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REGULAR MEETING - ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Proceedings had and testimony taken in the matters of the ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, at City of Novi, 45175 West Ten Mile Road, Novi, Michigan, Tuesday, DECEMBER 9, 2008. BOARD MEMBERS ALSO PRESENT: REPORTED BY: 1 Novi, Michigan 2 Tuesday, October 14, 2008 3 7:00 p.m. 4 - - - - - - 5 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: It is 7:00. I 6 would like to call to order the December 7 9th, 2008 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting 8 for the City of Novi. Can we please call 9 the roll. 10 MR. BOULARD: Member Bauer? 11 MEMBER BAUER: Present. 12 MR. BOULARD: Member Burke? 13 MEMBER BURKE: Here. 14 MR. BOULARD: Member Sanghvi? 15 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Here. 16 MR. BOULARD: Member Shroyer? 17 MEMBER SHROYER: Here. 18 MR. BOULARD: Member Fischer? 19 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Present. 20 MR. BOULARD: Member Ghannam? 21 MEMBER GHANNAM: Here. 22 MR. BOULARD: Member Krieger? 23 MEMBER KRIEGER: Present. 24 MR. BOULARD: And Member Ibe?
4 1 MEMBER IBE: Present. 2 MR. BOULARD: We have a quorum. 3 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Next on the 4 agenda is the pledge of allegiance. I would 5 ask Mr. Shroyer that since this is your last 6 meeting on the Zoning Board of Appeals if 7 you could please lead us in the Pledge of 8 Allegiance. 9 MEMBER SHROYER: It would be my 10 pleasure. 11 BOARD MEMBERS: I pledge allegiance to 12 the flag of the United States of America. 13 And to the Republic for which it stands, one 14 nation under God indivisible with liberty 15 and justice for all. 16 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you 17 everybody. We have a quorum present so the 18 meeting is now in session. 19 I would like to point out that the 20 Rules of Conduct for the Zoning Board of 21 Appeals can be found in the back of the room 22 and on the City of Novi's web site. I would 23 like to call your attention to just a few 24 things. Please make sure that your pagers
5 1 and cell phones are turned off while in the 2 Council Chambers. 3 And also, if you are going to be 4 speaking to the Board tonight, just to let 5 you know that individuals have five minutes 6 to address the Board and groups have 10 7 minutes to address the Board. Time can be 8 extended upon discretion of the Chairperson. 9 The Zoning Board of Appeals is a 10 hearing board empowered by the Novi City 11 Charter to hear appeals seeking variances 12 from the application of the Novi Zoning 13 Ordinance. It takes a vote of at least four 14 members to approve a variance request and a 15 vote of the majority present to deny a 16 request. Tonight we do have seven members 17 present, a full Board, so any decisions made 18 will be final. 19 Going back to our agenda. Are there 20 any changes to the agenda? Seeing none, I 21 will entertain a motion to approve as 22 submitted. 23 MEMBER BAUER: So moved. 24 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Second.
6 1 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: It has been 2 moved by Member Bauer and seconded by Member 3 Sanghvi. All in favor say aye? 4 BOARD MEMBERS: Aye. 5 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Any opposed? 6 Seeing none, the agenda has been approved. 7 We do have the minutes on the agenda 8 for approval. I'm not sure -- we didn't 9 receive any, so we will go ahead and skip 10 over approval of the minutes and I will 11 begin with the meeting. 12 At this time I would like to open up 13 the public remarks portion of the Zoning 14 Board meeting. All comments related to a 15 case on the agenda should be held until that 16 case is called. However, if anyone wishes 17 to address the Board on any matter or case 18 not on the agenda tonight, this is the 19 opportunity to do so. 20 Is there thy anyone in the audience 21 that wishes to comment on the case or 22 anything not on the agenda? Seeing none, we 23 will close the public remark section of the 24 meeting and move to the first case under Old
7 1 Business. 2 3 Which is 08-052 filed by Jasper 4 Catanzaro representing Weston Estates for 5 43468 McLean Court. As Board Members might 6 remember, this was brought to us in a 7 previous month. Petitioner is requesting 8 two sign variances for the placement of a 10 9 foot tall, break-away pole sign. The 10 property is zoned R-4 located west of Novi 11 Road and north of Nine Mile Road. 12 You are the Petitioner and you were 13 sworn at the last meeting, correct? 14 MR. CATANZARO: Yes, sir. 15 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: And that still 16 stands and I will ask you to go ahead with 17 your case. 18 MR. CATANZARO: You had asked us to go 19 back to the engineers which we did, and I 20 think they said they were going to send 21 where they wanted it located down to you, so 22 that's pretty much been completed. I guess, 23 if you have any more questions or whatever. 24 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Okay. Is there
8 1 anyone in the audience that wishes to make a 2 comment on this case? Seeing none, we'll 3 close that opportunity and ask the Secretary 4 to please let us know if there is any new 5 correspondence for this case. Madam 6 Secretary? 7 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 8 08-052, 33 notices were mailed. Three 9 responses. First one -- 10 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: And I believe 11 these were the ones that were read into the 12 record at the last meeting? 13 MR. BOULARD: That's correct. No 14 additional notification. 15 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: No additional 16 correspondence? Thank you, Madam Secretary. 17 MR. CATANZARO: May I? 18 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: We are going to 19 get around here and back to Board 20 Discussion. Does the Building Department 21 wish to comment on this case? 22 MR. BOULARD: Yes, I would just to 23 point out that as requested by the Board at 24 the October 14th, meeting, the applicants
9 1 did apply for a right-of-way permit and that 2 after apparently some discussion with the 3 representatives of the Engineering 4 Department a location was chosen on the 5 opposite side of the street. 6 You should have in your packet a 7 revised drawing. As you will recall 8 originally the proposed location of the sign 9 was on the east side of the street near the 10 fire hydrant. As I understand that they 11 have agreed to relocate that to the other 12 side of the street. 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Do you have a 14 copy of that that you can put up there? 15 MR. CATANZARO: I think I do have one. 16 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Or you can use 17 one of ours. Anything else from the City? 18 MS. KUDLA: Nothing. 19 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Seeing none, I 20 will open it up for Board discussion, 21 comments or questions. Member Sanghvi? 22 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Thank you, 23 Mr. Chair. I think the requirements have 24 been met and that safety issue about the
10 1 fire hydrant have been solved, and I have no 2 hesitation in supporting this request now. 3 Thank you. 4 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 5 Vice-Chair Sanghvi. Anyone else? Member 6 Shroyer? 7 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you Mr. Chair. 8 A question to the City. What is the status 9 of our request or my request, I should say, 10 that this be sent to the Board of Review, 11 Ordinance Board of Review? Not this case in 12 particular, but the inter-subdivision 13 signage. 14 MR. BOULARD: The issue of signage 15 identifying subdivisions when you go from 16 one to the other? 17 MEMBER SHROYER: Correct. 18 MR. BOULARD: I don't believe 19 Ordinance Review has acted on that. The 20 request was communicated. I don't know the 21 status of that. I can find out. 22 MEMBER SHROYER: Do you know when they 23 would be meeting again? 24 MR. BOULARD: I do not.
