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Home My WebLink AboutStaff comments CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS Keith Bird Christine Donnell Shaun Wardle Charles M. Rountree olfe;;d¡ ân j MAYOR Tammy de Weerd CITY HALL (208) 888-4433 - Fax 887-4813 PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING DEPARTMENT (208) 887-2211- Fax 898-9551 IDAHO LEGAL DEPARTMENT (208) 466-9272 - FAX 466-4405 MEMORANDUM: Transmittal Date: January 20, 2005 City Council Hearing Date:Jn;fcÈfvE D Mayor and City Council Josh Wilson, Associate City Planner JAN 2 ¡¡ 2005 To: From: Re: Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church Parking Variance City Of Meridian City Clerk Office . Request for a Variance ITom Meridian City Code (MCC) 11-13-1 [A] (Off- Street Parking Required), to allow off-site parking, in the O-T Zone for 237 E. State Street, by Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church. (File No. VAR-O4-008). Planning and Zoning staff have reviewed the applicant's submittal, and we offer the following comments and recommendations: APPLICATION SUMMARY The applicant, Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church, has requested a variance ITom Meridian City Code (MCC) 11-13-I(A) to allow off-site parking to accommodate the construction of a small church located at 237 E. State Street, in the Old-Town (O-T) zoning district. The applicant is proposing to construct a small church on the property with approximately sixty (60) seats. MCC 11-13-5(8)(3) requires one (I) parking space per five (5) seats for churches, and per MCC the construction of a sixty (60) seat church will require twelve (12) spaces. MCC requires that all required parking be located off-street (MCC11-13-1), but due to the size constraints of the property, the applicant can only provide three (3) compact parking spaces off- street. Therefore, the applicant is proposing to provide ten (10) diagonal parking spaces on North Third Street. Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church has entered into a License Agreement with the Ada County Highway District (ACHD) in order to use a portion of ACHD Right-of-Way on North 3rd Street for the ten (10) diagonal parking spaces. The applicant is requesting reliefITom the following ordinances: . MCC 11-13-1(A)- Off-street Parking Spaces Required VAR.{)4.{)08 HolyTrinity.V ARdoc LOCATION The subject property is located at 237 E. State Street, on the southwest comer of the intersection with North 3rd Street. SURROUNDING PROPERTIES North: E. State Street; Single-family homes, zoned O-T South: Alley; Single-family homes, zoned O-T West: Single-family homes, zoned O-T East: Single-family homes, zoned R-15 CURRENT OWNERS OF RECORD Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church is the. current owner of the. subject property and Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church has submitted an affidavit of legal interest for the application pertaining to the property. REOUIRED FINDINGS According to Ordinance 11-18-1, Variances, the Council may authorize in specific cases a variance from the terms of either the Zoning or Subdivision Ordinance. Specifically, the Ordinance lists the following Findings (MCCll-18-3), all of which must be determined before granting a variance: "A. That there are such special circumstances or conditions affecting the property that the strict application of the provisions of this Title would clearly be impracticable or unreasonable; Staff recognizes that most parcels located in the 0- T district were not originally platted anticipating non-residential uses in the future. When the subject properties on this area of Meridian were originally configured, in 1897 with the Cottage Home Addition to Meridian, the lots were 50-feet wide and 120-feet deep. These dimensions are not very conducive to providing off-street parking for non-residential uses. With the amount of frontage this site has on Pine Avenue (68-feet), the City would recognize three (3) cars being able to park in front of this site (see MCC 11-13-4.F). Hours of operation are during non-traditional business hours (Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings) when demand for on-street parking spaces in the downtown area is low. Staff fmds that the proposed use is a low-impact use and that the requested reduction of off-street parking stalls will not significantly affect the other properties in the general vicinity. Staff fmds that requiring the construction of twelve (12) off-street parking stalls on this site is impracticable due to the existing dimensions of the property (68-feet wide by 120-feet long) and available on-street parking in this area. Further, staff believes that eliminating landscaping in this area to accommodate parking in the front yard would be detrimental to the overall feel and appearance of the Old- Town district. B. That strict compliance with the requirements of this Title would result in extraordinary hardship to the owner, subdivider or developer because of unusual topography, the nature or condition of adjacent development, other physical VAR-04'{)08 HolyTrinity.VAR.doc 2 conditions or other conditions that make strict compliance with this Title unreasonable under the circumstances, or that the conditions and requirements of this Title will result in inhibiting the achievements or the objectives of this Title; It is simply impossible to provide twelve (12) off-street parking stalls on this site, due to the dimensions of the subject parcel. The City has adopted goals, objectives, and policies that support mixed uses within the Old Town district. If off-street parking be strictly required for all properties in Old Town, staff believes that a majority of the properties would be restricted to a residential-only use and would not redevelop. Staff generally supports the redevelopment of the smaller, older lots in the original Meridian Township, as these conversions allow for a more vibrant downtown area. Staff finds that strict compliance with the City's parking requirements on this site would result in an extraordinary hardship to the developer due to the circumstances surrounding this property mentioned in the previous finding. Further, staff fmds that enforcing the conditions and requirements of the off-street parking ordinance will inhibit the objectives of allowing Old Town to be a mixed use area. c. That the granting of the specified variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other property in the area in which the property is situated; Staff anticipates that the variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other properties in the area. Further, the Council has granted parking variances to properties with similar situations within Old Town, and staff is unaware of any harmful impacts from these parking variances. Staff recommends that the Council reference any written or oral testimony provided at the public hearing, as well as staff s analysis, when determining whether or not the surrounding properties may be negatively affected by granting a variance. D. That such variance will not have the effect of altering the interest and purpose of this Title and the Meridian Comprehensive Plan." Staff finds that the issuance of a variance for reducing parking standards to allow the redevelopment of a small piece of property in Old Town will not have the effect of altering the purpose and/or interest of the Zoning Ordinance or the Comprehensive Plan. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff is recommending approval of the parking variance for the following reasons: . East State Street and North 3rd Street do currently allow on-street parking in this area; . Requiring the applicant to provide twelve (12) parking stalls on-site would be impossible due to the size constraints of the property; . Staff does not anticipate that this will be a high impact use. Hours of operation are during non-traditional business hours (Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings) when demand for on-street parking spaces in the downtown area is low. . Requiring the applicant to provide parking stalls in the front yard would be detrimental to the atmosphere of Old Town as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan and the Downtown Marketing Strategy; VAR-04-008 HolyTrinity.V AR.doc VAR.{)4.{)08 . That there are such special circumstances or conditions affecting the property that the strict application of the provisions of this Title would clearly be impracticable or unreasonable; That strict compliance with the requirements ofMCC would result in extraordinary hardship to the developer because of unusual topography, the nature or condition of adjacent development, other physical conditions or other conditions that make strict compliance with this Title unreasonable under the circumstances, or that the conditions and requirements ofMCC will result in inhibiting the achievements or the objectives of MCC and the Comprehensive Plan; Granting the specified variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other property in the area in which the property is situated; and The subject variance will not have the effect of altering the interest and purpose ofMCC and the Meridian Comprehensive Plan. . . . HolyTrinity.VARdoc 4