October 3, 2022 — Meeting Transcript
Full transcript
Speaker labels are inferred from the recording; proper names are corrected against the public record. How this works ↗
Okay. Thank you.
We'll start over. Good evening and welcome to the October 3rd Plan Commission ARB. No one is here. Do we have people? Yes, we do. Okay. So we do have people to respond to the items on the agenda. Ryan, we'll start with the roll call. Steve
Lichtenfeld.
Here.
Carolyn Gatiss. Here. Bob Denlow. Helen DiFate.
Carolyn Gatiss. Here. Bob Denlo. Helen DeFayette.
Here.
Kami Waldman.
Amy Waldman.
Here.
Sarah Berkowitz. David Gipson. Here. Okay.
Sarah Berkowitz. David Gibson. Here. Okay.
We have the minutes from the previous meeting on September 19th. Are there any additions or changes? Seeing none, do we have a motion?
I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Okay.
All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. We can move on to new business. The first one is 112 North Bemiston. And I see Randy Lipton is here. So Ryan will start.
The subject property is located on North Bemiston Avenue, just north of Maryland Avenue. This property is developed with a single family home and detached garage accessed via a shared driveway. There's currently a deteriorating railroad tie retaining wall on the north side of the driveway. The property owner would like to replace the deteriorating retaining wall with a limestone wall. ACM Conference 29th, The zoning regulations require that all new front yard walls, including material change receive approval from the architecture of the board before construction. ACM Conference 29nd, pertaining walls are common in the area and very in height color and materials that proposed wall does not exceed 36 inches in height, the wall starts approximately three feet behind the front yard line and runs along the driveway. The proposed wall is only visible from the south side of the property. The proposed wall will be made of limestone of varying beige tones. Staff is of the opinion that the proposed retaining wall is compatible with the surrounding environment and also compatible with materials match for the requirements for the R3 single family dwelling district and architecture design guidelines for retaining walls. The staff is recommending approval as submitted.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, Mr.
Lipton, do you have any comments to add to it?
Thank you very much for hearing this. I really don't. I think that it was covered. I will simply add that I purchased the house at 108 North Beamiston two months ago that adjoins 112 North Beamiston and the shared drive is the drive that I utilize as well as the neighbor at 112 North Bemiston. The wall in question belongs to the neighbor and I have agreed to do the work involved to take it through ARB and also to build the wall and I also agreed to pay a portion of the wall even though it belongs to the neighbor material because the neighbor was not planning on using natural limestone. And the wall is in disrepair and is failing. So the quicker we get
this done, the better.
Well, thank you. I agree the limestone will look very good. And thank you for taking it upon yourself to see that it's going to be done. And it will certainly enhance the appearance of both properties. But let's see if there are other questions or comments. Carolyn?
Yeah, is there enough room in your image to propose limestone wall? Will it be enough room for what you're showing as liriope in the front? Or is it right at the edge? Will it look like that image in your set?
Yeah,
it's on. Hello?
Mr. Lipton, did you hear that question?
I heard a portion of it, but I didn't hear a question in the comment.
Well, here, I'll put it closer to me. Will the image that you've shown us at the limestone wall with moriope or lily turf in front be what it looks like, or is there enough room? No,
there is not enough room. The existing shared driveway is only nine feet wide at its widest point. I tried to get the neighboring homeowner to agree to allow us to widen this a few feet. She would only agree to allow me to widen it 12 inches. And so we need all of that in the driveway. There is not going to be planting area in front of the wall. that proposed limestone wall that you see was a stock photo that had the planting and liriope in it.
Okay, I just thought I'd ask since-
Yes. That's
all I had.
Bob, it's a very nice improvement. Good luck to you, Rainey. Thank you. Helen?
I think it'll look good.
Kami? I
agree, it's a great improvement.
David, I don't have any questions. We have a
staff record. Does anyone else have their hand up? Guess not. We have a Staff Recommendation to approve as submitted.
I'll make a motion to approve as submitted
Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. When will we see the new wall?
We are scheduled. I actually have a contractor that has committed to beginning the work the first week of November.
Good. Well, good luck with it. It'll be a big improvement.
Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. We'll move on to the second item under new business, 144 North Emiston. Okay.