11 1 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you. I am not 2 opposed to the signage. I like the design 3 and how it looks, et cetera, et cetera. My 4 only concern is trying to come up with some 5 type of consistency within the city to make 6 sure that future request fall within the 7 same type guidelines and what have you. If 8 the Ordinance Review Group comes back and 9 says we think it's a great idea, we're going 10 to approve it, we're going to re-write the 11 Ordinances, et cetera, if it is a minor 12 change in what you have with your sign, 13 would you be open to perhaps changing that 14 to address the Ordinances of the City? 15 MR. CATANZARO: Sure. 16 MEMBER SHROYER: I wouldn't expect you 17 to go out and spend a bunch of money to put 18 up a new sign. 19 MR. CATANZARO: Right. 20 MEMBER SHROYER: I have no problem 21 supporting this. Thank you. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 23 Member Shroyer. Member Burke? 24 MEMBER BURKE: I went out and took a
12 1 look at the site and the three respondents 2 that had something to say about -- that had 3 an objection to the placement of the sign in 4 the subdivision really as far as I could 5 tell really only impacted one. Being a pole 6 sign and linear in nature is going to kind 7 of fall in with a lot of other things that 8 are going on out this individual's window, 9 back door to where I think that it would not 10 necessarily be the nuisance that he thought 11 it would be. So, I could support the 12 project. Thank you. 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 14 Member Burke. 15 Other Board Members? I remember at 16 the last meeting there were quite a few 17 people who did strongly disagree. Did you 18 get the opportunity to speak with any of 19 them? That you maybe want to make any 20 comments as to what they did say. 21 MR. CATANZARO: Yes, that's what I was 22 raising my hand about. One of the people 23 that had voiced a concern voted for the sign 24 now because it was moved, after the engineer
13 1 said let's move it on this side of the 2 street, it's the right side. Then he -- 3 that's Mr. Dietz (ph) who protested. 4 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: So, there was 5 some effort made to work with the other 6 residents who did have concern? 7 MR. CATANZARO: Yes. 8 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I appreciate 9 that. That's obviously one of the main 10 concerns when you are putting something, 11 whether it be a project, you want to make 12 sure that it's consistent with the neighbors 13 and it's something they can live with as 14 well. I don't see an issue as well given 15 the previous speaker's comments and that. 16 Member Krieger? 17 MEMBER KRIEGER: So based on our 18 discussion I would like to make a motion. 19 In case number: 08-052 filed by Jasper 20 Catanzaro representing Weston Estate 21 Homeowners Association for 43468 McLean 22 Court, I move to approve the request that 23 the sign variances request are based upon 24 circumstances of features that are
14 1 exceptional and unique to the property and 2 do not result from conditions that exist 3 generally in the city or self created. That 4 failure to grant relief will unreasonably 5 prevent or limit the use of the property. 6 And the grant of relief will not result in 7 use of structure that is incompatible with 8 or unreasonably interferes with adjacent 9 sign or surrounding properties? 10 MEMBER BAUER: Second the motion. 11 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: There is a 12 motion by Member Krieger and a second by 13 Member Bauer. Is there any further 14 discussion? Seeing none, please call the 15 roll. 16 MR. BOULARD: Member Sanghvi. 17 MEMBER SANGHVI: Yes. 18 MR. BOULARD: Member Shroyer? 19 MEMBER SHROYER: Yes. 20 MR. BOULARD: Member Bauer? 21 MEMBER BAUER: Yes. 22 MR. BOULARD: Member Burke? 23 MEMBER BURKE: Yep. 24 MR. BOULARD: Chairman Fischer?
15 1 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Aye. 2 MR. BOULARD: Member Ibe? 3 MEMBER IBE: Yes. 4 MR. BOULARD: Member Krieger? 5 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes. 6 MR. BOULARD: Motion approved. 7 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Your variance 8 has been granted. Congratulations and good 9 luck to you guys. 10 MR. CATANZARO: Thank you so much. 11 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: We'll move to 12 the first case on the agenda under new 13 business which is case number: 08-060 filed 14 Robert Waters of Lloyd Waters & Associates 15 for property located north of Nine Mile and 16 west of Garfield Road. 17 The Petitioner is requesting one 21 18 square foot sign variance for an oversized 19 entranceway sign erected without permit 20 located at the intersection of Nine Mile and 21 east of Torino Drive. The property is zoned 22 R-A and located north of Nine Mile and west 23 of Garfield Road. 24 If you can be sworn in by our Board
16 1 Secretary. Please raise your hand. 2 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 3 08-060 for Bella Terra do you swear or 4 affirm to tell the truth in this case? 5 MR. DePORRE: I do. 6 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: All right. If 7 you will state your name and address and 8 proceed with your case. 9 MR. DePORRE: My name is John DePorre, 10 president of Pinnacle Homes. My address is 11 28800 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills, 12 Michigan. 13 First off, you know, I would like to 14 address the Board with an apology. This was 15 not an attempt to any way circumvent any 16 City Ordinance or anything along those 17 lines, just probably a little bit of 18 over-zealousness on my part. 19 Just historically, after we took this 20 piece over from the original developer and 21 at that point in time it was called 22 Provencial Glades, met with the proper city 23 officials to get the name changed from 24 Provencial Glade to Bella Terra.
