July 8, 2025 — Board of Zoning Adjustment Regular Meeting

Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

[0:00] Okay. Awesome. Thank you, Amanda. Thanks everyone for being here. This is a meeting of the Board of Zoning Adjustments, and we have one item on the calendar today, so we'll be taking that up before we take up our item on the calendar. I love for us to introduce ourselves. There are sometimes people on the phone who may not know who we are, and so I think a nice little introduction is a great way to kick us off. So if you could just let us know your name, your position, if you're on staff, if you're on the board, how long you've been in your position, or how long you've been in Boulder and something that made you smile recently, something that made you smile recently. Okay, I will start. My name is Nikki Mccord. I am the Boza chair. I've lived in Boulder for 15 years, and something that made me smile this week was sending my friend off on the Colorado Trail. I was supposed to camp with her for the 1st couple days, but I couldn't do it, and so she's out doing the Colorado Trail, and I'm cheering her on from the sidelines. So that made me smile.

[1:11] This week. So with that I will go to our most senior board member. That'll be Katie. Katie will be our next senior board member. Please introduce yourself. I'm Katie Crane, and I have lived in Boulder for 18 years. and something that made me smile. This week. I discovered a new singer, songwriter, who I had never heard of, named Ben Queller. And I. I heard him interviewed on a podcast and he was. He was great, and I immediately fell in love with him. So I've been like spreading him around to all my friends, so that made me smile. Excellent discovering new music. That's always nice. Thanks for being with us today. Katie Drew is going to be next welcome. Drew. Please introduce yourself.

[2:00] Yeah board member, and I've been in Boulder, for I don't know 1516 years and I guess my my 3 year old playing some peekaboo hide and go hide and seek, maybe smile. Excellent, wonderful! Thank you so much for being here, Drew Sean, please introduce yourself. Thank you. Yeah. I'm Sean Haney. I'm a member of the Boza Board starting this year. I've been in Boulder for 3 years now, and something that made me smile today is earlier. On lunch I took my dog out, and a woman, pushing a little Pomeranian in a stroller, came by. The Pomeranian was freaking out, but my dog just stood there and stared, didn't say anything back. Great training on your part. Then Shawn. Yup. It was very entertaining. Thanks for being with us today. Sean Dashauna, would you please introduce yourself. Yeah. So my name is Dashauna. I am an attorney with our older city attorney's office. I have been working with Bosa since in my solo capacity earlier this year, and something that made me smile was, my stepson got a call back for a work opportunity, and as a parent. That's fantastic news all the time.

[3:21] Absolutely get them paying some bills right? Dashauna. Soon, one day. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for being with us today, Amanda, will you please introduce yourself. Yeah, thanks, Nicky. My name's Amanda Cusworth. I'm filling in for your board secretary, Thomas. So that's my role here, and I've been working. I've worked with the city for 10 years this month. And something that made me smile as my roses are making a comeback after the hailstorms in June. So they're gonna be full of blooms here soon. Excellent love seeing those roses. Thank you so much for being here with us, Amanda, and last, but certainly not least, Robbie, please introduce yourself.

[4:06] Robbie Wyler. I am the Bosa liaison or Bosa staff liaison, and I've been with planning and development services in the city of Boulder for going on 13 years now, and I've been in the liaison role for about 1211, 12 years of that. So it's been a while and something that made me smile was my parents just celebrated their 50th anniversary this past weekend, and 2 weeks ago I got to go on a cruise with them and the whole family. To celebrate that anniversary. So it was nice to see some old photos and kind of talk to them about that. But yeah, that's something that made me smile. Well, congratulations to your parents. That's pretty awesome, and thank you so much for being with us today as well, Robbie. all right. Y'all so we're going to have one item tonight. We're going to hear BOZ. 2, 0, 2, 5, 0 0 0 6.

