By Mark Baratelli
Veneto Builders is proposing to develop a three-story building with commercial ground floor space and living units on the second and third levels on an empty .14 acre commercial property between Thornton Park Laundry and a 4-unit retail strip at 811 East Washington Street in Thornton Park.
The temporary name for the building is the Parrish building. The property was purchased by David Parrish in 2018.
The builder is Veneto Builders. They specialize in custom single family homes.
Eating and drinking uses are prohibited in retail spaces.
Four variances were requested, all of which were recommended for approval by the Board of Zoning Adjustment. Below are the requested variances with staff responses in bold:
Veneto Builders is proposing to develop a three-story building with commercial ground floor space and living units on the second and third levels on an empty .14 acre commercial property between Thornton Park Laundry and a 4-unit retail strip at 811 East Washington Street in Thornton Park.
The temporary name for the building is the Parrish building. The property was purchased by David Parrish in 2018.
The builder is Veneto Builders. They specialize in custom single family homes.
Eating and drinking uses are prohibited in retail spaces.
Four variances were requested, all of which were recommended for approval by the Board of Zoning Adjustment. Below are the requested variances with staff responses in bold:
- Variance of 4.5 ft. to allow a 3 ft. vehicular use bufferyard, where 7.5 ft. is the minimum required. The lot is 100 ft. deep by 52.5 ft. wide with developed lots surrounding the site. The applicant has worked with staff to construct a code compliant parking lot (with minimum required parking) however he is limited in his ability to construct the required Bufferyard B wall and the 7.5 vehicular use landscaping. Staff supports the re- quest to reduce the vehicular landscaping bufferyard to 3 ft.
- Variance of 14 ft. to allow a 10 ft. driveway (2-way), where 24 ft. is the minimum required. The City’s Transportation Department has expressed support for this request, subject to the conditions of approval outlined in this staff report. A similar reduction was granted for other properties within this area. The applicant will grant cross access to allow for future opportunity to provide a drive aisle behind the building and removal of the E. Washington St. curb cut.
- Variance of 17% to allow a 92% ISR, where 75% is the maximum allowed in the AC-N zoning district. Staff is supportive of this request given the existing character of the neighborhood and the applicant’s plan to provide water retention on site.
- Variance of 5 ft. to allow a 40 ft. building height, where 35 ft. is the maximum allowed in the AC-N zoning district. Staff is supportive of this request given the constraints associated with the site location. The width of the lot in relation to the drive aisle as well as the proposed commercial use proposed on the first floor results in a higher structure. Also, the proposed height increase is inline with the character of the existing build- ings across E. Washington Street. The applicant has agreed to maintain a minimum floor height of 10 ft. on the ground level for the proposed commercial use.
