Planning commission to hold special meeting
The city planning commission decided in their meeting on Tuesday night that they will hold a special meeting on July 24 to further discuss the fate of a significant development permit that proposes the construction of several townhome-style dwelling units on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of S. Holly St.
The property in question is currently an empty lot that sits adjacent to a number of residential properties on South Haden Street and begins at the intersection of West Kenwood Street and South Holly Street. The owner and/or applicant for the project is Michael Crosno of Bauman and Crosno Construction, who is seeking to build seven, 3,570-square-foot townhomes that would face South Holly Street and would feature a total of 28 independent dwelling units, with four in each townhome. Each individual unit would also have its own single car garage and would be able to be accessed at the ground level.
The reason behind the commission’s decision to table the issue for a special meeting is due to the fact that the proposed project design encroaches by 2.3 feet into the 25-feet side-on-corner setback, said Senior City Planner Ben Rhoads. In summary, a setback in regards to zoning restrictions is the minimum distance that a structure has to be “setback” from an array of different things, including but not limited to other structures or buildings, streets or bodies of water such as streams or rivers. In this case, the setback restriction applies to the property line and is 25 feet, and the area of encroachment is located on the northernmost end of the lot.
Crosno appealed to the Board of Adjustment during their meeting that took place just before the planning commission’s meeting earlier that afternoon with a variance request. The request would have allowed him to move forward with the project despite the encroachment, but this request
was denied, which necessitates the new meeting. As a result, Crosno is expected to re-submit a new plan by the end of the week in which the total surface area of the project will be reduced by changing the townhome that would be located on the corner of West Kenwood Street and South Holly Street from a quadplex to a triplex, as well as decreasing the size of driveways and parking space, Rhoads said.
Presuming Crosno is able to reconfigure the design to fit within the allowed surface area. The new plan will be reviewed by the planning commission who will provide a recommendation to the city board of directors, who will then take up the issue during their meeting on Aug. 7. Other items voted on during the day’s meetings are listed below.
Board of Adjustment
• A variance request was approved that will allow the owner of Big Brother Pawn, Stan Thomas, to construct a freestanding sign that exceeds the permitted display surface area for the street his business is located on by 27.46 square feet. This would typically violate section 81-37(c)(1) of the municipal code. As part of his request, Thomas submitted a statement of hardship to the board of adjustment, in which he noted that he believes his business suffers because of a lack of visibility for motorists on U.S. Highway 412 and that this lack of visibility will worsen once the city follows through with its new plans to widen West Kenwood Street. City staff concurred that in Thomas’ case, there is a valid hardship present.
Planning Commission
• A motion to approve a lot split development permit was approved unanimously, and will allow for a 20.01 acre property located at 2810 Cheri Whitlock Dr. to be split into two separate parcels. The first lot will be 7.35 acres while the second will be 12.66 acres.
• A motion to approve a rezone development permit was passed unanimously, and will up-zone a 1.13 acre property located at 626 N. College St. from the zoning category of R-2 to P-D (planned-development). Changing the area to P-D zone will open up the area to a number of different uses, including parks, small motels, convenience stores, or single, double and multi-family dwelling units, according to the staff report.
• A motion to approve a rezone development permit was passed unanimously, and will change the zoning classification for the area in and around Southside Elementary School from R-2 to G-I (general-institutional). City staff has determined that the G-I zoning is the most suitable for the school and that it aligns with the goals of the city’s future land map, according to the staff report.
• A motion to approve a significant development permit was passed unanimously, and will allow for Ability Tree Inc. to begin the construction of a new, 9,650-square-foot special needs care facility. The facility will be located on the 2300 block of E. Tahlequah St.