- I'll call to order the meeting of the Ellsville Board of Zoning Appeals for January 14th, 2026. Kayla,
- would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States
- of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
- and justice for all.
- Roll call, please. Here. Okay, the first item on our agenda is the election of the officers for 2026.
- Okay, I forget.
- Do we have to do a roll call or can we just say aye? Roll call, please. Okay, roll call. David Drake?
- Yes. Travis Conyer? Yes. Pat Wesolowski? Here. Caleb Plummer? Yes. Matt Sebo? Yes. Okay. Do we have
- a nomination for Vice President? I'm gonna make a move to nominate Pat Wesolowski. Second. Roll call, please.
- Okay does anyone have a conflict of interest with any of the items on our agenda for this evening? Seeing
- none we have no old business. The first item of new business is
- petition for variances from development standards to reduce the minimum side yard setback to zero and
- remove the requirement of a right-of-way permit for rear loaded homes in phase one of the Harmon Farm
- subdivision. Case number BZA 26-1. Before I start with the new business, do you mind approving the minutes,
- please? Oh gosh, I skipped over that, didn't I? I'll make a motion to approve the minutes for December
- 10th, 2025.
- All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now back to case number BZA 26-1. And I'll
- have to be honest, I really don't understand what that means. That whole paragraph. Oh, okay. So Petitioner
- Harmon Farms
- somebody then I can't share screen share. So petitioner Harmon Farms LLC is requesting two variances
- from development standards specifically to change the minimum side yard set back to zero and to remove
- the provision for the requirement of right away permits for rear loaded homes from a private alley.
- pertaining to development standards variance for zero minimum side yard setback. Harmon Farms is located
- in a commercial one zoning district. Developer has obtained a special exception through the BZA to allow
- single family detached and attached homes. C1 zoning requires a side yard setback of 10 feet. Harmon
- Farms has received primary plat approval for various lot styles.
- Some of the lots have varying side yard setbacks to offset the homes from the center of the lot, and
- a lot of those setbacks have been amended through the Board of Zoning Appeals. With regard to removing
- the requirement for a right of way permit for the rear loaded homes accessed from a private alley, upon
- completion of the subdivision when it is turned over to the town of Ellisville,
- The alleys and Harman Farms will not be brought into the town of Ellisville Street Inventory. All alleys
- and Harman Farms will be managed by a Homeowners Association. The town will not be responsible for any
- repairs, cleaning them, plowing snow or anything. Petitioners, engineered by Nathaniel and Associates
- has provided a narrative which is attached to your staff report.
- In taking action on all variance requests, the Board of Zoning Appeals shall use the following decision
- criteria when making your decision. General welfare approval would not cause any significant problems
- in relation to public health and safety. Adjacent property, the development standard variances will
- not affect adjacent properties in a substantially adverse manner. Variances will improve the design
- of the development
- Practical difficulty, the strict application of the UDO sections referenced in your staff report will
- enhance the different types of housing approved by the plan commission and variances previously approved
- by the board of zoning appeals. Compliance with the comprehensive plan, the variances from development
- standards will enhance mixed use residential in the village center concept as outlined in the comp plan.
- Financial hardship, the current status of the development does not result in financial hardship from
- a condition peculiar to the property. However, it will result in financial hardship as it will require
- the primary plat and standards approved for the development to be amended resulting in significant expense
- and delay to the developer. Compliance with other town codes. Properties currently in compliance with
- all other town codes.
- Your action has the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be in the form of approval, approval with conditions,
- denial or a continuance. Your action will be the final action on the variance petitions. Staff
- recommendation, the purpose of the variance is to provide relief in situations where the land or current
- condition offers resistance to meeting a particular zoning regulation through no fault of the occupant
- of the land.
- Therefore, based on the above analysis and criteria, it is a staff opinion that the variances meet all
- requirements and the criteria and therefore recommends approval of the variance requests. The board
- may approve the variances if, after testimony and discussion, it finds that the request meets all six
- of the stated requirements. If the board denies a variance, it shall state which requirements have not
- been met and petitioners
- representative is present for any questions you may have. Okay. Did you say there was something from
- the petitioner describing this? Cause I don't see that. I thought there was something in the packet
- and I may have forgot it. So I will ask.
