ThisWeek UA 1/26/2011
Zach Zettler, an architect involved in the design of the Reed Road fire station, presented Upper Arlington Fire Chief Jeff Young, Development Director Dean Sivinski and BZAP Chairman T.J. Riley with Fire Chief Magazine’s Station Style Design – Silver Award in the shared facilities category.
“Through the hard work of CR Architecture, we now have an award winning facility that will make the community proud for another 50, 75 or maybe 100 years,” said Young, after accepting the award.
Zettler said the project was a collaborative effort between BZAP, the firefighters and the design team.
“This award is truly a credit to the board for pushing us all on the design.”
Following the presentation of the award, the board considered several residential zoning requests.
Ed Overmyer of Stonehaven Place requested an additional 6.36 percent of hardscape development cover, beyond the 19.78 percent allowed by code.
Chad Gibson, city senior planner, granted a postponement of the request on behalf of the owners until the Feb. 22 meeting to allow for additional design changes to be reviewed by city staff.
Chris Gempel of Henthorn Road requested variances for the reconstruction of his garage, including a second-story addition and a connection to the principal residence. The variances would allow for a side yard setback encroachment of 2.7 feet into the 8 foot minimum and the second-story will cause the garage to project into the 1.6 rear profile coefficient, used to define building height, established for the zoning district.
City staff recommended approval to these variances after an informal viewing in November.
BZAP member Ida Copenhaver Ginter questioned the possibility of using the second story as living space, “possibly a bedroom,” which she was opposed to.
Riley expressed that the lack of windows in the design and the rooms location, removed from the main living space, would not be functional for such living space and that he disagreed with Ginter’s concerns.
“Our intention is to never use it as living space,” Gempel said.
BZAP board member Cindy Holodnak expressed concern that this construction would set a precedent for the neighborhood but Gibson disagreed.
Gibson said he believes the design of the addition matches the current garage design and that from the street the new design will be noticeable as an improvement but not as a significant change to the current structure.
The board voted in favor of the Gempel’s request, with Ginter voting in opposition.
Joel Chester of Riverside Drive requested permission to expand a non-conforming structure on the property by 72 square feet, including improvement to a current screening fence.
Riley asked about the color of the new fence, if it would remain blue as it is now or be changed.
Chester said that the new fence would be more neutral to match the building and that the fence would provide better screening for the new addition to the building.
According to Chester, the structure being discussed is the original caretaker house for the Columbus Fish & Game club; built in the Orchard View neighborhood, named because the land purchased had been an orchard just prior to this development. A portion of this land was also home to the River Ridge Riding club, all of which dates to the early 1900s.
The board voted unanimously in favor of Chester’s request.