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2018-05_1753 Columbine Ave_Disposition Packet N O T I C E FINDINGS AND DECISION OF THE CITY OF BOULDER BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT DISPOSITION OF ZONING CASE DOCKET NUMBER 2018-05 CONCERNING THE APPLICATION FOR A VARIANCE OF THE FLOOR AREA FOR AN ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 9-6-3, B.R.C. 1981 AT 1753 COLUMBINE AVENUE OF TIME AND LYNETTE FULLER-ROWELL, WHOSE MAILING ADDRESS IS 1753 COLUMBINT AVENUE, BOULDER, COLORADO 80302. On May 10, 2018, the City of Boulder Board of Zoning Adjustment, a quorum being present, held a public hearing, after giving notice as required by law, on the application for the following variance: As part of a proposal to establish an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) within the existing residence located within the RL-1 zoning district, the applicants are requesting a floor area variance to allow an approximately 1,160 square foot lower level accessory unit where approximately 1,000 square feet would be allowed per the ADU size limitations. Section of the Land Use Code to be modified: Section 9-6-3, BRC 1981. Based on our field investigation and the relevant testimony, exhibits, and other evidence introduced at the hearing, and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Boulder Revised Code, 1981, we find by a preponderance of the evidence that the criteria for granting a variance have been met, and grant the variance as requested, subject, however, to the following condition: That at building permit application the accessory dwelling unit will need to demonstrate current code compliance for all improvements that have been previously unpermitted, that a rental license be acquired before it is rented out, and that the variance request shall not exceed 160 sq. ft. This variance is limited to the use and structure for which it was requested, including the location on the lot and maximum height, as approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment. This variance was approved by the vote of 3-2 (E. McCready and M. Hirsh opposed). EXECUTED this 10th day of May 2018, effective as of, May 10, 2018. Jill Lester, Presiding Officer of the Board at the Meeting By: ____________ __________________________ Robbie Wyler, Secretary to the Board of Zoning Adjustment This decision constitutes a final decision as of the date of the hearing at which it was reached. If a variance was granted, the variance expires within 180 (one hundred eighty) days from the date on which it were granted unless a building permit for such variance is applied for within such period. CITY OF BOULDER Planning and Development Services 1739 Broadway, Third Floor • P.O. Box 791, Boulder, Colorado 80306-0791 phone 303-441-1880 • fax 303-441-3241 • email plandevelop@bouldercolorado.gov www.boulderplandevelop.net BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 1 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 2 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 3 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 4 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. Background of the request Lynette and I purchased the house in 1990 when we moved to Boulder from London, and have lived in the house as a single family dwelling for 28 years. The house is a good size, and has been ideal to raise our three sons, the youngest was born in 1990 so has lived in Boulder all his life. All three sons now have their own places and are gainfully employed, so we are empty nesters. Our oldest son is married with two young daughters. His family recently moved back to Boulder from New York, and bought a house just two blocks away on Bluebell Ave. One of the reasons they moved close by was so that we can help with the grandchildren. We currently share the care giving of the grandchildren, since they both work full-time. Since our grandchildren live round the corner, we really want to stay in the neighborhood. We love the neighborhood and would like to “age in place.” The house has become too big for us, but opportunities to downsize are limited in the neighborhood. I will reach retirement age next year so income will drop significantly. Lynette had to retire from her work recently after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We hope the supplementary income from renting out the basement will help to pay the mortgage, and the expense of maintaining an older home. Hence the wish to apply for the ADU, in order to make good use of the space and help with the rising cost of living in Boulder as we retire. We also enjoy the prospect of interaction that renting out part of our house will involve. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 5 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. Written statement describing the variance request and addressing all pertinent review criteria The size variance request is based on paragraph (1) Physical Conditions (h) CRITERIA FOR VARIANCES (1) Physical Conditions (A) The proposed accessory unit is the Basement of a three-story Cape Cod style building, which was built in 1946. The floor and walls of the basement are concrete, which support the upper two stories of the house. With the internal framing the walls are 1ft. 2 inches thick, the total area of which are 170 sq.ft., which is included in the current ADU size calculation. The grade of the land slopes from West to East, rendering the West, North, and South sides of the basement mostly below grade. On these sides, small windows in the area above grade allow some light into the area. On