- Michael that's okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna have him sorry about that. I'm gonna have him explain it anyway
- But do you want me to pass it around for anybody else to look at? Okay, sorry about that so before we
- get to the petitioner does anybody have any questions for If we okay this they're gonna take care of
- everything that's the street department
- How about the water and sewer, if something happens there? They'll be responsible for repairing the
- street. The homeowners association law? Yes. And then the other question I have, if the alley, if we
- don't have a sit back, is the- I'm sorry, if you don't want it. If we don't have a sit back, okay,
- if we, they're gonna have an alley in the back, am I correct?
- Will it be feasible for fire trucks and whatever emergency vehicles to get down it? Yes, the fire department
- has had several meetings on site with the engineer and developer, as well as in tech review and the
- fire marshals also looked at it and they've determined their equipment can get through the alleys.
- So we won't have any say so over that property. Not over the alley. I mean, how about over the water
- and the sewer and removal of snow and trees come down and. So they'll have to make any repairs to those
- items that may be in the alley. In the alley. They'll be responsible for that cost, yes. Well, that's
- where all the water,
- like the water and sewer is coming through through the alleys? We'll have to ask AJ about that. I just
- don't remember off the top of my head. All right. Thank you. Sure. Okay. AJ, why don't you come up here
- and can you explain what this is actually intended to do because I'm still a little clueless. So my
- name is AJ Willis. I am the project engineer for this particular project.
- Yeah So I guess where I want to start is with those alleys So basically the alley widths we worked with
- the fire department to set those widths based on What they needed to serve those
- those areas with emergency vehicles. So we do have two different alley width sections. One, some of
- the alleys are 12 foot wide, some are 16 foot wide. But every alley has a 20 foot, basically it's a
- private right away essentially. That right away will be maintained and owned by the HOA. And it's only
- for these private alleys for the rear loaded homes. I think almost all of the utilities on site are
- routed in the
- public right away, so actually within the streets right aways. We do have one sanitary sewer that runs
- along one of those alleys behind the townhome section. We do have a sanitary sewer easement through
- there, so if any work ever needed to be done, the town of Ellsville would have access to that if they
- needed to get to it. So those alleys also have a
- basically they're defined as ingress, egress, access, and utility easement. So that allows for all those
- repairs to occur, but it will be the responsibility of the HOA. So the UDO, when it talks about driveway
- permits, it states it's any, let me find it here, all new expanded or modified driveways onto local
- roads must obtain a permit from the town.
- All these rear loaded homes are only asking for the variance for the rear loaded homes that connect
- to the alleys. They don't actually connect to a local road. So the reason we're kind of requesting this
- variance is to make the you do a little bit more clear on that. And since you know we're not actually
- connecting to a local road with all those driveways it's just kind of a step in the permitting process
- that's not really needed for
- connecting to essentially a private road. And then to talk about the setback, so that setback variance
- only applies for the side lot lines. There's still a front setback from the public roadway and then
- a rear setback from the alley. So we have a 25 or 20 foot wide easement essentially for the alley and
- then there's an additional building setback
- on the rear of that property. This variance would only apply to I think it's 10 lots in the interior
- of the subdivision. Essentially what it's doing, if you have a 40 foot wide lot, you're able to shift
- the house right onto the property line and then you double the setback on the other side yard and then
- there's a maintenance easement
- on the adjacent property to allow that homeowner that has their building on the lot line to maintain
- their siding. So the reason we did that with, when we started this project, we worked closely with Town
- of Elstville to kind of bring in a bunch of different types of housing, not just standard front load
- single family. And this was, what it's basically called is side loaded homes. Essentially what you're
- doing is you're taking the front yard and putting it
- on the side of the house. In order to really make that a successful development, you kind of have to
- increase that side yard width. And the way to do it without changing the lots, basically the lot sizes
- would stay the same as a standard lot. You just shift the house over which that creates that increased
- width on the side yard to kind of create that front yard aesthetic. And I'm more than happy to answer
- any questions.
