Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout20061211_agenda_mtg 1 PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIR CITY MANAGER Lawanna Tsoulos Diane Schleicher PLANNING COMMISSION Barry Brown, Vice Susan Hill, Vice Vice Charlie Brewer CITY ATTORNEY Sandy Chandler Edward M. Hughes Bill Garbett Honor Hutton Gene Kindrick Chuck Powell MINUTES Planning Commission Agenda Meeting December 11, 2006 – 7:00 p.m. Planning Commission Vice Chair Barry Brown called the December 11th agenda meeting to order. Other Commissioners present were Charlie Brewer, Sandy Chandler, Bill Garbett, Susan Hill, Honor Hutton, and Chuck Powell. Absent were Gene Kindrick and Chair Lawanna Tsoulos. Vice Chair Barry Brown reminded the Commissioners to review the Minutes of the November meetings for approval at the meeting on December 19th. City Manager Diane Schleicher told the Commissioners that City Attorney Bubba Hughes would be attending the meeting on the 19th. Maryann Dudley represented petitions for Site Plan Approval and a proposed Text Amendment to the Land Development Code Section 4-050 (F), District Use Regulations, for Chris Chandler to allow assembly halls in the C-2 district for property at 1126 Highway 80, PIN 4-0026-11-023, Zone C-2. Sandy Chandler recused himself due to the petitioner being his relative. Bill Garbett stated that the revised proposed Text Amendment received from Harold Yellin on 12/07/06 fell considerably short of what was requested. He cited occupancy needs, buffer requirements, parking issues, and various other concerns that were not addressed. Dudley said they have 19 parking spaces on the Chandler lot and an agreement with the owner of a vacant lot to park about 20 cars there. Garbett said that lot was not Chandler property. Dudley said no, but 19 spaces were more than they needed based on the square footage of the house. Vice Chair Barry Brown asked about the lower floor of the house. Dudley said it was not finished. Charlie Brewer said this was a new use being placed in C-2 so they need to develop a set of conditions for that building to be used as an assembly hall. He said just saying that the square footage fits an existing profile is not applicable because a total analysis was needed. The group discussed a letter dated 11/31/06 from Chatham County Fire Inspector Eric Phillips. Garbett asked if the Fire Inspector determined the maximum number of occupants. City Marshal Chuck Bargeron said he recalls 150 persons being discussed between Chandler and Phillips. Dudley said they do not advertise for more than 125 people, have never had an event that went over 125, and have never had to park on Butler Avenue. Brown asked about hours of operation. Dudley described a typical event and said that because of the noise ordinance they stop the music at 10:00 p.m. Brown asked Dudley to have the DNR flag the buffer and have surveyor Bert Barrett mark it on the Site Plan because parking may not be allowed in the 25-foot buffer. Garbett asked Dudley to be prepared to explain the A3 (amusement, arcades, art galleries, etc.) rather than A2 (banquet hall) selection. All agreed there were a lot of questions to be answered but the petitions would be on the December 19th agenda. Hubert Ellzey represented a Zoning Variance from Section 3-090, Schedule of Development Regulations, of the Land Development Code for 1 Shipwatch Circle, PIN 4-0021-17-017, Zone R-1-B. Ellzey asked for a zero lot line variance. City Manager Diane Schleicher said City Council would like a drawing of what the stairs would look like, and it would be good to provide that to the Planning Commission. Schleicher and Vice Chair Barry Brown recommended to Ellzey that Whitley Reynolds revise the survey to show the proposed steps. The item was placed on the December 19th agenda. Bart Skaggs represented a Minor Subdivision of Land petition for 24 Pulaski Street, PIN 4-0001-09-006, Zone R-1. He said they are proposing splitting the property in half because there were two existing structures on it when they purchased the property. He said the only drawback is that one of the lots would be a couple of 2 hundred square feet under the minimum requirement for a single-family dwelling but it is the old Fort Screven area where there are substandard lots everywhere. Skaggs said one side would be 3 feet from the line to the house, and the other side would be 6 feet, which is more than some of the properties in the area. Vice Chair Barry Brown asked