08-25-1994 Public Hearing and Regular Meeting ZBOA

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Page 2 of 5 Zoning Board of Adjustment Staff Report of 10/27/94 #V94-008 . That the granting of the variance will not be contrary to the public interest. . That literal enforcement of the Ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship because of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, shape, topography or other extraordinary or exceptional physical situation unique to the specific piece of property in question. "Unnecessary hardship" shall mean physical hardship relating to the property itself as distinguished from a hardship relating to convenience, financial considerations or caprice, and the hardship must not result from the applicant or property owner's own actions; and . That by granting the variance, the spirit of the Ordinance will be observed. Finally, the section states: "The applicant shall have the burden of proving to the Board that the foregoing conditions have been met." Regarding the issue of the ''best public interest", it would be useful to examine the requirements currently found in the Zoning Ordinance, specifically those dealing with driveway width and separation between driveways. However, as a preface to this discussion, it should be noted that the issue in question regards the use of public property. The driveway being requested is to be primarily located on the street right-of-way, not on the applicant's property. It is the City's responsibility to manage and maintain rights-of-way in a manner that benefits both individual citizens and the community as a whole. If there is a conflict between the desires of an individual property owner and best interests of the community, the City must act to protect the broader public interest. Street rights-of-way are put to three primary uses: conduits for vehicular traffic, stormwater drainage systems, and access to individual properties. While the City must certainly allow reasonable access to private properties, it must do so in a manner that facilitates safe traffic flow patterns and adequate stormwater drainage. The driveway regulations found in the Zoning Ordinance are intended to accomplish these ends. The standards are not a collection of arbitrary numbers chosen at random. Rather, they are based on sound design criteria and in the case of drainage, a hundred year's worth of local experience coping with stormwater in La Porte.