01.21.20 MEETING MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Page 18 Mr. Previte stated, my request is, my answer to what John just said is the exact answer that Chairman Syracuse said here. He says, it comes down to the permit does say optional enclosed for weather and appearance. That is the permit as issued and initialed by John. The permit and the drawing specifically says, Mr. President, and that's the whole reason I enclosed it. I didn't spend hours and hours and hours building the doors and putting a roof on a building that I thought I was not able to do that. Like I said, I have been building for 45 years. I never even had a situation like this. Council President Schutt asked, any other comments by Council? Questions? Mr. Murphy asked, we are going to be voting tonight. What, if we affirm the Board of Appeals' decision, what happens? Mr. Marrelli asked, the decision to deny the variance? Mr. Murphy asked, what would he have to do? Mr. Marrelli replied, he would have to take the roof off in the front and make it back into a fence like it was shown on the drawing. Mr. Murphy stated, okay. I have probably driven past that street a thousand times. I have never noticed that enclosure, to be honest. Since this Board of Appeals issue started, I had to actually look for it and when I did look for it, it looked like a nice enclosure, albeit it's not under Code and we did some things wrong it sounds like. Like you said, the paint matches the house. I think things got twisted around. I can see both sides. Mr. Marrelli stated, well, there's one thing you should be aware of, that sideyards are supposed to remain open so that when the yards drain, the water can run front to back to the street or to the backyard. That's why the Zoning Code doesn't allow any structures in the sideyard except the fence because fences won't block water flow. Structures will. Mr. Murphy asked, I would say that if he took the roof off and the doors, it's still the same issue, right? Mr. Marrelli replied, no. Mr. Coyne stated, one other point. The standard for overturning the Board of Zoning Appeals, you have to take certain things under consideration because one, he hasn't taken out a permit for this structure. It is a structure. It's not a fence enclosure. It just isn't. But there are ways he could address it. But under the law as you interpret this section of a code, you should look at really seven things. (1) Whether the property in question will yield a reasonable return or whether there can be a beneficial use of the property without the variance that he requested; (2) whether the variance is substantial. (3) Whether the essential character of the neighborhood would be substantially altered or whether adjoining properties would suffer a substantial detriment as a result of the variance. Keep in mind precedent if other people want to do this.