Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - May 23, 2023
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - May 23, 2023
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a meeting on May 23, 2023, at 7:00 PM at City Hall in Frederick, Maryland. The board approved the minutes from the April 25, 2023 meeting and considered one variance application for an accessible home addition. The meeting concluded with the unanimous approval of the requested variance.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the April 25, 2023 meeting minutes was moved by Bob Sisson, seconded, and approved by a 5-0 voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No general public comment was offered.
- No public comment was made on the variance case.
Discussion Items
- ZBA23-374V, Variance for 278 Pinoak Lane: The applicant, Melissa Hanson, requested a variance from Section 405-1 of the Land Management Code to allow a rear-yard setback encroachment of 3 feet (the agenda listed the request as 2'10", but the staff report and testimony consistently referred to a 3-foot encroachment) for the construction of an accessible bathroom and bedroom addition. The property, built in 1964, is legally nonconforming due to current 30-foot rear setback requirements. The applicant explained that the addition is needed to care for her disabled mother-in-law, who will eventually require a wheelchair. Staff reported that the lot is not exceptional, but the house placement predates current setbacks, and the variance is the minimum necessary to allow an accessible addition without altering the front character. The board noted that neighboring properties also have nonconforming setbacks and that in-home elder care benefits the community. The applicant attested that all adjacent neighbors and neighborhood advisory council coordinators were notified, and no objections were received.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to approve the variance (ZBA23-374V) was made by Dixon Hicks, seconded by Bob Sisson, and passed unanimously (4-0 votes: Knapp, Aronow, Sisson, Hicks in favor). The motion included findings that the variance is not contrary to public interest, will not alter the neighborhood character, is in harmony with the Comprehensive Plan, the applicant did not create the nonconformity, and in-home elder care is a valuable pursuit. The board granted the variance with no conditions.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the May 23rd, 2023 meeting of the City Zoning Board of Appeals. Before we get started tonight, I like to give a little bit of brief information about the ZBA and kind of go over the procedures for this evening. It's the responsibility of the Zoning Board of Appeals to authorize on appeal in specific cases of variance from the terms of the city zoning regulations. We conduct all our responsibilities in accordance with the city's land management code and all applicable Maryland state law members of the Board of Zoning Appeals. We are all residents of the city. We're appointed by the mayor, and our appointments are confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. Also, in our activities, we're supported by members of the staff. So to my far right and everybody's uh far left is Mr. Joe Atkins. Uh he is the director of the planning department here at the city. Um next uh to Mr. Atkins is uh Miss Monica Robbins, she is a planner with the planning department, and then to my far left and everybody else's far right is uh Ms. Jennifer Vandergreek, and in addition to her many, many, many responsibilities, she supports us here, uh the zoning board of appeals in our work. Um so our procedures for tonight's cases will be like this. I will call the case number. Um I normally say if we've got a crowded room, uh if the applicant could wave and let me know that they're here, but I think that the applicant is here with us tonight. Um but uh before we hear from the applicant, I will ask for the staff report, and the staff report will be read into the record, and then at the end of the staff report, the staff will make a recommendation or recommendations regarding the case. That is one element we use in our decision making, but it's not the only element. Uh following the staff report, we'll ask to hear from the applicant, and we'll ask if there's anything additional that you would like to clarify or to add that you think will be useful to us as uh in our decision making. Uh members of the board might ask questions of you as well. Um following the applicant's testimony, we will ask if there is any public comment. It does not look like there's likely to be public comment tonight, but uh um we will ask all the same. And then following any public comment that we would normally have, we would ask the applicant if they had any closing remarks they would like to share for us. Um that will close the testimony part of the case, and then I will call for a motion of the board. We have five members on the board, and so three out of five votes pass any motion uh that happens to be before us uh this evening. Um a couple of other uh things. If anybody is uh speaking tonight, we will ask your name and your address for the record. Um of the reasons is is that all the um proceedings tonight are recorded, and anybody who feels aggrieved by a decision that the zoning board of appeals makes has the right to appeal our decisions to the Maryland Circuit Court, and that helps keep the record straight and with the judge is reviewing uh testimony, who's speaking and and um uh how they're related to the case at any time. Um is there any questions about tonight's proceedings? No. Um, seeing none. Um we do have a couple of administrative uh items on our agenda for tonight. Uh anybody who's following along with the agenda, that's item one. That's our call to order and announcements. Um Mr. Atkins or Ms. Robbins, any additional announcements tonight? No, no. Um item number two is general public comment. If anybody in the city wishes to give general public comment related to zoning in the city of Frederick, um, there's an opportunity uh on our agenda to do so. It is very rare that we have any takers and I don't see any uh tonight, so we will move on to item number three. Uh approval of the minutes from the April 25th, 2023 meeting. Members of the board, you have those meeting minutes in your packets, and I will entertain a motion. Mr. Speaker, Bob Sisson, I make a motion to approve the minutes as written. Do we have a second? Second. We have a second from Mr. Knapp.
openpublica.com