Board of Zoning Appeals - Regular Meeting

Okay, as I open this meeting here, I want to remind everyone here wishing to speak. Make sure you guys sign the petition. Looks like we don't have a lot of people here, so I'm not too worried about comments. With that said, I'll go ahead and call a regular meeting for July 8th to order. If you're able to, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic For those of you that are tuned in online, I do apologize for the coaching attire. Just came here straight from coach. Usually look a little more snazzy in this. But we'll go ahead and get started. Can we have a roll call, please?

Mike Nichols. Scott Highlander. Sam Payne. Isaac Chavez. Charles Bates.

All right, we'll take a look at the minutes from May 13th and... June 22nd. We don't have all the members that were here, so we can table these minutes. You guys are okay with that? Yeah. All right. We'll go ahead and table minutes for May 13th and June 22nd. We just thought we have to take a vote for that. I don't think so. I confuse myself sometimes. So we will go ahead and do that for look at these next meeting. Moving forward, I'm going to ask the board if there's any conflict of interest to present before the petition is being heard. I know we have some relationships here, so any conflicts of interest, if you need to say anything, go ahead and say that now.

I do know the petitioners, but we haven't had any conversation about what's contained in these documents.

And I presume you're not related to them in any way.

Okay. Okay. With that said, we have that stated for the record. Okay, we have, Scott's already say that he's not had any contact with the petitioners being heard before us this evening. Has anyone else had any contact? Make sure there's no conflict. All right, hearing none, keep things moving. We will take a look at the public hearing for docket 2026-015. Petitioner is A.B. Burroughs with Precision Auto Care, requesting two special exceptions for the following. For a commercial garage... categorized as a use 7.02 and for automotive sales categorized as use 7.01 general business district general business district miss list it so can we please have the staff report