Ryan? So the subject property is located on North Bemiston Avenue, just south of Pershing Avenue. The property is developed with a single family home and detached garage access via the shared driveway. The property owner is seeking approval to regrade the front property and install a retaining wall. The existing wall will be taken down and replaced. The existing grade will be raised two feet. A new retaining wall will wrap the front yard to hold the grades. The retaining wall will be 12 to 18 inches above the new grade. Now that your graded front lawn will include new landscaping and a patio. Retaining walls and landscaping are common on this block of North Amiston. The street sits on a hill that peaks just south of the center of the block. Retaining walls are most common along driveways and property lines. Walls tend to match or compliment the primary structure with materials including stone, stucco or brick. Colors on this block tend to be various reds, browns and grays. The existing home was approved be repainted in off-white warm bone color by the Architecture Review Board in April of 2022. This repainting is currently in progress. The existing driveway and front papers are constructed of brick with varying shades of red. The proposed retaining wall will be Geneva dry stack with Indiana limestone caps, which all comply with material requirements. The wall color will be an off-white sand color with natural color variations. This is going to be similar to the color that the house is being painted. Existing brick pavers in the front yard will be reused as well. The proposed height of the wall varies from two and a half feet to four and a half feet. The proposed retaining wall will be 12 to 18 inches above grade for privacy. Although the retaining walls are common on this block, any wall serving as fencing or screening must abide by the guidelines set forth for front yard fencing in the R3 district. This limits any fencing or screening in the front yard setback to a maximum height of four feet above the existing grade. And staff is of the opinion that the proposed height should be revised so that the wall does not extend more than six inches above the finished grade of the interior or high side of the wall. This will result in a terraced open yard similar to other retaining walls in the area that will reduce the screening impact of the wall in the front yard. Front yard landscaping can be found in many different yards on North Bemiston, Many front lawns are impacted by the hilly terrain and use a combination of retaining walls and landscaping to improve the space. The applicant is proposing a combination of trees, bushes, and flowers around the perimeter of the front yard and the new patio. As currently proposed, the landscaping and wall improvements extend past the front yard property line. And while some retaining walls do extend into the public right-of-way, they often accompany a driveway or walkway that requires the retaining wall. Staff is of the opinion that the proposed design is compatible with the surrounding environment. However, the retaining wall as more of a permanent feature than landscaping should be relocated so as not to extend into the right-of-way. Revising the location of the wall would align with the property line will also increase the landscaped area at the sidewalk grade, creating an increased terraced effect and reducing the impact of a tall retaining wall on the sidewalk. The proposed design does result in reduced front yard coverage. The proposed coverage would be 501 square feet, which is a reduction of 25 square feet and results in front yard coverage of 38%. Staff is of the opinion that the proposed design is compatible in terms of materials and massing with surrounding neighborhood, and that the project scope extends beyond the front property line into the city right-of-way and should be reduced to stay within the property, and that the proposed project meets the requirements for coverage in the front yard. So staff is recommending approval with the following conditions. One, the applicant shall revise designs that retaining wall does not cross the front property line prior to the issuance of any permit and to the applicant shall revise the plans that the wall does not extend more than six inches above the finished grade of the interior or high side of the wall.
Okay, thank you. The applicant is there. Would you there. Would you unmute and identify yourself and give us any further information you'd like to share?
Is it Mr. or Mrs. Noonan?
Was any of my response heard? I'm not sure if my microphone was working.
We just heard a few words. We hear
you now. Okay, sorry. I think my microphone was muted and didn't realize it. Jake Edwards with Outdoor Creative Design, landscaping contractor working for Mr. and Mrs. Noonan. Everything that was addressed is accurate towards the project.
So do you understand and agree with the two staff recommendations?
Yes. So moving the rectangle back to where it's not crossing the front property line, and then also wanting to make it to where the rectangle is not any higher than six inches above the new finished grade. Is that correct?
Okay, and then my assumption is that the proposed landscaping would just move right along with the wall. Is that how you see it?
We will probably have to take some of the plants out for that new, they do have a new patio space going in in the front yard to kind of create a smaller front courtyard. So pushing the wall back will probably take some of those landscaping around that away. So we'll have some minor revisions as far as that goes, but I don't see anything major. Okay.
You can't really tell how many feet you would be moving the brick of a wall back.
So currently the face of the wall was about two feet off of the existing sidewalk that is there. And it looks like the property line is about six feet off of that sidewalk, so we'd be moving the face of the walk four feet back.
So you would have a much larger planting area between the sidewalk and the wall?
Correct.
Well, I think that will look much better and fit into the neighborhood also. Let's go through our ARB members. Carolyn?
Yeah, I have another question. Those particular crate models are how high?
So those will be about four to five feet tall at full maturity. That'll take a couple of years for them to get to that height.
Okay, so they're kind of blocking the view to the front door?
Yes, homeowners were wanting a little bit of privacy, so that's the reason that those were selected.
And then the columnar sweetgums?
Yes.
Those are along Y-down, just FYI, and they do produce the sweetgum balls, even though they say they don't. In my experience, they do because I walk that all the time. So it's kind of hit or miss. So if they're OK with that, that's completely up to them. But it says fruitless on here. Go ahead. I was
just going to say there is currently an existing larger sweetgum tree that's right off of the street, kind of in between the sidewalk and street. So typically, the slender ones, we even try to stay away with those because we do know that they do produce on occasion. Since I do have a larger sweetgum, it wasn't something that was a major concern.
So they're there anyway?
Yes.
Okay. I'm a little concerned about the height of the crepe myrtles just because it blocks the front door visibility. I wonder if you could screen the patio portion but leave the other portion lower, maybe increase the boxwood in that area or something? That's, you know, I think that's, is that part of an ordinance that you can't block the visibility to the front door address?
The address number, that's a part of the fire code. Is that part being visible? So they can have it in different ways on their property, putting one of the yard signs in or something like that.
Yeah. And with that, uh, with the Geneva dry stack wall that we were planning on doing, uh, we're planning on getting the address, uh, within the wall. Uh, I'm just going to get some like decorative address and kind of anchor it into the wall itself so that it can still be there.