- Any questions? That's interesting, I was just wondering is that alley, the primary use for that is for
- utility and emergency use? No, so the primary use for that is to access the rear-loaded homes. Okay,
- that is their access. Yes, yeah, so they're, instead of having garages on the front of the building and
- connecting to every driveway connecting to a public road. We were able to limit the driveway connections
- on the public road network, which kind of limits the impacts on those local roadways by designing and
- constructing an alley behind the home that will serve the garages that are in the rear of the property.
- Good work. Is that whole project gonna be
- H Homeowners Association Yes, they're it's gonna be a pretty complicated one Just because you're gonna
- have a overreaching one for there's basically gonna be An overreaching HOA that covers all the residential
- areas and then these the rear loaded homes will probably have their separate HOA covering
- the alleys, and then the town home areas will have another HOA on top of that to kind of control that
- stuff. So yeah, everything's gonna be covered. There will be an HOA for the entire subdivision. The
- commercial will also have some type of something similar as an HOA to manage it as well. The homeowners
- association for that whole division, subdivision?
- Will that be under one individual or one unity? Or is there gonna be homeowners association here and
- you contact Joey here, a homeowner over here, you contact Sam? Yeah, no, they'll be all kind
- of interconnected. It just will be the language of kind of the rules and regulations will be different
- for, you know, the town home area as the single family area.
- When I moved here before, wherever I lived at, which I'm not going to tell anybody, but they had a homeowners
- association and you couldn't get nothing done. And it sticks in my mind, you know, there's a large piece
- of property out here. What, I guess I asked Denise, what recourse do we have if there is something that
- we want that should be done and it's not?
- So, you know, we have our UDO to rely on. We have code enforcement. We have an MS4 inspector for stormwater.
- So we have remedies in place. They still, even though they have an HOA, they still have to follow all
- of our codes. So we have remedies and also the court system. Okay, thank you. Sure. Anything else for AJ?
- So my opinion on these that I've said several times is as long as it's not something that's gonna come
- back to bite the town later, if he's developing his own thing and has certain ideas, that's kind of
- up to him. I will say, we've had several, several meetings with both the developer and AJ and sometimes
- separate and
- My goodness, I can't even tell you how long his design process was in establishing a village center
- and what he wanted here and what he wanted there and the mixed use residential. So he's also worked
- with a design firm for that. So great care has gone into what's going to be creating a very nice subdivision. So,
- It also went through tech review with a lot of the items AJ discussed tonight, but it's just been a
- process to get through all the variances. And, you know, he's visited you several times at plan commission
- as well. So. Okay. Any more questions? Any comment from the public?
- Seeing none, we're ready for a motion. I will make a motion that we approve the petition for variances
- for PC or BCA case 26-1 as submitted by the staff. Roll call please.
- Yes. Travis Conyer. Yes. Pat Weslosky. Yes. Taylor Plummer. Yes. Matt Siebold. Yes. Thank you.
- Motion carries. Next item on our agenda is a petition for a variance from development standards to allow
- a septic in an agricultural zoning district at 4601 West McNeely Street. Petitioner is Michael Ripley.
- It's case number BZA 26-2. Thank you. Second and last on our agenda
- Tonight is petitioned by Michael Ripley requesting a variance from development standards to allow septic
- and agricultural zoning district for 4601 West McNeely Street. Petitioner has obtained primary plat
- approval from the plan commission for two minor subdivisions at 4601 West McNeely Street. All lots meet
- the required minimum of two acres for an agricultural zoning district.
- The unified development ordinance is inconsistent in the use of septic systems. Under AG utility standards
- in the UDO, only municipal water and sewer are required. UDO section, I won't say all the section numbers,
- but with regard to building permit states, no building permit shall be issued for a structure that is
- served by a septic system unless the septic
- permit has been issued by the Monroe County Health Department or the health offices has authorized an
- approved system. Then under the utility section of a UDO, it requires a connection to a public sanitary
- sewer when the subdivision boundary is within 300 feet of one. Ripley minor subdivision, the Ripley
- minor subdivision, his first minor subdivision is approximately 420 feet from a sewer connection.