the East side, the grade is cut out to enable walk out from the basement. More than 50% of the natural light to the Basement is supplied from the East through a larger window in the bedroom and double patio doors with sidelights in the laundry/mudroom. A stairwell on the North- East corner connect the Basement to the main part of the house. (B) Floral Park has many different house styles and the Cape Cod construction is unique to the neighborhood. The existing footprint has not changed since its construction in 1946. (C) The current area of the basement, excluding the mechanical/ furnace room and stairwell is currently 1160 sq. ft., which is the area proposed for the accessory dwelling unit (ADU), and is 36% of the total of all three levels of the house. To meet the 1000 sq. ft. maximum size limitation or 1/3 of the total area, the only feasible way would require constructing a wall across the laundry/mud room from North to South, in order to exclude 160 sq.ft. . This wall would reduce the natural light to the ADU by 50%, making the space greatly undesirable for the owners and future renters. Therefore, to meet the size restriction would lead to unnecessary remodeling work of walling off a portion of the Basement, chopping the room space into two small undesirable spaces. In contrast the current open area on the East side produces a light and airy space with direct access to the outside through the double patio doors to a small patio seating area. (D) The layout of the house and floor area of each level has been unchanged since it’s original construction in 1946. It has had only one or two previous owners, and was purchased by us in 1990. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 6 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. (5) Requirements for All Variance Approvals (A) Would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood. The footprint of the house has been unchanged since its construction and will be unchanged by this application. No external changes are proposed so would have no impact on the character of the neighborhood. (B) Would not impair the reasonable use or development of adjacent property. There is no exterior size increase requested and no change to neighbor’s existing ability to develop their properties. (C) Would be the minimum variance to afford relief and the least modification of the applicable provisions of this title We have tried to think of alternative ways to reduce the size that would not have the negative impact of removing 50% of the natural light and making the space undesirable. A wall running East-West towards the north side separating the laundry area and keeping the natural light in the ADU, would only reduce the size by 70 sq.ft., so would not subtract enough area to meet 1000 sq.ft. requirement. The basement contains ductwork in the ceiling for the forced air furnace heating for the whole house, which would make the construction of the partition wall difficult, and would require re-routing of a lot of the existing forced air ductwork. To replace the lost natural light to the ADU would require excavating the grade around the house and cutting into the concrete foundation walls to increase the size of the windows on the South and West side of the Basement. This would be major structural change that could impair the integrity of the basement foundation walls, which support the two upper stories of the house. If a future owner wanted to convert the house back to a single family dwelling, remodeling work would be required to remove the partition wall. We also consulted with Boulder company RHAB architecture and planning, 1301 Walnut St., and they concluded there was not a straightforward way to modify the space to meet the size requirement, without building the wall from the North to South of the laundry/mud room that would remove 50% of the natural light of the ADU. Furthermore, with the forced air heating ductwork below the floor joist it is impractical to construct a permanent partition because there are no convenient anchor points in the ceiling to support a new wall structure, at suitable locations, without extensive rerouting of existing ductwork. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 7 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. (D) Would not conflict with “solar access” The unit and the house conform to all solar requirements and since the footprint of the house would not change, there would be no infringement on solar access of neighboring properties. (i) FLOOR AREA VARIANCE FOR ADUs (1) The interior of the house is arranged such that the space to be used as the ADU cannot feasibly be divided in conformance with the size requirement The basement floor area is the footprint of the whole three-story dwelling. The upper levels sit above the basement area, and are similar in their size with the exception of the concrete area on the Southeast corner of the main level, and the reduction on the upper level due to the traditional sloping room Cap Cod style construction. The only way to reduce the size of the ADU area is to build an unnecessary wall across the laundry/mud room area. That construction would reduce to light to the ADU by 50% and make the area very undesirable. Alternatives either do not reduce the area sufficiently, or would require major structural changes to recover the natural light potentially impacting the integrity and safety of the whole dwelling (2) That the variance, if granted, meets the essential intent of this title, and would be minimum variance that would afford relief. Approval of the size variance would