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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA MINUTES 2016-10-25A Special Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Livonia was held in the Gallery of the Livonia City Hall on Tuesday, October 25, 2016. MEMBERS PRESENT Craig Pastor, Vice Chairman James M. Baringhaus, Secretary Leo Neville Benjamin A. Schepis Timothy J. Klisz MEMBERS ABSENT: Matt Henzi Greg Coppola OTHERS PRESENT: Mike Fisher, City Attorney Steve Banko, City Inspector Beth Niemczewski, CER -7224 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Vice Chairman Pastor explained the Rules of Procedure to those interested parties. Each petitioner must give their name and address and declare hardship for appeal. Appeals of the Zoning Board's decisions are made to the Wayne County Circuit Court. The Vice Chairman advised the audience that appeals can be filed within 21 days of the date tonight's minutes are approved. The decision of the Zoning Board shall become final within five (5) calendar days following the hearing and the applicant shall be mailed a copy of the decision. There are four decisions the Board can make: to deny, to grant, to grant as modified by the Board, or to table for further information. Each petitioner may ask to be heard by a full seven (7) member Board. Five (5) members were present this evening. The Chairman asked if anyone wished to be heard by a full Board and no one wished to do so. The Secretary then read the Agenda and Legal Notice to each appeal, and each petitioner indicated their presence. Appeals came up for hearing after due legal notice was given to all interested parties within 300 feet, petitioners and City Departments. There were 15 people present in the audience. (7:00) City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 1 of 32 October 25, 2016 APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-10-74: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by MH1 Investments, LLC, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to erect a single-family dwelling, resulting in deficient lot area, lot width and deficient north side yard setback. Lot Area: Lot Width: North Side Yard Setback: Required: 0.50 acres (21,780 sq. ft.) Required: 65.0 ft. Required: 10 ft. Existing: 0.37 acres (16,117 sq. ft.) Existing: 62.5 ft. Proposed: 4 ft. Deficient: 0.13 acres ( 5,663 sq. ft.) Deficient: 2.5 ft. Deficient: 6 ft. The property is located on the east side of Merriman Court (19624), between Seven Mile and Pembroke, Lot. No. 007-99-0046-000, RUF-A Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under Zoning Ordinance 543, Section 5.04, "Minimum Lot Size," and Section 5.06, "Side Yards in General." Pastor: Thank you. Is there anything additional from the Inspection Department? Banko: I have nothing to add at this time, Mr. Chair. Pastor: Does the Board have any question for the Inspection Department? Board: None at this time. Pastor: Petitioner, can you come forward please? Your name and address, please. Longo: My name if Vince Longo. I'm a member of MH1 Investments. Which address would you like? My home address? Office address? Pastor: That's fine -- office. Longo: 17197 North Laurel Park Drive in Livonia. Pastor: Thank you. Do you have anything to add to your application? Longo: Yes, actually we're -- I sent the -- we have the updated plot plan that sets the home further back. So the -- it is within -- it is within the 10 -foot easement on either side. And we also have a recorded easement agreement with the next-door neighbor, which allows that garage to stay there indefinitely. Pastor: How far back -- Longo: Setback? Pastor: Yes, from the road --- City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: From the front -- oh I believe it is one hundred feet. Pastor: How far -- how far back from the neighbor's houses are you? I see -- I see one house where you're looking at the back of the garage. How far are -- are you far enough back on that other neighbor's house to be looking at their garage? Longo: Yes. The other neighbor is more than 10 feet from their lot line on the south side. Pastor: Anyone else have any questions? Schepis: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Yes, Mr. Schepis. Schepis: The -- so I just want sure I understand what you're saying. You say you have a revised -- revised plot map. Longo: So -- so the original one was set further -- closer to the front. What we did is to push it further away from the existing garage, we pushed it back even further. Schepis: So -- Longo: It's at least eight feet further back from that garage and four feet over. Schepis: So the north yard setback is no longer inefficient? Longo: Oh it is. I think the minimum setback was a hundred -- I'm sorry -- fifty and we're a hundred. Fisher: 1 think you two are talking past each other. Neville: Right. Longo: Sir, are you talking about the front -- Neville: The side yard -- Pastor: Side yard. Longo: Oh, the side setback. I apologize. I thought you meant the front -- the front setback. Schepis: No. Longo: So the side -- yeah to -- between the home and the north lot line, there's just over ten feet. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3 of 32 October 25, 2016 Joaquin: Six feet of that is garage, correct? Longo: So the house is pushed back further than the actual garage. So there's no garage between what's going to be the new home and the lot line. Do you have a copy of the -- Schepis: I don't know if what I'm looking at is the new one. Pastor: Does it say a hundred -foot setback? Right there. Schepis: Yeah, oh. Pastor: Any other questions? Schepis: No. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Anybody else? Excuse me, please don't talk while we're -- no you're saying your lot deficiency is only two -and -a -half feet, but is it not true that about six-foot of the neighbor's garage sits on the property that was once yours? Longo: Yeah. Pastor: Did you not deed this property back to her? Longo: The section of what her garage is over. Pastor: Her garage and her driveway, or just her garage? Longo: Her driveway is not on -- not over the property line. It's just a section of the garage. Pastor: Just a section of the garage. So if you put your house where it would normally be within line of your two neighbors, this deficiency would be much greater? Longo: It would be -- yeah -- like four -- just over four feet between. Pastor: Not if you're taking six feet out of your lot, it's not. If you're taking six feet out of your lot and your two feet, that would be eight -and -a half deficient. If you moved your house forward like it should be, you would be eight -and -a -half feet deficient. Am I correct? Longo: So the garage is over five feet nine inches. The home would be ten feet from the original lot line so there -- that would be -- Fisher: Four feet. Neville: Four point one. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: Yeah. Pastor: No because you're -- okay -- you're missing -- if you gave almost six feet of property to the person next door, your width of your lot is no longer 62 feet at that point. Am I correct? That's six feet less. Longo: Okay. Pastor: All right. So if you moved your house back, to where I would consider it should be, you would have closer to a ten -foot deficiency or an eight -and -a -half -foot deficiency. Longo: 1 guess I'm not understanding. So if -- if we set back where it -- Pastor: Fifty -foot setback. Longo: Oh you mean set it forward. Pastor: Fifty -foot setback. Longo: It would be -- so the home is forty feet wide so that's -- even if the home was there, it would be the ten feet less the five nine, right? Or am I think -- Pastor: And minus the two, yeah -- ten -- five nine -- and two -- two -and -a -half because you're already doing half. Or is it five nine -- yeah it would be -- the two -and -a -half -- the five nine -- Longo: Oh, the two -and -a -half for -- for the -- I got you. I was missing the two -and -a -half that -- for the half acre. Pastor: It's already two -and -a -half. Longo: Got you -- got you. Yes -- yes. Pastor: Then you would have five nine. Longo: Correct -- yes. I wasn't thinking of the initial minimum width. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Baringhaus: Yeah, Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Mr. Baringhaus. Baringhaus: Yeah, just looking at the plot plan. Can you explain how it came to be that your neighbor's garage is your property? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: That's a great question. Can I have help with that with the -- Joaquin: I want to know how the property was bought. I can't help you with anything. I don't know how it ended up going to auction. Longo: Okay --so -- Pastor: Please don't -- I don't want the audience to speak until it's their turn. Longo: From what I understand, there was an original owner that owned the whole thing. That owner would split the lot with the house on there with the understanding that, yeah, her garage is five feet nine inches over. And when she did sell it, she was okay with removing that section of the garage. Well something happened since then. Either she lost the lot, and we had one person purchase the homes -- the lot with the home on it, and then the other went to foreclosure. Somebody purchased that one on auction, which in turn we purchased from that person. Baringhaus: So it was one piece of property divided into three pieces of property? Longo: I think it was two. Baringhaus: Two pieces of property? Longo: Yeah, and they divided it right down -- right through that section of the garage, again with original owner being okay with removing that. I don't know what happed to that original owner, but we ended up purchasing it off of a private owner that owned it -- that purchased it from the county. And then we came to the City to check to see if everything was okay. We were told everything was fine until further down the road when we had somebody -- another builder wanted to buy the lot off of us. They went -- they came to the building department and found out that the garage was there, which was a surprise to us, of course. Fisher: Mr. Chair, maybe I can help with this a little bit. Pastor: Yes, Mr. Fisher. Fisher: It is my understanding that these two pieces of property were jointly owned, but the assessor's office said that the split between these two is not a recent thing. It dates back beyond City records apparently. So what's probably a more accurate history is that the owner of the two side by side lots actually built the garage straddling the lot line, most likely in knowledge of that, or at least not caring. And that's how you get the situation where now the side yard complete with part of the garage is separately owned. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 6 of 32 October 25, 2016 Neville: Mr. Chair. I'm sorry. Mr. Baringhaus, are you done? Baringhaus: Yes, I'm done. Neville: Okay. When you went to closing on this property, I presumed you ordered title work? Longo: I don't believe that our acquisitions person did. I think that he -- because he owned a building company. So he came down here, personally, and checked out to make sure everything was clear -- and we did not. It was purchased cash. Neville: Who did you purchase the property from? Longo: A real estate agent named Bob -- I can't think of his last name. Neville: So you -- you purchased the property -- you did not get title insurance? Longo: I believe so. That is correct, yes. Neville: So were you aware that this structure was -- you know -- intruding into the lot that you were intending to purchase at the time of the transaction? Longo: No. As I said, he came down here, and he spoke to the building department, and they pulled out all the paperwork and it didn't come up at the time. It did not come up until we had another buyer that wanted to purchase it and build on it. And they came down and found out that that garage was encroaching the property. Neville: So the lot had never been staked and nobody had gone out there and walked the lot before they purchased it -- or tried to buy it? Longo: Correct. Neville: Okay. Thank you. Pastor: So I'm a little curious. How did your builder not find it, but another did find it? Longo: He came down -- I'm -- I'm not going to say who we spoke to, but they apparently pulled all the paperwork, and they said -- and he was telling him this is no encroachment. You should be fine with it. Pastor: Okay. I'm looking at your plot plan here, and you have a dimension that is missing. I'm going to say it's a dimension from the back of your neighbor's garage to the front of your house. What is that dimension? It is right next to your lot -- it says lot and if you go left of that, there's two -- there's a line and two slash marks. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 7 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: So I would say it a hundred feet back and ten feet to the south of the lot line. I don't know the exact distance between the house itself -- the corner of the garage and the house itself. Pastor: I'm sorry. You don't know the -- how do you expect us to even consider this case when you don't have the dimensions? Longo: Well 1 had Midwest Consulting do it. So I was assuming that they did everything. Fisher: Mr. Chair, I think it's 16.26 Banka It shows the dimension on the inside of where the house would be. Fisher: Yes. It looks like that's a house dimension, but the house dimension is really 44.67. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Neville: Mr. Chair. Pastor: Mr. Neville. Neville: Just for a point of clarification. Looking at your -- or the survey -- you know -- that was submitted as support of your application. Just so we're all clear, the intent is to move this structure back in this area that is reflected towards the top portion of the diagram where the dash marks are, or is it your intent or request to build it where you have the solid -- Longo: Correct. Yes. It's a one -hundred -foot setback. So where -- where the solid outline of the home is. Neville: Okay. All right. Longo: I think the dotted lines back there are marking the side setback and the rear set back. Neville: Okay. All right. Thank you. Schepis: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Yes. Schepis: I have a question for Mr. Fisher. You mentioned earlier that you thought that the Petitioner and I were talking past each other, and I think we were, and -- and so my City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 8 of 32 October 25, 2016 question is, is this north side yard setback -- this third variance -- is that resolved by moving the house to where the revised plot plan is? Fisher: No. You -- to resolve that you have to shrink the house and move it to the east - - or shrink and move the west dimension -- no I'm sorry -- not -- not east/west. This is north/south. You have to shrink the house and you would have to move the north edge south six feet in order to eliminate the side yard deficiency. Schepis: Okay. Fisher: Even then it's sort of strange because a side yard is supposed to be completely unoccupied by any structure, and now you're -- because you've got a side yard that's got six-foot of structure built on it from the other side, now your side yard would be a strip down the middle, more or less, even if you made it "conforming". So -- Baringhaus: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Yes. Baringhaus: A question for Mr. Fisher. So the garage that's overlapping onto this property, is that creating the six-foot deficit on the set back? Fisher: Correct. Baringhaus: Yes. Okay. Fisher: Because again, your side yard is supposed to not have any structures on it. Baringhaus: Thank you. Pastor: Anyone else? Schepis: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Mr. Schepis. Schepis: Can you talk a little bit about the circumstances that led to the easement. This is a pretty recent thing. This is your company, isn't it? Longo: I'm a member of it, yes. Schepis: MH1 Investments. Longo: So what led to the easement? Schepis: Yeah. