04/15/1996 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Council Meeting 4/15/96 ' Page 8 Mr. Samac said to extend the paved area closer than 3' to the property line would require a variance. Council President thanked Mr. Fortunato and Mr. Baum. He asked the neighbors present to come forward. Tony Konkoly, 899 Beechers Brook and David Perout, 902 Beechers Brook came forward. Mr. Diemert administered oaths to them. Mr. Perout said he is the property owner immediately to the north. The 30" drop off is next to his property. They have lived there 3 years and the previous owners had 2 Cadillacs and seemed to get in and out during the time he was there. He had not heard of a car dropping off. He said it was brought up that the garages that face forward are on the "private" section of the road and were not part of the original development. He believes all the houses in the Aintree Park development have side-facing garages. He questions the 3-car garage--if a variance is needed-- he would have a wall that starts 30" above his property as it is. He has spent considerable sums of mmney to soften that with landscaping. Now, that would bring a wall that much closer. Mr. Konkoly said he lives across the street and down two houses. He wrote a letter in opposition to the original request. His reasons for being in opposition are: there is an aesthetic concern, he think there is a property value concern that relates to the fact that the rear-facing garage requirements are associated with prestigious communities. He thinks there is a larger concern about if this variance is granted--it is very hard to enforce the zoning code when you have granted. previous owners variances. (Not just with respect to forward-facing garages, but with respect to the code as a whole.) The other point is that when we received our first notice, they had asked for two variances-- one for forward-facing garage door and the other was for a side-yard variance. He is not sure if the side-yard variance is still being requested, but it seems there is some question--are we talking about a`safety issue (pulling in and out of the garage), or are we talking about a three-car garage? If we are talking about a three-car garage, that sounds like more a matter of convenience rather than safety. He would not want his neighbors (on each side of him) to put additions on their homes that woulcl put them up to a couple of inches from his house. If the side-yard requirement can be varied for this, then why not for them? Mr. Konkoly said the biggest concern for him is the integrity of the zoning code, because that protects us all and that is the only thing that stands between the attractiveness of our community and chaos. He is a lawyer and he knows if you do not enforce the code, it becomes impossible to enforce it later on. Council President Fixler asked Miss Heath to include the letters that were written as part of the record. He asked Mr. Samac'if he had anything further to add.