gilmore petition</titel></head> <body bgcolor=white> <br> <br> Date: August 16, 2007 <br> <br> To: Board of Adjustment Members <br> <br> From: Richard Crowther and Aimee Baithazar <br> <br> Re: Variance Request for 841 Gilmore Street Construction <br> <br> We the undersigned homeowners and residents of Gilmore Street, are submitting this statement of opposition to the variance requested by Harold & Kathleen Dixon based on our belief that there are no legitimate grounds to grant the variance. We believe that the building permit application submitted to the City by the Dixons was misleading either through blatant negligence or deception. On the basis of this misinformation the City issued a building permit with incorrect floor side lot setbacks. <br> <br> In submitting the building permit application and plans, the Dixons neglected to provide a complete copy of the Bain's Addition Plat showing the orientation of all the lots on Gilmore Street. The plat they submitted does not include lots 20 and 21(833 and 831 Gilmore respectively) thereby misrepresenting the location of lot 19 (841 Gilmore) on Gilmore Street. On the City zoning map, lot 19 is zoned R5. It is the comer lot 21 abutting Whole Foods which is zoned BCD. <br> <br> The applicants claim that the construction was more than 85% complete when they were notified of the permit error. However, they were notified and the construction site was red-tagged on Friday July 13, 2007, while, (based on the Inspection History) the framing, electrical rough-in, and mechanical rough-in inspections did not occur until July 25, 26, 30, 2007. Since framing and roofing were not complete as of July 13, 2007, redesigning the 2nd floor to meet setback requirements would have been possible with minimal reconstruction. <br> <br> We do believe that granting this variance would give the applicant special privilege. Their application misled the City Permit Division. The Dixons repeated use of the 831 address despite the fact that both 831 and 833 are clearly marked on the street indicates either gross negligence or purposeflil deception. <br> <br> Reasonable use of the land does not require a setback variance. This is the first new construction done on Gilmore in the past decades, and remodels that have been done were kept within setback requirements. Building within the required setbacks for this lot will not prevent the reasonable use of the land. <br> <br> This structure, scaled to minimum setbacks in all dimensions, was not designed to fit in with the older South Capital style of the Don Diego neighborhood and would set a regrettable precedent for future construction. It adversely affects the light, ventilation and drainage for neighboring houses and raises fire safety issues, concerns which the setback requirements were designed to address. For these reasons we the undersigned homeowners and residents of Gilmore Street do not support the Dixons application for a variance. <br> <br> <hr noshade size=1> NAME SIGNATURE ADDRESS <br> <br> (petition signed by at least 11 Gilmore homeowners) <br> <br> <hr noshade size=1> </body> </html>