Chair Christopher swore in Dennis Robinson who spoke on behalf of the applicant, Merle Sampson.
Mr. Robinson stated that he also lived in the airpark and would build the guest house for Mr. Sampson. He acknowledged that an outbuilding could not be located in front of the main house. He stated that:
~Most of the homes faced the runway.
~They were trying to keep the guest house behind the main house and away from the runway for safety reasons.
~It was not a visual issue but a zoning issue.
~Many homeowners wanted to have their outbuildings kept away from the runway.
Vice Chair Fields questioned with whom the owner made an agreement. Mr. Robinson answered that the agreement was made with an adjoining neighbor to the north of the property named Skip Walker. He stated that Mr. Sampson had promised Mr. Walker that he would not build in his view corridor which was along the runway.
It was estimated that the home had been built in the 1970’s.
Zoning Inspector Patty Hayes presented the staff report. She stated that the applicant requested a variance to allow a detached guest house to be built in front of the main house between the main house and the street. Ms. Hayes explained that Oro Valley Town Code required that detached accessory buildings must be built to the side of or behind the house.
She noted that the La Cholla Airpark was the only airpark within Town limits and had special zoning. She stated that the special zoning permitted homeowners to build hangars in front of the house.
Ms. Hayes noted that the applicant had access to the runway at the rear of the property. She stated that the applicant expressed safety concerns regarding placing the guest house at the rear of the property.
Additionally, Ms. Hayes noted that:
~The front yard setback for the property was fifty feet.
~The property was posted with a notice of hearing.
~Property owners were notified by mail
*There were no responses in favor of or against the variance.
It was noted that:
~Kachina Drive was a private roadway.
~There had not been cases similar to this request in many years.
~It was unknown whether this request would have been granted prior to the annexation of the area to the Town.
Chair Christopher opened the public hearing.
President of La Cholla Airpark Corporation, Bill Edding, stated that Pima County would have allowed such a request and building in front of the house had happened in the past. He stated that Town Code limited homeowners on the use of up to 2/3 of their lot which limited property values. He stated that Mr. Sampson could go to the extent of having his address changed so that the runway would be located at the front of the house.
MOTION: A motion was made by Vice Chair Fields and seconded by Member Hickey to approve the variance to allow a detached guest house to be built in front of the main house on subject parcel # 219-23-0130 located at 13350 N. Kachina Drive, Oro Valley, Arizona 85737.
MOTION carried, 4-0.