We're uh a little early for the uh zoning board of adjustment meeting, but uh we have all our board members who are gonna be here here.

Um all the staff that's gonna be here here and all the applicants are here, so let's uh let's kick this thing off.

Joello, you want to do a call oh wait that's called over I thought we were gonna never mind a roll call, but um all right.

So first thing is uh board elections.

What we're going to do is we'll take nominations.

Um Becky will go ahead and write those down and then at the end of the meeting um we will uh vote on those and uh then we'll be done.

Is that correct, Becky?

Okay.

Um I'll uh I'll introduce us.

I'm Stephen Co.

I'm sitting in until we do elections and we'll see see where that shakes out.

Um we've got Garrett Craig, Heidi Rosenleaf, Lexi Murphy, and Mike McKinnon, Mike Key on McKeon?

McEwan.

I knew I knew how to say it.

Um we got uh Joella here in at the seat, we've got Aiden sitting over there and Becky over there.

So without further ado, um do we want to uh open up for nominations?

So we just yell them out or what are we doing, Becky?

Okay.

We'll be informal, just uh raise your hand and we'll take nominations.

How's that?

Thank you, I think.

Okay.

Um for vice chair, uh I'll return the favor, Mike if you're up for it.

Okay.

Any other nominations?

I know that we can can we nominate people who aren't here.

Um I think they're they're fair and on the table if somebody wants to nominate either Justin or Shanna.

So movement, we'll uh close nominations and we'll take care of the the final part of that business after real business.

All right, moving on to uh item number three on the agenda, appeals and reports.

First, uh on the docket is special use 2512.

This is an application for locate a short-term rental rental in an existing residence at 810 Weskalina.

Do we have a staff report, Aiden?

Yes, we do.

All right, go for it.

All right.

Um so the property in question is located at 810 Weskalina Street, special use 25-12.

Um the applicant is Kilster Holdings LLC and Christine and Michael Young.

The proposal is to locate a short-term rental in an existing residence located at 810 Muscalina Street.

Findings.

So any lodging provided by a homeowner owner for compensation is recognized as a special use allowed in any residential zoning district, provided that the prescribed use is in harmony with other permitted uses in the zone and not found con to be contrary to public interest.

The special use process provides for review of public input a measure of the potential impact of the proposed use on the surrounding neighborhood and compatibility of the proposed use with the adjoining neighborhood.

Um to present to the board we have outlined the 20 questions um of the special use application.

Here's an aerial view of where the property is located as well as our zoning map.

You can see it's located in our R3 zone.

Here is an outside look at the property.

Um kind of a before and after view.

You can see that the property has gone through fairly significant outdoor improvements.

The location and character of the property and surrounding buildings.

The properties located in an R3 multifamily residential zone.

The zoning area consists primarily of residential uses with a few commercial uses in close proximity, including the Zip Trip Gas Station, the Hummingbird Cafe, and the Montana Tech campus.

Proposed vehicle access, circulation, and parking.

Vehicle access to and from the property is acceptable for the proposed use.

Access to the front of the residence is provided via off street parking on Galena Street, where I believe two spots are available.

The off-street parking appears to be a primary parking option in the area.

Additionally, there's a one-car garage located in the alley of the property in question.

There appear appears to be no handicapped specific parking areas or accommodations.

Planning staff recommends the applicant provide detailed description of the parking accommodations in their rental listing.

Potential nuisances.

A primary concern is the potential for increased traffic in the area.

However, if the occupancy of the residence is in conformance with residential building code, renting out the property in question on a short-term basis should not considerably increase traffic as to what is reasonably expected for an R3 zone.

Short-term renters may be less concerned about creating excessive noise within the dwelling.

Staff would suggest the applicants enforce rules through their online hosting programs that do not allow for parties.

The use conforms to the objectives of the comprehensive plan and purpose of the ordinance.

The comprehensive plan place type designation for this property is in the uptown neighborhood.

This place type represents a traditional urban neighborhood with a predominance of single family attached and detached residential units and limited neighborhood commercial uses.

The uptown neighborhood is located within the Butte Historic District and is defined by character and quality of architecture found at the turn of the century.

The proposed use will not adversely affect nearby properties or their occupants.

When considering the low impact commercial nature of the proposal, planning staff believes it would have minimal impact on the adjacent properties and property owners.

Proposed use will not adversely change the use of the property in question.

The established character of the existing neighborhood would not appear to be impacted by this proposal.

There would be no change to the aesthetics of the surrounding area.

Conditions of approval.

Any remodeling of the existing residence performed to accommodate the proposed business will be required to meet all applicable building codes and health requirements as required by the Butte Silverbow Code Department and BSB Health Department.

All necessary approvals must be granted prior to the applicants receiving final business license approval.