[5:03] But before we do that I'm going to ask Amanda if you can go over our rules of decorum. Yes, happy to. I'm gonna just share a couple of slides on my screen. I've got too many things open. So here we go all right again, as Nikki said. Thank you for being here. The city has engaged with community members to co-create a vision for productive, meaningful, and inclusive civic conversations. This vision supports physical and emotional safety for community members, staff and board and commission members as well as democracy. For people of all ages, identities lived experiences and political perspectives for more information about our vision and the community engagement processes, you can visit our website. The following are examples of rules of decorum found in the boulder revised code and other guidelines that support this vision. These will be upheld during this meeting all remarks and testimony shall be limited to matters related to city business. No participant shall make threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person.

[6:16] obscenity, racial epithets, and other speech and behavior that disrupts or otherwise impedes the ability to conduct the meeting are prohibited. participants are required to identify themselves, using the name they are commonly known by, and individuals must display their whole name before being allowed to speak online. Currently, our only audio testimony is permitted. You're in the Zoom Webinar format. So just looking at our participants list. I don't see any other members of the public outside of the applicant team. but if anyone does join us they'll have an opportunity to raise their hand if they'd like to speak on this item this evening for 3 min each.

[7:04] and this is done using the raise hand function in zoom. and it can also be found under the reactions button. And that's it. So back to you, Nikki. Awesome. Thank you so much, Amanda. All right. So we're going to hear Bo Z. 2, 0, 2, 5, 0 0 0 6 each item on each item. Staff will present 1st and the applicant second. Next. The public will be invited to comment, and then the Board will discuss an affirmative vote of 3 or more board members shall result in passage of the motion. An applicant cannot be approved with less than 3 affirmative votes. If the 1st vote taken on a motion to approve or deny an application results in a tie. 2 to 2. The applicant shall be allowed a rehearing a tie vote on any subsequent motion to approve or deny, shall result in defeat of the motion and denial of the application.

[8:04] A vote of 2 to one or one to 2 on a motion shall in all respects be considered a tie. So let's jump into it. BOZ. 2, 0, 2, 5, 0 0 6. I will ask Robbie. Oh, addressed at sorry. 8, 7, 5, Grant Place, and I'll ask Robbie to go ahead and give the staff's presentation. Please. Okay, thank you, madam. Chair again, this is docket number Boz, 2, 0, 2, 5, dash 0, 0 0 6. The address is 8, 7 5 Grant Place. This is a setback variance as part of a proposal to renovate and add on to the non-standard house, including removal of a portion of the home that is currently located off property and within the right of Way Alley to the west the applicant is requesting a variance to the rear west Yard setback standards for a principal structure in the Rl. One zoning district.

[9:04] The resulting rear West setback will be approximately 0 feet or 25 feet is required and approximately 0 feet exists today. Section of the land use code to be modified. Section 971. Boulder revised Code 1981, and up on the screen I have a location of this property, and we did receive as a part of the application materials, 9 letters of support or signatures of support. I did provide the location of those with the green stars. 3 of them were off my little map, so I just kind of placed them on the edge. But you can see that 6 of them are immediate. Neighbors are within a few properties, so the signatures that you saw within the application materials. This it reflects the location of those. and a little bit in the way of the history of the property. It is zoned r. 0 1, and the lot size is 6,367 square feet. So it is considered a substandard sized lot because the minimum for r. 0. 1 zoning district is 7,000 square feet

[10:06] and a little bit in the way of the history of the property. The home was permitted and built circuit 1925. And the home has gone through multiple alterations over the years. And the subject alley encroachment and non standard status for the home has been recognized as far back as the 19 thirties in our records, and of course those records are not very clear. They're clear as mud, you could say, but I was able to find some recognition of the home being, and the property being non standard as far back as the 19 thirties, and the current homeowner and the applicant purchased the home in May of 2024, and then subsequently, a building permit was applied for Bld. Sfd. 202-50-0115. And this permit was submitted in March of this year, march of 2025, for the addition and remodel to the existing non standard, one story, single family home and a on a non standard lot.

