Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Code Review Council Committee - Meeting Date: 4/25/2019MINUTES CITY CODE REVIEW COUNCIL COMMITTEE CITY HALL, CONFERENCE ROOM 133 5850 W. GLENDALE AVE. GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 APRIL 25, 2019 5:00 P.M. Councilmember Ray Malnar, Chairperson Councilmember Bart Turner, Vice Chairperson Vice Mayor Joyce Clark, Member Yvonne Knaack, Member Barbara Lentz, Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander, Member Mark Lilly, Member Ron Short, Member Francis Sisti, Member Michael Socaciu, Member Warren Wilfong, Member 1. CALL TO ORDER Councilmember Malnar called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Yvonne Knaack, Member Barbara Lentz, Member Ron Short, Member Francis Sisti, Member Michael Socaciu, Member Warren Wilfong, Member Bart Turner, Councilmember Ray Malnar, Councilmember Joyce Clark, Vice Mayor Absent: Rich LeVander, Assistant Police Chief Mark Lilly, Member Also Present: Michael Bailey, City Attorney Eric Fitzer, Development Services Director Tim Boling, Code Compliance Official David Williams, Planning Administrator Deborah Gentry, Administrative Support Specialist Shelli Henson, Council Assistant 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS Beverly Moore, Glendale resident, expressed concerns regarding how case records were handled by the Code Compliance Department. 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 28, 2019 CODE REVIEW COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETING A motion was made by Vice Mayor Joyce Clark, Member Yvonne Knaack to approve the minutes of the March 28, 2019 meeting. AYE: Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Francis Sisti Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Councilmember Bart Turner Councilmember Ray Malnar Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Other: Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander (ABSENT) Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) 5. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION THE 1993 CODE INTERPRETATION OF FRONT YARD PARKING Mr. Williams distributed two memorandums from 2017 regarding circular driveways and auxiliary driveways. He said that the code that had been in place since before 1993, said that a single-family home on a lot was allowed a driveway with a maximum width of 30 -feet connected to the street or 50 percent of the width of the lot, whichever was less. The practice now in Glendale was to allow the auxiliary driveways to provide access to the rear yard and to have a vehicle parked there. The purpose of the memorandums were to address the issues. The zoning code was going to be updated to address parking. Changing the code tomorrow would not change or reduce what had been permitted today with a code change. Mr. Anaradian asked if the two code interpretations were specifically tied to the Maryvale Terrace 18 and 20 and Camelback Park and had the interpretations been extended beyond the neighborhoods since 2017. Mr. Williams said it seemed to say what should be allowed in the pre -1993 neighborhoods. The interpretations had not been extended beyond the neighborhoods. Zoning needed to be applied equally to all properties within that district. The City should be treating all pre -1993 neighborhoods consistently and equally. Mr. Anaradian asked if there was a site plan review process that was required for a driveway. Mr. Williams said there was no formal application process for installing a driveway extension. Committee Member Socaciu asked how the City knew if the requirements were going to be met. He said that the City had to rely on the neighbors to file a complaint. Mr. Williams said it was something staff could work on, to advise that there were regulations and restrictions on the driveways. Mr. Anaradian said that a site plan review process needed to occur despite the desire to have reduced processes, paperwork and fees. The professional staff needed a way to review a site plan for accessing the public right-of-way and for making sure there was an approved surface that was going to meet standards. Vice Chairperson Turner asked for clarification regarding parking on a circle driveway and on a certain percentage of concrete. Mr. Williams said the City had no law or ordinance in the Zoning Code that said a person could not pave their whole front yard if desired. He said it was very hard to enforce no parking on the concrete meant to be used as a drive through only. Mr. Bailey said that a circular driveway was not illegal. It was the 50 percent rule that could be in violation. Mr. Anaradian said there were lot coverage requirements that would create a baseline or minimum standard for non-paved/non-improved surfaces. It was something that should be looked at. Committee Member Wilfong asked for clarification on where the 30 feet of auxiliary parking was allowed. Mr. Williams said it should be providing access to a garage or carport and if the drive was widened, it should be away from the front yard. Mr. Anaradian said that the City needed to update the interpretations and that it might be beyond the scope of the committee to drive a code re -write. He stated that the City was close to hiring a consultant who was going to do the work. He stated there should be a site plan review process that would consider all the things that had been spoken about. Vice Mayor Clark said that there might not need to be a lot of restructuring of the code but focus on