Okay. That sounds lovely. Actually. Um, I didn't have any other comments except for, um, just this is totally up to the owner, but You only had one different dogwood than the other ones, and maybe just split the difference there. Just in case one of them gets a disease, you're not stuck with more dead than alive. You just never know. So to split it up, maybe that's just a suggestion. It's not a requirement.
Okay. Thank you for the suggestion.
That's all I have.
Bob? I have no problems with the plan.
Ellen?
Yes, I do have a question. Are you adding eight inches to the grade within the walls? Or are you adding two feet of soil?
So the plan was the homeowners currently have two steps coming out of the door. So they were wanting to get the grade level with the top of the second step, or I'm sorry rather the first step. So closer to the house that's about an eight inch difference and then further out towards the street it's about a two foot difference.
Okay, because at the southeast corner towards the house, you have add eight inches on the drawing. And then at the northwest corner, the furthest from the house, that says adding eight inches. But in between, like at the southwest corner, you're adding about two feet?
Yes, so... Part of the reason that it's just the way the current grades of the yard sit. So as part of planning for the walls, grades were shot and anywhere that it's marked as eight inches, that's what it was, was about eight inches that we were wanting to get up to that at the top of the first step. And then where it's marked is two feet. That was the difference there. So it's just getting all the grades level with that top of that first step that they were wanting.
okay and then if you agree with the staff recommendation to keep the wall six inches no more than six inches higher than the soil on the interior side of the wall then all of your top of walls will be reduced to one foot in essence you've got a top of the wall at five foot six at the Northeast corner and then the lowest point would be at the. So those who become 4 foot 6 and one foot.
Yes, yeah just they would want to be the homeowners are wanting the walls they're hoping to avoid it. A terrorist while they would like They would prefer to keep the top of the wall level all the way around. So yeah, we would be at about four foot six. Looking at the plan in the back left corner, and we would be at About one foot six on the right corner.
Okay, and I would point out that not only is the property line important to be behind the property line with the wall. But for the driveway that is just to the north, as you originally have it with the wall extending to the sidewalk and at a height of three and a half feet now, that's awfully high to see a pedestrian walking. And then when you add on the boxwoods that you're planning to plant there, Those grow quite well. I've used them myself. So you're really creating a problem. When you move back the wall, I would look at carefully the view that the neighbor to the north has as they come out of their driveway because cars pull out and it appears that they're pulling uphill on their driveway. So visibility is limited and people walk, and you certainly don't want to have the two meeting in an unfortunate situation. So just be aware of that at that corner. And then with the number on the wall, the house number on the wall That's great, but make sure that it's visible if you've got parked cars. Because it is a public street, so you cannot control who is parking there. And again, fire and police in an emergency, you want them there quickly. So other than that,
nothing.
OK, I will make note of all of that. in the revisions of the design, I'll keep notes of maybe changing around the way the backwoods are and the height of the wall. And then I will also talk with the homeowners about maybe even possibly getting the address and two different spots on the wall to increase visibility for the address for emergency reasons.
I have nothing to add.
David? Questions or comments?
Okay. Mr. Edwards, going back to the address on the wall, it seems like if you were to put it on the street side at the southwest corner, there would probably be fewer cars parked right there because that is the owner's driveway.
Yes, I know we were kind of planning on getting it close to that corner. The exact location hasn't been determined yet, but we were wanting it to be as close to the driveway as possible.
Okay. And we do have two staff recommendations. I'd like to add a third one, and that is placing the address on the wall, as we have discussed.
Okay.
Any further questions from you?
Mr. Edwards? No, I think we're good. Do we have a motion?
I'll make a motion to approve with the staff two recommendations and a third recommendation to place the home address on the retaining wall in the front.
All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. I'm sure you will submit any revised drawings to the staff.
Yes.
Thank you. When do you plan to have this completed?
As far as the revisions or the actual work itself? The actual work. I know homeowners are hoping to have it completed by Thanksgiving. With making the revisions, we'll have to see if that's actually possible. But it should be sometime around that time frame, like late November, early December is what we're hoping for.
Okay. Well, it's going to be a good improvement to that house in the neighborhood. So good luck with it.
Thank you
very much. I appreciate your guys' time. Okay. Thank you. That brings us to the end of our very long agenda tonight. Let's see if there are comments. Kami? Nothing. Ellen?
Nothing.
Tom?
Carolyn?
Nice to see a different landscape group submitting. That's my only comment.
David? Nothing tonight. Ryan? Nothing. Donna?
The next meeting we're going to have some members of the sustainability committee calm and will present some of the research that we did on solar panels after the last discussion
great. There will be seeing more solar panel applications come in. wouldn't surprise me. stephanie.
Nothing this evening. Thank you.
Well, we made a quick meeting. So thank you, everyone. We'll see you on the 17th. I'll be gone in the next three weeks. So you'll miss one meeting. For sure. Have a good trip. I will. Okay. Do we have a motion to adjourn?
I'll make a motion to adjourne.
Second. All in favor?
Aye.
Opposed? Okay. Thank you, everyone.