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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - BZA - 03-17-2009MINUTES City of Milton Board of Zoning Appeals Regular Meeting March 17,2009 7:00 PM BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Sandy Jones Todd Chernik Gary Willis Scott Kilgore John McRae NOT PRESENT: Marcia Parsons Walt Rekuc CITY STAFF Angela Rambeau, Community Development Paul Frickey, City Attorney's Office Francesca Ivie, City Clerk's Office AGENDA 1) Call to order and pledge 2) Introduction of Board members 3) Statement of the Board 4) Approval of February 2009 meeting minutes 5) V08-031 16355 Birmingham Highway Curtis Mills 6) Other business 7) Adjournment CALL TO ORDER Chair Sandy Jones called meeting to order. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE BOARD INTRODUCTIONS STATEMENT OF THE BYLAWS OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEAL Read by the Chair Sandy Jones. City of Milton Board Zoning Appeals Minutes Regular Meeting March 17, 2009 Page 2 PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Sandy Jones called for public comment. There was none. Public hearing was closed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Todd Chernik made a motion to approve the February 2009 meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by John McRae. There was no discussion. Vote: 5-0. The motion unanimously carried. Chair Sandy Jones requested Staff read the first agenda item, Vo8-031, 16355 Birmingham Highway, Milton, GA, Curtis Mills Staff Angela Rambeau presented Vo8-031, stating the variance request was to eliminate the minimum 50 ft. spacing for a new public street from a property line adjoining AG -1 and residential property (City Code Chapter 14, Article 34.5.7)• Summary of Community Development Staff Analysis 1) The site consists of one single family home on approximately 20 acres, zoned AG -1. 2) Applicant intends to build a home for a family member on these six acres. 3) The new road will start at the end of an existing road in the Kingsley Estates Subdivision and end in a cul-de-sac on applicant's property. 4) Applicant had engineers review possible other road placement options. 5) New road could not be shifted further north without losing a lot in Kingsley Estates. 6) Applicant contacted the owners of the adjoining property with offers to purchase or swap enough land to allow a full 50 ft. setback spacing from the corner of the property. 7) Property owners would only sell the entire 65 plus acres, so this effort was unsuccessful. 8) The property has road frontage on Birmingham Highway. 9) Applicant states that a driveway from Birmingham Highway would not have been practical due to the need for a bridge to span the gorge and streams. City of Milton Board Zoning Appeals Minutes Regular Meeting March 17, 2009 Page 3 Additional Department Comments from November 10, 2008 Focus Meeting 1) BUILDING PLAN REVIEW: Had no issues 2) SITE PLAN REVIEW: Phase 2, Unit 1 of Kingsley Estates will ne4ed to be platted before the applicant can use this road for a ROW connection. 3) ARBORIST: No specimen trees appear to be affected by this request. 4) DOT/STORMWATER REVIEW: Applicant will be required to comply with the Stormwater Ordinance (detention). Recommended Conditions: Should the Board choose to approve the application, Staff recommended the following condition(s): STAFF HAD NO CONDITIONS. Letter of Appeal, legal description, site plans and pictures were provided to the Board. Applicant, W. Curtis Mills, Jr. 16355 Birmingham Highway, Milton, GA Restated his case to the Board stating he was before the Board November 18th when he was last before the Board. The case was deferred a few times so he could work with his next door neighbors, the Hendricks, to try to come up with a winning situation that would avoid the need for a variance. He advised the Board that was done and they reached an agreement to purchase the necessary land that would have made the full 50 feet plus and negate the need for the variance. He advised the Board that recently the Hendrick family discovered they have a CUVA, Conservation Use Valuation Assessment, on the property. In order to sell that much land, it would have meant going back 4-5 years in actual taxes and that would have meant a lot of money for the Hendrick family to have to pay and that would not have made any sense for them to do that. Mr. Mills advised the Board he has a couple of thousand dollars in legal fees for this matter for contracts and the survey. He said they have tried to do everything possible to make it work to everyone's happiness and advantage. He told the Board with Beth Quay was present tonight to support the variance request. The property owners involved would just like to collapse the deal and forget about it. The CUVA would not collapse until the year 2014 and he said he needed to move forward with getting the house built for his family member. Mr. Mills told the Board there was no profit motive to his request and was truly a hardship. The gorge is 300 feet wide and 6o feet deep. There would have to be a fairly significant bridge to get across the property and did not appear that would make much sense. City of Milton Board Zoning Appeals Minutes Regular Meeting March IL 7, 2009 Page 4 Chair Sandy Jones called for any additional questions of the applicant. There were none. PUBLIC COMMENT Beth Quay, 4476 Wildcat Bridge Road, Royston, GA (Spoke in Support) Ms. Quay stated she owns property at 16245 Birmingham Highway, Milton, GA. Told the Board that all parties involved made a valiant attempt to work everything out and get it settled. She said they found out from the tax assessor's office in Fulton County that even the sale of this tiny corner of land would cost them $20,000 in tax penalties. She said under the CUVA it would breach the covenant and it would be an extreme hardship. Ms. Quay said they would like to walk away from the agreement and give the applicant, Mr. Mills, his earnest money back and requested the Board consider granting his variance. Chair Sandy Jones called for additional comment. There was none. Applicant W. Curtis Mills Advised the Board that Fulton County was the only county that resists allowing a minor carve -off of a CUVA. He said most of the other nearby surrounding counties makes allowances for this as long as it did not violate the spirit of what was being done. Chair Sandy Jones called for any other questions for the applicant. There were none. Chair Sandy Jones closed the public hearing. Chair Sandy Jones had a discussion with Staff about the recommended conditions from Staff and the other departmental comments. Staff Angela Rambeau stated that those other items would be handled in the normal permitting process and would have to be approved by Staff before getting approved. City of Milton Board Zoning Appeals Minutes Regular Meeting March 17, 2009 Page 5 Motion and Second: Todd Chernik made a motion to approve the requested variance (Vo8-031) to eliminate the minimum 50 ft. spacing for a new public or private street due to extraordinary and exceptional conditions pertaining to the size, shape and topography of Mr. Mills' property and it causing no detriment to the public. The motion was seconded by Sandy Jones. There was no discussion. Vote: 5-0. The motion unanimously carried. Chair Sandy Jones commended the applicant and Ms. Quay for taking the effort and due diligence that they went through to try to work out a resolution as private parties. OTHER BUSINESS Chair Sandy Jones called for any new or old business. Todd Chernik asked Staff if Marcia Parsons' question had been addressed. Staff Angela Rambeau stated it had been addressed and an emailed was sent to the Board. ADJOURNMENT Motion and Second: Sandy Jones made a motion to adjourn the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. The motion was seconded by Todd Chernik. There was no discussion. Vote: 5-0. Motion unanimously carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Date Approved: `�/ / Ze I- City Clerk's Office Sandy Jones, Chair Board of Zoning Appeals ity of Deerfield Milton Professional Centre 13000 Deerfield Parkway Building 100, Suite 107 E Milton, GA 30004 AGENDA Board of Zoning Appeals March 17, 2009 7:OOpm VARIANCES Agenda item/Location/ Applicant Request(s) 1. Call to order and pledge 2. Introduction of Board members 3. Approval of February meeting minutes 4. V08-031 16355 Birmingham Highway Curtis Mills To eliminate the minimum 50' spacing for anew public street from a property line adjoining AG -1 and residential property (City Code Chapter 14, Article 34.5.7) 10. Other business 11. Adjournment