08/24/1998 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

from the property line at the front comer, but 28 feet form the line at the back corner. The street continues to angle away from the house as it approaches the back corner of our lot. 3. That the hardship is not due to economic considerations alone and when a reasonable use for the property exists under the terms of the ordinance. Obviously, our hardship is based largely on economic considerations, however, we do not stand to gain financially from the building of the addition. Our concern is that we do not lose the thousands of dollars we have already invested based on the fact that a building permit was granted by the City. Please remember that we cannot recover the majority of what we have already spent and we stand to incur additional expenses if we are required to make major changes to the plan or scrap the project altogether. 4. That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that would be denied by this ordinance to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same district. The only thing we stand to gain by the granting of the variance is a garage stall, a bedroom, and a bathroom, things many other people in this district are allowed to add all the time. One could argue that by not granting this variance, the City is denying us of the same privileges granted to just about anyone else in the district. There are two homes in our neighborhood that are adding a third stall to their garages this summer and another house that is adding a bedroom and three season porch. I find it interesting that we could build a garage within five feet of the property line of a fellow homeowner, but are not allowed to build within 24 feet of the property line at the end of the block. 5. That the proposed actions will be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the ordinance. I asked both you and Tom Jackson the reason so much distance must be kept between the house and the "street ". I was given only a vague answer pertaining to utilities. Please consider that Grey Squirrel Road is only three blocks long and that Smoketree Lane is only one block. The traffic on these roads is limited almost exclusively to the local residents. It is unlikely that either of these roads will ever need to be widened in the future. The closest our house would come to a utility running parallel to the street is about 35 feet. We have already had NSP and U.S. West deal with our individual utility needs. No other utilities would be affected, as they enter our property from the other side. Since Grey Squirrel Road angles away from our house, the sight line at the corner stop sign at Smoketree and Grey Squirrel would not be adversely affected. Put another way, no harm would be affected on the neighborhood if we built our addition as proposed. In our conversation the other day, you told me that variances are granted when there is a benefit to the land, not necessarily the homeowner. I find this statement a little hard to understand and am having a difficult time thinking of an example of such an instance. Let me assure you, however, that alot of thought and planning went into designing the proposed addition. I tried to keep the general design of the house unchanged from the original. I thought of many other options that may add the room we needed, but this design would by far be the best option for this particular property. We feel that we are not so much asking you to grant the variance as to simply have you honor the building permit that the City has already granted us. The time to tell us that we are too close to the street is before issuing the building permit, not after the excavation has been done and thousands of dollars spent. Your thoughtful consideration of this matter is greatly appreciated. and Karen; i, . gherty