07-24-2003 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment

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M Board of Adjustment January 24, 2002 #V 02-001 Page 2 hardship because of the circumstances unique to the property on which the variance is granted Except as otherwise prohibited, the board is empowered to authorize a variance from a requirement when the board finds that all of the following conditions have been met. ❖ That the granting of the variance will not be contrary to the best public interest. ❖ Mat 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 The Board must decide if the applicant's request to encroach into the 40' rear building setbacks, despite the provisions found in Section 106-522 Table B(2), is reasonable. The Board is charged with deciding whether all of the above conditions have been met. Staff cannot find evidence proving that a "hardship" exists. No unique physical conditions exist on the applicant's property that will prevent the project from complying with the City's "landscaping only in the 40' rear setback when adjacent to residential" requirement. Site plans for AB Clean Inc, located at 1440 Sens; and Catalyst Serving Inc., located at 1434 Sens Road, both met this City "landscape only" and parking space requirements. Furthermore, if the Board grants the applicant's Special Exception request SEtl03-006 and sets the parking at a minimum of 179 spaces, he can meet his parking requirements without utilizing this setback area for parking. (See SE#03-006 Staff report for more details.) In turn, this eliminates the need for this variance. In addition, the applicant elevated his property several feet. If this is the final elevation needed to assure proper drainage, this height reaches the middle of the residential lots' rear fences. Once a structure is added, screening with tall fast growing trees and scrubs will be needed to ensure that the proposed development does not cause privacy. issues for the residents.