17 1 After we got the okay on that I 2 basically went out and took the existing 3 sign down for Provencial Glades and I put up 4 Bella Terra. And not even thinking about 5 sign the Ordinance. Lloyd Waters has done 6 work in your city before, so I have already 7 had my comments with him as far as erecting 8 a sign without a permit. And, again, I just 9 want to tell you that I apologize for that. 10 What I would like to add if I could, 11 though, is the location of our community 12 there as you know on Nine Mile east of 13 Napier, the entrance into the community is 14 about maybe 300, 400 feet off of Napier and 15 at that point the road turns. It's asphalt 16 and then after the entrance into Bella Tara, 17 the road does turn into, it's kind of a mix 18 between asphalt and a stone road, a dirt 19 road. And so, our only opportunity to 20 really get the traffic is to -- when they 21 are pulling up that road because it is, it 22 comes, it feels very rural at that point, is 23 they have a sign that we put up there. I 24 believe in your packets an exhibit was given
18 1 to you indicating what the sign would look 2 like as a 25 square foot versus what is 3 currently there at the 45 square foot range. 4 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: If you want to 5 go ahead and put that on the overhead for us 6 as well, that would be phenomenal. We do 7 have it in our packet. I just wanted anyone 8 in the audience or at home to be able to see 9 it as well. 10 MR. DePORRE: So, that was our 11 opportunity. What we aren't doing, just to 12 keep kind of the elegance of the 13 neighborhood is we are not taking off a 14 temporary marketing sign or anything on the 15 boulevard. We have no intention of doing 16 that. We won't do that. In order to just 17 kind of keep this entry, we have upgraded 18 the wall. We took this over from the 19 original developer and started maintaining 20 the grounds again and got the electric back 21 on so there is lights at the entrance now. 22 We have activity within the 23 community. We just had our first homeowner 24 move in this past Friday. We have five
19 1 other homes under construction out there 2 along with a couple other models that were 3 going up right now. So, we are really 4 trying to make this into -- let this 5 community start to get some attraction. 6 It's a beautiful piece of land. The sign 7 just kind of lends itself to that as far as 8 the community goes. 9 And again, I kind of did some probably 10 not great math, but I think Provencial 11 Glades added altogether I think it's 16 12 letters. Bella Terra has 10. Even on the 13 length of the name, and I don't know how 14 Provencial Glades did it with without 15 getting a variance. I don't know how. 16 Their sign had to be extremely small if they 17 kept this in the variance. 18 So, again, I apologize for the sign 19 going up. Again, there was no malice 20 intended and I have been pretty 21 straightforward with the City here in 22 working along the way. Again, I think the 23 sign with what we have out there, it's my 24 only point of entry in the whole community.
20 1 It's the only side of the road that makes 2 sense to put a sign. And, again, I'm not 3 putting a marketing sign up there, and with 4 the elevation of the wall and all that, the 5 sign kind of lends itself to be a little 6 more logistic. That's really it. I would 7 be happy to take any questions. 8 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Perfect. Thank 9 you very much. Is there anyone in the 10 audience that wishes to make a comment on 11 this case? Seeing none, we will close that 12 opportunity. 13 Madam Secretary, if you can read any 14 correspondence for us. 15 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 16 08-060, 13 notices were mailed, zero 17 responses. 18 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Anyone from the 19 City wish to make a comment? 20 MR. BOULARD: I have no comments other 21 than the issues addressed by the Petitioner. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Board Members, 23 open it up for discussion? Member Bauer? 24 MEMBER BAUER: Why didn't you put a
21 1 sign on both sides? 2 MR. DePORRE: The feeling is is that 3 really my traffic engineer has shown that my 4 traffic is coming off of Napier and going 5 east down Nine Mile. I'm getting no traffic 6 coming off from the other side from the 7 other road. I am not drawing anything up. 8 What they normally do is they might go down 9 to Eight Mile, come up to Napier and then 10 head up that way, but I'm not getting 11 anybody on the dirt road or the partially 12 paved road in that area. 13 MEMBER BAUER: Thank you. 14 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 15 Member Bauer. Any other questions? Member 16 Burke? 17 MEMBER BURKE: Was the original sign 18 the same size as your 25 square foot? 19 Provencial Glade was that the same size as 20 that in terms of the height of the letters? 21 MR. DePORRE: The Provencial Glade 22 sign was actually, if you are looking at 23 your document there, on the, either one, if 24 you are looking at the current Bella Terra
22 1 sign and you go over to the right you can 2 kind of see where that wall flattens out and 3 continues off. That's where the sign was. 4 That's where the Provencial Glade sign was. 5 There was no visibility at all. 6 MEMBER BURKE: So, you know, the 25 7 square foot to me, looking at this and what 8 you are trying to present there, the 25 does 9 look kind of small, the lettering on this 10 brick wall. The 45 square foot looks maybe 11 just a hair much, you know. If you were 12 somewhere at 35 or 40. But I don't think we 13 can do that, tell you what size to make 14 those. You are asking for the 45 foot. I 15 mean, I support it. It looks good to me. 16 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Member Shroyer? 17 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 18 We can make it smaller or pass a variance, 19 anything smaller than what's requested? We 20 can't make it larger, because it's been 21 advertised as that, if I am correct? 22 MS. KUDLA: You are correct. 23 MEMBER SHROYER: I wanted to make sure 24 of that. Thank you.