Yes, so this is the application of Avery Burrell or Precision Auto Care. This is at 452 North Main Street. As you noted, two special exceptions, one for a commercial garage for repair work and the other for auto sales. This property is zoned central business, as is the property to the north and the south of it. Everything west of it is zoned B residential, and then there's a mix of central business and C residential to the east. This site's on the southwest corner of the intersection between North Main Street and West Jefferson Street. Historically, it has been a commercial garage, at least in the last decade or so. It's in a transitional area with single family dwellings to the west, commercial businesses to the north and south, and a mix of apartments and commercial businesses to the east. Despite some history as a commercial garage, the site has been vacant and unused for more than a year. As such, per the Unified Development Ordinance, any previous approval or non-conforming status has expired, and the site must receive permission as specified in the ordinance for any use going forward. BZA approval of this request is required for the applicant to establish a commercial garage in this location again, and they would also like to have some auto sales, which were not previously here, to operate in conjunction with that garage. They plan to clean and maintain the property, repaint the facade, put a fence up for screening a small outdoor storage area behind the building, and add some building-mounted signage as well as an ADA parking space by the building. At this time, they're not planning to change the footprint of the building or the existing parking lot's footprint. Okay. On the second page, there's a map there that just shows you there's a bit of a patchwork in terms of what the zoning is here. But mostly you're a business area with some apartments and a few single-family dwellings nearby. There's a picture looking west from North Main Street of what this site looks like now. On the third page, as usual, I've just put an excerpt out of the ordinance showing you, I've circled, circled, no, I've used a rectangle to indicate which column matches the Central Business District, and you can see that both of these uses are special exceptions. So there's a series of findings that we need to examine and which all must be found to be met in order to approve a special exception use. So the first one is the proposed use conforms to the district provisions in which it will be located and the general regulations of the ordinance. So both the commercial garage and auto sales are special exceptions in the Central Business District, which just means they may or may not be appropriate in a given location. Commercial garages are also subject to the standards in Unified Development Ordinance 505. Both sales and commercial garages have a buffer class buffer. E for a new site and a parking class N if it's sales, which that's 1.25 spaces per thousand square foot of area used for business. Or the commercial garage has to have two parking spaces per service stall plus one per employee. So there's no way on this site to install a buffer yard because it's a non-conforming site and the parking lot would have to be removed to get a buffer yard in like you would on a new site. So the ordinance doesn't require them to remove their parking lot to get that done. There is enough parking. within the existing lot to have room to meet the parking standards, though, irregardless of which parking standard we look at. There's a very large lot there. In terms of the standards in UDO 505, the first one is that the lot width has to be at least 132 foot. So this lot does have 132 foot of frontage along Jefferson. And then, because it's a corner lot, there's another 108 of frontage along Main. So, this standard is met. The next standard has to do with fuel pumps, and this is just a commercial garage. It's, you know, in automotive sales, it's not including. These standards apply to both fueling stations and commercial garages, so there's a mix of standards. This particular application does not involve fueling, so this doesn't apply. Point 03 is that there shall be no outdoor storage of discarded auto parts. The applicant states they understand the site needs to be operated neatly. As long as they do so, the standard will be met. Point 04 is that except for vehicles that are waiting to be serviced, vehicles of employees and service and tow trucks owned by the establishment and any rental vehicles in the situation, which they are not, that they're also getting approval for rentals. No vehicles shall be parked on the premise. Vehicles awaiting repair shall not be stored outside for more than seven days. And no vehicles may be parked or stored in any public right of way. So again, as long as the applicant maintains the site neatly, as they have stated they will, the standard will be met. While the Central Business District doesn't require on-site parking like other districts, part of the reason that this particular use is a special exception is because it does need to have on-site parking and not be using the right-of-way. So part of examining that special exception use is making sure that there is a plan where there are not going to be parking vehicles waiting for repair. in the road, right of way, and that they're staying in that lot for a reasonable amount of time. Point 05 is that permanently disabled vehicles that are not awaiting repair may not be stored on the premises at any time. So basically, it's not an approval for a junkyard. It's a commercial garage. The applicant understands this, and as long as they maintain the site neatly and responsibly, the standard will be met. Point 06, principal access shall be from an arterial or a collector. That's a type of street. So both of these streets are collector streets, so that standard would be met. Point 07, parking areas, vehicle stacking spaces, lighting, et cetera, shall meet applicable sections of this ordinance. So as a pre-existing site, this site is not required to fully comply like a new site would, but all standards that involve changes that are planned or can reasonably be requested are meeting the ordinance. So the new signage, paint, and fence will all meet the standards as they've been presented without any variances. The other items of discussion will be addressed in the staff report and included as conditions. As long as the applicant is willing to comply with the standards, as they have been thus far, the standard would appear to be met. And finally, there's a clause if they're getting approval for parking of rental trucks and trailers, but in this particular application, there is no included approval for rental vehicles so that's not a part of it and point nine whenever an auto service station or commercial garage is abandoned then everything like gasoline pumps and signs have to be removed and underground storage tanks so in this case we're not talking about a fueling station again to staff's knowledge there are no pumps or tanks on this site um if there were to turn out