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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20170918PC-Minutes.pdfPLANING COMMISSION Demery Bishop Ron Bossick Tina Gann John King Charles Matlock David McNaughton Alan Robertson CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND Planning Commission Meeting MINUTES September 18, 2017 CITY MANAGER Shawn Gillen COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR George Shaw CITY ATTORNEY Edward M. Hughes Chair Bishop called the September 18, 2017 Tybee Island Planning Commission meeting to order. Commissioners present were John King, Charles Matlock, David McNaughton, Tina Gann and Ron Bossick. Disclosures/ Recusa Is: Chair Bishop asked if there were any disclosures or recusals, there were none. New Business: Variance: Reduce front and side yard setbacks — Jane Fishman & Carmela Aliffi — Zone R -1B - PIN 4-0002-03-012. George Shaw approached the Commission and stated the petitioners are interested in purchasing a lot at the corner of Wilson and Naylor which is an undersized lot, 50 x 50. The setbacks are 20' front, 10' side and 20' in the rear. There are also two large trees the petitioner would like to save while building a residence but need a variance for the front and side setbacks. Staff feels the trees are of value and recommends approve of the request. Commissioner Bossick made reference to the Arborist comments. Mr. Shaw explained the current owner applied for a variance in 2008 and was approved and due to unknown circumstances, never built on the property. Commissioner Matlock asked Mr. Shaw if the adjoining property owners were notified of the request and was there feedback. Mr. Shaw stated the proper notification was done and no feedback has been received. He also explained he needs to get clarification of the exact number of feet the petitioner is requesting. Chair Bishop stated the lot has been vacant for some time and this is a great opportunity to move forward even with a variance request. Thomas Lee, 7 Naylor Avenue, approached the Commission and asked for clarification of setbacks. Mr. Shaw responded a variance would not be needed on that side, Naylor, as there is a large tree in the way. Chair Bishop confirmed the setback of 10' would be maintained on the side of Mr. Lee's property that adjoins the petitioner's. Carmela Aliffi approached the Commission and stated it is their desire not to take down any trees of the property and would ask the Commission approve their request. Commissioner McNaughton asked for an explanation of the flags that were on the property as that would indicate a much smaller house than what is shown in the packet. P.O. Box 2749 — 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 — FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org Ms. Aliffi indicated the proposed residence will be more of a 1 1/2 story residence rather than one story. Commissioner Matlock made a motion to accept as requested. Commissioner Gann seconded. Voting in favor were Commissioners Gann, Bossick, King and Matlock. Voting against was Commissioner McNaughton. Motion to accept, 4- 1. Map Amendment: Rezone parcel from R-1 to R -T — 15 Meddin — 76 Meddin LLC — Zone R-1 — PIN 4-0002-12-020. George Shaw approached the Commission and stated this is a 1.34 acre parcel and formally housed two large barracks from Fort Screven. One is nothing more than a foundation and the other still exists. The current layout is three apartments, in the R-1 District, and has been used as apartments as far back as can be traced so therefore it is a non -conforming multi- family three units and the unit number cannot be increased without a rezoning. Mr. Shaw stated the applicant proposes to renovate the building to historic standards, seeking historic tax benefits. The desire of the petitioner is to rezone to R -T, Residential Tourist, which allows for multi -family with special review and asking for eight units in the building and possibility of adding another building. There is ample room for parking and a possible pool. Due to the size and state of the building, he does not believe the property would never be used for a single home. Staff therefore recommends approval to R -T to save the building. Commissioner Gann asked if this would be long term rental. Ms. Shaw responded previously it was long term rental but currently in a state of construction. There was a discussion regarding the height of the building and it was determined the building might exceed 35'. Commissioner Bossick asked Mr. Shaw if the alleyway was the only access to the property. Mr. Shaw confirmed. Commissioner Gann asked if the property has been purchased or is there a contingency. Mr. Shaw stated he does not know. Chair Bishop asked if the proposed construction is in compliance with all historic guidelines. Mr. Shaw responded if the petitioner wants the tax credits there are strict guidelines by the Georgia Historical Society that must be followed as the City does not have guidelines. The exterior would retain the look from 100 years ago but the interior completely different. Josh Yellen and Brent Watts approached the Commission. Mr. Yellen stated the petitioner will be seeking to start tax credits for the property and will be preserving all the 100 year old trees that are on the property and restore the property back to the grandeur of the past. Commissioner McNaughton asked the cost of the repairs and does the petitioner have financial backing. Mr. Watts responded the estimated cost is approximately $1.5M and he does have financial