if they recently purchased the property. Skaggs said they have owned it about 5 years. Brown asked if it was R-1 when they purchased it. Skaggs said yes. He said they remodeled house number 1 and that is their residence. Brown stated that the minimum lot size in R-1 is 12,000 square feet. Skaggs said maybe he misunderstood. Brown told Skaggs he was going to create two substandard lots of record. City Manager Diane Schleicher asked if it would trigger a variance. Setbacks were discussed. Skaggs referred Brown to the 1991 survey. Chuck Bargeron said the houses in that area predate zoning. He said a subdivision would be with the nature and character of all the other surrounding buildings other than those like the house that was built up on the battery and maybe the one next to it. Bargeron said almost all of them are nonconforming to today’s Land Development Code or requirements for R-1. Brown said with Skaggs creating a subdivision he would have to meet today’s standard. Schleicher agreed with Brown and added that Skaggs would have to get a variance if not meeting the requirements. Bargeron said that because it was not a simple subdivision it could not be handled administratively. Sandy Chandler asked about the closeness of the two buildings and if there was an issue with the Fire Marshal. Bargeron said it would not be creating something; it is already there. Bargeron said Skaggs has folks in the other units now that rent. He said it could be separated with a fence, a firewall, or fire sprinkler; there may be stipulations put on it. Skaggs stated the carport on the house on the battery is within a foot of the property line. Brown said a carport could go to the property line. Skaggs said the house that is behind it is less than 5 feet from the property line. Skaggs said they have more room between their two houses than most in the area. He said as far as safety, there is more than adequate access. He said they have adequate property. Brown asked the width between the two buildings. Skaggs said 9 feet. He said all the houses in the area are close together. He talked about a firewall taking up space between the structures. Brown asked about the paperwork. Schleicher said Skaggs needs to go for variances on each lot. The item was placed on the agenda. No one was present to represent a Zoning Variance from Section 3-090, Schedule of Development Regulations, of the Land Development Code for Jack Hogan for Lot 8, 1605 Chatham Avenue vicinity, PIN 4-0010-04-012, Zone R-2. The request was for a 5-foot variance on each side yard setback and a 5-foot front setback variance. Vice Chair Barry Brown stated that the front property line is the center of the road. Bill Garbett requested a larger copy of the drawing. The Commissioners requested that the Zoning Variance application state what was being requested. The petition was placed on the agenda. Vice Chair Barry Brown reminded the Commissioners that they will be addressing the Recodification of the Land Development Code at the December 19th meeting. Vice Chair Barry Brown reminded the Commissioners whose terms are ending January 31, 2007 to submit their resumes to Clerk of Council Vivian Woods by January 4, 2007 if they want to seek reappointment. City Manager Diane Schleicher encouraged those whose terms were ending to recommit. Commissioners interested in attending the GAZA Winter Conference on February 7 to 9, 2007 at Athens were told by Chuck Bargeron to submit their registration forms to him as soon as possible. Bargeron also told the Commissioners to let him know if they want to attend the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Erosion and Sedimentation Workshop Road Show in Savannah on January 18, 2007. Chuck Bargeron talked about the Skaggs subdivision petition. He gave an example of a house on Officer’s Row that was subdivided. Bill Garbett asked if that was larger. Vice Chair Barry Brown said that was a large house, not two separate structures, and there was a lot of land that almost met the minimum lot size requirement. Bill Garbett suggested they delay this discussion until the Public Hearing. Chuck Bargeron told the Commissioners that the March 14, 2007 Property Maintenance and Housing Inspector Course was code enforcement and not something the Commissioners would use. City Manager Diane Schleicher invited the Commissioners to the Master Plan Project Team meeting on December 12 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting adjourned.