The property address must be visible, including past dark and entrances must be clearly identified.

The applicants shall be limited to the occupancy level as determined by the Butte Silver Bow Building Code Department and Silverbow Fire Marshal.

These shall be determined prior to license approval.

The applicants will be limited specifically to the business as stated and approved.

Any future expansions, changes, or building expansions will be required further review by the zoning board of adjustment.

And lastly, the applicant will be required to get a Butte Silver Bow business license for the short short-term rental.

In conclusion, based off the information provided in the application, staff's analysis of the review criteria and any public opinion as it relates to the criteria.

The board must determine if the applicant has presented evidence to the satisfaction of the board that said undue detriment will not result from the granting of the special use permit for short-term rental.

Decision of the board requires staff to refer the application to the board within 15 days of receipt.

The board shall within 60 days approve or deny the application.

And that is it.

Thank you, Aidan.

Do the board members have any questions of staff on this issue.

All right.

Seeing none, um, can the applicant please come forward and present your story.

What do I do here?

Okay.

State your name and do we have them do their address also?

Um, Christine Young, 810 West Galena.

What would you like for me, sir?

Um, just uh Just an overview?

Yeah, just an overview.

Sure.

Um, my husband and I purchased the house at 810 West Galena in 2001.

We had very good friends who lived here, and we would like to be close to we wanted to be closer to them.

Also, our daughter lives in Bozeman, as we all know, Bozeman is uh on a reachable in some uh cases.

Um so we decided Butte was gonna be a good uh fit for us.

We reside here in Butte at um eight ten West Galena for five to six months out of the year, and we figured why not try to do a short rental?

Um, right now we have some people um a couple living there for three months.

We had um some guests stay when they were um filming for um 1923, and we've had no complaints from our neighbors, and uh we were hoping that this would uh short-term rental would go through with the zoning.

Any questions?

Thank you very much.

Does the board have any questions of the applicant?

Okay, all right.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, at this point, uh we'll open for public comment on this, or there is there anybody here who would like to, other than the applicant, you don't need to speak, but in favor of the uh uh proposal on the table.

Hearing none, anybody would like to oppose.

All right.

Hearing none, the uh public portion is closed.

Does uh the board wanna have any discussion of this before we move on?

And fellow members of the board, I think similar to previous special use permits for short-term rentals.

Um, you know, that we've approved.

I don't have any you know, real concerns or anything with approving this one as well.

I'll second that motion.

All right, so we have a motion.

Let's uh vote on the matter of uh special use permit uh twenty-five twelve.

Uh all votes are for the motion.

Your motion is passed.

You'll receive a letter to that effect from staff soon.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Moving on.

Next thing on the docket is variants twenty-five-six.

Joella, you're up.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, members of the board.

This is a variance for fifty-nine thirty-eight Porter Avenue.

Um, this variance application, the applicants are Stephen and Sherry Kelly, and the proposal is to seek a variance from the side yard setback requirements of the R1S or one family suburban residence zoning district as specified in Butte Silverbow Municipal Code 1788.

Within the zone, the minimum required side yard setback is 15 feet, and the applicants are asking to construct a sixteen by forty-eight or seven hundred and sixty-eight square foot detached garage within twelve feet of the south property line.

The background on this property, VSBMC section 1788 of the R1S minimum side yard width requires detached accessory structures to be built no closer to the side property boundaries than 15 feet.

The applicant is seeking approval to construct a 768 square foot detached garage within 12 feet of the south property boundary.

This zone has no lot coverage requirements.

The subject property and surrounding neighborhood are characterized by low density residential development, specifically single family dwelling units.

Most homes in the area do have either an attached or detached garage.

You can see it's in the R1S to the west is a C2 zone, and to the east is the Butte Silverbow Airport.

Again, of the area they're surrounded by Burt Muni Airport.

And here is a site plan as to where the accessory structure would be located down here to the south.

Intent of the R1S zoning regulation is to promote and protect widespread sparsely settled single family development.

The subject property and surrounding neighborhoods are characterized by low density residential development, specifically one dwelling units per acre or less dense.

With a three-foot reduction to the side yard setback, the proposed garage could be located approximately 27 feet from the adjoining lot to the south, rather than the standard 30 feet separation.

Despite this reduction, the impact on the neighboring property and the surrounding area is expected to be minimal.

The proposal remains generally compatible with the intent of the R1S zoning district, which is to preserve and promote low density relatively distant development patterns and to protect the interest of neighboring property owners.

With conclusion to that, the proposed build is a permitted use in the zone and does not impede on the prevailing character of the existing neighborhood.

It is likely the development would not be contrary to the public interest.

Literal enforcement of the provision of the title will result in unnecessary hardship.