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 9 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: Or led to the easement agreement? Schepis: Yeah. Longo: So it was -- it was my understanding that if we had an agreement -- an easement agreement that was recorded, it would resolve -- so I was told that we couldn't come in front of the Board until we resolved that first. So that easement agreement resolved that issued. Fisher: I'll -- I'll address that. Our concern was that ownership of this piece of property is sort helter skelter because of this encroachment. So we -- it wasn't -- an easement wasn't the only way out. In fact, I don't think we suggested that specifically, but we said, you have to resolve this. Schepis: So you're just looking for a clear title before it -- Fisher: Yeah. We're just trying to make sure we have some -- that we have an animal and we know what it is we're dealing with. Schepis: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Pastor: Anyone else? Hearing none, is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak -- come forward. Joaquin: Uh, me. I'm the neighbor. I'm 19630 Merriman Court. Amy Joaquin. I don't know if I'm supposed to be walking up here or what but. Okay, so you're flat out going to build that -- Pastor: No -- no -- no -- ma'am, address the Board. Joaquin: I'm not allowed to talk to him? Pastor: Address the Board. Joaquin: Okay. Pastor: As a matter of fact, sir, can you go back and sit so she doesn't address you. Longo: Sure. Pastor: You can sit. Joaquin: Okay. So this is going to literally be behind my garage, and so it's going to be overlooking my entire backyard, my other neighbor's entire backyard, and two other ones, City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 10 of 32 October 25, 2016 quite frankly, and it's going to be a two-story colonial, correct? 2300 square foot colonial? That's what I -- I'm only getting that from the real estate that I looked up. Pastor: It's what it appears to be. Joaquin: Okay. So this will be sitting 16 feet behind my garage, is that what I heard? Sixteen point something? Pastor: Yes. Banko: Sixteen and a quarter. Joaquin: Okay, so their only side yard is going to be that six feet that I have spray painted on my garage, basically. That is going to be their entire side yard, right? From my garage, back? Fisher: Well four feet over from your garage is -- 1 don't know what's spray painted -- but four feet -- four feet south of your garage. Joaquin: When I am mowing the grass so I know where my property line is, but anyway. Fisher: Four feet south of the garage is the line that they're going to build along. Joaquin: But it's going to be behind my garage? Fisher: Yes. Joaquin: So there's going to be the six feet that is currently behind my garage, plus the four feet, then their home? This home? Fisher: Yes. Joaquin: So then it's going to be right on top of the other fence of my neighbor to the south, correct? Fisher: No. They're going to be ten feet away from that fence too. Joaquin: They'll be ten feet. Okay. Okay. Still overlooking the yards. That's pretty much all I have to say. I am highly, highly object to this. Neville: Well, let me ask you this. Joaquin: I'm dumbfounded. Neville: Is that your signature on that easement agreement? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 11 of 32 October 25, 2016 Joaquin: Yes. Yes, because I didn't have adverse possession. The lot has actually been owned by -- there was a gentleman and his family that owned both lots. Then there was Peggy who owned it before me -- Margaret, who gave them the quick claim deed. I have no idea how they found her. I tried. Trust me, I tried. But then it -- both lots were owned by her. I purchased -- well my mom purchased and then I purchased from her -- the home that I live in at 19630 Merriman Court. Neville: All right. When did you buy that property? Joaquin: 2012. Neville: When you bought your mother's home, did you have title insurance? Joaquin: Yes. Neville: Did you have -- did you buy it with a mortgage, or how did you find the means to purchase? Joaquin: I purchased it with a mortgage from her two years ago. Neville: Did you have a survey of the property before you bought -- purchased it? Joaquin: No. No. Neville: Did your mother have a survey of the property before she bought the property? Joaquin: No we did not. No. When we purchased it, it was a foreclosure. It -- we did not do our due diligence. I grant you that. But it is -- it's all fenced in. It's always been fenced in because it was the prior owner's. Did I look at that 62.5? No I didn't. Neville: All right. Had you had a survey -- Joaquin: I had every intention of purchasing it -- Neville: -- excuse me. I'm asking a question. Joaquin: Okay. Neville: Had you had a survey, you would have detected the fact that this garage on that property intruded onto the neighboring property, correct? Joaquin: Correct. Neville: Okay. And now understanding that you signed the easement agreement that was prepared relative to this property? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 12 of 32 October 25, 2016 Joaquin: Correct. Yes. Recently. September, I signed that. Neville: Right. I don't have any other questions for her. Thanks. Pastor: Anyone else -- questions? Anyone else in the audience wishing to speak, come forward. Poster: My name is Sue Poster. I live at 19835 Milburn Street. 19835, yeah. I'm Amy's mother, and I purchased the property. We purchased the house -- I bought it through a bank. It's a lovely piece of property. There's a split rail fence at each corner with pampas grass, and -- you know -- a great big huge lot. The house had been foreclosed -- had been empty for quite some time, and there were a lot of variation -- or violations that we had to work around -- you know with the electric, and painting, and all that kind of stuff before we could get a Certificate of Occupancy. We worked very hard to do that. And at some point, it was like this is supposed to be 62 feet. And I'm not good with numbers so I'm like, this doesn't look like it's 62 feet. And so it measured and sure enough, it wasn't. But that other piece property was owned by the same lady that had lost the house that had the property on it. So I came to the City, looked into that piece of property, and I was told that is was -- back taxes were owed on it. I said can I pay the back taxes. They said no. I had to find the owner. So I looked for this Margaret. My guess was that she didn't know that she still owned that piece of property. That maybe when she lost the piece of property that the house was on -- because apparently, she had taken a mortgage out on that that she thought she lost of all it, and she had gone away, and we couldn't find her. We looked and looked. And then I was told that by the City here that I had to wait for it to go into foreclosure. So I did. And I called Wayne County, and I tried to get -- figure out how to buy it -- you know -- for the back taxes, and they said well you have to wait for it to go up for auction. So I kept an eye on the auction property -- or the auction list. And then I since sold the home to my daughter as is the way 1 bought it. And we have a regular mortgage and it's all filed and everything. But so we kept an eye on the mortgage -- or the auction list, and it did not come up for auction until -- we didn't know anything about it. We kept looking because we wanted to purchase that property because it's a piece of that property. We did know that the garage was on it, but we wanted that property. You know -- we maintained it. Amy's mowed it. She's trimmed the trees. She's -- you know -- fixed a fence and everything. And even when we were doing all the -- or fixing all the problems with the house, City Inspectors would come out, and we told them -- you know -- because this was six months after I bought the property. And the Building Inspector said, you don't want anybody to building a house there, that's crazy. Make sure you buy that. So we tried, and somehow it slipped through the cracks and we missed it. And that's why we're here. We want to block this variance. We -- we still want to purchase that piece of property. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 13 of 32 October 25, 2016 Pastor: Thank you. Any questions? Neville: Ma'am. Poster: Yes. Neville: Mr. Chair. Pastor: Mr. Neville. Neville: So what you're telling is that you were aware that the -- your garage intruded Poster: We became aware -- Neville: -- onto the adjoining piece of property, correct? Poster: Yeah, but it was like months after I had purchased the property before I knew that. Neville: Well when you -- when you closed and you obtained a mortgage, there was -- I presume there wasn't -- Poster: I didn't get a mortgage. Neville: I presume there was a -- a survey of the property in the closing papers when you -- when you went to closing? Poster: Nope. I bought it cash from the bank. Neville: Was there any title insurance generated as a result at that -- at that closing? Poster: Yes there was. Neville: Was there any reference in the title of the fact that a portion of the structure on your property intruded onto the adjoining property? Poster: No. No. Not to my knowledge. It said that I had 62 feet, but it didn't say you know -- at least I didn't read that, and it was not brought to my attention. Neville: Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Pastor: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak. Come forward. Tamer: My name is Jason Tamer. I live at 19555 Merriman Court, almost directly across the street from the property. I'd like to just touch on Mr. Pastor's point. This lot is deficient by 8.5 feet. It's not deficient by the 2.5 feet as this document states. And putting this City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 14 of 32 October 25, 2016 house a hundred feet back is going to just tower over the property that's currently to the north. That is ridiculous. A hundred plus -- foot -- back -- a setback. That's farther than any house on that street on that side. There's nothing with that type of depth anywhere. And I totally oppose it. The lot is deficient, and clearly deficient by a long way -- a lot more than the letter states. So the information that was provided isn't exactly accurate to the neighbors because there would be a whole lot more neighbors here if they actually saw how big this house is going to be, and how close it's going to be to the property line, and behind the house that's currently to the north. So thank you. Pastor: Any questions? Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak. Come forward. R.Kozloff: Hello. My name is Ron Kozloff, and I live at 19560 Merriman Court, which is a few houses down from where the proposed site is to be. And I'm in opposition to it as well. I have lived in Livonia for 11 years, but prior to that I lived in I lived in the city of Hamtramck. So I'm familiar with properties that are crammed together, and it's an entirely different feel. It creates an entirely different city. And me and my family moved to Livonia because of the -- the feel that -- that this community gives, and building houses on top of one another will change the make-up of this city. I think it's a terrible idea. I think it's something that could go to ruining an established community that we have on Merriman Court. And, again, I'm in complete opposition to it. Thank you. Pastor: Thank you. Anyone else? B. Kozloff: I am Barbara Kozloff. I live at 19569 Merriman Court, which is a couple -- with Ron. So I have a couple concerns. One is the privacy issue. We -- when we bought the house, it's because of the deep lot that we have. We're fifty feet back. This -- like -- like my husband said, this would be the only house that's set back that far, and it's a two-story that would be looking down into our yard. There's no privacy fences. Everybody's got -- you know -- just a standard chain link fence -- so there's a big park behind. The other concern I have is, our street is -- you know -- it dates back to the `30's. It can't support much more development there. It's a half mile long dead end. So increased traffic -- there's no sidewalks. Nothing's really been improved it seems since they black topped the street. So that's another concern that I have with that. And if -- you know -- if one person does it, then obviously, we're concerned that other people may do it too. So that's our concerns. Thank you. Pastor: Anyone else? Come forward. McCulloch: Hi, my name is Chris McCulloch. I live at 19582 Merriman Court. I live at the house on the property on the south side, and it's a lack of privacy. The two -stories looking down on you. Plus, now you go out my back door, you look to the left -- look to City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 15 of 32 October 25, 2016 the right and it's backyards. Now you're going to see a side of a house -- you know -- plus a two-story house looking down. That's my big -- biggest complaint is the eastward setback. It's just it's too excessive. You know -- if it was done right, it would be one thing, but it's just way too far back. And my house is farthest back of those three houses. So that's even farther back than mine. So I have a privacy issue and that's my biggest concern. And also, form the curb view -- from the road -- it's going to look like two houses too close together. l know you're putting it back like this, but when you look at it, you're still going to see this. It's going to look like they're stacked, and it's just not going to look nice at all. So that's my main concern. Pastor: Thank you. Mr. McCulloch, do you know how far back your house sits compared to your -- I'm going to say your fence? McCulloch: My fence from the back? Pastor: Well you have a fence out front, it appears. How far back does that fence go back to the back of your house? McCulloch: You -- you mean -- excuse me -- Pastor: You have a fence that goes across your front yard -- or basically off the back of your neighbor's garage. You have a fence -- it looks like on here -- on your plot plan. McCulloch: You mean on the north side property? Pastor: Yes. McCulloch: Yeah, I don't know how exactly how far that is back. Pastor: Well, no. I'm asking how far back -- how much further back your house is from that fence? Your fence is here. Your house is where? McCulloch: The fence on the back is pretty well up to the front of my garage on the north side. Pastor: So that -- that is equal with your garage. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? C. McCulloch: Hi. I'm Connie McCulloch. I live at 19582 Merriman Court we're the neighbor -- with Chris to the south on the other side of the lot, and I share all the same concerns. And the home seems to be too big for the lot, and it's going to look out of place. All of the lot sizes on this street are pretty large, and 1 believe it's classified as a rural -- like RUF. So it kind of takes away from that openness that we have on our street, and it doesn't fit in. 1 agree with all the privacy issues. That would be awful to go out in our backyard and see a house a looking at us, and blocking the view. And for Amy, she would City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 16 of 32 October 25, 2016 almost be living in a tunnel, with a house here and a garage here -- I mean -- she will have -- her view will be totally ruined. So we are -- we're opposing it. Pastor: Thank you. Is there anyone else? Galante: Yeah. Pastor: Come forward, please Galante: My name is Joe Galante, and I live at 19515 Merrriman Court. And I would be opposed to the Board granting the variance for a number of reasons. One would be, it seems like the lot should never have been split the way it was with the existing structure going across where the property split is. And number two, the side yard setback that they're asking is much greater than what the minimum required of ten feet being. I think they're just asking for four, which is like a 60 percent reduction, and the minimum that's required. You know -- there's an old saying that two wrongs don't make a right, and I think that's kind of two important wrongs there. And so I'm not for it. Pastor: Thank you. Any questions? Anyone else? Come forward, please. K. Joaquin: Hello. I'm Kaitlyn Joaquin. I live at 19630 Merriman Court, and I am opposed to this for many reasons. One that we worked for months -- endless months tirelessly to make the lot part of our home. Second of all, the back room that happens to be behind the house, I'm constantly in. I'm always there because I have animals that are back there, and I'm always in that backyard. I would -- I feel very uncomfortable with a house looking in at me when I'm doing any of that. My bedroom is also to that back. They could look straight into my bedroom window if they'd like. l also -- I just -- I -- it's just the privacy is horrible and I just -- I also ain't comfortable with people also coming up into our house all the time. I get people always driving up and always looking at our lot and looking at us, and that makes me uncomfortable, but now add a house onto this. It's just -- it's just going to be very, very uncomfortable. Pastor: Thank you. Anyone else? Come forward, please. Butcher: My name is Dale Butcher. I live at 19650 Merriman Court, and I'm opposed to a two-story home setting that far back -- privacy issue. That's my main -- plus I like the vacant lots -- very nice lot with a lot of trees. Pastor: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one else, can you read the letters? Baringhaus: We have four letters. Letter of objection, Christopher McCulloch, 19582 Merriman, (letter read). Letter of objection, Amy Sue Joaquin, 19630 Merriam Court, City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 17 of 32 October 25, 2016 (letter read). Letter of objection from Christina Schenk, 19595 Merriman Court, (letter read). Letter of objection, Larry Dale, 19607 Merriman Court, (letter read). Pastor: Thank you. The Petitioner can come back and make a final statement. Longo: So the lot is 62 -- Pastor: You might want -- you might want to address some of the neighbor's concerns if you can. You can sit down. Longo: Sure. Pastor: Tell us -- you talk to us. Longo: I'm sorry. You said talk to the neighbors. Pastor: No I said you can address their concerns. Longo: So nobody wants trees cut down. Nobody -- you know -- everybody's okay with living in a house that was built. But before that house was there, there were trees there. So it's kind of hypocritical to say it's okay for my house to have the trees ripped down to put my house -- even though I didn't buy it when it was built, but it's still there -- but to have this lot, no it's not okay. So that's hypocritical. In terms of the size of the lot, it's my understanding that there's quite a number of homes sitting on similar size lots up and down the same street. So, again, it would be hypocritical to say you can't build there, but these can, but you can't. That's hypocritical. So the reason why we set the home back, is so it wouldn't, aesthetically, it wouldn't look as bad -- I mean -- we can do the 50 -foot setback and ask for that, but we're actually spending more money, more driveway, more underground, we're spending more money to move the house back so it's not as close to the home. So we're willing to sign an easement agreement so that home -- that garage can stay there indefinitely. So we -- we done a lot of things here to -- to do the right thing, if you will. But to say that this lot is too small, you can't knock down trees, is -- is quite hypocritical because there's quite a few homes on the same size lot up and down the street. Pastor: Thank you. Do you have any questions? Schepis: Yeah, Mr. Chairman, what about the concern about this house being set back significantly further than -- than other homes and -- and -- well let me ask you this, have you considered another design for this property -- another home design for this property? Longo: Well if we do a ranch, the footprint's going to be bigger. So it's -- you can have a smaller with a two --story than you do with a ranch. So that's -- the two-story solves that. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 18 of 32 October 25, 2016 Schepis: Yeah. I -- I mean -- I guess what -- this is just my opinion -- but what I heard, seems to me a lot of your neighbors are concerned about the second story. Longo: What about the multiple homes -- two-story homes that are already on the street? Should they knock down their second floor because the rest of the neighbors don't like two -stories? Schepis: I'm not suggesting that. I'm just asking -- Longo: Well I'm just -- I'm being facetious because it's just -- you know -- Schepis: Okay. I understand. I'm just -- I'm just curious. So that was -- Longo: That would be the same argument as I don't want the trees knocked down. Well -- you know -- this whole neighborhood was all trees at one time. So to say it's okay for my house to be built at one time and knocked down a bunch tress, but it's not okay for you. I don't think that's fair. Pastor: No, but I will say that all the houses that are two -stories are not a hundred feet back looking into other people's backyards. Longo: True, but they didn't have to -- Pastor: No -- no -- there's not but's. That's a fact because there's one other house that's further -- as far back -- maybe not quite as far back, that's across the street and probably built in the '30's. Longo: So we -- 1 mean -- it's -- we can build 50 -foot setback. Pastor: You probably won't get that variance either. Longo: And that's why we -- that's why I went further back to try to get far away as possible from the garage encroachment. Pastor: Okay. Anyone else. Schepis: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Yes. Schepis: So I guess my question was never answered. Did you -- or would you consider a different design on this lot? Longo: We can look into it, but in terms of putting a ranch in there, is that like a single story instead of a two-story -- I mean -- that's the only other design I can think of. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 19 of 32 October 25, 2016 Schepis: Yeah. Longo: The ranch is much more expensive to build per square foot, and again, it would - - it would be an -- an odd shaped ranch. It would have to be a skinny long one that would be unusual for here in Michigan, anyway, but I we can -- we can look into it. Pastor: Just so you know we can't consider cost in our decision. Longo: No, but -- I mean -- it's the reason -- Pastor: I understand you do, but we can't. Longo: Yeah, right. Pastor: Thank you. Fisher: Mr. Chair, can I just ask? Pastor: Mr. Fisher. Fisher: The neighbor to the north, obviously, has expressed interest in buying this property. Will you be willing to sell to the neighbors? Longo: Yes. Pastor: Thank you. I'll close the public portion of the meeting and start the Board's comments with Mr. Neville. Neville: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean -- looking at this request objectively, l think that the Petitioner's raising a lot of good arguments with respect to -- there are -- it's an eclectic group of structures up and down Merriman Court. Many -- well not many, but there are a number of them that are larger than the -- than what has been discussed by the Petitioner. The uniqueness with this lot, is not because of its -- its characterization, but because of the defect from the neighboring property, which is intruding upon the lot in question. Working my way through the analysis on the -- whether or not