23 1 But that almost mirrors what I wrote 2 here, Member Burke. I felt that the 45 3 square foot was too large and the 25 square 4 foot was much too small. If there is any 5 bush growth at all you have cut off the 6 bottom of the letters. So, I indicated here 7 that I would be more inclined to approve a 8 variance of around 11 square feet which is 9 about 35 square feet in total. But I am 10 anxious to hear what other members have to 11 say as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 12 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 13 Member Shroyer. Member Bauer? 14 MEMBER BAUER: I have to agree with 15 him. It would be much better to have it at 16 35. When that growth starts growing up he 17 is going to lose the whole bottom of it. 18 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 19 Member Bauer. 20 MEMBER SHROYER: I'm sorry, what did 21 you say? 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I said thank 23 you, Member Bauer. 24 Waiting for other comments. I
24 1 will make my comments known then. Is it 2 your intention to only have the one side 3 then? 4 MR. DePORRE: Yeah, the sign that's 5 installed is it. That there would be no 6 other signs. 7 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: You know, not 8 too often do I like to tell Petitioners 9 where to place it and if they want to put it 10 somewhere where the shrubs are going to grow 11 and it won't be seen in a little bit, that's 12 their prerogative. That might be something 13 you want to look into obviously. But at 14 first I was a little taken aback by the size 15 of the sign, but given the road that it 16 affronts and given the fact that the 17 Petitioner only requests to have one of 18 these monument type signs, I don't see an 19 issue with the 45 square feet. 20 If he wanted it on both sides of the 21 entranceway or if he was doing some type of 22 -- I think you referenced a double sided 23 sign, then, yeah, I would be a little more 24 concerned. But given the fact that there is
25 1 one, I am okay with the size 45. Thank you. 2 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: I agree 3 with you, Mr. Chair. 4 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 5 Member Sanghvi. 6 MEMBER BURKE: I agree with you too. 7 And I guess now that we have had an 8 opportunity to talk through it, that the 45 9 foot, the increase height of the letters 10 would certainly be more visible from Napier 11 Road. 12 So, with that I would like to make a 13 motion to approve the request, the extra 21 14 square feet -- excuse me -- in case number: 15 08-060 Bella Terra, to allow the variance 16 for an extra 21 square feet from the 17 subdivision entranceway sign, the total 45 18 square feet based on the fact that the 19 request is based on circumstances and 20 features that are exceptional to the 21 property. And the failure to grant relief 22 would unreasonably prevent the use of the 23 property and would result in substantially 24 more than a mere inconvenience or inability
26 1 to obtain a higher economic or a financial 2 return and that it will not result in the 3 use or obstruction that is incompatible or 4 unreasonably interferes with adjacent 5 surrounding properties and would result in 6 substantial injustice being done to both the 7 applicant and the adjacent or surrounding 8 properties and is not inconsistent with the 9 spirit of the Ordinance. 10 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Support. 11 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: There is a 12 motion by Member Burke and a second by 13 Member Sanghvi. Further discussion? Member 14 Shroyer? 15 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 16 I am willing to support the motion if we 17 could add a friendly portion that would 18 indicate that the applicant has indicated 19 that he does not intend on putting a sign on 20 the other side of the entrance. 21 MEMBER BURKE: Absolutely, yeah. 22 Providing that the applicant stays with one 23 side. 24 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you.
27 1 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Yes. 2 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Motioner agrees. 3 The seconder concurs as well. Any other 4 discussion? Seeing none, will you please 5 call the roll. 6 MR. BOULARD: Member Shroyer? 7 MEMBER SHROYER: Yes. 8 MR. BOULARD: Member Bauer? 9 MEMBER BAUER: Yes. 10 MR. BOULARD: Member Burke? 11 MEMBER BAUER: Yes. 12 MR. BOULARD: Chairman Fischer? 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Aye. 14 MR. BOULARD: Member Ibe? 15 MEMBER IBE: Yes. 16 MR. BOULARD: Member Krieger? 17 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes. 18 MR. BOULARD: And Member Sanghvi? 19 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Yes. 20 MR. BOULARD: Motion passes 7-0. 21 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Your variance 22 has been granted. Best of luck to you. 23 MR. DePORRE: Thank you. Happy 24 Holidays to you.
28 1 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: You too. 2 We will move to the second case 3 under New Business which is case number: 4 08-061 filed by Robert Slack of Ace Family 5 Hardware located east of Novi Road, south of 6 Nine Mile. The Petitioner is requesting 7 approval for placement of an outdoor propane 8 exchange rack on the west elevation of the 9 building at said address. 10 The property is zoned I-1 subject to a 11 consent judgment that makes the regulations 12 of the B-1 district applicable to the 13 property and this is located east of Novi 14 Road and south of Nine Mile Road. 15 If you could raise your hand and be 16 sworn in by our Secretary. 17 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 18 08-061 for Ace Family Hardware do you swear 19 or affirm to tell the truth in this case? 20 MR. SLACK: Yes, I do. 21 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: State your name 22 and address and proceed with your case. 23 MR. SLACK: My name is Robert Slack. 24 My address is 1320 Stephanie Drive, Milford,
29 1 48381. We are asking for a variance to 2 place a propane tank storage rack on the 3 other side of our building. We found out 4 late in the summer that our property was -- 5 or the property that we were leasing was 6 zoned B-1 under the consent agreement. Up 7 until that point we had not known that. We 8 were under the impression it had been 9 indicated to us that it was a light 10 industrial property. 11 So, in light of that we looked up the 12 B-1 district Ordinances and we thought that 13 that -- we know that the propane, the 14 propane exchange program is something that 15 the people in the community need as they are 16 continually requesting do we have propane 17 exchange. So, and in light that we were 18 B-1, and that's kind of our designation to 19 provide the services that the community 20 request. And also that, you know, it 21 states, and again, we're not attorneys and 22 we're not familiar with all of the rules, 23 accessory structures and uses customarily 24 incident to the above permitted uses which
30 1 people consider a hardware, a commonplace to 2 get the propane exchange. 3 And, also, with this propane exchange, 4 all business involved with it is conducted 5 inside the store, it's conducted at the cash 6 register. The only thing that is not, the 7 only part of the process that's not 8 conducted inside is the physical changing of 9 two tanks. Everything else is done inside 10 the building as far as business and 11 servicing and everything else. 12 So, in light of that, we went ahead 13 and put the propane tanks there thinking 14 that it was okay to do. We were told 15 afterwards that it was not okay to do and 16 that we would need to get a variance and the 17 tanks were allowed to stay there until we 18 tried to do that, which we are doing now. 19 We think, when we did this, we tried 20 to make the storage racks as unnoticeable as 21 possible to blend into the building as much 22 as possible. We have no signage that you 23 would see on the outside of the tanks. We 24 have the required notifications that it is
