Board of Adjustment - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the uh June 20th, 2026 Board of Adjustment meeting to order. Please join me in in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Can I have a roll call, please? Chairperson Sbert here. Vice Chairperson Mooney here. Member Phillips here. Member Clauss here. Member Phyllis Pig here.

We have five for a quorum. Okay, great. Also like to uh introduce some people that are here today. We have Amy Stark who is our community development director and we also have our city attorney Dave Strubal. Yes sir. Very got that one right. Our court reporter Sue Moody. Also in attendance we have a couple of our aldermen Robin Hughes, Ron Harrell, and our city mayor Mr. Joe Morath. And on that, let's do we have the uh city attorney statement?

Yes. The uh the proceedings in tonight's meeting will be recorded by a court reporter for future transcription if needed. All speakers will be sworn in before speaking. Please remember to speak directly into the microphone in a clear voice and only address the board at all times. No discussion between the parties will be permitted as the court reporter will not be able to accurately transcribe multiple persons talking at once. The city code, all ordinances, and the notice for tonight's public hearing are present for review and made a part of the official record. For each petition, the applicable application with all submitted attachments, the city officials denial of the permit request, and the staff report are also available for review and are made a part of the official record. Each applicant is reminded that the burden of proof of the necessity for the variance is on him or her. A variance is granted to relieve unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the municipal zoning code as determined from the facts presented and is not to be construed to be setting a precedent for future variance request. The board will only consider the nature and conditions of the property and whether these factors mandate a variance. The concurring vote of four members of the board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the community development director. Approval is subject to written acceptance of the terms herein by the petitioner within 30 days after receipt of the written notice of approval from the city of Fenton. Board members may ask questions to clarify the facts presented. The applicant may request a

continuance at any time during the hearing prior to a call for the vote to bring in additional documentation. The board may also request a continuence to gather additional information or for further visit to the Thank you. Now, anyone who wishes to speak before the board, please step forward to the microphone and state your name for our court reporter and our members on Zoom. Amy Stark, community development director.

Leonard Walter, president, owner of St. Louis Marble Company. Thank you. Okay. Do you swear that the information you will share here before this board tonight is the truth and the whole truth to the best of your knowledge? I do.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Please be seated. Our Yeah, just give me a minute. Okay. Since we have no old business, we'll go right into the new business. We have before us case 2026-V01, a petition by Leonard Walter. Okay. Thank you. of the St. Le Marble Company for a variance from the section 415.160E2 of the zoning code for a proposed off- streetet parking area to encroach the required 10-ft side landscape buffer area at 1565 Fen Park Drive. The property is on BP3 Business Park District. Miss Starks, do we have everything in order to hear this case? Okay. Would you like a staff summary?

I sure would.

Okay. Uh, the property is currently improved with a,400 ft office warehouse building that was constructed in 1973. The petitioner is proposing to redevelop the property um to construct a new 24,500 ft building for the existing tenant, St. Louis Marble Company, who has occupied the building since 2004. The redevelopment will entail uh removing the existing building um removing and reconstructing the parking lot and removing the southern entrance and providing a new entrance on the north side of the lot. Um in order to provide access to the proposed loading docks and um uh sorry I lost my place. um to provide loading docks um on the north side of the of the property. Um the off- streetet parking area will encroach the required 10- foot buffer and provide a zero foot buffer along the north side. Um that does require a variance. Um if the requested variance is approved, this proposed redevelopment will still need to go through site plan review for the with the planning and zoning commission and board of alderman. Um at that time, staff uh will review um for compliance with the code. And we do have some concerns with potential circulation, particularly the uh loading and maneuvering spaces for the trucks and access to the lot for emergency vehicles. Um minimum required parking spaces, but again that will be addressed under plan review if the proposed variance were to be approved.

Okay. Thank you.

