01022008PZMinutes
CITY OF AMMON
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2008
(TAPE RECORDING DID NOT WORK)
AGENDA:
AGENDA: CITY OF AMMON
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
January 2, 2008
2135 South Ammon Road 7:00 P.M.
I.Pledge of Allegiance:
II.
Minutes:
November 7, 2007
III.Public Hearings: NONE
IV.Action Items:
A.2008-001 VARIANCE – Cottonwood Hills Estates – Division 3, Block 2, Lots 5&6
B.Site Plan – Rick’s Farm - Division 1, Block 2, Lot 8
C.Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman
V.Discussion Items:
A.Appreciation Dinner – January 16, 2008 – Sol Rio
VI.Reports:
A.City Council actions
B.City of Idaho Falls Planning and Zoning actions – Cindy Donovan
C.Bonneville County Planning and Zoning actions – Tom Hunsaker
VII.
Call for Adjournment:
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Cindy Donovan at 7:00 p.m. in the City Building at 2135 South
Ammon Road, Ammon, Idaho
Members Present
: Cindy Donovan, Chairman
Tom Hunsaker
Robert Gustafson
Greg Maeser
Richard Jaussi
Quinn Simmons
Scott Wessel
Bruce Cook
Rick Butler
Members Absent
: None
City Officials Present
: Ron Folsom, Planning Director
Lance Bates, City Engineer
Gay Leming, Deputy Clerk
Rick Butler led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
MINUTES:
November 7, 2007: Richard Jaussi motioned to approve the November 7, 2007 minutes. Quinn
Simmons seconded. All in favor, the motion passed.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
: None
Planning & Zoning 01/03/2008 - 1
ACTION ITEMS:
A. 2008-001 VARIANCE – Cottonwood Hills Estates – Division 3, Block 2, Lots 5 & 6:
Planning Director Ron
Folsom explained where the property is located.
Tyler Schwindeman, 5304 Tildy Circle, stated they are requesting a variance to move to a 30 foot side yard
instead of 50 so they are able to pull into their sheds from Majestic instead of turning them and pulling in off
Whiting Way. If he is required to setback the 50’ that is stated in code, the garage is pushed into the backyard far
enough that the uses in the backyard space are limited. He felt the 50’ really should not apply to the side yard to a
corner lot since all other zones require only a 30’ setback. He will be using the driveway entrance of his attached
garage to access his detached garage. If he sets the detached garage back the additional 20’, he couldn’t access the
doors without rotating it or he would then need an additional access onto Whiting Way. They are planning on
putting a wrought iron fence between the two properties which will add character to the street.
Brandon Burton, 3630 Spectrum, stated he also wants the variance and stated for the same reasoning.
Tyler stated he felt it would make the side street uniform and thought if would look better with 20 feet less concrete.
Tom Hunsaker stated there are three ways to go about this. One is seeing if there is just cause for a
variance. Two the situation is a gated community and since this is not a public street there are special circumstances
as to whether it matters if they are only 30’ back. Third, the rest of the City only has a 30’ setback and maybe we
should look at this because we really meant the 50’ setback, for a more upscale appearance for properties facing
arterials. The ordinance was written with the 50’ considering buildings that face arterial roadways and the 30’ may
be sufficient if a property sides on a local road, so the code could some day be altered to reflect this situation.
Scott Wessel stated he felt there was no reason for a variance and that there is plenty of room for the
property owners to do what they wanted to do without a variance.
Richard Butler stated he basically agreed with Scott but felt this would not affect the neighborhood or the
comp planning of the City.
Greg felt that the ordinance is the law and unless the commission can find that there are special
circumstances/hardship, then this doesn’t fit the requirements of a variance.
Cindy agreed it didn’t meet the requirements of the variance but that it also would not hurt the comp. plan
zoning in the City.
The commission discussed the requirements for the variance. It was discussed of whether or not the intent
of the guidelines was to limit out buildings. Commission discussed that the request was okay, but failed to pass the
first two of the five requirements for granting a variance.
Greg Maeser motioned for recommendation of denial of the variance request for Cottonwood Hills Estates
– Division 3, Block 2, Lots 5 & 6 and to recommend to Council that they consider amending the ordinance to avoid
this problem in the future. Scott Wessel seconded. Motion carried: 6 yes, 1 no. Cindy Donovan stated the reason
for her no vote was to send the message that there was a division on the Commission concerning this matter. She
wanted City Council to know there was a lot of discussion and they really did not want to turn it down but couldn’t
find enough reasons to meet the variance requirements.
B. Site Plan – Rick’s Farm – Division 1, Block 2, Lot 8:
Planning Director Ron Folsom explained where the
property is located.
Alan Cunningham, 1020 Lincoln Road, explained why they had 18 foot long parking spaces rather than the
20 foot required by City ordinance because of the 2 foot vehicle overhang. They will have the front of the cars
parking over the extra wide sidewalk instead of putting in bumper guards.
Richard Jaussi motioned for recommendation of approval of the Site Plan for Rick’s Farm as presented.
Rick Butler seconded. All in favor, the motioned passed.
C. Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman:
Richard Jaussi nominated Tom Hunsaker for the position of
Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Quinn Simmons seconded. All in favor, the motion passed.
Rick Butler nominated Cindy Donovan for the position of Vice Chairman. Greg Maeser seconded. All in
favor the motion passed.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
A. Appreciation Dinner – January 16, 2008 – Sol Rio:
Ron handed out the invitations and asked for RSVP to be
submitted.
Planning & Zoning 01/03/2008 - 2
REPORTS:
A. City Council actions:
Ron Folsom reviewed actions taken by City Council in the month of December.
B. City of Idaho Falls Planning and Zoning actions:
None
st
C. Bonneville County Planning and Zoning actions:
Tom Hunsaker reviewed a comp. plan map change for 1
th
East 145 South that was rejected and a gravel pit expansion northeast of Ucon that was approved.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
________________________________________
Cindy Donovan, Chairman
___________________________________
Leslie Folsom, City Clerk
Planning & Zoning 01/03/2008 - 3