have no impact on any neighbors and would greatly improve the quality of life for the renters, or the owners if it was used returned as a single family dwelling in the future. (3) That the strict application of the provisions at issue would impose an undue and unnecessary hardship on the individual and that such hardship has not been created by the applicant. The reduced height in some areas of the basement due to the ceiling ductwork for the forced air heating system for the entire dwelling, would feel very cramped and claustrophobic without natural light. As described above, replacing the lost natural light to the ADU would require excavating the grade around the house and cutting into the concrete foundation walls to increase the size of the windows. This would be major structural change that could potentially impair the integrity of the foundation. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 8 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 9 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 10 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 11 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 12 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 13 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 14 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 15 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 16 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 17 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 18 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. Support Letters To gather neighborhood opinion, the following letter was circulated to close neighbors: 1753 Columbine Ave. Boulder, CO 80302 Dear Neighbors, We are applying to the city to use our basement as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Making it an official ADU means we can put a full size fridge and microwave, etc. in the basement, and rent it out to no more than 2 people. We have an off street parking space assigned for any renter we might have. As you know, we are empty nesters, and having lived in the house for 27 years we would like to stay on, and also make use of the space that we longer need. Our basement is self-contained with it’s own entrance on 18th Street. We of course plan to continue to live on the main and upper level of the house. Please come over and chat if you need more information. The city has a size limit of 1000 square feet for ADUs, the area of our basement is 1160 sq. ft. so we are applying to the city for a variance in order to have the space approved. As part of the application it helps to have letters of support, or lack of objection, from our neighbors. We are approaching you as our long-standing neighbors to ask you if you would be willing to agree to allow us use the basement in this way. If you are willing, please send an email to the address below simply saying you do not object, that we can include in the application. If you want to add anything else that would help the application that would be great. We have to submit the application by Wednesday of next week, March 21st, if you are able to respond before that date. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns and thanks so much for giving this your consideration. Sincerely, Tim and Lynette Fuller-Rowell Email: tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 19 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. The neighbor most impacted by the ADU would be the family immediately across the street from the ADU entrance on 18th St. Below is the response from Kristin and Matt Moseley at 1805 Columbine Ave.. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 20 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 21 of 22 Fuller-Rowell – 1753 Columbine Ave. The following are additional responses, so far: Kent and Robin Taylor 1730 Columbine Ave. Bonnie and Andy Oriel 1703 Columbine Ave. To date we have not had any negative responses. 3/21/18, 11:00 AMNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Mail - Accessory Dwelling Unit at 1753 Columbine Avenue Page 1 of 1https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=e051fbd7af&jsver=7NKBh…view=pt&msg=16246a5f988710eb&search=inbox&siml=16246a5f988710eb Tim Fuller-Rowell - NOAA Affiliate <tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov> Accessory Dwelling Unit at 1753 Columbine Avenue Kent Taylor <kdtboulder@outlook.com>Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 9:41 PM To: "tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov" <tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov> Cc: "rmtboulder@gmail.com" <rmtboulder@gmail.com> Tim and Lynette, We do not object to the accessory dwelling unit variance you propose. You are great neighbors and deserve to use the property as you propose. Kent and Robin Taylor 3/18/18, 11:16 AMNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Mail - the Fuller Rowell's ADU application Page 1 of 1https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=e051fbd7af&jsver=7NKBhY…h=adv&as_query=from%3A(abcoriel%40aol.com)&siml=16231387cdc47656 Tim Fuller-Rowell - NOAA Affiliate <tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov> the Fuller Rowell's ADU application BONNIE ORIEL <abcoriel@aol.com>Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 5:50 PM To: tim.fuller-rowell@noaa.gov Hi Tim and Lynette, Andy and I have no objections to your using your extra space as an ADU. You have always been good neighbors and therefore we look forward to the same in the future. Bonnie and Andy Oriel 1703 Columbine Ave. BOZA Disposition of Approval Page 22 of 22