31 1 propane and no smoking within 25 feet. We 2 had that put into the storage rack so that 3 it wouldn't -- it would be less offensive, 4 but it still met the requirements of noting 5 that it is propane inside the tank. 6 The racks are painted to match the 7 outside of the building and, again, in an 8 attempt to make them as unnoticeable as 9 possible, to blend into the building as much 10 as possible and be aesthetically pleasing as 11 much as we can make a rack. We have taken a 12 couple of pictures. They are in the packet, 13 I believe. 14 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: If you can set 15 them on the overhead for us as well. 16 MR. SLACK: This is the front of the 17 building. The upper picture is from the 18 edge of the parking lot and you can see that 19 the propane tanks are over here. They are 20 noticeable. They need to be outside that 21 overhang. The ideal place where we would 22 prefer to put them would actually be under 23 the overhang. They wouldn't be seen at all. 24 But due to fire regulations they need to be
32 1 outside that overhang. And the lower 2 picture is a picture from out in the parking 3 lot looking at the tanks. You can see that 4 there is no signage, there is no pricing, 5 there is no advertising there which is not 6 what we need to do. 7 And, also, we would like to point out 8 that just in our same shopping center, the 9 next set of pictures is, not that it has any 10 baring on our tanks, but just as an example 11 of what else is in the shopping center, you 12 can see just down, the division between the 13 two buildings that are in the shopping 14 center, we have a whole line of paper racks. 15 Those racks are quite often tipped over and 16 we would just like to point out that we 17 think the racks don't look any worse than 18 that does. I know that's not a good thing, 19 but they don't look any worse. They are not 20 going to detract from the aesthetics of the 21 shopping center. 22 In light of that we are asking for a 23 variance to be allowed to put the racks in 24 front of the building. At a propane
33 1 exchange program which our customers like, 2 we have actually exchanged about 50 3 cylinders in the last, a little over a 4 month. So there is a demand for it and 5 people do want it. 6 Also, we were told after the fact, 7 after we applied for the variance that we 8 needed to get permission from CVS or get 9 acknowledgement from CVS that we were 10 applying for this. And they are located in 11 Delaware, I believe -- Rhode Island. So, 12 the people we deal with in Rhode Island we 13 deal with mainly through e-mails or phone 14 calls. There is no local person that we can 15 talk to. So, we sent an e-mail to the person 16 who we were told who handle such a request 17 and that's included also. 18 So, in light of that, I guess that 19 pretty well covered everything that I had in 20 mind. If there are any questions I will 21 certainly entertain them. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Is there anyone 23 in the audience that wishes to make a 24 comment in this case? Seeing none, we'll
34 1 close that opportunity and we will ask the 2 Board Secretary to read any correspondence. 3 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 4 08-061, 42 notices were mailed, zero 5 responses. And that's it. 6 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Anything from 7 the City? 8 MR. BOULARD: In your folder, the 9 folder that you received tonight you should 10 find a memo that was put together by Mark 11 Spencer in the Planning Division regarding 12 this issue. It's my understanding Mr. 13 Spencer has met at least once with the 14 representative -- 15 MR. SLACK: Yes, we've talked to him 16 several times, yes. 17 MR. BOULARD: Also, Member Shroyer has 18 forwarded some questions and those along 19 with the responses are included. Those are 20 once again Mark Spencer's responses. In 21 view of the fact that we do not yet have 22 property owner approval, if the Board is 23 inclined to consider a variance, I suggest 24 that it be contingent upon securing that
35 1 approval. 2 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you very 3 much. 4 Anything else from the City? 5 MS. KUDLA: I do have a copy of the 6 consent judgment. You should just treat the 7 property as if it was for B-1. For B-1 8 calculation, the consent judgment that 9 speaks specifically to outside storage. In 10 that case you refer back to what the B-1 11 regulations are. Disregard the I-2 12 regulations or the I-2. Those do not apply 13 at all. 14 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: All right. 15 Anything else? Seeing none, I will turn it 16 over to the Board for discussion. Member 17 Burke? 18 MEMBER BURKE: I took a drive around 19 the building. You are right, the news 20 stands are quite unsightly. But I'm not a 21 real big fan of having these out in front. 22 I appreciate you guys being there. I know 23 it was empty for quite some time and I have 24 gone in your store.
36 1 MR. SLACK: I think I have seen you. 2 MEMBER BURKE: I think I read 3 somewhere that there is an opportunity to 4 have it inside in a properly built room; is 5 that correct? The memo? 6 MR. BOULARD: Yes. Mr. Spencer's memo 7 discusses that. With that amount of 8 potential flammable gas in a building there 9 is a fair amount, quite a bit amount of 10 safeguards and so on. Changes in 11 construction would probably be necessary. 12 MEMBER BURKE: I kind of thought that 13 that might be the case and to be honest with 14 you it's painted to match the building and 15 it still kind of stands out. I much 16 rather see it -- and I drove behind the 17 store. There is a lot of room back there. 18 There is (unintelligible) a yellow line and 19 then there is a bunch of dumpsters and 20 grease traps from other restaurants back 21 there which is flammable as well. 22 And I read further that you could 23 place it in the back providing that it was 24 placed in the manner that protect it from
37 1 traffic. My thoughts are up against the 2 building with maybe one of those six inch 3 cement pylons on either side of it so that 4 somebody couldn't run into it. 5 MR. SLACK: I did bring that up with 6 Mike Evans, the fire marshal. And he said 7 it could not be placed behind the building 8 because it was a fire lane is what he told 9 me. I asked him that question. 10 MEMBER BURKE: But the fire lane is 11 between the yellow line out to the fence 12 wouldn't it be? 13 MR. SLACK: I don't disagree. 14 MR. BURKE: Maybe I can get some 15 clarification from the Building. There is 16 about a four foot strip where all the 17 dumpsters and grease bins are from other 18 businesses. 19 MR. SLACK: It's actually a loading 20 zone in the first lane. 21 MEMBER BURKE: My question is can that 22 be placed in that area? 23 MR. BOULARD: Unfortunately I can't 24 answer for the fire marshall. Generally the
38 1 idea of a fire lane is that there is access 2 to the base of the building, but 3 unfortunately I can't speak for the fire 4 marshall. 5 MEMBER BURKE: I would like to, and I 6 will hear what anybody else has to say, but 7 I would like to get some clarity on that 8 point. Specifically where that fire lane is 9 if it's from the yellow line out to the 10 fence or if it's from the building to the 11 fence. Because that places all those 12 dumpsters in the fire lane and I think there 13 is at least one grease dumpster or oil 14 dumpster back there as well which is 15 flammable. So, I would love to get some 16 clarification on that. 17 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 18 Member Burke. Member Shroyer? 19 MEMBER SHROYER: I totally agree. I 20 was shopping at your establishment, a fine 21 establishment by the way, the other day and 22 I took advantage of driving around behind as 23 well. Passed a couple of cars parked in the 24 fire lane, so I assumed they were unloading
