PL AGENDA 07191988 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 The Commissioner told the other Commissioners the applicant had not • 2 presented arguments convincing enough to get him to recommend a 3 variance. He said he perceived in cases like this one, the neighbor 4 concerns had to be taken into account because they have a lot of 5 money invested in their homes. Commissioner London didn't think the 6 City should be encouraging lowering property values by allowing 7 businesses to operate out of homes. 8 Later on, Commissioner London reiterated that it was pretty obvious tD 9 him that Mr. Tomas was running his plumbing business out of his home 10 and that fact had to be considered when the Commission made a 11 decision. He told the other Commissioners, based on his own 12 experience with a one car garage he had decided a long time ago that 13 he was going to vote affirmatively for any request for a two car 14 garage but he perceived a different issue was involved here where 15 "there were too many people and too many cars" for the site size 16 where he didn't think granting a variance for another garage would do 17 much to alleviate the problems. 18 Wagmer indicated the only reason he was even considering 19 recommending the variance was because he wondered whether a second 20 garage might help the current situation. 21 Hanse indicated he was not opposed to the variance for a number of 22 reasons. He perceived the issue of whether the applicant is running 23 a business out of his home was not what the Commission was supposed • 24 to decide. The Commissioner pointed out that they had heard from 25 only one neighbor who lived across the street even though the 26 neighbor to the east was the most affected. 27 Commissioner Hansen added that Mr. Tomas can build a detached garage 28 without a variance and said, given the lay of the land and the 29 proximity to the neighbors, he wasn't certain the second garage 30 wouldn't be more of an obstruction in the backyard. He personally 31 believed an attached garage added more continuity to the property 32 than if it were built in the backyard so close the neighbor's. 33 The Commissioner commented that he didn't think Mr. Tomas driving a 34 van he uses for his work home every night was any different than his 35 carrying his brief case out and into his home every day. 36 He argued that by granting the variance for another garage, the City 37 might be getting some vehicles off the street which was the goal of 38 the ordinance the Council recently passed and he "assumed was going 39 to be enforced" . In response to comments about too many cars on the 40 site, Commissioner Hansen indicated he perceived the Commission was 41 trying to make a decision related to the number of cars which can be 42 parked at a residence, which the Council hadn't even been able to 43 come to grips with when they passed the ordinance allowing parking 44 only on paved surfaces. • 9