View Agenda for this meeting 
View Minutes for this meeting

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS ACTION SUMMARY

CITY OF NOVI

Regular Meeting

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 7:00 P.M.

Council Chambers | Novi Civic Center |45175 W. Ten Mile Road

(248) 347-0459

Roll call Members Gedeon, Gerblick, Ghannam, Ibe, Krieger, Sanghvi and Skelcy

Present: Members Gedeon, Ghannam, Ibe, Krieger, Sanghvi and Skelcy

Absent : Gerblick

Also Present: Charles Boulard, Director of Community Development, Elizabeth Saarela, City Attorney and Angela Pawlowski, Recording Secretary

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda: Approved as amended

Approval of Minutes: Approval of the June 12, 2012 minutes

Public Remarks: None

　

  1. Case No. 12-022 39500 Ten Mile road

    The applicant is requesting an exception from Section 28-5(2)a.1.i. of the Novi Zoning Ordinance to allow an additional 40.0 square foot ground sign for a business within a multi-tenant office building. The property is located north of Ten Mile Road and west of Haggerty Road.

    CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5(2)a.1.i. allows ground signs not to exceed 30 square feet or 1 square foot of sign area for each 2 feet of setback from the centerline of the nearest street center line, whichever is greater, with a maximum of 100 square feet.

    In CASE No. 12-022, motion to grant the variance as requested.

    The variance is based on circumstances or features that are exception to this property, and do not result from conditions that exist generally in the city or that are self created. Failure to grant relief will unreasonably prevent or limit the use of the property and will result in substantially more than mere inconvenience or inability to attain a higher financial or economic return. The grant of relief will not result in a use of structure that is incompatible with or unreasonably interferes with adjacent surrounding properties and will result in substantial justice being done to both the applicant and adjacent properties. Further it is not inconsistent with the spirit of the ordinance.

    Motion carried: 6-0
    Motion maker: Ghannam

  2. Case No. 12-026 2296 aUSTIN DRIVE

    The applicant is requesting a variance from Section 2400 of the Novi Zoning Ordinance. Applicant requests variance to allow construction of a sunroom/all seasons room. Construction of the addition would infringe upon the 35 ft. rear yard setback requirement found in Section 2400 by reducing the setback to 33 ½ ft. The property is located west of Old Novi Road, south of Walled Lake.

    CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 2400 requires that a site within a R-4 district have a minimum rear yard setback of 35’.

    In Case No. 12-026 , motion to grant the variance as requested.

    There are unique circumstances due to the physical attributes of the property, such as the narrowness, shallowness, shape or topography and other similar physical conditions. The need for the variance is not due to the applicant’s economic or personal difficulty. The need is not self-created. Strict compliance with regulations governing the area, setback, frontage, bulk, density, and other dimensional requirements would unreasonably prevent the property owner from using the property for a permitted purpose, rendering strict compliance with the regulations unnecessarily burdensome. The requested variance is the minimum variance necessary to do substantial justice to the applicant as well as other property owners in the district. Further the requested variance will not cause an adverse impact on surrounding property, property values, or to the use and enjoyment of the property in the neighborhood or the zoning district.

    Motion carried: 6-0
    Motion maker: Skelcy

  3. Case No. 12-027 44000 TWELVE MILE ROAD

    The applicant is requesting two variances from CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES Section 28. Applicant requests a variance to allow erection of two additional wall signs, in violation of the requirement that building in the OS-1 district with multiple businesses have only one such sign. Additionally, applicant requests a variance from the total wall sign square footage requirement. Applicant’s plan would exceed the maximum 65 square feet allowed by 10 feet, for a total of 75 feet of wall signage. The signs would identify the building as a location with available Urgent Care Services. The property is located north of Twelve Mile Road and west of Novi Road.

    CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5 (1)(b) in conjunction with CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5 (3) permits only one wall sign for sites in a OS-1 district.

    IN CASE NO. 12-027 Motion to deny the request, as proposed.

    The request is not based upon circumstances that are exception and unique to the property. They result merely from conditions that exist in the city. The failure to grant relief will not unreasonably prevent or limit the use of property, and will result in nothing more than a mere inconvenience or inability to receive a higher economic or financial return. Additionally the specific sign text of "urgent care" is already listed on the ground sign. The grant of relief would be inconsistent with the spirit of the ordinance.

    Motion carried: 6-0
    Motion maker: Gedeon

  4. Case No. 12-028 43263 CRESCENT BLVD

    The applicant is requesting a variance from CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5. The pertinent section allows a business in a TC District only one wall sign of not greater than 65 square feet, or 1.25 feet for every linear foot of contiguous public/private street frontage, whichever is smaller. The applicant wishes to place two 56 square foot signs on the property, one facing the parking lot, and the other facing Crescent Blvd. The additional sign would be placed on the rear elevation, which also has an entrance. The Code of Ordinances allows for separate additional sign above an additional entrance, however it restricts the size of such a sign to 24 square feet.

    CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5 (2)(b) in conjunction with CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 28-5 (3) permits only one wall sign for sites in the TC district, not to exceed 1.25 feet for every linear foot of contiguous public/private street frontage or 65 feet, whichever is smaller.

    IN CASE NO. 12-028 motion to grant the variance as requested.

    The request is based upon circumstances that are unique and exceptional to this property. The mall is being re-generated and has new drives which makes some buildings have two frontages, and that these conditions are not generally existing in the city. Failure to grant relief will unreasonably prevent or limit the use of the property and will result in substantially more than mere inconvenience or inability to attain higher financial or economic return. Grant of the relief will not result in a use of structure that is incompatible with or unreasonably interferes with adjacent or surrounding properties and is compatible with other businesses in the area. It will result in substantial justice being done to the applicant and surrounding properties and is not inconsistent with the spirit of the ordinance.