All right, sir. Would you like to explain uh just what you're looking for here? Uh so our hardship is created by the inability to receive and dispatch trucks under current conditions and possible future expansion. Our property at 1565 Fen Park was constructed in 1973 and lawfully developed in accordance with zoning and engineering standards in effect at the time. The site was designed during a 40-foot trailer era prior to the adoption of modern over the road truck standards. Since construction, two significant regulatory changes have occurred. Number one, the expansion of allowable trailer lengths to 48 feet in the 1980s and 53 feet following federal authorization after 1991. And number two, the adoption of landscaped buffer and beautifification requirements in 2018. These post construction changes materially reduce a maneuverability area on site and limit the ability of modern trucks to access existing loading facilities. The hardship associated with the request is not self-created and results from external regulatory and industry-wide changes. The request represents the minimum relief necessary to allow continued reasonable industrial use of the property. Granting the variance will not increase traffic intensities or create adverse impacts on surrounding properties or public welfare. So basically the way our building is even currently situated uh where our loading dock is I only have 90 ft from the loading dock to the back of the property and today's trucks are up to 70 ft in total length. we can't even accommodate a normal truck uh under current conditions. And that's one of the reasons we're doing the expansion and asking for the variance on the north side of the property. And also, please

keep in mind on the north side of the property right now, there is no beautifification zone. So, there won't be anything taken away. There just won't be anything added. All right. Thank you. Any questions for Yes. Um, first I want to thank you for being a business in our city. We really appreciate that. Um, there are concerns about safety. Is there anything that you can do that would be able to accommodate your needs and within our code?

We don't believe so. Uh, we've had many engineers look at it. I've had other contractors that specialize in loading docks and facilities. And the whole problem is if you look at the current um picture of our building, we can't accommodate them the way it is and we don't have the current uh beautifification zones. So, we can't go any deeper into the lot or we'd be in the neighbors trying to back in. I mean, quite honestly, a lot of these trucks now are getting stuck at the end of our lot attempting to back into our current loading dock. So, the easiest way really to do it would be a front loading dock, but those aren't um those aren't allowed anymore either. So, this is the best we could come up with and still not change that much since there's not a beautifification zone there the way it is. I'm not really even sure in my mind that you could fit a beautifification zone on my side and the neighbor side if they were decide to change anything. I'm not sure there's enough distance there either. Could you not make your footprint smaller?

Yes, but that wouldn't accommodate our needs at all. Okay. Yes, ma'am. We did look at that. So, the North Side Drive that you want to use that is also used by your neighbor business as well? No, they're not shared and there's no easement there. There's a part, not a partition, but it's just wide open. So, we we maintain our side. They maintain their side. So, do they do they enter their property off of Axminster by chance or No, just off of Hen Park. They do.

You see the black line between the Yes, I do. I drove by there. I gotta be honest, I didn't drive back in there to see what it looked like. So, I'm just curious how those guys get back to their lot. But their their trucks pull in and back up into their dock. They do. Okay. They have to back back out.

Once again, I mean, it goes back to the the building was put in 1973. And if you look and I can go over I have sizes and trucks and how all the changes have come, but they were they were so much smaller and more maneuverable back then that these buildings the way they were placed work fine then, but at this time they really can't accommodate a standard over the road truck and that area has quite a few front entry loading docks. Okay. Then I also notice you're cutting down on your parking spots. Yes.

From existing to the current. Is that within code for us as well? Amy, uh, that would have to be reviewed under site plan review because we would determine the parking based on the square footage of the office space and the square footage of the of the warehouse space. So, um, I can't say for sure without knowing what the square footages would be. Um but we do uh allow for a reduction in parking to be reviewed by the planning and zoning commission um under uh special use permit. Thank you.