Unnecessary hardship as defined by Montana Supreme Court must result from a condition unique to the property, such as property shape, topographical feature, or geological traits.

This quality must preclude the applicant's ability to place a structure on the property in compliance with zoning ordinance, and the hardship may not be a result of conditions created by the applicants.

To the north side of the property, an underground sprinkling system and well are located.

These existing features present a hardship as the placement of the well in septic system is subject to setback requirements and the location of other nearby systems, which may have been installed without the current property owner's knowledge.

And due to the location of these systems, constructing a structure over or too close to them may not be feasible as it could hinder access to future repairs or modifications.

Based off of this information given and considering the presence of site constraints that were not created by the applicant, it may be reasonable to support a reduction in the side setback from the required 15 feet to it to a requested 12 feet.

A hardship is present due to the location of the well and underground sprinkling system as well as site-specific conditions related to snow snow drifting.

It may be reasonable to allow a reduction of three feet in the side yard setback on the south.

You can see to the north side the well is here along with some landscaping and a fence.

Some other views, the south side of the property where they're proposing to put the detached garage, and again another view of the north side of the property.

The applicant's request to construct a detached garage within 12 feet of the side property line is unlikely to adversely affect public health safety and general welfare of the surrounding property owners.

Literal interpretation of the provisions of this chapter would appear to deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties within the same zoning district.

The proposal is consistent with the character of the surrounding neighborhood.

Many neighboring parcels include detached garages.

Approving this variance would not grant the applicant special privileges that is otherwise denied to other adjoining property owners under the provision of this chapter.

The R1S zoning district permits accessory structures and does not impose lot coverage limitations.

Any property owner within this zone, provided there is an existing single family dwelling, could construct a detached garage in accordance with But Silverbow Municipal Code 1708.

The variance request maintains the spirit of the zoning ordinance and meets the intent of the R1S zoning district requirements.

Without reasonable cause to prohibit varying from the regulations in the R1S zone, denying this variance would be unfairly applying regulations to some property owners and not others in the same doning zoning district.

Approval of this application would not compromise the spirit of the or intent of the zoning ordinance.

As the proposed construction of a 16 by 48 foot garage set 12 feet from the south property line remains consistent with the surrounding development and character of the neighborhood.

In conclusion, the intent of the zoning ordinance is to prevent incompatible land uses or activities from impacting the health and safety of adjacent uses.

The proposed development does not appear to be contrary to public interest.

The parcel bears hardships owning to conditions unique to the property.

And granting the variance provides relief from requirements enjoyed by others in the same district.

The proposal will be required to obtain the appropriate permits and meet the applicable building code standards.

The recommendation of staff is to approve the variance application based on written findings of facts as described in the staff report with appropriate conditions.

Alternatives would be to deny the application based on findings of non-compliance with the review criteria or continue public hearing on the application with specific direction to staff or the applicant to supply additional information or to address specific items.

That's the end.

Thank you, Joala.

Does uh do the board have any questions of staff on this issue yet?

All right.

Seeing none.

Steve or Sherry, would you like to come up and give us your uh your reasonings?

State your name and and address, please.

I'm Steve Kelly, and request in the variance to the setback so I can uh put a garage in that makes sense and it's not in the way of everything.

That means you know what I'm saying.

You did an excellent job of explaining the situation.

Thanks.

But um, yeah, it's about the only place it's gonna fit if I don't move it over three foot, then if I open up the garage door, it could hit the existing fence in the backyard.

So board members.

All right, hearing none.

Thanks, Steve.

All right, thank you.

Yep.

All right, uh we'll open uh the public hearing portion of this.

Is there anybody here who would like to speak in favor of this variance request?

All right, hearing none.

Is there anybody here who'd like to uh speak against this?

Also hearing none.

Okay.

We'll close the public portion.

Uh board have any discussion with this.

I guess I'll start out saying that three feet seems pretty immaterial to me, and especially where they're living, so I don't really see any issue with it, but yeah, I would I would agree.

I think it's no issues on my end.

Okay.

All right, with that.

Uh if there's no other questions, I'd entertain a motion.

I make a motion to approve variance 25-0006.

All right, we have a motion and a second.

Uh please indicate how you want to vote on this.

Steve and Sherry, it's a close one.

You had uh everybody vote for it, so you're good.

Um your motion passed.

You'll uh you'll receive a letter here soon from the staff, and good luck.

Enjoy your garage.

Mm-hmm.

All right.

We have ballots, Becky.

This is really just affirming that we all agree.

Same.

I swapped them.

All right.

Becky, do you need to read the results to make it official?

Okay.

Excellent.

So in uh is it January or February, we'll make it official with another vote.

So I have a few other.

We'll follow your lead.

Okay.

And if there's no other business, I think we can adjourn this meeting, correct?

Okay.