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City Council Meeting Minutes . October 27, 1998 Page 4 1 constructed or to its greatest use. Ms. Silberschmidt's inability to satisfactorily correct the 2 situation is, to some degree,the result of a hardship created by the adoption of the City's Zoning 3 Ordinance. 4 5 The second issue is that the proposed deck plan calls for the steps to be incorporated into the 6 design so that the end result is a deck structure that comes around to the side of the house to 7 connect with the steps. The property owner stated that this will provide continuity, accessibility 8 and usability of the steps and deck but this plan also requires a 2-foot variance, as the deck will 9 then extend into the sideyard setback as well. 10 11 Ms. Silberschmidt is requesting that her application for a variance to the City's Zoning 12 Ordinance be granted because the undue hardship was not created by her as the property owner, 13 but by the adoption of the Zoning Ordinance in 1976. By repairing the steps and making them 14 part of the proposed deck, she is trying to correct an extraordinary circumstance by reducing the 15 size of the steps by 1.5 feet, thereby mitigating the impact of the existence of a nonconforming 16 use. The property owner feels that by being asked to comply with the full extent of the 17 Ordinance, she would be unduly restricted in the use of her property. No one contacted the City Staff to voice any objections or concerns. 20 Marks asked for clarification with regard to finding a hardship. Horst stated the steps in question 21 were in place prior to the enactment of the City's Ordinance. He added the proposed 22 construction is an improvement and access to the house would be limited without the setback 23 variance. 24 25 Marks asked whether the lot is of substandard size. Horst confirmed the lot is not substandard in 26 size. 27 28 Mayor Ranallo questioned why the proposed construction had been completed before the 29 variance had been granted. 30 31 Ms. Silberschmidt addressed the Council, stating she had applied for a building permit in 32 September 1998 at which time she discovered a variance would be required. She added she 33 spoke with Tom Brever, Prosecuting Attorney,who stated the variance allows the City to request 34 the removal of construction completed outside the variance, and advised her to contact Jay 35 Hartman, Public Works Director. Ms. Silberschmidt spoke with`Kim Moore-Sykes, who 36 indicated the building inspector would make the necessary decision. 37 Ms. Silberschmidt stated the building inspector approved all footings including those in the