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02338MR. ROY VOTING NO BECAUSE HE FELT THAT THE APPLICANT HAD NO MORE THAN A CONSTRUCTION SHACK AND QUALIFIED WITHOUT A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT. t V-9-77 STUART SCHELL - Variance of 15'^from -required'20' front yard setback located on the south side of Edmonds St.,:east-of 9th Ave. N. (RS-6) Mr. Roy asked to be excused from this hearing because he is acquainted -with the applicant, and Mrs. Stole asked to be excused because she is the owner of the property involved. Both left the rostrum but did not leave the Council Chambers. City Attorney John Wallace advised the Board that four affirmative votes would be necessary to approve the application as there ,. were six members left to hear it. Mrs. Block: explained that the applicant proposed to move an existing home from 626 Main St. to the site - on Edmonds St. She said there were some unique situations connected with this. She showed slides of the house which was proposed to be moved and of the lot to which it would be moved. The slides of the lot reflected ' '< a steep slope from the site to a stream in a ravine at the rear of the lot. Mrs. Block also displayed topographical drawings of the site. She indicated that the topography and the location. of Shell Creek are not t common to most other lots in the area but the vacant lot to the west does share these characteristics. She said strict enforcement of the l` Code would make placement of -this house on this lot extremely difficult. She noted that the special conditions do result from actions of the appli- cant and that the topography and nature of the site make placement of the house difficult, especially with the 20' setback. She said with the proposed variance corridor a view to the house on the east would be impaired and that a 5' setback could create safety problems. She pointed out that this would not be a minimum variance to make reasonable use of the land if another house were designed for the lot. She did not believe this would be in harmony with the Code. She said this is an environmentally sensitive site and the structure should take into'con-' sideration the environment of the site. She did not recommend approval of the variance as proposed. She said there were memoranda in the file from the Building Department and the Engineering Department in this regard, and that the Engineering Department had recommended denial because a 5' setback would be a safety problem, and the Building Department had indicated special requirements that should be met because of its being an environmentally sensitive site. The public hearing was then opened. The applicant said he and his wife currently reside in the house at 626 Main St. which they want to move to this site. He said it is a very old house with historical value and he wants to preserve and restore it. He.. said they were on a tight timeschedule because of. the difficulty in find- ing a lot and if this { proposal were.denied the house would have to be demolished so apartments can be built at its present location. Denison Luce of 934 Edmonds St. said he lives on the adjacent lot to the east of the proposed site. He said his house ` had been designed.for that property and that any house placed there should be designed for the lot. He said the environmental impact on the creek should be considered because no matter what is done on the lot, dirt will fall into the creek. He also objected to losing the sight corridor down the.street for safety reasons. ! Lloyd Quatier said he had been retained by the applicant as his soils and foundation engineer. He showed some slides of the property and of the house proposed to be moved there. He pointed out that the property is on a deadend street with a park at the end. He said the primary purpose for asking for a variance s was in order to position the house at the forward portion of the property out of consideration for the stream. He said the property line is right in the middle of the creek. He said they are.also endeavoring to completely protect the wooded area. He commented.that mixing old constructiont.with new is rather common in Edmonds i and that there are other properties within the block that have been placed fairly close to the street. John Farrell of 925 Edmonds St. said he had helped pay for the street. EDMONDS BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Page 3 - March 16, 1977