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ii arles R. ewcomer, Executive Secretary Ken Sanc , Chairman z "