Hampton Township Board of Appeals met April 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
The special meeting of the Charter Township of Hampton Board of Appeals was called to order at 7:02 PM by Chairperson Noble in the Boardroom of the Hampton Township Administrative
Offices.
PRESENT: Howell, Noble, Foret
ABSENT: Brey, Spyhalski
ALSO PRESENT: Sheppard, J. DeWyse, E. Schafer-Andress and 3 people in the audience
Motion by Foret seconded by Howell that the minutes of the December 21, 2017, meeting be approved as printed and that the reading of the minutes be waived. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
Shane Knight, 1257 N. Pine Rd., appeared before the board to request a variance to build a 30x40 accessory building on his property. Mr. Knight owns a 5th wheel and various other items that he wanted to store indoors.
Attorney stated that the requirement for a variance is either a hardship or a practical difficulty. Attorney also stated that while this is the most requested type of variance, the size of this variance is 85-90% based on the size of the house. The Board has never granted this large of a variance. If the variance was based off the square footage of the lot it would only be a 16% variance, which the Board has granted in the past. Table 1 of Chapter 3 states that the smaller of the options (lot square footage or house square footage) must be used.
DeWyse stated that although the building will fit on the lot and meet the minimum setback requirements, the sidewalls shown on the drawing are higher than what is allowed by our ordinance. The sidewalls are only allowed to be 10 feet high and the site plan shows them being 14 feet high.
Discussion was held on the possibility of converting the existing garage to living space and building a new garage as opposed to an accessory building. At this time, Shane Knight requested that the decision be tabled for 30 days so that he can explore all of the options available to him.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Noble read an anonymous letter dated April 13, 2018. The letter was from a resident within the 300 ft. of notification and opposed the building size. The letter was placed in the file.
Noble read an email from absent board member, Tony Brey. Brey voiced concern of the size of the building and that granting this size of variance could set a precedence.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
No Unfinished Business
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC:
No one addressed the board.
Motion by Foret seconded by Howell, that the Board of Appeals of the Charter Township of Hampton, hereby tables the variance request of Shane Knight (Appeal No. 18-01) for 30 days. If Mr. Knight revises the variance and reappears before the Board, he will not be required to pay an additional fee to do so.
AYES: Howell, Noble, Foret
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Brey, Spyhalski
Motion carried
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC:
No one addressed the board.
Motion by Foret seconded by Howell that the meeting adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:25 PM.
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