code enforcement. Chairperson Malnar asked if there were any other options on the topic. Mr. Anaradian said the options would be to update the interpretation, defer it to the City Code rewrite effort that would be taking place over the next year, or do nothing in terms of language and focus on the enforcement posture as it related to the current rules on the books. Chairperson Malnar asked if there was anyone who would like to make a motion to take action. Committee Member Wilfong said that more information was needed before a motion could be made. Committee Member Knaack wanted to have the Planning Director and possibly the City Attorney review the directive before a motion was made. Vice Mayor Clark said there was an issue with grandfathering items built prior to 1993. She asked if a new code rewrite was adopted in 2020 under the premise that everything before 1993 was grandfathered and was everything before 2020 grandfathered. Mr. Anaradian believed there had been a misapplication of the scope of items that could be grandfathered under the current zoning ordinance. Mr. Williams, said that if something was illegal at the time it was put in place, it would still be illegal. The City never lost its right to go after illegal nonconforming uses. Mr. Bailey said that if something was illegal, and it remained illegal in 2020, it was still illegal. Mr. Anaradian said it was an opportunity for the new Zoning Administrator to make a better interpretation. He would like an action item to take a fresh look at the two opinions. Mr. Anaradian said if the City permitted something, it made it legal, such as a permitted driveway extension. The driveway would still remain legal. It was something that should be kept in mind when going over the issue. A motion was made by Member Yvonne Knaack, Vice Mayor Joyce Clark to have the Planning Director review the interpretation and to bring the new interpretation back to the City Code Review Committee for input prior to making a final ruling. AYE: Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Francis Sisti Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Councilmember Bart Turner Councilmember Ray Malnar Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Other: Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander (ABSENT) Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) 2. GLOBAL PARKING ISSUES Mr. Anaradian said there were two items under the global issues. One was a question about car covers. The City was asking residents to cover inoperable vehicles as a way to enforce the visibility requirements. The car covers could deteriorate over time. The second issue was regarding the police addressing inoperable vehicles parked on the right-of-way. There might be other option. 6. UPDATES CHRIS ANARADIAN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER Mr. Anaradian introduced Mr. Fitzer as the new Development Services. Director. 2. CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Mr. Bailey said Prop 207 was a big issue that the City needed to face regarding the taking of private property and distributed an article regarding the Fourth Amendment regarding search and seizure. The code provided that when looking for the enforcement, it must be visible to a person standing upon a public street or sidewalk. The Constitution said it had to be in a lawful spot. When thinking of the changes that could be made to the code, the changes might want to say it be viewed from a lawful vantage point. Another challenge was that the statute of limitations was 1 year. Mr. Bailey said there were times when an inspector was trying to work with an individual and a year had passed. If that happened, the City could not prosecute a misdemeanor because the statute of limitations had passed. Regarding a civil matter, every day a continuing violation was a new violation. Regarding the question of defining a home, the City had new definitions. He said, with regard to group homes, the homes were federally protected groups and the City could not interfere with who was in a group home. Something already in the code was that a bed and breakfast establishment could only be in the Centerline Overlay District. Air B&B was very similar to a boarding home and were generally allowed only in R-3, R-4, R-5. In terms of defining a "housekeeping unit," that became very difficult for the City to regulate because the families were so diverse. Vice Mayor Clark asked for clarification regarding properties being viewed from the backyard. Mr. Bailey said the lawful vantage point could be from someone's property with the property owner's permission. The code provided for an exception in the event of public safety. 7. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND POSSIBLE ACTION Chairperson Malnar stated that the committee would review information submitted by the Commercial Subcommittee, Residential Subcommittee and the Parking Subcommittee at the next meeting. 8. STAFF REPORT None 9. COMMITTEE COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS None 10. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Code Review Council Committee will be held on May 23, 2019 at 5:00 p.m., in conference room B3, located at 5850 West Glendale Avenue, Glendale, Arizona, 85301. 11. ADJOURNMENT Councilmember Malnar adjourned the meeting at 6:42 p.m. The City Code Review Committee meeting minutes of April 25, 2019 were submitted and approved this 23rd day of May, 2019. Deborah Gentry Administrative Support Specialist