Yes to big garage, booze in the park

Not every story of public importance concerning city government comes out of decisions by the city council. Sometimes items of interest come out of those other city meetings that garner little attention.

Recently, items have come out of both the Planning Commission and the Business License Liquor Board that may impact residents.

On Sept. 12, the Business License Liquor Board met with only two items on the agenda. The entire meeting lasted about five minutes.

The item of note was the proposed approval of a temporary liquor permit to be granted to the Boulder City Sunrise Rotary Club for their annual Wurst Festival scheduled for Sept. 28.

Board chair Michael Mays (the liquor board is, per the city’s charter, made up of the members of staff directly hired by the city council. i.e., the city manager, city attorney and city clerk. As there is currently no full-time, permanent city manager, Mays, as acting city manager, is the chair) read a disclosure under NRS 281a saying that he is both the applicant and a board member of the Sunrise Rotary Club and, as such had been advised by the city attorney to recuse himself from discussion or voting on the issue.

And that was really the most exciting part of the process. Staff asked that the board approve and City Attorney Brittany Walker made a motion and the vote was 2-0 which, given Mays’ recusal, unanimous.

On Sept. 18, the Planning Commission held a public hearing regarding a request for a variance to allowable height for a proposed RV garage in a residential area north of Boulder Creek Golf Club and west of Boulder City Hospital, off Adams.

The homeowners, Charlotte and Jason Fox, were requesting a variance to allow them to construct an 18’3” tall “accessory structure” on the rear of their property that they said they intend to use as a garage for their 14-foot-tall camper. They said that the current attached garage where they house their fishing boat was not usable for the camper as the door is the same height as the camper, leaving no additional clearance when entering and exiting via the door.

Only one person spoke during public comment, a neighbor who was concerned with setback requirements, saying that if the structure was placed at the fence line, it would impact both their view and the amount of sunlight coming into their own yard.

Commission chair Matt DiTeresa noted that several similar variances in the same general area had been approved in the paste.

Commission member Lorene Krumm, noting that the other variances that had been granted were in the San Felipe area, which has larger lots and that those variances had happened long ago, enough that they could not be deemed to be recent.

She also expressed a concern that the structure could be, at some point in the future, converted to residential use and turned into “an illegal B&B.”

She asked staff if, were that conversion to happen, the city could mandate that the structure be torn down. Acting City Manager Michael Mays responded saying that the city could enforce its prohibition on short-term rentals but that mandating the building be removed would be “difficult.”

“Difficult or impossible?” Krumm replied.

After staff noted that the conditions of the variance specifically forbid that the structure be converted to residential use, Krumm acquiesced and the final vote was unanimous in favor of granting the variance.