07-24-2013 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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14. All lighting shall be hooded and so directed that the light source shall not be visible from the public right-of-way or front neighboring residential uses, and shall be in compliance with Section 903.0201 of the Zoning Ordinance. 15. All other provisions and requirements as deemed necessary by the City Council. 16. The applicant complies with the provisions of Section 921 of the Zoning Ordinance. Subsection 3 of the above ordinance states that outdoor storage is not permitted in the space between the building line and public street — including the side of the building and street on a corner lot. The applicant is seeking a variance to permit storage in this location. The applicant's initial request was to redefine the front and side yard on this lot, with the expectation that this would alter the availability for storage adjacent to the north property line. However, the code is clear that the setback area along a street is to be maintained, whether it is the front or side yard. When considering a variance, the City must find that the proposed use is a reasonable one, and that there are practical difficulties in complying with the ordinance requirements to put the property to this use. Those practical difficulties must be unique to the property, not caused by the applicant, non - economic in nature, consistent with the intent of the zoning regulations, and not be in conflict with the neighborhood. The parcel itself is subject to significant setback restrictions due to the long frontage from both Ryan Drive and Spruce Street, as well as rear yard restrictions opposite Ryan Drive. The shape of the property complicates this, given that the shallow lot depth, coupled with the narrow frontage on Spruce (too narrow to be considered a "front yard "), means that the normal "rear yard" area where storage is allowed is extremely confined. In Ryan Industrial Park, there are a few other corner lots that share this condition. For at least two of them, outdoor storage has been allowed to encroach toward the street, sometimes significantly. In this case, the encroachment is approximately 20 feet into the required setback, retaining some parking and green area in front of the storage. Even with this encroachment, the property is far below the 60% threshold for outdoor storage, at about 25% of the lot overall. One issue raised at the Planning Commission meeting was the screening requirements and the height of storage. The applicant currently has a tenant who has installed a temporary shelter behind the fence that exceeds the height of the screening fence by several feet. Such structures are not permitted, and in any case, outdoor storage of materials is not permitted to exceed the height of the required screening. To accommodate the CUP, the applicant should add landscaping (tall shrubs) to the front of the fence (which is using chain Zink with slats), and remove the temporary structure. Summary and Recommendation The proposed outdoor storage CUP is dependent upon the grant of a variance to allow storage area that is closer to the street right of way than the building line. Although the applicant understood the code to permit storage on the north side of the building if that were the side (not front) lot line, the code does not make distinctions in this way. As a result, the variance is required regardless of the yard designation. 6