Tempe Board of Adjustment Meeting – April 22, 2020
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Tempe Board of Adjustment Meeting – April 22, 2020
The City of Tempe Board of Adjustment held a virtual meeting on April 22, 2020, at 2:30 PM due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements. The board approved prior meeting minutes and unanimously voted to grant a variance for a residential garage project.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Meeting Minutes: The board approved the minutes from the Special Study Session on January 22, 2020, and the Study Session and Formal Meeting on February 26, 2020. The motion passed 7–0 with no corrections or amendments.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments during the meeting. Staff reported receiving one email inquiry and one phone call expressing concern about potential conversion of the garage to habitable space, but the applicant clarified the garage would not be used as habitable or principal space. All neighbors who attended the March 20, 2020 neighborhood meeting expressed support.
Discussion Items
- Variance Request for Reese Residence (PL200049): The applicant, Gammage & Burnham, PLC (attorney Ms. Voz), requested a variance to reduce the required side-yard setback from 5 feet to 2 feet at 1310 East Broadmor Drive. The property owner, John Reese, a Tempe firefighter and long-time resident, seeks to replace an existing carport with an enclosed garage. The lot is narrower (59 feet) than neighboring lots (70 feet), and the house has a vertical orientation due to constraints from the original 1960s development. Staff and the applicant noted similar variances have been granted in the area. The proposed garage will be fire rated and match neighborhood architecture. Staff recommended approval with a condition that a building permit be obtained, required inspections completed, and a final inspection passed. Board members noted the proposal met variance criteria (special circumstances, no self-imposed hardship, consistency with neighborhood).
Key Outcomes
- Vote: The board unanimously approved the variance (7–0) with the condition that a building permit be obtained and all required inspections, including a final inspection, are passed.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:00 PM by a 7–0 vote.
Meeting Transcript
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the City of Tempe Board of Adjustment meeting for April 22nd, 2020. Due to the COVID 19, we are obeying Governor Ducy's social distancing requirements and doing this in a little bit special way. We have a full quorum with us tonight by WebX. The public may go to City of Tempe website, Board of Adjustment page, and fill out the comment card for their comments on today's meeting until uh and when we get to public comments, I'll have a chance to call on you for that. The City of Tempe Board of Adjustment is authorized by the Arizona revised statutes and the City of Tempe zoning ordinance. Its function is to grant relief where a literal enforcement of zoning ordinance would result in an unnecessary property hardship to interpret provisions of the zoning ordinance for variances and to hear appeals from any person or city official aggrieved by the decision of a person responsible for the enforcement of the zoning ordinance, which might be zoning administrator or hearing officer abatements. The board has the City of Tempe community development staff summary reports on the items being considered at this meeting and will use their report in their deliberations. So now folks, again, um, because we're doing things a little bit differently tonight. If you wish to make comment on our case, which we have, there is an apparatus in place that you can do this by way of your computer. If you can find your way to the City of Tempe website and the Board of Adjustments page, I am told that there's a comment card there that you can fill out. So just as repetition, please fill that out if you'd like to be involved tonight. And uh let me just thank you all for for coming to our little meeting by way of computer. We're doing things a little bit of a special way tonight, but it's nice that we can all still be involved and connected. So speaking of being involved and connected, we have with us a full quorum tonight by way of computer, and I'd like to have each of our board members introduce themselves. Um I guess I'll call each of you to keep it orderly. Board member Confer. Are you present? Present, sir. Was that heard? I can barely hear him. Let's let's give it one more one more go, Board Member Confer. Make sure your mic is up to speed. Um Jack Costler present. Thank you. Huh. Yeah, yeah, it's it's just barely audible. So this is why we do tests. Um tell you what, take a look at that for a sec. We'll go down the rest of the list and then we'll come back to you, Board Member Confer. Uh, Vice Chair Frazy. I am present. Board Member Cullins. I am present. Board Member Keege. I am present. Board Member Watson. Richard Watson present. And board member Baker. I am present. Okay. So now let's make sure we can hear the lovely sound of Board Confert's voice. Uh, how are you doing over there, Board Member Confer? Testing again. Can you hear me over there? Uh it is barely audible. Hmm. We're we're not sure what's going on on that end of things, but it sounds like the suspicion is something at your end. Test again. That sounds better. That's that's a little better.
openpublica.com