Council reverses planning commission split decision

A permit for building a single home on a lot that has sat empty (though graded and utilities run and ready for development) for some 40 years would not usually be fodder for a news story.

However, this one was unique in that the city council took the very rare step of reversing a decision already made by the planning commission.

How rare? When the Review reached out to city staff to find out when was the last time such a reversal occurred, no one at city hall could remember it ever having happened in the time they have worked there.

It was pretty apparent from council comments well before the actual vote (which was unanimous) that the council thought the commission had erred on this one and intended to reverse the decision.

The property owner at 3 Linda Lane had been proposing a new single-family residence with a building height of 25’-10” and an accessory structure (i.e., a garage) with a building height of 19’-3”. The sticking point is that the maximum height allowed for a house is 25 feet and the maximum allowed for a garage is 16 feet. As each structure would exceed their applicable height maximums, the property owner, Thomas Martens, submitted a variance application for consideration by the planning commission and on April 16, the commission denied the variance request by a vote of 5-2.

Martens appealed to the city council, which brings things to last week’s meeting.

The variance request was brought on, in some part, just because of the nature of the lot.

It is wide, close to 100 feet, but it has steep slopes at the sides of the property. Nevada Way runs along one side nearly 40 feet above the lot.

All of that means that, even though the proposed home and garage would be higher than city code allows without a variance, they would both still be 13 feet or more lower than the street. In other words, most people are never going to see either building.

Multiple council members reported having actually toured the lot prior to the meeting.

After noting he had toured the property, Mayor Joe Hardy appeared ready to get on with a vote to reverse the decision but had to be reminded that a public hearing was needed. At that point, Martens addressed the council. No one else in the room or on the phone offered comments.

Both Councilwoman Cokie Booth and Councilman Steve Walton are former members of the planning commission and took pains to express their thanks to the commission before reversing their decision.

“Having been a former planning commissioner along with Mr. Walton, I don’t take this lightly because I appreciate all the work that they do and they work very hard,” Booth said.

“I could echo that,” Walton interjected, “Having served on there, it’s difficult, it’s challenging and a lot of unique circumstances and I also would like to express our thanks to the planning commissioners and their efforts and and all that they do to work together.”