backing. Chair Bishop asked if the pictures in the packet before them tonight were an actual representation of the proposed renovation. Mr. Watts confirmed. He stated he is working both with the Georgia State Preservation Office and the National Park Service, one being State and one being National. Commissioner Gann asked if this could become long term rental rather than short term. Mr. Watts stated it is not financial feasible for long term rentals. Commissioner Bossick asked for clarification of the access way, still being an alley. Mr. Yellen confirmed. Mark Nathan, 17 Meddin, approached the Commission to speak against this request due to the egress and ingress. He recommended the petitioner develop another P.O. Box 2749 — 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 — FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org easement for access. Commissioner Gann asked if Mr. Nathan would be just as opposed if this were a long term rental rather than short term rental. Mr. Nathan stated he would be less opposed but there still exists the problem of access. Carol Nathan, 17 Meddin, approached the Commission to speak against this request. She stated she would not be as opposed if this property were a long term rental. Charlie Cole, 17-A Meddin, approached the Commission to speak against this request. Mr. Cole made reference to the limited access to the property and would ask the Commission not to grant this request. Chair Bishop thanked Mr. Cole. Commissioner McNaughton made reference to the owner using the building as a warehouse. Mr. Shaw responded Staff will speak with the owner regarding that issue. Commissioner McNaughton then asked if the zoning were changed to R -T, what could be built on the property. Mr. Shaw stated multi -family and whatever else could be land planned but could not be used as a hotel. Chair Bishop made reference to the change in zoning. If approved would the petition have to come back for Site Plan Approval. Mr. Shaw stated if the petitioner just wants to restore the existing building, the petitioner would not be required to come before the Planning Commission. If the petitioner wants to go beyond that, change the site, add buildings, and/or pool, they would. As the footprint exists today there would not be additional requirements as it would be a residential structure. Mr. Shaw stated the petitioner can renovate the structure with the zoning change and go forward but any other changes to the property would have to come back for Site Plan Review. Chair Bishop asked if the fire department equipment can get to the property. Mr. Shaw confirmed. Additional comments were made by Mr. Cole regarding the access to the property. Josh Yellen approached the Commission and clarified the outlay of the lane is 13.5' wide. He stated it is not the intent of the petitioner to make the property a hotel. His client is trying to improve the property and would ask for approval. Commissioner King expressed his concerns with the ingress and egress. Commissioner McNaughton asked if conditions could be added to the motion. Mr. Shaw confirmed but will check with the attorney. Commissioner Gann stated she is in favor of saving the structure but has concerns with the future development of the property. There was a discussion regarding conditions of a motion. Chair Bishop recommended a motion include stipulations. Commissioner Gann asked if after the zoning was changed, a B&B could exist on the property. Mr. Shaw responded only after Special Review, Public Zoning. Commissioner McNaughton made a motion the rezoning from R-1 to R -T be approved with the conditions that include the developers obtain a second ingress/egress to the property and the development be converted historically to use as a B&B only. Discussion: Commissioner Bossick restated his concerns as the capacity of this Island and look at the Infrastructure there is an option for the building which would be a B&B but appreciates the comments regarding the number of units. When the area is rezoned, you have rezoned 1.34 acres. Commissioner Bossick expressed his concerns with the current state of the building. Being not second to the motion, motion fails. Commissioner Bossick made a motion to deny the rezoning request from R-1 to R -T. Commissioner Gann seconded. Voting in favor were Commissioners Gann, Bossick, P.O. Box 2749 — 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 — FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org King and McNaughton. Voting against was Commissioner Matlock. Motion to deny confirmed. Motion to deny carried 4-1. Site Plan review: Site plan review for adding a pool and rearranging parking on commercial lot — 1006 Hwy 80 — 1006 Hwy 80E LLC — Zone C2— 4-0026- 11-003. Mr. Shaw approached the Commission. He explained this is a mixed use building, has two residential units on the second floor, and commercial on the bottom floor. The application is requesting to add a pool to the back of the building and rearrange the parking. Mr. Shaw stated he has concerns: (1) one of the commercial units on the bottom floor is storage and there is no parking requirement for storage and (2) in the marsh buffer, all trees and plants are no longer on site. A tree permit was granted but the plants are also gone to include ground cover. Staff does not recommend approval due to stated concerns. Commissioner McNaughton asked if the pool is an attraction. Mr. Shaw responded no, it is for the two apartment units. Commissioner Gann confirmed that this is a residential pool. Mr. Shaw confirmed. Commission Bossick