to be or the applicant were to happen to add any then they would need to remove them when they were no longer in business per that section The second finding is the proposed use shall not involve an element or cause a condition that may be dangerous, injurious, or noxious to any other property or persons and shall comply with the performance standards herein. So this site has been a commercial garage in the past. In 2011, there was a violation cited and addressed regarding Bob's Service Center accumulating tires, but staff is not aware of any complaints that have been received in recent years. As long as the applicant maintains the site responsibly within the standards of the ordinance, this finding would be met. Three, the proposed use shall be sited, oriented, and landscaped so the relationship of its buildings and grounds to adjacent buildings and properties does not impair health, safety, general welfare, comfort, nor adversely affect the values of adjacent properties. So there's no additions planned, no changes to the floor plan or parking lot planned. If the approval is granted, there shouldn't be any difference in how this property is interacting with adjacent properties compared to what it's been historically. So there would be no reason to expect that it would suddenly create a problem. The finding would appear to be met. Four, the proposed use shall produce a total environmental effect consistent with and not harmful to the environment of the neighborhood and will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of the surrounding property for uses already legally permitted in the district. So the general neighborhood environment will not change if the approval is granted. This site has had a previous commercial garage here. It just happened to sit vacant for long enough to lose that previous status. which resulted in it coming to the BZA. But as no complaints have been received, obviously we don't have a host of neighbors coming. It would not appear that having a commercial garage here is problematic for that neighborhood. Five, the proposed use of organized vehicular access and parking to minimize conflicting traffic movement on adjacent streets. So this site is on a corner lot. It has four existing curb cuts. Two entrances are within 25 foot of the intersection. Some of the northern parking spaces do appear to be several foot into the Jefferson Street right-of-way. So staff would recommend that for safety, The applicant reduced this to one curb cut per street and develop a plan to rework the parking lot over time to add some basic buffering and get some hard surface and sidewalk repair across those old drives, restoring the site to a condition that would be more consistent with an attractive walkable downtown business. With a reasonable plan to address those issues, the standard would appear to be met. Six, the proposed use has taken or will take adequate measures to provide utilities, access road drainage, and other necessary facilities. So, Frankfort Utilities and the county surveyor have not highlighted any concerns or issues when they were informed of the filing. Sewer Maintenance did note that if approved, they will need an oil, water, filter, separator inspection, which the applicant will need to call and obtain once they get that installed, but this standard would appear to be met. Seven, the proposed use to promote the objectives of the ordinance and be consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. So the ordinance definitely states these are both special exception uses that may or may not be appropriate in a given situation. So if the applicant is willing to meet all standards and address what needs to be addressed to stay within those findings, then this request would seem to be within the objectives of the ordinance. The 2035 Comprehensive Plan generally notes that central business is an area that's designed to preserve the historic nature of the downtown businesses at the core, and there should be design standards maintained and buffering from nearby residential districts. Additionally, page five states that Frankfurt would like to employ a mindset of being open for business, where both local businesses and corporate headquarters are welcomed and well-supported. And this is an application for a local business that wants to follow the regulations and locate in a business district in a building that has served a similar purpose in the past without significant issues. So this finding would seem to be met. So consequently, staff would recommend to approve the special exception based on the findings in the staff report incorporated in the motion by reference with the following conditions. One, that no more than six cars may be displayed for sale at a time. I'm sorry. Two, all tires and dismantled vehicles awaiting repair must be inside or behind a fence with screening. If they're stored outdoor, there may be no outdoor storage of discarded auto parts, and that's per 505.03. So some of these are just clarifying what the ordinance requires, but in a way that just makes sure the petitioner is aware. Three, that UDO 505.04 and .5 must be complied with at all times in regards to what vehicles can be on site and for how long. Four, this approval does not include rental services of vehicles or trailers operating from this site. Five, all cars awaiting repair and listed for sale must be provided parking on site, not within any road right of way or otherwise on street. Six, the two parking lot entrances closest to Maine and Jefferson's intersection shall be abandoned and blocked off and away so that the parking lot is designed to prevent their use. There shall be no parking or parts of parking used within the road right-of-ways. The applicant shall install a four-foot green space between the sidewalk and the parking lot in the areas that are gravel and hard surface and paint stripes in the remaining lot within three years. So giving that some time for compliance. But... getting it addressed with how the ordinance would want it to be. And then finally, that an oil water filter separator inspection must be completed successfully with sewer maintenance before a certificate of occupancy is issued. So most of those conditions are restating things that are already requirements in the ordinance, just so it's clear what it is. And then... in an effort to address the finding that is a concern where we look at traffic flow and what's happening on that site. And the standards for any parking lot with more than 15 spaces is always supposed to be paved, and there is nothing that would prevent the paving of the lot. It looks like a good chunk of it is gravel right now. So that one is to try to address that standard, but in a way that gives them some time to get it worked out. It's not something that has to be done right out the gate. So anyway, that's... Where I fell, the applicants have been great to work with. I'm sure they can speak for themselves when they come up next. But staff feels that having the building used would definitely be better than allowing it to fall into disrepair.