    Motion carried: 6 -0
    Motion maker: Krieger

  5. Case No. 12-029 24951 PORTSMOUTH DRIVE

    The applicant is requesting a variance from Section 2400 of the Novi Zoning Ordinance. Applicant requests variance to allow construction of a kitchen addition. Construction of the addition would violate the 30 ft. exterior side yard setback requirement found in Section 2400 by reducing the setback to 25.4 ft. The home is located on a corner lot. The property is located north of Ten Mile Road and West of Taft Road.

    CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINANCES, Section 2400 requires that a site within a R-4 district have a minimum exterior side yard setback of 30 feet.

    IN CASE NO. 12-029 motion to grant the variance as requested.

    There are unique circumstances and physical conditions of the property such as narrowness, shallowness, shape, water, topography or similar physical conditions. Further the need is not due the applicant’s personal or economic difficulty, but rather results from the fact that their home has two frontages. The need is not self-created. Strict compliance with the regulations governing area, setback, frontage, height, bulk, density or other dimensional requirements will unreasonably prevent property owner from using the property for a permitted purpose or will render conformity with those regulations unnecessarily burdensome. They spoke with their neighbors and homeowner’s association [which gave their approval]. The request variance is the minimum variance possible to do justice to the applicant as well as to other properties in the district. The requested variance will not cause an adverse impact on surrounding properties, property values or the use and enjoyment of surrounding properties in the zoning district or neighborhood.

    Motion carried: 6-0
    Motion maker: Krieger

  6. Case No. 12-030 1409 eAST LAKE DRIVE

The applicant is requesting a variance from the CITY OF NOVI, CODE OF ORDINACES, Section 2503 (1)(G), Section 2503 (1)(C), Section 2503 (1)(E)(1), Section 2503 (1)(E)(5) and Section 2400. The applicant wishes to build an 864 square foot garage in the rear of the property.

This accessory building will infringe upon the required 6 foot setback required by Section 2503 (1)(G) by 2 feet, leaving only 4 feet of setback. The required rear yard for this property is 2100 square feet under Section 2503 (1)(C). No accessory building may take up more than 25% of that sum. However an 864 square foot garage would occupy 41% of the required rear yard. Additionally, the 864 square foot garage would be 14 feet larger than the maximum allowed size for an accessory building under 2503 (1)(E)(1). It would also be 14 larger than the principal building on the property, which is 850 square feet. Section 2503 (1)(E)(5) prohibits an accessory building from being larger than the principal building on the property.

Finally, the addition of the garage to the property would create 1,714 square feet of developed space on the property. Under Section 2400, properties in an R-4 district may only develop 25% of the total lot square footage. 1,714 square feet represents 26% of the total lot square footage.

Section 2503 1(G) requires a 6 foot rear and side setback for accessory buildings in an R-4 district. Section 2503 (1)(C) requires that an accessory building not exceed 25% of a required rear yard. Section 2503 (1)(E)(1) states that an accessory building may not exceed 850 square feet. Section 2503 (1)(E)(5) requires that an accessory building not exceed the square footage of the main building. Section 2400 stipulates that in a R-4 district, buildings may not exceed 25% of the total square footage of a lot.

Section 2503 (1)(D) requires a rear setback of 35 feet in a R-4 district, and a minimum side setback of 10 feet. Section 2503 (1)(E) requires that an accessory building not be greater than 850 square feet and Section 2503 (1)(E) requires that an accessory building not be exceed the ground floor of the principal building in a R-4 district.

IN CASE NO. 12-030 motion to grant the variance as requested.

There are unique circumstances and conditions of the property, such as the narrowness, shallowness, shape, water and topography and similar conditions. The need for the variance is not due to the applicant’s personal or economic difficulty. The need is certainly not self-created. Strict compliance with regulations such as setback, height, frontage, and so forth would unreasonably prevent the property owner from using the property for a permitted purpose. The requested variance is the minimum variance necessary to do substantial justice to the applicant and the other property owners in the district. The requested variance will not cause an adverse impact on surrounding property, property values, or the use and enjoyment of surrounding properties.

Motion carried: 6-0
Motion maker: Ghannam

OTHER MATTERS

A Mr. Nick Valenti of 37925 Summit Drive addressed the board concerning placing a temporary for rent sign on one of his properties. He stated that if he was to comply with the signage ordinance, his sign would have to be placed in woodlands, and therefore would not be visible to passersby on Twelve Mile Road. His concerns were addressed by Director of Community Development Charles Boulard as they agreed to meet to discuss the matter at a later date.

ADJOURNMENT at 8:26 PM

Zoning Ordinance, Section 3107. - Miscellaneous.

No order of the Board permitting the erection of a building shall be valid for a period longer than one (1) year, unless a building permit for such erection or alteration is obtained within such period and such erection or alteration is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit.

No order of the Board permitting a use of a building or premises shall be valid for a period longer than one-hundred and eighty (180) days unless such use is established within such a period; provided, however, where such use permitted is dependent upon the erection or alteration of a building such order shall continue in force and effect if a building permit for such erection or alteration is obtained within one (1) year and such erection or alteration is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit.

Such time limits shall be extended for those applicants requiring site plan review to a period of thirty (30) days after the date of final site plan approval has been given by the City.

(Ord. No. 18.226, 5-12-08; Ord. No. 10-18.244, Pt. VII, 11-8-10)