02-28-08 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment

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Board of Adjustment April 24, 2008 #V08-002 Page 3 Conclusion: .:. 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 The Board must decide if the applicant's request not to have exterior building design standards despite the provisions found in Section 106-680, 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 Code of Ordinances pertaining to fCl9ade ordinance in TIRZ No.1. The applicant believes that imposing current regulations will cause undue burden and incur expenses to accomplish this project. Loss of prospective tenants, jobs, and eventually tax base to the City will have a negative impact on the area. The applicant requests that the Board recognize this as a hardship. Nonetheless, Staff believes that applicant's request does not meet the test for hardship for the following reasons: First, while the tract has an "even shaped" configuration, this has not precluded or impaired development. Furthermore, the amount of acreage available will not impose a burden on development. Second, it does not meet the standards that Planning and Zoning Commission, and City Council wish to pursue within TIRZ # 1. In addition, it clearly goes against the new regulations approved by the City. Staff believes this defies the intent of the Zoning Ordinance, and that granting this variance would not be in the public's best interest. Variance Request #V08-002, which seeks a variance for allowing no fayade on sides or back of the buildings, is not in conformance with the City of La Porte Code of Ordinances. The applicant has not shown that circumstances unique to his property exist. Based on the facts outlined in this report, the conditions needed to grant a variance do not exist. In addition to the likelihood of an adverse impact or viability of the overall project, the parameters for the requested variance, in staff's opinion, does not appear to meet the provisions established by Section 106-192 Variances.