to grant the request for the variance, however, comes down to whether the impact on the adjoining property owners. There's a lot of objection voiced by the neighboring property owners. For that reason, unfortunately, I think -- I believe that I would have to deny the request for the variance because of the impact on the adjoining property owners. Pastor: Thank you. Mr. Schepis. Schepis: Well -- you know -- there's a lot of things that had to come together for -- for us to be here tonight, and some of them -- you know -- are not your fault. You know -- a lot City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 20 of 32 October 25, 2016 of these problems caused by a garage on your property that -- that probably shouldn't be there. You know -- the other thing 1 noticed is a lot of the lots on this street are the same size as the 62.5 feet. It is not an uncommon length on that street. Well you have a lot of objections from your neighbors, and I think some of that is, we want to buy the property or -- or we like having an open lot there, which is a valid point, but I don't know that it's something that we consider. I -- I think -- the fact that this the same as the other lots on this street, and that there are two-story houses, there are a lot of different building types street -- you know -- I'm not prepared to say no, 1 don't think. But I do think there's -- you know - I think there's a solution here. I don't know if it's a different -- if it's a different design, or whatever it may be. I would actually -- 1 would -- I would be in favor of tabling this and giving the Petitioner the opportunity to kind of work through that because I have a hard time saying no because this is the same as so many other lots on -- on the street. Audience: What lot's 56.5 feet? Pastor: Please no more talking from the audience. Thank you. Mr. Baringhaus. Baringhaus: Yeah, I agree with the -- the previous comments from my colleagues on the Board. The general area does have an interesting mix of homes. It's not conducive to one particular style, as well. I guess the one troubling point for me is the garage encroachment. I don't really feel that that's been thoroughly worked out tonight. I think there were some good ideas presented to the Petitioner this evening. One was looking at the design in the current structure, potentially shrinking it. Another option would be some neighbors have expressed interest in purchasing that property. That might be an option that could be pursued too. At this point, if I was asked to vote on this variance tonight, I would not support it. If -- if the Petitioner would like to table it for some further study, l would -- I would be open to that suggestion, as well. Pastor: Thank you. Mr. Klisz. Klisz: I would agree. My -- my thought would be to say "no" based on the biggest thing would be based on the neighbor's affect and -- and objection to it. There's, clearly, a missed opportunity to figure this out while it was purchased with the encroachment there. So that's very unfortunate because it makes the building of anything in that -- on that lot much more difficult. So, I guess, if it were up for tabling, I would support that to allow the Petitioner to consider other options, otherwise I would be against it. Pastor: Thank you. I will not be in favor of this. 1 think this is more of a self-imposed problem because someone didn't do their due diligence, and it sounds like two lot owners did not do their due diligence. I would -- normally when we -- when we have a case similar to this, we always ask for the houses to be evenly spaced in a line -- you know -- if one City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 21 of 32 October 25, 2016 house -- if one neighbor's way back and one neighbor's way forward, we ask for the house to be put in the middle. In this case, if we did that, he would like three for four feet of side yard, and I just cannot conscientiously allow that to happen for a lot like this. I mean, obviously, you can shrink the house down real skinny, but I don't know how it would sell -- how saleable that would be. So I would not be in favor of this petition at all, and I'll leave it up to the Board to make a motion. Neville: Mr, Chair. Pastor: Mr. Neville Upon Motion by Neville and supported by Schepis, it was: RESOLVED: APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-10-74: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by MH1 Investments, LLC, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Livonia, MI 48152, seeking to erect a single-family dwelling, resulting in deficient lot area, lot width and deficient north side yard setback. Lot Area: Lot Width: North Side Yard Setback: Required: 0.50 acres (21,780 sq. ft.) Required: 65.0 ft. Required: 10 ft. Existing: 0.37 acres (16,117 sq. ft.) Existing: 62.5 ft. Proposed: 4 ft. Deficient: 0.13 acres ( 5,663 sq. ft.) Deficient: 2.5 ft. Deficient: 6 ft. The property is located on the east side of Merriman Court (19624), between Seven Mile and Pembroke, Lot. No, 007-99-0046-000, RUF-A Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under Zoning Ordinance 543, Section 5.04, "Minimum Lot Size," and Section 5.06, "Side Yards in General," be tabled to allow the Petitioner and the neighbors to explore other options, and come back with a different or same plan, ROLL CALL VOTE AYES: Neville, Schepis, Klisz, Baringhaus NAYS: Pastor ABSENT: Henzi, Coppola Pastor: You've been tabled. You can take what we've said into consideration. You can come back and -- you might want to talk to your neighbors, though. 1 think quite a few of them aren't very happy about this. Maybe you can make some kind of deal out with them. don't know. But you can come back with a different plan. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 22 of 32 October 25, 2016 Longo: Or go to the county. Pastor: Pardon me? Longo: Or go to Wayne County. Pastor: Mr. Fisher, how does that work? We tabled it. Can he still go to the county? Fisher: You mean -- you want to go to court? Is that when you say Wayne County? I don't understand. Longo: I thought -- I thought the other option was to bring it up to the county for -- what was the option to go to the -- Pastor: The -- the only one that can overturn our decision is the court -- Circuit Court. Longo: Okay. Fisher: Yeah, you have to -- you would have to get a decision -- a tabling wouldn't do it. You have to be told "no" by the Board, and then you can appeal to Circuit Court. Longo: Okay. That makes more sense. Fisher: So you probably don't want to do that, at least not at this juncture, I'm guessing. Longo: No. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Longo: Thank you. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 23 of 32 October 25, 2016 APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-10-75: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Ronald Tetrault, 30062 Puritan, Livonia, MI 48154, seeking to construct a detached garage while maintaining an attached garage, resulting in excess number of garages, garage area and garage height. Number of Garages: Allowed: One Proposed: Two Excess: One Garage Area: Allowed: 720 sq. ft. Proposed: 1723 sq. ft. Existing: 884 sq. ft. Excess: 1003 sq. ft. Detached Gara a Height: Allowed: 16 ft. 0 in. Proposed: 18 ft. 6 in. Excess: 2 ft. 6 in. The property is located on the north side of Puritan (30062), between Henry Ruff and Middlebelt, Lot. No. 053-01-0074-004, RUF-A Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under Zoning Ordinance 543, Section 2.10(5), "Definition of Miscellaneous Terms, Garage, Private" and Section 18.24, "Residential Accessory Building." Pastor: Is there anything from the Building Department to add? Banko: Nothing at this time, Mr. Chair. Pastor: I have a question for the Building Department. If there's only allow 720 square feet, how it is that they already 884 square feet on this house? Banko: I can't answer that question, sir. Pastor: Can't answer that. I didn't see a variance. Am I wrong? There's no variance on that? Banko: No. