Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - April 25, 2023
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Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - April 25, 2023
The City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals met on April 25, 2023 at 7:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Chair Jim Racheff. The board heard one new business item: a variance request for 704-706 Trail Avenue. The minutes from March 28, 2023 were approved. No public comment was made. The board voted unanimously to approve the requested variances.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the March 28, 2023 meeting minutes: motion by Bob Sisson, second by Lawrence Aronow, approved by voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the general public comment period or during the variance hearing.
Discussion Items
- ZBA23-299V – Variance for 704-706 Trail Avenue: The applicant, Ing Shen Ruan (3049 Urb Garden Drive, Frederick), requested variances from Table 405-1 of the Land Management Code to subdivide an existing duplex property into two fee simple lots. The property was built in 1968 under a previous zoning ordinance, and all other duplexes on the block have been subdivided except this one. Staff (Joe Atkins, Planning Director) recommended approval, finding that the variances met the criteria of LMC Section 313. The requested variances were:
- For 704 Trail Avenue: 1,409 sq ft from the required 6,000 sq ft minimum lot size; 20 ft from the required 40 ft lot width; 4.08 ft from the required 8 ft interior setback.
- For 706 Trail Avenue: 1,401 sq ft from the required 6,000 sq ft minimum lot size; 20 ft from the required 40 ft lot width; 4.02 ft from the required 8 ft interior setback.
- The applicant testified that neighbors were happy about the proposed subdivision and that it would benefit the neighborhood. No opposition was raised.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on ZBA23-299V: Motion to approve the variances by board member (Mr. Knapp), seconded by Bob Sisson. The motion passed with three votes in favor (Mr. Arno, Mr. Knapp, Mr. Sisson). No votes against. The variances were granted.
- Items Added to Agenda: The agenda listed two completed zoning determinations (ZBA23-236ZD – 77 Thomas Johnson Drive and ZBA23-250ZD – 350 E Church Street) for informational purposes, though they were not discussed during the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:20 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the April 25th, 2023 meeting of the City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals. Before we get started tonight, I'll give a little brief background about the ZBA for procedures for tonight just to see if there's any questions and make sure everybody's uh comfortable. Um it's the responsibility of the zoning board of appeals uh to authorize on appeals and specific cases of variants from the city's um zoning regulations. We re uh conduct our responsibilities in accordance with the city's land management code and all applicable Maryland state law as well. Members of the board, we are all volunteers. Um we are appointed by the mayor, and our appointments are confirmed uh by the board of aldermen. Um and then also tonight we've got some people um some folks from the city staff who support the zoning board of appeals uh in our work. And so to my right and your left is Mr. Joe Atkins, he's the director of the planning department, and then to my far left uh and your far right is Miss Jennifer Vandergreek. She is the office manager um for the planning department, and in addition to many, many, many responsibilities, she also helps us here out at the ZBA. So just a little bit about tonight's procedures. Um I'll call the case number. Um I think that we have one case on the agenda tonight, and so usually I say if the applicant will give me a wave, but I suspect that our applicant is here with us this evening. Um after that, I will ask for the staff report. And so um Mr. Atkins will enter the staff report into the record. Um he'll go through that and highlight any specific uh details that he thinks we members of the the board um should pay particular attention to. Um and at the end of the staff report, um, he may make a recommendation or recommendations um from staff regarding the case. That is one element that we use in our decision making, but it's not the only element. So following the staff report, we'll ask to hear from the applicant and we'll ask if you have any additional information that you want to share with us or anything that you would like to clarify. Umbers of the board might ask questions about the particular application at that time. Um after we hear from the applicant, um, we will ask and see if anybody from the public wishes to um uh give any testimony, at least so far. It does not appear that we're gonna have any members of the public uh here for tonight's case, but um uh if we do, then that's an opportunity for for our um people from the general public to give their opinions and provide any information that they think is relevant. Following that, we will ask the applicant again if they have any closing remarks or anything that they would like to leave us with. That will close the testimony part of the case, and then I will ask for a motion from uh the members of the board here. Um we need a majority of members present to pass a motion. So we have four members presence with us tonight, which is a quorum. We need three out of four votes to pass any motion that happens to be um before the board. Um you do come uh and anybody comes forward to speak tonight, we will ask them uh their uh name and their address for the record. That's because all of tonight's proceedings are recorded. Anybody who is aggrieved by a decision that we on the zoning board of appeals makes has the right to appeal our decision to the state court. Um and so that helps make sure that the record's complete and we're able to identify who happens to be testifying at any particular time. Um are there any questions about tonight's proceedings? All right. Well, then uh seeing none, um, we do have a um uh a couple of administrative things on our agenda tonight to get to before we get to tonight's cases. Um so we'll go ahead and go through those uh and then we'll get on uh to tonight's business. Um for anybody following uh at home on our agenda, that's item number one. That's our call to order and announcements. Item number two is general public comment. If there are any members of the public, and I see probably none present that want to give general comment about zoning in the city of Frederick. Now is the opportunity to do so. But seeing that we don't have anybody with us tonight, um uh we will move on to item number three. Um members of the board, you have with you in your packets uh approved uh the uh March 28th, 2023 meeting minutes. Um uh I will consider a motion. Mr. Speaker, this is Bob Sisson. I make a motion that we accept the minutes as written. We have a motion from Mr. Sitson to accept the minutes as written.
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