39 1 or having some type of delivery. I say that 2 loosely because I think they were actually 3 parked and working in the store and 4 whatever. But your opening, your rear 5 entrance is right at the southwest corner, 6 correct? 7 MR. SLACK: Yes. 8 MEMBER SHROYER: Did you talk to 9 anyone about the possibility of putting it 10 on the west end of the building? 11 MR. SLACK: The west end? 12 MEMBER SHROYER: I'm sorry, south end 13 of the building? 14 MR. SLACK: We had talked about -- we 15 talked with Mark Spencer for some time 16 before we found out we were B-1, when we 17 were under the assumption that we were light 18 industrial. And the problem with the end is 19 that it needs to be protected from traffic, 20 so if we were to put it any place over 21 there, I think we would have to take away 22 parking spaces I would believe because the 23 sidewalk is very narrow. Right now the 24 sidewalk where it is now is about 10 feet
40 1 from the roadway. 2 MEMBER SHROYER: And what about near 3 the dumpster? 4 MR. SLACK: We wouldn't really have a 5 problem in the back. We wouldn't have a 6 problem with that. 7 MEMBER SHROYER: I am talking about 8 the one in between the two buildings. 9 MR. SLACK: Well, it's got to be 25 10 feet from the door. Is the minimum. It's 11 got to be 25 feet from the door. Right now 12 where we have now it's about 40 feet from 13 the front door, but it would need to be 25 14 feet from any door and there are three 15 doors, in fact, in this building, so it 16 would have to be without knowing the 17 dimensions, it would have to be positioned 18 between two doors to be 25 feet from either 19 one. 20 MEMBER SHROYER: I think if the City, 21 if you are looking into it and it looks like 22 we might leaning that was, there is a 23 dumpster that's in between the two 24 buildings. It's an enclosed dumpster, it's
41 1 not in the fire lane. Perhaps it could be 2 adjacent to that with a couple pylons or 3 something. I too am not in favor of having 4 it in front of the building. I don't know 5 any hardware store or other facility in the 6 city that has racks in the front of the 7 building. I may be mistaken on that, but I 8 am not aware of any. If the Board so 9 chooses to approve this, I would highly 10 encourage the group to include the bricks or 11 the brick facade or whatever it is that was 12 mentioned in our packet that would match the 13 building itself to help hide it. 14 My biggest concern and when I was at 15 your store I walked over and read what the 16 sign said, and you are right, one of them 17 does say no smoking within 25 feet. How can 18 that be enforced on the sidewalk? Oh, I'm 19 25 feet, I am going to have to walk out in 20 the parking lot out by the street and walk 21 around to stay that far away from a 22 flammable facility. I don't know how our 23 Ordinances could ever allow any type of 24 flammable items to be stored on a sidewalk
42 1 when we are allowed to smoke in the city, 2 smoke in the parking lot, et cetera, et 3 cetera. That's my biggest concern about 4 having it in front is the safety aspect. 5 And I had written down here and I 6 agree, anything we do would be contingent 7 upon CVS's written approval. That's all I 8 have for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 9 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, Mr. 10 Shroyer. Let's just hope that people don't 11 have a cigarette lit while they walk up to 12 read the sign either. That could pose a 13 problem. 14 Member Krieger? We will go right down 15 the line. 16 MEMBER KRIEGER: My personal 17 experience with the gas is that I don't have 18 one that exchange. I have the old fashion 19 kind where you got to refill it. So, 20 Timberlane on Ten Mile, I went into the 21 store with an empty tank and they said 22 please get out of the store. And not 23 realizing I was carrying something that 24 would upset the fire marshall, which I
43 1 wouldn't to do, as we went over to the side 2 of the building. And so my question would 3 be, that's true, you don't want to have a 4 cigarette and then run oxygen either. The 5 propane since there is nothing around except 6 the cage, if somebody drove their truck into 7 the cage that's there, what would happen? 8 MEMBER BAUER: The building would go 9 off. 10 MEMBER KRIEGER: So, if it was in the 11 back next to a dumpster, my question would 12 be too, if the garbage truck drove into it 13 what would happen? So, Member Burke was 14 talking about the pylons, I would be 15 agreeable to seeing pylons around those in 16 some such manner, but I do see it as a 17 necessity for propane. There is nothing 18 like having your grill, so I would like to 19 see it work out. 20 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 21 Member Krieger. Member Bauer? 22 MEMBER BAUER: First of all, we don't 23 have any correspondence from the owner of 24 the building. It's been over a month now
44 1 since correspondence was sent to them. I 2 imagine it wasn't the place that you wanted 3 it to go to begin with. And I don't think 4 we really should do anything until we get 5 that notice. That's all I have to say. 6 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 7 Member Bauer. 8 MS. KUDLA: I would just like to point 9 out that a lot of the alternative 10 suggestions sounds like they have the 11 potential for some hazardous placement. But 12 before we make any alternative suggestive 13 such as placing it by a dumpster, you might 14 want to get a report from a fire marshall. 15 Take into consideration all the fire 16 regulations that would be involved in that. 17 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Member Ibe? 18 MEMBER IBE: I agree very much with 19 what the city attorney just said. I think 20 it make sense that we probably table this 21 case and wait for a report from the fire 22 marshall. At the same time I also see what 23 CVS' interest is on this whole matter 24 because the owner of the property, maybe
45 1 they envisioned if you are going to place 2 this thing out there, it becomes a huge 3 liability for CVS, the owner of the 4 property. Maybe they don't even want it 5 there. I don't know the terms of the 6 agreement that you have, the lease agreement 7 between ACE Hardware and CVS, the owner of 8 the property. 9 So, I think it would make sense that 10 we perhaps table this, allow for the fire 11 marshall to give us better guidance as to 12 their preference as to where this should be 13 placed. The front of the building just 14 doesn't look good to me. I don't know about 15 the idea. And Member Shroyer is right, how 16 do you police someone smoking 25 feet from 17 the bin? You can never tell. So, I think 18 it makes sense that you table it. Obviously 19 the applicant, it's your call pretty much. 20 I don't think you are going to get a vote 21 from me today. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 23 Member Ibe. And I will basically concur 24 with what he said. It sounds like the Board
46 1 would be hesitant to approve before other 2 alternatives were investigated with the fire 3 marshall, with CVS as well as with maybe Mr. 4 Spencer. 5 Would you maybe want to take the 6 comments of the Board and look into 7 different alternatives? Or we can go 8 through with a vote tonight too? 9 MR. SLACK: We can certainly look at 10 other alternatives. I don't know what they 11 will be, but we can certainly talk to the 12 fire marshall. I have talked to him several 13 times and he has been very cooperative and 14 we haven't been able to come up with any 15 sort of alternate. 16 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I would urge 17 that your staff take the comments of the 18 Zoning Board and get with the Petitioner and 19 look at all the alternatives. 20 MR. SLACK: There is no reflection on 21 Mr. Spencer. He has been helping with 22 alternatives. He has been cooperative. 23 That was, again, when we thought we were 24 light industrial instead of B-1.