Are these pictures attached on the back of the staff report? Is this like what they intend for it to look like?

I don't have it. She went ahead and did this to give us a concept. So, yeah, they're going to do a painted on sign and then window stickers. They're putting their 80 parking in the front with pavement, obviously, pavement being repaired because it's not in that condition right now. And then in the back, they would be putting up the small privacy fence area. And then she's drawn in with a fence opening is on this side. So they have some area to have outdoor storage without it being unsightly or unscreened. Thank you Liz At this time do the petitioner would like to add any comments or maybe add anything we might have missed I

Yeah, you come up here, please.

So I talked with the... sewer maintenance guy today and we got it all scheduled for the inspection done on the oil water separator tomorrow he told me that he had no reservation with us moving forward with opening our business right away after we got approval he just wanted us to have a document of that we had the oil water separator inspected. So I was wondering if we could still move forward with a short timeline where we have that paperwork instead of waiting to have it to get the the certificate of occupancy.

So I guess I would note, if you're having that inspection done tomorrow, the odds that if the board approves this, we can get all the paperwork perfectly in order and have a permit out the gate and a CO issued tomorrow are probably not high. So if you're going to have that inspection done tomorrow, as long as we have some documentation, whatever form that is that it's been done, then it wouldn't be a holdup. We would just attach that in.

Okay. I didn't know how long it took to get those. So...

Yeah. Have you dealt with sewer maintenance on that before? I assume we would just get, even if they just wanted to send an email or if they give you something to say that it's been inspected, you can just provide that. Okay.

So I need to get it. Who do I give it to? You can get it to Grace. Okay. So I get the paperwork. Okay. stating that we got the inspection and then we can have the certificate.

You'll pull the permit and then the building inspector will need to do a walkthrough to make sure that there's no life safety issues, like if there's missing exit signs or, you know, I know you're not planning any improvements to the building, but if there was something that was a safety issue, you know, no fire extinguishers, you know, I'm just making up some possibilities, but the fire inspector and the building inspector will do a dual walkthrough. If there's anything they see that needs to be corrected, they'll give you that list and then once you get that address then they'll they'll get to the ceo okay so perfect and that assumes of course that the board hasn't made a decision yet so i don't want to say make that but that would be how that would go okay that makes sense that's all i wanted to talk to you all right thank you at this time we will open public discussion hearing none we'll close public discussion at this time we'll open discussion for the board

Any questions or comments? What's being expected is not a new addition, right? It's already existing.

No, that's correct. It's there within. Now, at some point in the future, nobody knows the future. If they're blessed and their business grows, the lot certainly has room that they could come back and get permission to expand it. But right now, they're staying within the existing building. They're not planning any interior remodeling beyond whatever life safety issues Rob or Kevin might highlight when they do their walkthrough. And they're not planning to change the size and shape of the. The parking lot either. I mean, there's not really any way they can expand to in terms of the parking lot. It's pretty much the whole lot. So they've just got to they will have to move. Where that parking is, you know, even though they've got that 3 years to kind of sort out the pavement, they are going to need to move on that northern side. the where the cars are parking back a few feet, the gravel has extended all the way to the sidewalk, which looks to be somewhere between two and four foot into the right of way. So they'll need to make sure they're parking their vehicles on their property and not in the right of way. And there's a little bit of a buffer. But there's numerous ways. I mean, they can move the parking bumpers back a little bit, or they could find another way to delineate that edge.

I might have missed this, but I know we kind of discussed the buffer yard. But in regard to the fence, I don't remember the fence being mentioned. How do they go about that? As in, they're okay to put the fence up?

Yeah, so the fence is in the rear yard. It's only six foot tall. So the ordinance allows a six foot tall privacy fence. and a side or rear yard, as long as it's not going toward a road. You'll see it as a variance if it's going to a road, but an alley is not treated the same as the road.

That's right.

And they're not in the clear site triangle where the alley and the road meet. They're back behind the building. So, yeah, the fences, they'll be able to put the fence up without further variances.

Okay, I just want to have that cleared. Any other comments or questions? Hearing none, I'll close discussion for the board at this time. I will now entertain a motion for Docket 2026-015.

I'll make the motion that we recommend to approve the special exception based on the findings of the staff report and with the conditions listed on the staff report.

All right. First, I will second person is second. I get roll call, please.

Mike Nichols. Scott Highlander. Isaac Chavez.

The application passes.

So then, yes, get your report into them. And irregardless of whether or not you have that report, like even if there's some kind of holdup, you can still come in and... get that permit from Grace so we can go ahead and get inspection walkthrough scheduled and, you know, start the ball rolling with that. So we can get you moving as quickly as we can get people where they need to be. So, and I don't know, Grace, do you have their email? Okay. So we can double check what information we need and try to send you an email in the morning. So.

Any old business?

I don't have anything.

All right. Erin, I'll take a motion to adjourn. All right. I hear a motion. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you for coming, everyone. We've got a couple things. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.