confirmed this is a C-2 designation for the building and asked if the owner will charge for the use of the pool. Mr. Shaw stated that would be a question for the petitioner. Chair Bishop confirmed with Mr. Shaw the proposed pool is allowable. Mr. Shaw responded it would be a detached accessory structure and is allowable and does not meet the requirement for parking spaces. Chair Bishop confirmed there exists a disregarding of the ground cover issue; disregarding of the marsh buffer by 100%; and the placement of the gravel. Mr. Shaw confirmed. Mr. Shaw made reference to Sec 3-090.1, Sec C-2, Exemption #H, which refers to pruning shrubbery. Commissioner Bossick confirmed the parking would be of the 90 degree and not parallel, the front portion of the building. He made reference to the bike rack as it can replace a standard parking and the standard parking would not be 8', it would be 9', which would push the ADA parking into the ramp area. Mr. Shaw confirmed but feels the bike rack space does not have to be 9'. Commissioner Matlock asked Mr. Shaw's recommendation regarding the number of parking spaces. Mr. Shaw responded he would recommend one additional parking space. Walt Freeman, 129 Lewis Avenue, approached the Commission and gave a history of the trees, bushes and gravel placement. Mr. Freeman stated they might have pushed the gravel back 2' passed where it previously was on the back of the property but left room to finish putting vegetation there. He continued stating the pool would help stabilize the long term rentals with the property. Mr. Freeman made reference to the parking issues, he felt at the time of submission of the Review; he had Staff's approval as they have met all parking requirements. He also does not feel the lower level storage space being commercially leased space and feels parking requirements have been met. Commissioner Bossick made reference to the proposed pool and asked for confirmation the pool would be just for the long term rentals and his personal use. Mr. Freeman confirmed at this present time and he explained his future plans for the property. Commissioner Bossick explained his concerns with the parking and decking of the pool if it were to become a 'oto pay venue". Mr. Freeman confirmed the pool will stabilize his ability to have vacation rentals in the two properties upstairs. He also confirmed appropriate vegetation will be P.O. Box 2749 — 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 — FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org added with developing of the property. Commissioner Gann asked how large the proposed pool is. Mr. Freeman responded the width is 13' wide and 85' long and the interior under the building is 8'. He again confirmed this would not be a "to pay venue" as this is a building block for the future but for right how he would like to build a pool, 13'x85'. Commissioner Gann expressed her concerns with the size of the proposed pool. Mr. Freeman again confirmed this would not be a "to pay venue" at this time but if it were to be in the future, additional requirements would have to be met such as parking. Mark Boswell, 103 Nassau Drive, approached the Commission. Mr. Boswell stated the upstairs units are now office as the plans are to gut the top and make residential and the pool is just for the renters of those two units. The reasoning behind the pool being 13'x85' is the fire department needs a minimum 75' of length for them to use for training. Mr. Boswell confirmed that the actual pool length is 76'. The engineer working with him felt they had met the parking calculations by Tybee ordinance. He did understand Mr. Shaw had issues. Mr. Boswell stated it is his opinion the parking requirements have been met. It was asked of Mr. Boswell if he could find one more parking space. Mr. Boswell stated in the affirmative but Tybee's Review Engineer does not want him to find a space. He will work with him. Chair Bishop asked Mr. Bowell to explain the line of disturbance as it looks as though it goes through the middle of the pool. Mr. Boswell approached Chair Bishop to clarify. Chair Bishop confirmed the disturbance line does not have an impact on the buffer. Commissioner Bossick confirmed the area where gravel is will be returned to its natural state. Mr. Shaw stated the buffer is to be natural. Commissioner McNaughton asked if the gravel is to be removed. Mr. Freeman confirmed the gravel will be removed. Mr. Shaw stated in reference to the parking issue, if there is a way to prohibit the now storage area to be leased space this would solve the parking issue. Commissioner King asked, in the future, keeping the same footprint, if the petitioner turned the storage area into another use, would they have to come back with another Site Plan. Mr. Shaw confirmed as the parking requirements would change. Commission Matlock made a motion to approve contingent upon adding one additional parking space; remove the existing over gravel in the protected area; and ensure all greenspace requirements are met. Commission McNaughton seconded the motion. Voting in favor of the motion to approve were Commissioners McNaughton, King and Matlock. Voting against were Commissioner Gann and Bossick. Motion to approve carried, 3-2. Commissioner Bossick made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner McNaughton seconded. Vote was unanimous to adjourn, 5-0. Meeting adjourned. Janet LeViner, CMC City Clerk P.O. Box 2749 — 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 — FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org