11-15-06 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

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Zoning Board of Adjustment January 25, 2007 #V06-003 Page 2 of3 .:. That literal enforcement of the chapter 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 chapter will be observed. A review of the site survey for the property shows the existence of 25' wide easements (15' drainage easement + 10' utility easement) in the rear yard of the lot. The total square footage of the lot may easily accommodate an accessory building or proposed storage and utility use with the current lot's dimensions of width and depth. The applicant wants to construct a 30'x 40' building that will be 200 S. F. over the limit allowed by the Ordinance. The applicant states that the additional size is required for the following: . Garage/shop type facility used for storage of household items and Christmas decorations. . Other storage items, which are exposed to weather and other environmental conditions. . Home equipment, woodworking tools and other necessary items to be secured inside. . Extra space will allow ample maintenance area. The ZBOA 's final consideration is whether granting of this request, observes the spirit of the ordinance. There are no provisions in the Ordinance to vary from the size restriction based upon the intended use. Conclusion: While the reasons for the variance relating to the size of the building do not strictly conform to "physical hardship relating to the property itself' the building's intended use to store items and equipment that might otherwise be committed to open storage may be taken into consideration when rendering a decision. As a reminder, the Board considered a similar matter on July 22, 2004, for neighboring property at 1607 Willow View Street.