[11:06] and the setback and alley encroachment issues were formally found recognized during this initial review of the building permit, and the permit as of today, remains in review status pending the outcome of the variance via this application, and a little bit in the way of the discussion was provided within the application. The engineer. as a part of the permit review, did bring up the fact that you know you need to remove any structural elements that are located within the city right of way or off the property and the removal of the roof overhang, and I believe, a portion of the the back wall that was encroaching and needed to be brought back onto the property resulted in a new wall having to be constructed. and that new wall is within the 25 foot setback, which is why the applicant is in front of you tonight.

[12:05] but I'll get into those details here in a minute. There was also a landmark alteration certificate approved under his 2025 0 0 4 8, and that was for the parcel demolition of a house constructed in 1925. So the building permit has been applied for. No work has commenced on this. The issue was essentially found during the building. Permit review. So no construction has started on the project as of yet, and then the historic review has also already occurred. and then building coverage floor area as well as solar access side yard wall articulation, side yard, bulk, plane and heights. Some things that the board looks over have already gone through a round of review, and the project, as proposed, is compliant with all of those standards, so I will kind of touch lightly on those, but if we need to revisit any of them, just let me know.

[13:01] and this gives you an idea of the survey. See! Circled in red on the upper image, that is, that encroachment into the west rear alley. The lower left image is the street view from Grant, and then we have the aerial view also, with the kind of the encroaching element circled there in red. So the house was constructed pretty much towards the back of the property, and then over the years, work and additions and modifications have been done, but primarily moving the house forward. So the work tonight is to the back of the house, the part of the house that's in the rear yard set back, which is where we get into what the board is considering specifically tonight. It is a setback variance request for the rear west yard, and the request is for approximately 0 feet, where 25 feet is required and approximately 0 feet exists today. The approximately 0 feet is because the construction is going to be done to where it brings it back onto the property. But there may be a little bit of wiggle room needed. For something, subgrade construction footers that are required as a part of this new wall. So we typically say approximately, and that usually gives them a few inches of wiggle room to construct. But the entirety of the structure will be on the property and not in the right of way.

[14:25] And then the approximately 0 feet exists today, it actually rather than putting a negative setback because it does encroach into the alley. We just say that it's a 0 foot setback. And then this shows you the existing floor plan. The subject bathroom that has its west wall being kind of brought in a little bit. Is this bathroom right here and then? Right now there is an existing storage area, I believe, made out of cinder block. and also with the chimney that is going to be removed as a part of the overall project. The applicant is also wanting to, and I'll switch to the proposed floor plan. Add a new garage. The garage does meet all setbacks. It meets the interior side to the north and the rear to the west.

[15:12] and you can see right here that subject storage area has now been removed. The storage area was not meeting the interior side setbacks. So the side of the house is being brought into conformity just by the removal of that shed area, the storage shed area, and then the guest bathroom. Right here is that original bathroom that was encroaching into the rear yard setback that is being brought in including roof overhangs, and that's what's in front of the board tonight. And then we also have the roof plan. You can see the overhang that's going into. This is the property line. The overhang does ex or extend off of the property, and then the proposed. The lower right image is the proposed roof plan, and you can see that it has now been brought back in, and that little storage area has been removed.

[16:03] and then we also have some elevations. These are all the existing elevations. The front or the rear, I should say, is this west elevation right here? This is from the alley, and then we have the south side. which is this elevation? You can see right here the cinder block area. That is that subject storage area or shed area that is being removed, taken away, and then you can also see that kind of area right here that is being removed. and then we also have the proposed and that little storage shed areas now gone. This is the back of the house on the lower left image you can see the new garage that is 25 feet back from the west property line, and then we have the south elevation. and this is kind of where the upper image. This is where that shed was, and where the house is being brought back into the East, where it's completely on the property line.

