07-10010r
RESOLUTION NO.1 001 0
RESOLUTION GRANTING THE APPEAL FROM THE DECISION OF THE HEARING
EXAMINER, REVERSING THE HEARING EXAMINER'S DECISION,
AND GRANTING A VARIANCE FOR A REDUCED SIDE YARD SETBACK AT
7238 BLAISDELL AVENUE
Be it resolved by the Board of Adjustment and Appeals of the City of Richfield,
Minnesota as follows:
I. The Board of Adjustment and Appeals hereby makes the following findings of
fact:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The City of Richfield (the "City") regulates, by ordinance, the setback requirements of
buildings.
2. The primary source of such regulations is contained in Appendix B of the Richfield City
Code, which is also known as the Richfield Zoning Code.
3. On or about September 5, 2007 the City received an application from John
Radmanovich, contractor for Mr. & Mrs. Tolle (the "Applicant"), 7238 Blaisdell Avenue,
requesting a variance to allow reduction of the five-foot setback requirement to three-
feet for construction of an attached garage.
4. The property at 7238 Blaisdell Avenue is located in the Single Family Residential (R)
zoning district.
5. Subsection 521.11, Subdivision 2 of the Richfield Zoning Code requires single-family
homes to be set back no less than five-feet from interior side lot lines.
6. On September 18,2007, the Hearing Examiner conducted a public hearing on the
variance request.
7. On or about September 21,2007, the Hearing Examiner published a written decision
denying the variance request.
8. On or about October 1, 2007, the City received a written request (the "Appeal") to the
Board of Adjustment and Appeals (the "Board") to consider an appeal of the decision of
the Hearing Examiner. .
9. The appeal came before the Board for review and action on October 23,2007. The
Board conducted a public hearing, at which the Applicant was provided the opportunity
to testify.
II. The Board hereby makes the following conclusions:
CONCLUSIONS
1. Strict compliance with the provisions of Zoning Code Subsection 521.11, Subdivision 2
will result in an undue hardship in that the Applicant could only construct a garage that
is 21.25 feet by 23.6 feet in dimension without a variance. A typical two-car garage is
24 feet by 24 feet in dimension. The home is a five-bedroom home with a footprint of
approximately 1,451 square feet, which is larger than typical in the city. The proposed
garage is proportionate to the size of the home.
2. The Applicant could have constructed a garage that is 21 feet, 3 inches wide and could
have added additional depth to the garage by adding to the rear of the garage to
compensate for the smaller width. However, to do so would require removal of a large,
mature tree that is located to the rear of the garage. The size, age and location of the
tree constitute an unusual and unique circumstance that justifies a variance. It would
be unreasonable to require the Applicant to add additional length at the front of the
garage, because that fac;ade would be aesthetically less appealing than the wider
garage as allowed by the variance.
3. The proposed variance would not alter the character of the neighborhood.
4. The variance is the minimum variance necessary to alleviate the undue hardship.
III. Based upon the foregoing, the Board hereby makes the following decision:
DECISION
The appeal of the decision by the Hearing Examiner to allow a reduction of the
required five-foot interior setback to three feet for the construction of an attached garage at
7238 Blaisdell Avenue is hereby in all respects GRANTED. The decision of the Hearing
Examiner is reversed, and the variance is granted.
Adopted by the City Council of the City of Richfield, Minnesota this 23rd day of
October 2007.
~,~..
Debbie Goettel, Mayor
ATTEST: