Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – February 27, 2018
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City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – February 27, 2018
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a regular meeting on February 27, 2018, at City Hall. The meeting began late due to traffic. The board considered one variance request and received an informational presentation on new public notice signs. All voting members were present, and three votes were required to pass a motion.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes – The board approved the minutes of the October 24, 2017 meeting (3-0-1 abstention) and the minutes of the January 23, 2018 meeting (4-0). The February 23, 2018 field trip meeting was canceled and not acted upon.
- Continuance of ZBA18-28V – A variance request for 4 S. McCain Drive was continued to the March 27, 2018 meeting by a 3-0 vote.
Discussion Items
- ZBA18-91V – Variance for 200 W. College Terrace – Applicant Lisa Hensley requested a 3.5‑foot reduction in the secondary street setback along W 2nd Street to allow a home addition for her mother’s handicap‑accessible bedroom. The lot is a reversed corner lot built in 1941, non‑conforming under the current code. Staff (Marshall Brown) recommended approval, finding all seven criteria in Section 313(C) of the Land Management Code were met. The applicant noted that moving the existing garage was not feasible and that the addition would be minimal. No public testimony was offered. The board unanimously approved the variance with the stated findings, concluding that the variance is the minimum necessary and will not harm the neighborhood.
- Public Notice Sign Update – Gabrielle Collard presented a redesign of public notice signs. Key features include: color‑coded for each board (e.g., red for ZBA, orange for Mayor and Board), a QR code linking to the city’s development review database with project details, and more durable material to reduce waste. The signs will have a “to be announced” label for hearing dates. A text amendment to the Land Management Code will be required for implementation. Board members offered positive feedback and suggestions for outreach.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to approve variance for 200 W. College Terrace – Passed unanimously (3‑0). The variance permits a 3.5‑foot setback reduction for the rear addition, subject to the findings read into the record.
- Continuance granted – ZBA18-28V rescheduled to March 27, 2018.
- Minutes approved – Two sets of minutes approved; one field trip meeting canceled.
- Informational item – The board acknowledged the public notice sign update; staff will proceed with a text amendment and final design adjustments.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everybody. Welcome to a belated start for the February 27th, 2018 meeting of the City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals. We had some traffic difficulties. Difficulties would be a good word. Impediments. And so we're having a little bit late start, so we're sorry that we're getting started a little bit late. Just to start off the meeting tonight, go off and uh explain a little bit about the zoning board of appeals and what our processes will be tonight. Um the members of the zoning board of appeals, uh, we are all volunteers, we are all residents of the city. We are appointed by the mayor, and those appointments are confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. Uh we need four members in order to constitute a quorum, which is why we were waiting to make sure that we had four so we could conduct business tonight. Um, in addition to the members of the board, uh we are also supported in our work by members of the city staff. And so just for everyone's benefit to my far right and everybody else's far left, it's Mr. Marshall Brown. He is a planner with the planning department here in the city. Next to him is Ms. Rachel DePoe, and she is the assistant attorney uh with the City of Frederick. And then to Miss DePo is Miss Gabrielle Collard, and she is the division manager of current planning for the City of Frederick with the planning department. Um a little bit about our procedures for this evening. Um I will uh oh Rachel, I'm sorry, and uh Rachel is with us from uh thank you. Uh uh I'm thrown off because we're starting late. Um I always promote her to office manager with the planning department, uh, but in addition to many, many, many of her responsibilities, uh she supports us in all the work that we do here at the ZBA. Uh I'm I'm off my rhythm. Uh yeah, I'll get back on track now that I'm I'm to the uh first we'll call your case. Uh so tonight's proceedings. Uh uh I will call the uh case uh before us. Uh we only have one case on the docket, and I assume that our applicant is here. Usually I ask that the applicant lets us know uh that they're available. Um, but we'll start off with having the staff report. And the staff will read the staff report at the end of their report, they will make a recommendation or recommendations regarding the case. That is one criteria that we will use in our decision making, but it is not the only criteria. Following the staff report, we will ask if the applicant has any information that they would like to provide, anything they'd like to clarify or expand upon during that portion of uh the proceedings, members of the board might ask questions of the applicant as well. Um following the applicant's testimony, we will see if anybody from the public wishes to speak regarding uh the matter before us. Uh and then following any public commentary, we will ask the applicant if they have any closing remarks or statements they would like to do to wrap it up. That will close the section for our public testimony on the case. Uh and following that I will call for a motion from the board. Um a motion needs three voting members in favor, so three out of the four tonight would pass a motion. Um a couple other things to keep in mind. Uh, if you do happen to be speaking tonight, the first time you come to the microphone, if we could have your name and your address for the record, that would be great. If you happen to leave the microphone and come back for some reason, um if we could just have your name again, the reason being all of the proceedings tonight are being recorded. Anyone who is aggrieved by a decision of the zoning board of appeals has the right to appeal our decision to the Circuit Court of Maryland. And so when the judge is reviewing the case and reviewing the materials, that helps them keep straight who happens to be speaking at any one time. Um questions about tonight's proceedings. Seeing none, we've got a couple of housekeeping items on our agenda to get started with, and uh we'll go through theirs. And following that, we'll get on with tonight's cases. Thank you. All right. Second item on our agenda tonight is general public comment. If anybody here has got general public comment regarding zoning in the city of Frederick, um not related to one of the cases tonight. Now's the opportunity for anybody to share that information or those thoughts. It's a rare occurrence, but it has happened a couple times.
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