And we haven't push the civil engineers on that yet because we don't want to turn them loose with our checkbook until we know what's happening tonight. Okay, fair enough. Uh sir, uh on the north side there, uh on your new drawing, uh you're going to have two docks there. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Are they going to they're going to have the back end off of Fen Park? Correct. And um we aren't going to you aren't going to widen that anyway because I know there's a telephone pole there that

uh we'll have to relocate the telephone pole and there the entrance will be slightly widened and we'll remove the south entrance to the parking lot. So, how much space would that be between the building and your property that these guys these trucks are going to be parking on? What what width are we talking? Do you you follow what I'm between the edge of the building and

Well, I'm look I'm looking at this one exhibit I guess exhibit three and the front of the cab the cab of the truck looks like it's off your property. I you know based on this picture I don't know what that means but um I just don't know how much maneuverability is that going to be over there. Are we going to kind of cause another cluster mess if you have two trucks? Yeah. And that's the one of the engineers drawings that we had in the beginning. We asked him why why is that out there? He said that's the best drawing I can do. Okay.

Because we're not we're not planning on uh going for an easement or any kind of shared drive. We use our do our docks once a week for an hour. It's not, you know, I know some facilities leave trucks there and whatnot. At our facility, it's pretty much an in-n-out process. Both docks, it would be extremely rare to utilize both at the same time. But we did have um a company look at it and look at the space to okay it they're they're professional dock company that yes, you can bring trucks in at this size. And that's where they came up with the distance from the side of the building to the end of our property. relying on those truck drivers. That's pretty tight.

Yeah. Well, I was also told just be be ready for a couple of bumps here and there. Okay. So, Amy, is there 25 ft from the building to the property line? Um the building as it's drawn will meet the the setback requirement. Yes. So, it's 25 ft. Um the buff between the buffer and the setback the the setback is um 15 feet for um sorry uh it's 15 ft on the side and so the building will meet that 15t setback requirement. Okay. Okay. So a total of 25 ft then what we're talking about.

No it would it's a it's a 15t building setback and a 10ft buffer. 25 ft. The the 10 feet would be within the 15t buffer or 15 foot setback from home. Okay. Okay. And on the south side of the building, we don't currently meet the requirements, but if we do this, then we will meet the requirements on the south side of the building. Sir, I thought I I read where you're going to tear this building down and put a new one up. Yes, sir. That's the next plan. So, we'd have a state-of-the-art best looking building on Fen Park.

How far off of Finn Park would your parking lot be? I know it's going to be pushed out. Uh, I don't believe that the parking lot's going to really change any. Oh, it isn't. If you look at the at the the current building is really two buildings. There two Butler buildings sitting side by side.

Yeah. Basically what we'd be doing is extending the south to the west and the north to the east to come up with the same footprint basically. is your neighbor to the north. Uh does he know what your plan is as far as uh I haven't spoken to him personally, but I would I mean the the day I turned the application, I don't know if that's when the sign got put up or the next day, but it was the the sign with all the information was there. Yeah, it's been up a while. Yeah. I was just wondering, but apparently if they had a problem, they would uh

it really won't affect them. Okay. So, you said that you barely have a truck there longer than an hour for loading, unloading. Worst case scenario, you have two trucks there parked. Is an emergency vehicle going to be able to get past those trucks? Uh, that's something Amy brought up today that my civil engineers are going to have to look at tomorrow. But they could get around those trucks going onto the neighbor's property.

Uh, Mr. Chairperson. Yes. Mike, could I go ahead with a couple questions for Go ahead, Michael. Okay. Uh, Mr. Walter, you had said that you your deliveries are pretty infrequent. How many deliveries do you get per week or per day or or distribution? Take in two deliveries per week. It it could be one two two per week and then maybe one outbound uh per week, but we don't do as many outbounds with 18 wheelers as we actually just take in some material.

Okay. So, I think there was some concern about backing off then park in in um one of those rigs, but it's not going to happen that often. Do your do your deliveries or your uh shipments occur like any time during the day or or is there a certain time that you 8:00 and Thursday morning at 8 o'clock?