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Can the Petitioner come forward, please? Tetrault: My name is Ronald Tetrault, 30062 Puritan Street, Livonia, Michigan. Pastor: Thank you. Do you have anything to add? Tetrault: I do have an answer to your question. The allowable amount, as I was told, was 1000 square feet. So that's why I didn't require a variance originally. So the numbers on that sheet are a little confusing. It says allowable only 720, but it's actually 1000. Pastor: Mr. Fisher. Fisher: Are we talking about an attached garage or a detached garage? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 24 of 32 October 25, 2016 Tetrault: Attached. Fisher: Yeah, I -- well I didn't -- I don't have my Zoning Ordinance here for some reason this evening. But generally speaking, when it's an attached garage, you have 1000 square foot allowance. So I don't why -- if we're talking -- I guess we're talking an attached and a detached garage, aren't we? Pastor: Well he's saying allowed is 720. That would be on the existing, I would think, and the existing is 884. Banko: He's allowable on a detached. Pastor: Oh, on a detached. Okay. So I misunderstood that. Fisher: All right. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Anything else? Tetrault: No, as I stated in my -- in my letter to -- to the City, I basically have a lot that's extremely unusual. There are very few of them in our city that are as big mine. Because of that, I do believe that it does require an additional amount of equipment to handle it. I have an unusual amount trees, as well. And that is basically my hardship. I do have equipment that's outside under tarps at this time that will not fit in my existing garage. I do have cars in it. And that's it. Pastor: Any questions? I have some. You got 884 square foot garage, and you can't put your lawn equipment in it? Tetrault: Well I have one of my lawn mowers in there. I actually have two of them. I have one that I have a leaf vac connected to, but again, I do have three cars in there. So it's pretty jammed up. There's actually a staircase in the garage, as well, that goes up to the bonus room -- for access to the bonus room so the last about six feet to one end is almost -- you know -- it's used up with the staircase. Pastor: Okay. Now you're asking that you're putting -- you a have a fourth vehicle that you want to put in this garage? Tetrault: Correct. A truck that will not fit in my existing garage. Pastor: What do you do for a living? Tetrault: I own a mechanical and collision shop in Livonia, 25 golden years. Pastor: And why such a large -- large garage? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 25 of 32 October 25, 2016 Tetrault: Well that's basically why I did the -- the sheet layout, where I did a graph of everything that I needed to stick inside the garage, including the snowmobile -- I mean -- I'm sorry -- the snowmobile trailer, my truck, and all the pieces that I have had out into my yard with tarps on them, at this point. Pastor: But it appears to be -- what I'm looking at, is a lot of wasted space that you could tone this down some, and get it a little bit smaller. Do you disagree? Tetrault: Can always shoe horn things in, if that what the question is, for sure. I -- I tried to make it so that I would have a little bit of room around each thing, instead of everything being rammed into each other. But if you're asking me, could I make it smaller, I'm sure that I could figure out a way. Pastor: What kind of power do you want put in this? Tetrault: I haven't really thought about that, to be honest with you. Pastor: You going to put a welder in there? Are you going to have a car lift in there? Are you -- Tetrault: I'm not putting a car lift in there. And as I said, I -- 1 actually own a car shop so it would be -- Pastor: I understand that. A lot of people put car lifts in their garage. Tetrault: I understand. Well there's someone down the street with one, and I -- you know -- if I didn't have a shop, I would be envious of that, but I do, so there's really no need for that for me. Pastor: Okay. Any other questions? Baringhaus: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Yes, Baringhaus. Baringhaus: Can you describe your property and your landscaping? How many trees? Why the need for like two lawn mowers, rather than one? Why the need for a motorized leaf vacuum? Items like that. Tetrault: Sure. Well I have a sevenleighth acre lot, and in that lot, I think again, I just counted the trees that are in the center, and I think I have 15 trees inside my lot, not -- not including -- there's a patch of forest that's at the back lot line of ours, and there's a hundred trees back there. So I mean when -- when this time of the year rolls around, it's definitely a task. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 26 of 32 October 25, 2016 Baringhaus: How many years have you lived at your property? Tetrault: Thirteen. Baringhaus: Thirteen years. And why the decision now for a second garage when you got along with just one garage for thirteen years. Tetrault: Sure. Well, at first I tried to do this -- there was all different stages of how we got rid of leaves. And I did have two young boys at the time, and I ran them ragged. There's going to be no lie to that. That was prior to -- you know -- we basically used lawn mowers to do it, and leaf blowers, and tarps and everything like that, and it literally takes an entire day, probably six days out of the month to do it. So when we've -- you know -- finally got other equipment -- you know -- it was through a span of time. You know -- we tried all various things, and then finally got smart and got a leaf vac. Baringhaus: Okay. Thank you. Tetrault: You're welcome. Pastor: Any other questions? I have one. Why do we -- why do we have an excess of two and a half feet in height? Tetrault: That was an oversight on me. That is -- that is not necessary in any way. You know -- at one time, I had an area -- an architect draw up plans -- just basically gave him some rough ideas, and this is what he came up with, but I am absolutely not married to that. That height can come down. Not a problem. Pastor: So are you putting an upstairs in this? Tetrault: No, sir. No. Pastor: Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one else, is there anyone in the audience who wants to come forward and speak about this? Come forward. Galante: Yes. I was actually here on the previous case, but when I heard what this one was, I thought I'd stay around just to hear about it. Pastor: State your name and address, please. Galante: Joe Galante, 19515 Merriman Court, Livonia. I was just curious. What was the total square footage of garage would be? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 27 of 32 October 25, 2016 Tetrault: 26x32 --I don't have that number off -- the proposed is but that -- the proposed is a combined number. So it's about the same as what I already have. So it's in the 840 range, I believe, for a 26x32. Galante: For the attached and detached total? Tetrault: No, combined is 1700. Galante: 1700 -- what is the square footage of your house? Tetrault: 2600. Galante: Okay. Yeah, just -- Neville: Mr. Galante, you're not in his neighborhood, are you? Galante: No -- no. I just happened to hear this one coming up after mine. I was just curious as to -- Tetrault: He's our only person listening. We got to give him something. Galante: I would have no objections to his. Just -- Tetrault: Well thank you for staying. I didn't see where that was going. Pastor: Thank you. Is there anybody else. Seeing no one, read the letters. Baringhaus: Letter of objection, David Walkowiak, 30128 Puritan, (letter read). Letter of objection, Michael Szczepaniak, 29925 Greenland Street, (letter read). Letter of approval from Catalin Metea, 29831 Greenland, Livonia. Letter of approval, M. Kujowa, 29869 Greenland, (letter read). Letter of approval, S.E. Siemert, 15,950 Oporto Street, (letter read). Pastor: Okay. Anything -- do you have for a final statement? Tetrault: Other than again, reducing the height is absolutely no issue. I guess -- what something -- I have been in front of the Zoning Board for a couple of different things before, and it was interesting that one of the Board members brought something up. When people are really truly against something, they do what they did tonight for that lot, which is you see people in a multitude. And so, I think, in this situation, I would like to just point out that if people were really badly against what we're -- what we're proposing, we would see at least more than one body who is just left over. Pastor: Thank you. I will now close the public portion of this, and start the comments with Mr. Schepis. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 28 of 32 October 25, 2016 Schepis: Well you -- you do have a big lot, and you do have a need for excess space. I don't doubt that. I do think that this is pretty big. If there was some room to -- to move on that -- make it a little bit smaller -- you know -- I would be in support. Particularly bringing the garage height down to the allotted amount. If we had a little bit of a decrease, I think I would support it. Pastor: Mr. Baringhaus. Baringhaus: While there isn't any like overwhelming opposition to the garage in your neighborhood. Based on the letters tonight, it's not a unanimous decision. There are some people that do have some concerns about it. I guess my question is these lot sizes never change, but it seems like lately, the sizes of garages are increasing. So to me that's -- that's an interesting trend. I appreciate the Petitioner's willingness to reduce the height to 16 feet. Thank you very much for that. However, I'm a little concerned about the current size of the garage. I would like it seen reduced in size, literally back to what the ordinance recommends, which is the 720 square feet. So at this point, I wouldn't support this variance as it written tonight. However, if we elect to table it and give the Petitioner some opportunity to come back with a revised plan, I'd be in favor of that. Pastor: Mr. Klisz. Klisz: I would agree. I'm glad that you laid out for us what you have in where it would go. That's helpful. Two, you've reduced already one of the variance requests for the height size, which good. So that's one less thing we have to concern ourselves with. We like consistency, and so generally everyone that comes in asking for the jumbo garage, it needs to be shrunk, almost always. And so I think we're being consistent with that in our watching out for the competing interest. So I would be in support of something less, but I think -- you know -- granting a -- an additional garage, I'd be fine with that. So that would be my position. Pastor: Mr. Neville. Neville: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the Petitioner's willingness to reduce the garage height has resolved that aspect, and so I think that was a good move on his part. We're dealing with an extremely large parcel of property. I think the Petitioner has explained the reasons why he's requesting a garage of square footage dimension that he has presented. I personally think that the way he has laid it out explains and supports the request why he is asking for a structure of that size. I don't think it's out of character, especially in conjunction with the existing -- his home and the size of the lot. I would be in favor of granting the request for the variance relative to the square footage of the proposed structure. City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 29 of 32 October 25, 2016 Pastor: Thank you. There's no doubt that you have a very large lot, but there's no doubt we have many very large lots in Livonia. More than you may think. Tetrault: Oh, I know. Pastor: I have always tried to keep the square footage of additional garages down, although, I have been overridden many of times. Everybody wants a bigger garage. Everybody wants to store their store-bought snowmobiles and stuff. Well, if you want a snowmobile, if you want another truck, you want -- sometimes you have to go park it at a parking facility. I'm not -- I will -- I will agree that you need a second building, but not to this extent because some of this is self-imposed. I have snowmobiles, I have boats, I bought a building big enough to put them in, my choice. So I will not be in favor of this particular motion, but I did hear someone say that they'd put out there a tabling motion. So we'll have a motion for that, I suppose. Okay, anyone want to motion it? Baringhaus: Mr. Chairman. Pastor: Mr. Baringhaus. Upon Motion by Baringhaus and supported by Klisz, it was: RESOLVED; APPEAL CASE NO. 2016-10-75: An appeal has been made to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Ronald Tetrault, 30062 Puritan, Livonia, MI 48154, seeking to construct a detached garage while maintaining an attached garage, resulting in excess number of garages, garage area and garage height. Number of Garages: Allowed: One Proposed: Two Excess: One Garage Area: Allowed: 720 sq. ft. Proposed: 1723 sq. ft. Existing: 884 sq. ft. Excess: 1003 sq. ft. Detached Garage Height Allowed: 16 ft. 0 in. Proposed: 18 ft. 6 in. Excess: 2 ft. 6 in. The property is located on the north side of Puritan (30062), between Henry Ruff and Middlebelt, Lot. No. 053-01-0074-004, RUF-A Zoning District. Rejected by the Inspection Department under Zoning Ordinance 543, Section 2.10(5), "Definition of Miscellaneous Terms; Garage, Private" and Section 18.24, "Residential Accessory Building," be tabled to allow the Petitioner to be able to take into account the Board's comments, and come back with a plan that eliminates the excess height and reduces the garage area. ROLL CALL VOTE City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 30 of 32 October 25, 2016 AYES: Klisz, Neville, Schepis, Pastor, Baringhaus NAYS: None ABSENT: Henzi, Coppola Pastor: Okay. You can listen to what the Board has said. Change it. Not change it. Do what you want. Tetrault: Just so 1 understand clearly. It does seem like the -- the objections were really to try to get the number -- and again you didn't say specifically, but others did, closer to the 720 figure, which was actually the number that was brought up by the objections as well. Am I clear on that one? Pastor: That's what I heard too. Tetrault: Okay. So that's not something I can do right now? I have to come back no matter what? Pastor: You have to come back now, yes. Tetrault: Very good. Pastor: Thank you. Tetrault: All right. Thank you for your time tonight. Pastor: Do we have Minutes? Thank you for doing that. You must have been to other meetings where we ask people for sketches. Tetrault: You know -- I did not. I started talking to -- this might may date myself, but when John Dauffenbach was in the office. So -- I mean -- they -- you know -- I've been thinking about this for a long time, and maybe you can it was I finally got enough courage to do it. So I've asked a lot of questions to try to make it as -- as easy as possible for everyone. Pastor: Thank you. Do we have Minutes to approve? Baringhaus: Yeah, we have Minutes from the September 27, 2016 to approve tonight. Pastor: Do I hear a motion? Neville: Make a motion to approve those Minutes. Pastor: Do I hear some support? City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 31 of 32 October 25, 2016 Klisz: Support. Pastor: All in favor? Board Members: Aye. Pastor: Motion to adjourn? Neville-. IT make a motion to adjourn. Pastor-, Support? Klisz: Support. Pastor: All in favor? Board Members: Aye. Pastor: We're adjourned. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m. Craig Pastor, Vice Chairman Jim ari+aus, Secretary City of Livonia, Zoning Board of Appeals Page 32 of 32 October 25, 2016