[17:03] And then we have some photos. This is the existing photo. You can see that area, the cinder block area that is going to be removed, and then the image on the upper right is the proposal. This is a fence in case anybody was wondering which can be permitted separately. And it's not within the review scope of review of tonight. But the back of the house. This is that new house or the new wall for that bathroom area leading into the office and the remainder of the home. And this is what requires the 0 foot setback. and then we also have some historic photos of the house. The lower left image, I believe, is close to, if not the original photo of the house from a hundred years ago. And it's pretty safe to say that a few changes have been made over the years. But it does appear that it was built to today's non standard conditions as far back as the 19 thirties. We recognize it as not meeting setbacks, and there have been attempts of variances over the years. I found a variance attempt from 19 forties for an addition. So a lot of work has been done over the years, but the owner, the applicant, is simply wanting to do the addition to the house. The garage addition make some

[18:21] renovations to the Home to bring it into today's standards, and as a part of that they are needing to adhere to the right of way encroachment issue that was brought up by engineering. So they are in front of Boza tonight, hopefully to seek a variance, to allow that new wall at the back of the house to be constructed and the home to be brought into conformity. So within the application, the applicant did a really good job, responding to the variance review criteria, specifically criterion h. 1 and H. 5, I will kind of touch lightly on this, for now but Staff is in support of the application as it has been presented. We do feel that there are clear hardships and topographical and site conditions as well as structural conditions that are unique to the property and prohibit feasible development of the property, and then also the new addition to the house is meeting setbacks. But because of that

[19:22] the app because of the encroachment that is there today. The applicant is needing to seek a variance just to kind of bring that wall in. And as a part of that. They're also removing an encroaching element on the south side of the house, the shed, the cinder block shed area. So with all of that staff feels that this is an appropriate request. It's bringing a property. and or, more specifically, a structure into compliance that appears to have been non standard for close to a century now. And the request for the addition is not even under the scope of review tonight, but they do want to bring everything into conformity and kind of put a nice clean

[20:03] package bow, bow on it. So with that staff is again recommending support and approval of the variance application as it has been presented within the application materials. And with that I will hand it back over to you, Madam Chair, and if anybody has any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Thank you so much, Robbie, for such a thorough presentation as always does anyone does. The Board have questions for staff looks like no questions for Staff alrighty. Then we're going to go ahead and have the applicants presentation. So the applicant will have 15 min total to present. So. depending on how many people show up. You're going to have 15 min in total. Amanda will keep track of that time. And then, if you could, all speakers speak into the microphone and give their names and addresses. Oh, no, that's for citizens. Sorry, not for the applicant.

[21:12] So if you can just identify yourself, let us know who you are before you start speaking, and then go ahead and give your presentation. So thank you so much for being here. Thanks, everybody, and and thank you, Robbie, for your presentation. My name is Dan Rotner. I am the architect of working with Toby Zhao at our office for Mary Dubay, the owner of this project, and you know, I think Robbie's done an excellent job at describing the conditions of this project. We do have a model available if we need to look at anything on the project. I think you've explained most of this in some detail. We're we're really excited to be a part of this, and I think the client has has done a really has some really noble objectives to work with this existing structure, which has some

[22:08] kind of funky but interesting additions over the years. And we've tried to stick with the historic character of the existing building, I mean, in in many cases, with the challenges here, this type of property would be a subject for demolition and construction of a much larger house. But that's not Mary's objectives. and we've worked with her, and we hope you'll agree with Robbie's assessment that we're kind of dealing with some legal administrative issues with the Nonconformance aspect of the house, and a little bit of a catch, 22 at the alley side, where, if that wall was in board where we want to locate it. We wouldn't be here at this hearing, but because we have to shift it out of noncompliance, we need to get the setback variance and as I said, we're available for any questions, and we can pull up the model of the that we have available computer model. If anybody's interested in looking at anything.

[23:05] Thank you, Mary. Do you have anything to add. I don't have anything to add, but I'm happy to answer questions and thank you all for all the hard work on this. And of course, Dan and Toby they've really worked hard for us to figure everything out. Excellent. Thank you so much, Dan and Mary. Does the Board have any questions of the applicant? The Board has no questions of the applicant. All righty. we're going to go to citizen comment at this time, Amanda. Is there anyone who is wish from the audience who wish to speak. Yeah, if you're joining us. And you'd like to speak about this project. You're welcome to raise your hand at this time.

