10-27-05 Regular Meeting of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

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Board of Adjustment 2/23/06 - #A 06-001 Page 2 00 Analvsis: The property owners/applicants claim that they maintain 14 acres of the adjacent pipeline corridor located to the west side of this property from North H Street to North L Street for livestock grazing. A copy of the lease signed in 1997 has been submitted in this regard. Owners of the lease maintain and have right of control over the total amount of 19 acres, of which the applicant's property is 225'x900' and the pipeline corridor is 450'x1800'. The applicant is requesting that their property line be extended to include an additional width of the pipeline corridor (450') to qualify for a kennel, per ordinance requirements. In describing the action of appeal, the Code of Ordinances states: In exercising the powers set forth in Section 106-88, the Board of Adjustment may, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made, and to that end shall have all the powers of the enforcement officer from whom the appeal is taken. The Board must find the following in order to grant an appeal: a) That there is a reasonable difference of interpretation as to the specific intent of the zoning regulations or zoning map, provided the interpretation of the enforcement officer is a reasonable presumption and the zoning ordinance is unreasonable. Current regulations are written in a clear manner which allows the enforcement officer to understand the intent of City Council as it relates to the breeding kennels location. This regulation has been in effect since the January 26, 1987 adoption of Zoning Ordinance #1501 and the regulation has not been proven to be "unreasonable". No reasonable difference exists regarding the interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance. Alternative remedies exist for the property owners in which they would be compliant with the Ordinance, therefore the Zoning Ordinance should not be construed as unreasonable. b) That the resulting interpretation will not grant a special privilege to one property inconsistent with other properties or uses similarly situated Current regulations are written in a clear manner that enables individuals to understand City Council's intent. This enables Staff to provide the information to others and be consistent in the enforcement of this regulation. This consistency in the enforcement of the regulation ensures no "special privilege" to anyone property. One of the objectives of the Zoning Ordinance is to eliminate and/or ameliorate nonconformities. Typically, the elimination of nonconformities is addressed when property owners decide to develop their property or expand their existing facilities. Granting this request would give the appearance of granting a special privilege to the property owners.