47 1 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Understandable. 2 Member Burke? 3 MEMBER BURKE: Do you have any 4 objection, do you have a problem with 5 putting it out in back? 6 MR. SLACK: No, we don't. I mean, if 7 that's where we need to put it, we can put 8 it there. 9 MEMBER BURKE: You can facilitate the 10 exchanges. If they come in and pay for it 11 and drive around back. You probably can't 12 walk through the building with a full tank. 13 MR. SLACK: If that's what we needed 14 to do we could do that. 15 MEMBER BURKE: Probably which is done 16 at other locations as well. Go ahead and 17 pay for it. 18 MR. SLACK: Oh, yeah, that's what we 19 do now. They come in and pay for it and we 20 go outside and make the exchange. 21 MEMBER BURKE: In that case I would 22 like to make a motion to table this matter 23 until such time as we get clarification from 24 the Fire Department and the Building
48 1 Department on other locations that this can 2 be placed be it on the south side or on the 3 east side out in back. What the definitions 4 of the fire lane are behind the building? 5 What constitutes the fire lane and how the 6 proper placement in the rear of the building 7 would be. 8 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Second. 9 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: We have a motion 10 and second by Member Sanghvi. 11 I would like to go ahead and ask you 12 to also include the fact that we would urge 13 the Applicant to retouch basis with CVS on 14 that approval again. 15 MEMBER BURKE: Pending approval from 16 CVS. 17 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Agreed. 18 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I think that 19 would be something the Zoning Board needs to 20 see. The seconder agrees with that 21 recommendation as well. There is motion by 22 Member Burke and second by Member Sanghvi. 23 Any other discussion? Seeing none, 24 please call the roll.
49 1 MR. BOULARD: Member Ibe? 2 MEMBER IBE: Yes. 3 MR. BOULARD: Member Krieger? 4 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes. 5 MR. BOULARD: Member Sanghvi? 6 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Yes. 7 MR. BOULARD: Member Shroyer? 8 MEMBER SHROYER: Yes. 9 MR. BOULARD: Member Bauer? 10 MEMBER BAUER: Yes. 11 MR. BOULARD: Member Burke? 12 MEMBER BURKE: Yes. 13 MR. BOULARD: Chairman Fischer? 14 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Aye. 15 MR. BOULARD: Motion to table is 16 approved 7-0. 17 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: All right we 18 approve to table and get some more 19 information and we will see you in a couple 20 of months or so. 21 MR. SLACK: Okay. Thank you. 22 23 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: At last we will 24 move to case number: 08-062 filed by Jeff
50 1 Lemanski for Grubb & Ellis located at 41000 2 Bridge Street north of Eleven Mile Road and 3 east of Meadowbrook Road. 4 The Petitioner is requesting two 5 variances for a 7 by 9, 63 square foot real 6 estate advertising sign to be placed at said 7 address. Petitioner is requesting variance 8 for five feet in height and 47 square feet 9 in area. And the property is zoned I-1 10 located north of Eleven Mile Road and east 11 of Meadowbrook Road. 12 If you raise your hand and be sworn in 13 by our Secretary. 14 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 15 08-062 do you swear or affirm to tell the 16 truth in this case? 17 MR. LEMANSKI: I do. 18 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Please state 19 your name and address and proceed with your 20 case. 21 MR. LEMANSKI: Jeff Lemanski, 3715 22 South Elder, West Bloomfield. I represent 23 Gary Jonah on a piece of property that 24 fronts I-96 at the ramp to northbound M-5.
51 1 There are three parcels there. We are 2 petitioning the Board to enlarge the sign 3 from a smaller sign, I forget how big it 4 was, to a 7 by 9 sign that would be in the 5 corner of the property. 6 Currently, the previous sign was just 7 too small. People could not see any of the 8 information on the sign. You would have to 9 pull off on the side of the road in order to 10 get any of the information. We are 11 marketing the property with the intent of 12 securing a headquarters type user, similar 13 to the JPRA facility that is a lead 14 certified facility that is part of the park. 15 Currently we rely heavily on the 16 traffic that goes by the site and the former 17 sign just didn't provide that type of 18 exposure. And by the way, we had several 19 years ago we had the same sign that we are 20 applying for now up on the property. It was 21 approved several years ago. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: All right. Is 23 there anyone in the audience that wishes to 24 make a comment on this case? Seeing none, I
52 1 will close that opportunity and ask the 2 Board Secretary to read any correspondence. 3 MEMBER KRIEGER: In case number: 4 08-062, 14 notice were mailed, zero 5 responses. 6 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Anyone from the 7 Building or from the City wish to speak to 8 this case? 9 MR. BOULARD: Mr. Chairman, I have 10 nothing to add other than what's noted in 11 the staff report. The actual variance 12 requested is for 45 square feet in area. An 13 additional 47 square feet would be over what 14 would be allowed. And an additional 15 (unintelligible) sign of this type. 16 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: So, just a point 17 of clarification, 16 feet is what would 18 normally be allowed, correct? 19 MS. KUDLA: Correct. 20 MR. BOULARD: Yes. 21 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Seeing no other 22 comments I will turn it over to the Board 23 for their discussion. Member Shroyer? 24 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
53 1 Mr. Lemanski, the sign that is currently up 2 is the one, the one that you want to have 3 approval for, correct? 4 MR. LEMANSKI: Correct. 5 MEMBER SHROYER: Why was that put back 6 up? Was it put up for this group? 7 MR. LEMANSKI: Correct. 8 MEMBER SHROYER: Because I drove by it 9 and I found easy to read and I was wondering 10 if it was going to be larger? 11 MR. LEMANSKI: No. 12 MEMBER SHROYER: I am trying to think, 13 that doesn't make sure. I wondered, 14 however, in looking at the sign and I drove 15 out there the other day, I could walk over 16 to it, I looked at it and it was easy to 17 read from the parking lot I was in. There 18 is an awful lot of white area on the sign. 19 I would think that a smaller sign which 20 larger letters would be even easier to read 21 than what you currently have up there. And, 22 so, I am a little curious about that, I 23 guess. In our packet I see what we have is 24 a version 2 and I was wondering what version
