Minutes Zoning Bd of Adjustment
MINUTES
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
REGULAR SESSION
Thursday, February 23, 2006
4:00 p.m.
Five Flags Majestic Room
405 Main Street, Dubuque, Iowa
DRAFT
PRESENT:
Vice Chairperson Bill Gasper; Board Members Jim Urell, Randy Klauer and
Bill Gibbs; Staff Members Kyle Kritz, Guy Hemenway and Wally Wernimont.
ABSENT:
Chairperson Mike Ruden.
AFFIDAVIT OF COMPLIANCE: Staff presented an Affidavit of Compliance verifying the
meeting was being held in compliance with the Iowa Open Meetings Law.
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to at 4:05 p.m.
DOCKET 04-06: Application of Swift Construction Inc. for a special exception for property
located at 3001, 3003, 3005 Stellar Eagle Drive to build a townhouse on a 1,884 square foot lot,
2,500 square foot minimum required, in an PUD/R-3 Moderate Density Multi-Family Residential
zoning district.
The applicant was not in attendance.
Staff Member Kritz reviewed the application with the Board, discussing the history of Eagle
Valley Subdivision and single and multi-family construction activity. He discussed the lot layout
with the Board, explaining that, although only 16 feet of frontage is required for townhouse lots,
2,500 square feet of lot area is also required. He said this would make a 16-foot wide lot very
deep.
Board Member Klauer asked if the applicant and developer had done any prior planning
regarding the lot layouts. Staff Member Kritz stated that the developer had reviewed several lot
layouts but had not settled on one lot layout or building design.
Staff Member Wernimont discussed the uses permitted in the R-3 District, stating that up to six
units could be built on a similar lot with less lot area per unit.
Board Members discussed the request and felt that it met the criteria for granting a special
exception.
Motion by Klauer, seconded by Urell, to approve the special exception request as submitted.
Motion carried by the following vote: Aye - Gasper, Urell, Klauer and Gibbs; Nay - None.
DOCKET 05-06: Application of Dick Firzlaff, Housing Services Department/City of Dubuque for
a special exception for property located at 1699 Washington Street to relocate a house on an
existing lot 9 feet from the front property line, 10 feet minimum required; 0 feet from the front
property line (17th Street), 10 feet minimum required; and 1 foot from the south side property
line, 3 feet minimum required, in an R-2A Alternate Two-Family Residential zoning district.
Minutes - Zoning Board of Adjustment
February 23, 2006
Page 2
Staff informed the Board that the applicant had withdrawn the request for the special exception.
DOCKET 06-06: Application of Scott & Diane Kieffer for a special exception for property located
at 1330 Garfield Avenue to construct an attached garage with a deck above 6 feetfrom the front
property line (Dock Street), 20 feet required, in an R-2AAlternate Two-Family Residential zoning
district.
Scott and Diane Kieffer, 1330 Garfield Avenue, presented their application to the Board. They
noted that the existing garage is closer than 20 feet to the front property line. They stated that
Dove Street is a dead-end street and only serves as a driveway access for a couple of houses
along Garfield Avenue.
Staff Member Hemenway presented photos of the site to the Board. He stated that Dove Street
is a dead-end street that is not likely to be extended because it terminates at the railroad right-
of-way. He said that the applicants' garage will be built flush with the existing house and should
not impede the view from adjacent residential property or create a traffic safety problem. He
said that a car backing from the garage will have a clear view to the street.
Board Members discussed the request and felt that it met the criteria for granting a special
exception.
Motion by Klauer, seconded by Urell, to approve the special exception request as submitted.
Motion carried by the following vote: Aye - Gasper, Urell, Klauer and Gibbs; Nay - None.
DOCKET 07-06: Application of Steve Smith/GTW LLC for a conditional use permit for property
located Southwest Corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Mission School Drive to allow a medical
office building in a C-2 Neighborhood Shopping Center zoning district.
John Allen, Allen & Urbain Architects, spoke in favor of the request. He stated that the facility
would have a surplus of parking, exceeding the City of Dubuque requirements by six spaces.
He offered to answer any questions the Board Member may have.
Staff Member Wernimont outlined the conditional use requirements regarding medical offices.
He discussed an aerial photo showing adjacent land use. He said that the conditional use for
medical clinic is used to mitigate the possible impacts the clinic may have to the adjacent
residential neighborhood. He said, however, there is no residential development in the
immediate vicinity of the property. He noted that the surrounding land use is primarily
commercial, office, industrial or vacant.
Board Members discussed the request and felt that a medical office at this location would have
very limited impact on adjacent properties.
Motion by Urell, seconded by Gibbs, to approve the conditional, use as submitted. Motion
carried by the following vote: Aye - Gasper, Urell, Klauer and Gibbs; Nay - None.
DOCKET 08-06: Application of American Trust & Savings Bank/Nash Finch DBA Econo Foods
for a variance for property located at 3355 Kennedy Circle to replace an existing 16 square foot
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Minutes - Zoning Board of Adjustment
February 23, 2006
Page 3
"bank" sign with an 88.6 square foot "bank" sign for a total of 518 square feet of signage, 420
square foot maximum permitted, in a C-3 General Commercial zoning district.
Board Member Urell abstained from the discussion due to a conflict.
Peg Hudson, Senior Vice President for American Trust & Savings Bank, presented the
application to the Board. She noted that the bank would like to install a sign on the building to
clearly identify their business, which the existing generic "bank" sign does not provide. She said
it would be very difficult to put American Trust & Savings Bank's name on a 16-square foot sign.
Board Member Klauer discussed the location of the existing wall-mounted and freestanding
bank signage on the EconoFoods site.
Staff Member Hemenway noted that the applicant needs three affirmative votes for approval of
the sign variance, stating that with one abstention and one member absent, the applicant would
need all three remaining Board Members to vote in the affirmative to approve the request.
Staff Member Hemenway presented the staff report to the Board. He clarified past zoning
variance requests for the property, the current amount of wall-mounted and freestanding site
signage and he reiterated the existing request. He noted the location of the three existing
freestanding signs that American Trust has either built or proposed to build. He said that the
EconoFoods building wall is set back quite a distance from the Kennedy Road right-of-way.
Board Members discussed the request. Board Member Klauer stated that that because of the
amount of existing signage permitted, including freestanding signage, the request does not
demonstrate the hardship required for granting a variance.
Motion by Klauer, seconded by Gibbs to approve the variance request as submitted. Motion
was denied by the following vote: Aye - Gasper; Nay - Klauer and Gibbs; Abstain - Urell.
MINUTES & NOTICES OF DECISION: The minutes of the January 26, 2006, meeting and
Notices of Decision for Dockets 01-06,02-06, and 03-06 were approved as submitted.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kyle L. Kritz, Associate Planner
Adopted