Frederick ZBA Approves Conditional Use for 112-114 W All Saints Street on May 22, 2018
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – May 22, 2018
The City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) met on May 22, 2018 at 7:30 PM at City Hall to consider one conditional use application. The board heard a staff report, received testimony from the applicant, and voted unanimously to approve the request with conditions. The meeting was broadcast live on Channel 99.
Attendance and Opening
- The meeting was called to order by the chair, with staff introductions: Marshall Brown (planner), Rachel DePo (assistant attorney), Gabrielle Collard (division manager of current planning), and Jessica Murphy (office manager).
- The board tabled the approval of the April 24, 2018 meeting minutes to the June 2018 meeting due to a lack of quorum from members who attended that meeting.
Public Comments
- No members of the public offered testimony.
Discussion Item: ZBA18-358CU – Conditional Use for 112-114 W All Saints Street
- Applicant Laura Wright requested conditional use approval to establish a business/professional office in a historically significant structure located at 112-114 W All Saints Street, zoned Downtown Residential (DR). The applicant also requested a waiver from parking requirements.
- Staff report: The building dates to the 1860s, is within the historic preservation overlay, and previously housed Sewell's barbershop, a legal non-conforming use that operated from the 1970s until approximately January 2018. The applicant proposes to use the 217 square foot commercial space (112A) as a small property management office, while retaining two residential apartments (112B and 114).
- Staff found the proposed office use materially similar to the "offices, business, and professional" category permitted in many districts and less intensive than the barbershop. Staff recommended approval, including the parking waiver, noting the property lacks access to Gaither's Alley and is restricted on all sides; West All Saints Street provides two-hour unmetered on-street parking, and nearby parking garages are available.
- Applicant testimony: Ms. Wright stated the office would be used by a property manager during standard business hours (9–5), with minimal visitor traffic, and the employee would use parking garages. She noted the barbershop had a greater parking impact and that the commercial space is very small (about 220 square feet).
- Board discussion: Members expressed support for the use as consistent with the historic mixed-use character of the corridor. They clarified that the parking waiver was part of the application and within the board's authority under Section 813 of the Land Management Code (LMC).
Key Outcomes
- The board approved the conditional use for a business/professional office at 112-114 W All Saints Street, including the waiver from parking requirements, with three affirmative votes and no opposition.
- The approval includes a condition: a zoning certificate must be issued within two years of the approval date (by May 22, 2020) or the approval expires.
- The agenda listed completed zoning determinations ZBA18-278ZD (E. 6th Street Properties) and ZBA18-355ZD (39 E. South Street); these were not discussed during the meeting.
The meeting adjourned after the vote.
Meeting Transcript
Sorry for the late start, everybody. Welcome to the May 22nd, 2018 meeting of the City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals. Just a quick little introduction and background about the Zoning Board of Appeals for anybody who's new with us tonight or happens to be watching from home. Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals are all volunteers. We are appointed by the mayor, and those appointments are confirmed by the Board of Alderman. In the work that we do as the ZBA, we're also supported by members of the City of Frederick staff. That I'll introduce just for everybody's benefit. So to my far right and everybody's far left, Mr. Marshall Brown. He is planner with the planning department here at the City of Frederick. In the middle seat is Ms. Rachel DePo. She is an assistant attorney with the City of Frederick, and in addition to those duties supports the Zoning Board of Appeals. And then next to her is Ms. Gabrielle Collard. She is the division manager of current planning for the City of Frederick. And then to my far left and everybody else's far right is Ms. Jessica Murphy. She is the office manager with the planning department here at the City of Frederick. And in addition to numerous, numerous duties supporting activities, she helps us get through our meetings here at the ZBA. A little bit of background on our way that our procedures and our meeting will be conducted this evening. If the applicant is here, and I think we have one case on the agenda, and I think we have one applicant, so I'm going to think that we've got matched up here already. But the first thing we'll do is I'll ask for the staff report. So following the staff report, we'll see if the applicant has any additional information that they'd like to clarify, anything that they'd like to elaborate on, members of the board might have questions for the applicant. Following that, we will see if there are any members of the public that are here that would like to offer testimony on the case. No seeing none. Thank you. It's a rare occurrence, but it has happened, but seeing none this evening, uh we will go on. Uh the next item of business is for review and approval of the minutes from the April 24th, 2018 meeting. Um I don't think that we have a quorum of members who were here for that meeting. Um I would say that we would go ahead and uh address that during our next meeting here in June. So tabled until June. Any objections to that? No. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and continue that until uh the June 2018 meeting. Item number four on the agenda. I always feel like I should do this part in the introduction, but swearing of witnesses. So if we have anybody who's planning on testifying tonight regarding the case or the cases that are before us, uh we do have to swear everybody in. So if uh anybody who's planning on speaking could raise their right hand. And uh do you solemnly swear or affirm that the responses given in statement made in this hearing before the zoning board of appeals will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If so, answer I do. I do. Thank you. That brings us to item five, old business, which we have none of, and then that brings us to item six, which is new business. Um we have one case uh of new business before us. It's case CBA 18-358CU for conditional use at 112 to 114 West All Saint Street. Mr. Brown, do you have the staff report? I do. Thank you.
openpublica.com