54 1 one was. Was that a smaller sign? You said 2 version 2 at the top. 3 MR. LEMANSKI: No, that's the sign 4 that we put up. I'm not sure what the 5 version 2 means. It might just be a note of 6 the people that designed the layout of the 7 sign. 8 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Do you have the 9 piece that Mr. Shroyer is referring to? 10 MR. LEMANSKI: Yes. 11 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Put that on the 12 overhead. Sorry, Member Shroyer. 13 MEMBER SHROYER: The telephone number 14 was very easy to read but the office, High 15 Tech Development, those letters could be 16 much larger or the sign could be smaller. I 17 don't know, I'm not a designer, so I can't 18 make too many comments on that. But I also 19 noticed that the sign just prior to that in 20 the neighboring property is 7 by 8 foot or a 21 total of 56 square feet, and I don't know 22 how we could go larger than one that's been 23 approved, the one next door. But I will 24 listen to what the other members have to
55 1 say. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 2 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 3 Member Shroyer. Other Board Members? 4 MEMBER BURKE: I too went out there 5 and took a look and then by chance an hour 6 later was on the freeway and saw the sign. 7 I think the sign, actually I think it's a 8 decent size because here you have this big 9 vast flat land and it's surrounded to the 10 east by the ramp or M-5 coming around. So 11 there is this height issue behind the sign 12 as the background. So, the way that they 13 design the sign that's up to them. Maybe 14 without the snow and the white won't stand 15 out so much, but their artistic creation 16 being what it is. 17 I support the sign. I think it's the 18 right size sign for this situation in that 19 which only has one way to see it and that's 20 from the freeway. It's like Vermont, it's 21 just not easy to get back there. 22 (Unintelligible). I support the sign. 23 I will listen to other members, but I 24 think it's a pretty decent sign and I would
56 1 support it for a year and then you can come 2 back. I don't know what the standard timing 3 element is on a variance such as this. 4 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Whatever you 5 chose. 6 MEMBER BURKE: Whatever I chose? I 7 support a year or 18 months. Given the 8 current conditions 18 months seems 9 reasonable. 10 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Getting there is 11 like Vermont? 12 MEMBER BURKE: Being as young as you 13 are, Vermont, you can't get there from here. 14 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you. Any 15 other words of wisdom, Member Burke? Seeing 16 none, any other Board Members? 17 I will surprisingly enough actually 18 agree with Member Burke, not about the 19 Vermont thing, but I actually would like to 20 thank you for what you put on the sign. 21 Oftentimes we have seen signs come in here 22 and they have pictures and they try to put 23 everything on that sign including, you know, 24 phone numbers for every single person
57 1 involved in the project and the addresses 2 and everything else and it's just too much. 3 And I think this is very nice plain sign 4 that gets the point across. Here is where 5 to call. Here is what we are offering. The 6 property manager and above. I would 7 actually like to thank you for proposing 8 something that is reasonable in my eyes. 9 Open it to Board Members. 10 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Mr. Chair, 11 I wholeheartedly support your sentiments and 12 I agree with you. Thank you. 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: In that case I 14 will make a motion that in case number: 15 08-062 at 4100 Bridge Street that the 16 Petitioner's request be granted given the 17 fact that the request is based on 18 circumstances and features that are 19 exceptional to this property given the 20 frontage on the highways. And that failure 21 to grant relief will unreasonably prevent or 22 limit the use of the property as it will be 23 very hard to market this parcel and would 24 result in substantially more than a mere
58 1 inconvenience or inability to obtain a 2 higher economic or financial return. And, 3 lastly, that the granted relief will not 4 result in a use of structure that is 5 incompatible with or unreasonable 6 interference with adjacent properties given 7 the fact once again that it affronts a 8 highway and the speed and safety 9 considerations thereof. And, lastly, it's 10 not inconsistent with the spirit of the 11 Ordinance. 12 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Second. 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I would also go 14 ahead and approve it for a time limit of 18 15 months. 16 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Second. 17 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: There is a 18 motion and a second. Any further 19 discussion? Seeing none, please call the 20 roll. 21 MR. BOULARD: Member Ibe? 22 MEMBER IBE: Yes. 23 MR. BOULARD: Member Krieger? 24 MEMBER KRIEGER: Yes.
59 1 MR. BOULARD: Member Sanghvi? 2 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: Yes. 3 MR. BOULARD: Member Shroyer? 4 MEMBER SHROYER: No. 5 MR. BOULARD: Member Bauer? 6 MEMBER BAUER: No. 7 MR. BOULARD: Member Burke? 8 MEMBER BURKE: I would have to say yes 9 to Chairperson Fischer's very last motion, 10 yes. 11 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: I would like to 12 comment that that has nothing to do with the 13 actual (unintelligible) then you agree with 14 the findings of facts, though, right? Just 15 want to clarify that. 16 MR. BOULARD: Chairman Fischer? 17 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Aye. 18 MR. BOULARD: Motion is approved 5-2. 19 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Your variance 20 has granted for 18 months best of luck in 21 that area. 22 MR. LEMANSKI: Thank you. 23 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Going back to 24 our agenda seeing no other business before
60 1 the Zoning Board, I would like -- 2 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: I would 3 just like to thank you, Mr. Chair and former 4 Chair, Tim Shroyer, for being part of our 5 group and we surely will miss you and wish 6 you well in whatever you do next. Thank 7 you. 8 MEMBER SHROYER: Thank you. 9 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank you, 10 Vice-Chair Sanghvi. Any other comments? 11 MEMBER BAUER: It's been good to know 12 you. So long. 13 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Thank yo, 14 Member, Bauer. Seeing no other business 15 before the Zoning Board I will entertain a 16 motion to adjourn. 17 MEMBER BAUER: So moved. 18 VICE-CHAIRPERSON SANGHVI: So moved. 19 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: Motion and a 20 second. All in favor say aye? 21 BOARD MEMBERS: Aye. 22 CHAIRPERSON FISCHER: We are hereby 23 adjourned. 24 (The meeting was adjourned at
61 1 8:04 p.m.) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
62 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 4 I, Mona L. Talton, do hereby certify 5 that I have recorded stenographically the 6 proceedings had and testimony taken in the 7 above-entitled matter at the time and place 8 hereinbefore set forth, and I do further 9 certify that the foregoing transcript, 10 consisting of (50) typewritten pages, is a 11 true and correct transcript of my said 12 stenographic notes. 13 14 15 16 17 18 _____________________________ 19 Mona L. Talton, 20 Certified Shorthand Reporter 21 22 December 9, 2008 23 24
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