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STAFF REPORT To: Mayor and City Council Jay Hartman, Interim City Manager From: Kim Moore -Sykes, Assistant City Manager Date: October 25, 2011 Subject: 3701 Chandler Drive — 25' Variance to Front Yard Setback Requested Action: Date Aoolication Received: Propetty Address: Zoning District: 60 -Day Expires: Waiver Letter Required: Future Action: City Council Approval September 27, 2011 3701 Chandler Drive R-4 November 25, 2011 Yes Date Sent: No X Background. Staff met with Mr. Alan Plutowski, Trossen Wright Plutowski Architects, PA, to discuss a renovation project at Chandler Place. The property owners are proposing to construct a Porte cochere to provide a canopy over the drop-off area at the main entrance to the facility for the safety and convenience of the residents and visitors. Because the building is built up to the property line, the property owners are seeking a twenty-five (25) foot variance in order to move forward with this proposal. The City Code states that the front yard setback for an R-4 principal structure is thirty (30) feet from the property line. Staff reviewed the property file and found that Chandler Place was built in 1966, ten years before the City codified its Zoning Ordinance. Since there were no regulations in place to prevent the owners at the time from building at the property line, the current owners have a practical difficulty if they want to build a porte cochere and are required to seek a variance for their project. Anal stets: The property owners are responsible for demonstrating why the strict enforcement of the Ordinance would cause practical difficulties for them by preventing the subject property to be used in a reasonable manner; that the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property and not created by the landowner; that the variance if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality; and that economic considerations alone are not the basis of the practical difficulties (City Code §152.245(C)). In the written statement from the applicant, Mr. Dan Cayemburg, the project manager for Chandler Place, stated that strict enforcement of the front yard setback would allow an issue of safety to continue to exist for P:\Council Meetings\2011\10252011\Stafi3701 Chandler Dr frontyard setback variaacc.doc8taff3701 Chandler Dr front yard setback variance 27