[24:05] Give our attendees couple seconds to see if they'd like to talk. Okay, not seeing any hands raised. All right. Thank you so much, Amanda. So if there's no public comment on this matter, then it is now open to the board for discussion. So we'll start with our most junior member, Sean. Any discussion on this matter. Yeah, I think overall. I agree with Staff's decision to approve. It does look like I mean, everything that would be nonconforming was built before we even had the rules and the proposed changes are taking away other nonconforming things and making it more in compliance, such as reducing the roof line removing that shed, and the proposed additions to the house are

[25:01] within the setback zones, so I don't see any issues with those curious to hear if anyone else on the board has any other issues with that. But so far I feel like I'm in agreement with Staff's movement. Awesome thanks so much. Shawn drew any any discussion. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think it's really straightforward going through the criteria and meets all the criteria. And yeah, it's it's also good to see. I mean, it's bringing it more into compliance than it previously was. So yeah, I'll be in favor. Thank you, drew Katie. Any discussion. No, I you know I echo my my colleagues, comments and I also was, you know, impressed. Obviously the the owner and applicant made a lot of outreach to their neighbors. So there's a lot of neighbor support. So that's that's impressive, too. So

[26:00] no, it's pretty straightforward. Thank you so much, Katie. And yeah, I'm in agreement with my colleagues as well. I believe that this satisfies both h. 1 a. And H. 5 of our criteria. And so I'm inclined to vote in favor of this as well. The other thing that I just wanted to mention is what everyone else has mentioned is the fact that this applicant has taken elements of this project and made sure that they're within the setbacks. So I was really impressed by that with both the shed and the the garage, and echoing exactly what Katie said as well. I appreciated the the details in the the support letter that went out to to neighbors, so that they could have a really good indication of what was going on on the property. So echoing what Katie said, as well in really engaging your neighbors and and reaching out to them. I'm on this project as well. So thanks for that. So with that I will entertain a motion to approve.

[27:12] I'll make a motion to approve. I guess I make a motion to approve. Poz 2, 0, 2, 5, dash 0, 0 0 0 6. Thank you so much, Katie. I heard a second from Dan. Excuse me, Drew. I saw the d you are not Dan, you are drew second for Drew. So we'll call the role, Sean. Oh, in favor! Aye. Drew. Yep, bye. Katie. Bye. Nikki. Hi. Congratulations! Your application has been approved. Good luck on the rest of your project. Thank you so much for your hard work on this. Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you very much.

[28:00] Thank you guys so much. All right, let's keep it going. Approval of the minutes. So are there any corrections to the minutes? All right, I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Thank you so much. Drew second. I'll second the approval of the minutes. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Shawn. And I'll call the role Sean. Bye. Drew. Yes. Katie. I. Nikki, I perfect minutes are approved. All right. Do we have any other matters from the board at this time? Just a question. Can you make a motion, Nicky, as in rather than calling, asking everyone else to ask for a motion.

[29:04] I think, according to Robert's rules, I can make a motion, but I just I tend to sit things out as being the chair to give other people an opportunity. Okay, just might be, could be more efficient. When it's when it's really straightforward. But yeah, do do it. However, you want. Yep, I will. Any other matters from the board. Madison, the city attorney. I don't have anything for the Board today. Thank you so much to Shauna. Any matters from staff. Not really just the application deadline for the August 12th Bose meeting has yet to occur. It is next week, the second Monday of the month, so probably by the end of next week we will know if we're gonna have an August 12th meeting. And I will let everybody know how that looks. But yeah, I would just anticipate there being a meeting, and if there are any expected absences, just let us know as soon as you can, so you'll hear from me soon.

[30:10] Wonderful. Thank you so much for that, Robbie. Well, with nothing else, looks like we're adjourned. So thank you. Everybody for your time. See? You maybe see you in August. Ciao. Thank you. Bye.