- In the most recent Lot 4 of Ripley Minor Subdivision Amendment 1 is 1,700 feet from the nearest known
- sewer. Under minor residential subdivision development standards, no public rights away, public improvements
- or utility main extensions are proposed or required. Later this year, the Planning Department will request
- an amendment to add septic, has a utility standard,
- option in the AG Zoning District. It wasn't a code before we created the UDO. Petitioners, engineer,
- Biden and Fanion associates has provided a narrative and I hope I put that in your staff report. The
- criteria for the decisions for variances from development standards, general welfare approval would
- not cause any significant problems in relation to public health or safety.
- adjacent properties, the development standard variance will not affect adjacent properties in a substantially
- adverse manner. Practical difficulty, the minor subdivisions consist of four lots each. The UDO does
- not provide a mechanism for minor subdivisions to install sewers. The comprehensive plan,
- A variance from development standards will enhance the planned neighborhood land use typology. Under
- the comprehensive plan, the planned neighborhood lot sizes and intensity of development vary based on
- housing type and is based on four dwelling units an acre. Ripley's minor subdivisions exceed the planned
- neighborhood expectations with large lot residential and a minimum of two acre lots. Financial hardship.
- The current status of the minor subdivisions result in financial hardship from a condition peculiar
- to the property. The two minor subdivisions are derived from one parcel that is in the shape of a U
- and in the center is a parcel with two homes, both of which are not connected to a sewer. Compliance
- with other town codes. The property is currently in compliance with all other town codes. As stated
- in the first petition,
- Your action shall be in a form of approval, approval with conditions, denial or a continuance. The Board
- of Zoning Appeals takes final action on all variance petitions. Staff recommendation, the purpose of
- the variance is to provide relief in situations where the land or other condition offers resistance
- to meeting a particular zoning regulation through no fault of the occupant of the land.
- Therefore, based on the above analysis, it is the staff opinion that the variance meets all requirements
- and criteria, and therefore recommends approval of the variance request. The board may approve the variance
- if, after testimony and discussion, it finds that the request meets all six of the stated requirements.
- If the board denies a variance, it shall state which our requirements have not been met
- and petitioners representative is present if you have any questions. Any questions for Denise? So basically
- the code would not have required them to come to the BZA previously. Somehow and amongst all the many
- thousands of things in the UDO there's now a conflict
- that they have to have either septic or sewer, one or the other, and sewer's too far away. Correct,
- so probably in the fall is when I'll go to the Plan Commission to update the UDO. I already have six
- or seven other items I need to correct in it. You know, we're under reorganization process right now,
- so I'll have to wait till that's finished and then present it to the Plan Commission.
- same thing with you, if they have three more lots sold. No, you can make it for that entire address,
- if you like. That's what I'm thinking. Instead of a one by one, is there someone who can just give it
- all four lots at one time? Yes, you can just make it for that entire
- both parcels, the Ripley minor subdivision and the amendment one of the subdivision in its entirety,
- yes. There you go, David. Does anybody need to hear from AJ or have any questions for him? Because I
- think this is pretty clear cut. Okay, I will make him, there's no public, so.
- I will raising your hand either. Okay, so I will make a motion that we approve the petition for a variance
- from development standards for case number bza-26 to at 4601 West Meade lay Street. Can I make an amendment
- that would do it for all right now? And that's my thought David is to have it all done at one time instead
- of come in four times.
- So anyway, I wanna make an amendment that it's all four lots. Or both subdivisions. Or both subdivisions.
- Okay. And are you seconding the motion then? Oh yeah, I'll second. Okay. Roll call, please. David Drake?
- Yes. Travis Conyer? Yes. Pat Wesolowski? Yes. Caleb Plummer? Yes. Matt Sebo? Yes. Motion carries. Planning
- department update.
- We will have a meeting on February 11th. Right now I have one petition. Okay, privilege of the floor.
- Plan, commission, comments? We're adjourned.