Board of Zoning Appeals - Regular Meeting

So will everybody stand for the pledge of allegiance, please? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And I'll do a quick roll call. Mr. Basset here. Mr. Fitzky here. Mr. Huck here. Thank you. Uh we have um uh on the docket here. Is there a motion for approval of the previous minutes from January 29th?

Second. A second. All those in favor say I. I. Janice. Okay. Uh first item up for bid here in the public hearing. We have uh Gity RV Storage um Commissioner here to present the request.

Yeah, I'm Dwayne Gir and my parents own the property, Richard and Linda. That's in question. Um it's been a trucking company uh since approximately around early '7s and uh at one time where the campers are now there is u there used to be 13 14 trailers seven or eight semiis that were kept on that same parcel. uh when uh Lucas and the inspectors came out and said we were in violation, uh we have moved all the campers out of where the uh residence is located. There's two parcels on this property and uh so uh we've moved uh moved or removed 12 units, boats, campers like that. Um I don't know. Let's see what pictures we got here. So where the trucks are there, that's where the campers are. Um and um it just the trucking company buil uh we hauled for two companies, one out of Anderson, one out of Fortville. And we used to haul stuff in those tankers. And when we when those companies went out of business, uh a lot pretty much just sat empty. Sometimes some tree people uh would come and say, "Hey, we're working on some trees in your area. Can we park here?" Or uh utility companies would do the same. And uh five or six years ago, somebody knocked on dad's door and said, "Hey, uh our HOA won't let us have a camper in their area, in their homes, and uh would you mind if do you let campers stay here?" And that's how it kind of got started. There's no advertising, nothing like that. It was just one of those deals. And then it seemed like

when one person in the neighborhood found out that you could park your stuff there that close to their housing additions, uh, it kind of snowballed and he pretty much turns down one or two people a week that are trying to abide by the HOA rules. And um back when dad was in high school, he farmed this land uh for his uh grandma and grandpa. Uh McCord was their last name. So it's been in the family around 80 years. Needle Barner.

Um like we said, if you uh Okay, if I go up here In that first slide, that's where the trucks were, the semiis. Um, and then there was some here and there was one a couple behind the barn and some here in what we used to call the garden. And all those are gone now. Everything is just into this one area. And uh let's see here. We haven't added any new lights as far as light pollution or anything. The lights are there where the property when the trucks were there. Just one lot in the corner, one light in the corner and one light hanging off the barn. Uh no new no new buildings or anything since the trucking company went out of business. Uh it's about all I got. I mean, we're not wasn't trying to do anything wrong or, you know, under the law or anything. And like I said, the trucks have been there. So, at one time, we were understanding and that was probably when Hamilton County had it before Fisers moved in and, you know, the term grandfathered was sort of thrown around. Never got anything in writing or anything, but like I said, the trucks were always there and nobody complained then. So no, I don't know what changed besides Fischers, you know, incorporating out that far even though it's still a Fortville address, the Fortville zip code.

Okay. Well, thank you, Mr. Any questions? Uh, we'll hear from staff and then then we'll call you back up if we have some questions.

You all, good evening. Luke Smith, zoning administrator, the city of Fisers, filling in for Grace Wy. Item for you today is a request for a land use variance from section 5.1.5 of the city's unified development ordinance to allow RV storage on a lot zoned R2 residential. 7198 Southeastern Parkway. It's located at the northwest corner of Southeastern Parkway and Atlantic Road. It is made up of two parcels. This property is zoned R2 single family residential and is regulated by the city of UDO. The surrounding area is R2 residential and estate residential. The Fischer 2040 plan uh designates this site as neighborhood service center. The purpose of the neighborhood service center district is to provide daily retail uses and personal services for surrounding areas. The variance request does not conflict with the comprehensive plan. Um some history of the property. The property has been owned and occupied by the petitioner's family for at least 75 years. The northern lot has been used for commercial vehicle storage since at least 1974 per GIS aerials. It has been used for RV storage for the past 5 years. The reason the RV storage does not come in as a legal non-conforming use is because that business didn't start until after the zoning was in place. No public comments been received on this request. Staff has a recommendation for approval to the Board of Zoning Appeals, Fall Creek Board of Zoning Appeals for this request. Should the board approve this petition, staff recommends it be done with the following conditions. the RV storage be entirely located on the northern parcel as to separate uh the residential from the business activity. Uh the RVs be stored only on paved

surface as to bring up standard that all vehicles be parked on paved surfaces in the city and that the approval letter and related documentation be recorded on the property with the Hamilton County Recorders Office. Staff is available for questions. So your contention is that the storage of vehicles of these RVs happened after five years ago. Correct. So you don't So you're distinguishing between previous truck storage in these RVs. Correct. Just for for curiosity sake, is it like a you can park here for a donation or is there actually like an incorporated business involved with this?

I paid surface I assume the gravel lot would qualify as that. You're not you're not you're not saying that. No, but the board does not have to staff's recommendations. I just wanted to clear what your your recommendation was. There's no pave service there now at all. Pardon me. There's no pave service there at all. Millings actually from the city of Fisers.

It's asphalt milling from road resurfacing projects. I'm inclined on that that point to not be a stickler on the paving because it's something that's been there for 50 years. It's not it's not a new use. It's not a change in use with regard to the surface lot. From that standpoint, how I feel about the RV storage versus truck storage situation there before. Is there any plans for uh and this is just comparison sake years ago over by Holy Spirit of guys there was some boat storage over there. I think they had some kind of screening from the road. Any thought or con consideration of any screening from the road that would

basically the woods uh the woodline heights from the house behind us on Atlantic Road and then the trees on the neighbor's house to the west. They have blocks at one place. You can see it's right across from the II entrance. Yes. Yeah. Their entrance is right at the back of ours. Yeah.