Okay. Um I see in your plan some things I really like. Um, you know, one of of course it was already mentioned, your long-term business with us, which is much appreciated. You're you're eliminating one of your entrances and turning that into green space, which is cool. Um, you you've got the new buffer zone on the south side, which you didn't have. And also, um, your building looks like it's going to be fantastic for you. Um, I think that no change to the north side. Like you said, there really wasn't any beautifification there. And it's kind of a there's even some newer businesses in the area that have a similar situation. But, um, the only concern I had at all was that, um, you're going to have some trucks back in in, but that's not that uncommon in the industrial park anyway. So, um, that was really, uh, one one other thing actually, your your paved surface on the north side of your building to to where from your property line to your building looks like it's going to be somewhere around 25 ft. What? Two 10ft lanes plus a sidewalk kind of area. Is that about right?

Yes. Okay. All right. That's all I had. All right. Thank you. The buildings of this type in that area, I you'll probably be seeing a little more of this in the future because they are becoming outdated. There's there's just no two ways about it. And that's why we propose to put in a nicer, better looking building. We want to stay in the Fenton area. We've been there since 1988 uh or 98, I'm sorry. We really don't want to go anywhere. This would uh I think fit everybody's needs very well. Another question.

Um so what what we look at is is hardship and practical difficulty. Help me understand what your hardship andor practical difficulty is. My hardship today is I cannot currently take in an over the road truck. That creates hardship for any business that wants to bring in a delivery with an 18-wheeler. And you couldn't do that by reducing your footprint. Uh that would create a larger hardship, I believe.

I mean, we we would have to cut down part of the building on on the on the west side of the property. Anyone else? Any anybody else have any questions? Amy, have we heard from any residents or businesses regarding this variance? No, we have not. All right, then I'm going to close this portion of our meeting. Um, thank you, sir. Thank you.

Anybody have any questions amongst ourselves? Member Pig, you have any questions? I do not. Okay.

Okay, then I guess I would ask for a motion on this variance. Well, then I will make a motion to approve case 206-V01 as stated earlier with the following conditions. One, this approval is solely for a variance from section 415-160E2 for a proposed off- streetet parking area to encroach the required 10-ft side landscape buffer area by 10 ft, creating a 0 foot side buffer area as indicated on the site plan submitted with the application and dated December 19th, 2025. Number two, the proposed development will require separate site plan review and approval by the planning and zoning commission and board of alderman. Number three, compliance with all other applicable city codes and ordinances. Do I have a second?

Second. Have a second. Uh, roll call vote. Chairperson Sbert I. Vice Chairperson Mooney. I. Member Phillips. I. Member Clauss. Nay. Member Phyllis. Pig. I. Motion approved.

Motion is approved. You can get with Amy for the rest of your duties here. What you have to follow through to get this uh plan done. But thank you very much. Okay. Moving on. Did I find my sheet?

Oh, thanks. We need approval of the minutes from July 15, 2025. So, move. We have a motion. Do I have a second? A second. Okay. It's approved. Uh, we have no other business. I do need a roll call for that. Oh, excuse me. We need a roll call vote on member Clauss. I. Member Phillips. Chairperson Sbert. I. Vice Chairperson Mooney. Hi. Member Phillips Pig. I. Motion approved. And we also have approval of the workshop minutes. Oh, I have to do that one, too. Yes, please.

Do I have a motion to approve the workshop minutes? Miss member Claus. Do I have a second? That motion. Do you have a second? Roll call. Second. Double second. Roll call, please. Member Claus. I. Member Phillips. Hi. Chairperson Sbert. I. Vice Chairperson Mooney. I. Member Phyllis. Pig. I. Motion approved. Okay. We have no other business. Do we have anything on the agenda for next month?

We did not receive any petitions. So, we will not have a meeting in February. No meeting in February. It would be another 6 months. Okay, then I got on my sheet. I like to close this meeting. Do I have to have a roll call vote for that, too? Yep. I need a motion. A second, please. I need a motion to close this meeting. Close this meeting. Okay. Do I have a second? I have a second. Prime Miss Claus. Uh, roll call vote, please. Member Phillips. I. Member Clauss. I. Chairperson Sbert. I vice chair person. I member Phyllis Pig. We are adjourned. Cool. Thank you. Thanks everyone. Thank you everyone.