SYRACUSE - Both petitions before the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals met with approval Thursday.

But both approvals came with conditions.

Darrell Hudson petitioned for a variance to allow a residence to be converted into a duplex on a lot with less than the required square footage. The property, at 605 N. Huntington St., Syracuse, is on the southwest side of Huntington Street and 75 feet southeast of Pearl Street.

Matt Sandy, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission assistant planner, told the SBZA nothing about the exterior of the building was changing, all the renovations would be inside. He said the property has had various uses over the years.

Hudson told the SBZA the property was his mother-in-law's, and she died about a year ago. While renovating the property, Hudson said, they found out about the need to get a variance, and the renovations are nearly complete. There will be no home-based or home occupation business in the building.

Asked about parking, Hudson said there are about three parking spaces in the back and two on the side.

"My understanding is the measurements were 6 inches shy of that," he said. When the former consignment business was there, Hudson said, he parked at the side of the building.

For board member Steve Sharp, parking looks like a problem there, but he wasn't on the board when the board approved the consignment shop, so he asked board members Jon Brookmyer and Mike Brower why they approved the business in the building if parking was an issue. Brower and Brookmyer were on the board when the consignment shop was approved.

Brower said when the shop was there, the traffic was light and had no employees. The family ran the business. The family parked in the back of the building and customers parked in front. Plus, Brower said, "The store's a stone's throw away from public parking, which is underused."

Brookmyer said he thinks it's imperative the building have parking for four cars. If the tenants of the building know where they are going to be assigned their parking, Brower said, "that helps a lot."

The building is approximately 2,000 square feet, and each unit will be approximately 1,000 square feet. One unit will be upstairs and one will be downstairs, Hudson said. There will be a total of three bedrooms.

There were no remonstrators.

Brookmyer made a motion to approve the variance with the following stipulations: all previous exceptions on the property be rescinded; four off-street parking spaces be provided for future tenants; and neither the county nor Syracuse or its representatives are responsible for damages to any cars parked along the alleys. The motion was approved by a vote of 3 to 0.

Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Rinker Boat Co., presented the other petition. Rinker wants an exception to allow outside storage of industrial boat shells in a commercial district. The property, at 402 W. Chicago St., Syracuse, is on the north side of Chicago Street and 200 feet east of Syracuse-Webster Road.

Sandy reminded the board they heard a request by the company in January for parking. At that time, the board discussed the need for the company to keep the property cleaned up and discussed storage issues.

Snyder said at that hearing for parking, the board prohibited storage in areas for parking. The company tried to follow that but found they had storage problems. The company wants the exception so they can have outside storage of the molds and will enclose it with solid screening with a chain link fence on the north, south and west sides. The east side will be left open. The fence will shield the residential areas, Dana and the streets from having to see the outside storage.

The area planned for the outside storage, Snyder said, "is the most accessible, but most out of the way."

Asked how long the boat molds are stored, a Rinker representative said they don't hold on to them for very long, probably less than two years. Currently, they have 14 molds and don't like more than that at any one given time.

Snyder said the area will be up to 162 feet by 200 feet. The area will hold 15 to 20 shells.

"We're trying to do what we're doing now and make it inoffensive to people," said the Rinker representative.

There were no remonstrators.

Brower made a motion to approve the exception with the following conditions: the area can be no bigger than up to 162 feet by 200 feet with a solid screening of at least 8 feet but no more than 10 feet high; a detailed site plan showing fencing planned must be submitted; all other conditions on the property remain in effect; and the storage is only for the boat molds and other molds for the manufacturing of boats.

Due to the company having a history of non-compliance, and because the company had outside storage before seeking an exception, Sharp made a motion to offer the company a settlement of $1,000 for the violation.

"I would say $1,000," said Sharp. "I'm not going big on this."

The settlement offer was approved unanimously by the board.

The Syracuse BZA meets at 7 p.m. in the town hall on the third Thursday of every month. Members include Brower, Sharp, Brookmyer and Gus Duehmig. The board is one member short. [[In-content Ad]]