When there's time to ask questions. I had a question about like what we could do. Um, is there a way to to put something to where there'd be an end date to it where like this whatever ruling we have would end with in a specific amount of time just because of in 20 years from now somebody else takes the property and they think they can park a million cars on that just because we allowed it. Typically don't do that with respect to a term of years. You could do that with respect to some triggering date uh into the current ownership for example or something along those lines.

Uh we do need to have uh open up for public hearing here as well. So uh if there's anyone who would like to speak, we'll go ahead and open it up for public hearing. Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing. Um, so, uh, Ronnie, to your point, you're saying, um, as we've we've done with other situations, approved variance of use goes with ownership and expires at, uh, ownership transfer.

Yeah. I mean, usually when you're dealing with something like what you're talking about, there's a business involved, a certain company. When that company no longer uses the land, then the variance goes away. In this situation, it's individually owned land. And so, you know when when the current owners pass the variance to continue the variance has to be renewed come back for another variance or you could I mean it's really it's a condition that you all place on your decision so you could say runs with the current title holder or to the title holder's heirs or whatever you want to I was going to ask that is this property in the entire family's name is it isn't the parents name

right now. It's in the parents name. Do you guys remember what you did on the wheel as far as the property? It goes to you and my brother Todd, it goes to us. So, if we were to stipulate owners or errors, that would that would theoretically then pass it along to them. But that would end at that situation. It would end once it once it was sold to somebody that was not one of their children, for example. If it's sold to a commercial or somebody else, then that that variance will

and you could stipulate that it's just for RV storage so that we have a specific type of thing. It's not used cars and absolutely. Okay. Is there a um anything zoning regarding uh if we were to approve the RV storage certain number of vehicles or or um coverage of the lot? Some of these can be pretty compact and pretty dense. Others are. No, it's just one row of them. Is there anything regarding that?

Yeah. Um, as far as the zoning requirement, no, because I mean, it's a residential use, so technically none of it's allowed. I do believe that's a condition they could place. I don't know what that would I don't know what would be appropriate off the top of my head. Can you see that arrow that showed what the program? Yes. Can you count that many?

Let's see. 1 2 3 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. There's like 26 there right now. And like I said, we moved either told these people they had to go somewhere else uh or people we said, "Hey, we might have a problem." They said, "Well, we thought we sold our boat or we sold our camper." So, that that helped us out. But everything is in there. So, like I said, imi is right here. Yeah.

And then the tree line here for the the house that that lives back in here. And then you got the barns and the house on the southern southern property line. So really it's just southoutheastern or Atlantic if you will. That is Atlantic. Yeah. Um one of the stipulations was to keep them all in parallel number two to the north. That's what that's what uh Lucas is that is that possible that possible? Yeah, that's what we've done. Okay. Just we moved everything. Like I said, we pulled some people they had to leave. we didn't have room for them or we've moved them into the the upper parcel.

I mean, just in just thinking out loud here, I think if we would, you know, cap it at the 26 they're at. So, we don't add to that even on that northern parcel. I do think it needs to be, you know, a relatively clean gravel lot, meaning not a bunch of weeds and not, you know, a bunch of overgrowth.

He's he's on his mower twice a week and uh we turn around them. Uh sometimes they'll they have locks on them for safety and they'll they'll pull them out for us and then we'll mow underneath them in the back and stuff like that. So, it's not like set it and forget it. just for people coming out along not making a bay but have a fence or do you think that's not necessarily which side is that on the right side right side because you get tree line to the north you got buildings to the south you got trees to the left side

have you have you thought about fencing that area off people are in the front just kind of

No because uh we never have when have a horse that just roamed around. Uh and then most of this stuff, uh county mo Yeah, county ms all of this right here. Dad still m with, you know, inside his stuff, but that people are just happy that it's, you know, a lot of those new homes up on a 104th, they just drop them, they pick them up and get on their way on the weekend, bring them back. It's way less noise and traffic than when the trucking company was there.

I don't I don't have any questions. You guys have any questions?

No. Is there a motion? I would see here. I guess if I can say all the things. Can I go back to that sheet that had the Okay. Um well I would make a motion to approve um the case 26-2 um with stipulations that uh the RV storage is still entirely located in the northern parcel. Um the approval letter and related documentation be recorded on the property with Hamilton County Recorders Office. And the uh um this approval remains with the heirs of the family. Um if it's sold outside the family, then this would have to be brought up again from somebody else. That makes sense. I don't know.

Is there a limit of the vehicles to you? Yes. Yeah. Limited of 26 26 vehicles. And did you want to add anything about the gravel lot? We have 33 right now. I was counting spots. He has 33. Some of them are small little cargo little trailers that got you. So he he knows his numbers. He doesn't matter to me. Change it to 33 then. That's what is there? What was in that picture? That's why I was asking for what they count. Um some of them were places that they had pulled out and they weren't there. So, I just was kind of guesstimating, but he's the one that he's the one that knows his count. So, he's got 33. They're close together right now. Can't get any more.

Fair enough. And uh so men that to 33 instead of 26 33 and I guess have to continue to have a a clean gravel surface, at least a gravel surface on there. Park parked only on on a gravel gravel surface then. That's the entire promotion.

I did cover some is is there a second? Uh it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. I. It is unanimous. Okay, we're approved. Good luck. Um, I guess we'll move on. Is there any uh old business, new business? No. Okay. Then uh we will adjourn the