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SYRACUSE -ÊCases remanded to the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals from Kosciusko Superior Court I were again denied by the zoning board Thursday.
In April, Douglas and Jeanne Shrock petitioned the Syracuse BZA for a petition for a variance to permit an in-ground pool to remain as built 25 feet, 6 inches from the water's edge. The property is on the south side of Northshore Drive and 400 feet east of Hiawatha Drive at 631 E. Northshore Drive, Syracuse.
Premier Signs, for Grace Lutheran Church, petitioned for an exception for the purpose of the change and alteration of a nonconforming use by allowing a sign to remain on an existing base in a right of way in a public use district. The property is on the east side of Main Street and zero feet north of Harrison Street at 203 E. Main St., Syracuse.
Both the Shrock and Premier Signs petitions were denied in April.
On May 15, Syracuse attorney Steve Snyder filed petitions in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 on behalf of Douglas and Jeanine Shrock and also for Grace Lutheran Church. In part, the Shrock petition challenged the makeup of the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals, saying the board was not properly constituted.
As members of the Syracuse Town Council, Barbara Carwile and Larry Siegel should never have served on the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals, the lawsuit said.
The Shrock lawsuit to the court alleged "the decision of respondent is illegal in whole or in part" for the following reasons: the board failed to make adequate findings of fact; the board disregarded the evidence and denied the request; the decision was arbitrary and capricious; and the Syracuse BZA is not properly constituted, its members not having been appointed according to state statute. The petition claims any decision made by the board is void.
The Grace Lutheran Church petition called the decision by the Syracuse BZA illegal because there were no adequate findings of fact and evidence was disregarded. The church's petition also said the regulations imposed on the petition are a violation of the separation of church and state.
Thursday, Syracuse town attorney Mike Reed told the Syracuse BZA that the cases were remanded to the BZA not because of their decisions but because the board was not properly constituted.
But again Thursday, the BZA denied both petitions.
For the church sign, BZA chairman Mike Brower said the new sign the church put up is larger than the old one and interferes with the visibility of the roads.
"Traffic in the alley is obscured by the sign so there is a safety factor," he said.
For the pool, Brower said the Shrocks applied for the pool permit after they already put it in.
Also, he said, "I'll admit the county routinely grants variances closer than 35 feet to the water's edge. We do not."
And even though the Shrocks had a petition of more than 200 names in favor of the Shrocks keeping the pool, Brower said, "We are not representatives of the public. The BZA is here to make a judgment."
Steve Sharp, BZA member, said he sympathizes with the Shrocks, but there's too many problems with the pool.
