001e e e I Paul darling here Robert Hart here Hugh Flack here David anof and Kevin Cox here and for City staff Michael hu here myself Deborah Williams we have a quorum thank you turn your center button yeah there we go okay first item on the agenda after a roll call is public commentary not seeing any public commentary you can move to the next item on the agenda which is approval of the agenda agenda have a motion to approve the agenda move second those in favor I uh next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the August meeting any comments about the draft minutes there if not can we have a motion to approve those motion to approve second those in favor I those pass for to nothing appeals actions and
002show cause hearing uh the first item on the agenda for that is BBA 24003 a variance for 1422 McGregor Lane an Arbor Michigan 48105 and um so how the appeal process works we'll have the staff make a report are findings we'll have the applicant come up and present their uh request for a variance indicating what uh they're asking for and if it's for one which one of the three reasons the uh that applicable the code doesn't apply something equally or better or the interpretation of the code is is incorrect and then we'll have applications from questions from the applicant from the board to the applicant and then we'll make a motion that's how the process works so first um can we get a report from staff yep uh the property at 1422 McGregor Lane it's
003a single family uh house House was built in 1963 a building permit was issued uh November 14th of 2023 for work described as a bathroom renovation remove and replace all fixtures and finished remove short partition replace bathroom window at final inspection for plumbing permit plr 23- 2317 it was noted that the L lavatory the left lavatory does not meet fixture clearances per section 2705 of the 2015 Michigan plumbing code uh water closet laboratory bur or bedet shall not be closer than 15 in from its Center to any side wall staff recommends this application be denied as it doesn't meet the standards for approval the code has not been misinterpreted the provisions of the code do apply and the existing conditions are not equal or better than the code requirement the standard set forth in section
004275 are for the usability for people of different sizes and abilities these minimum clearances are also established to allow accessibility accessibility and Aid in Aging in place while the violation of the code may be acceptable to the property owner now it may not be as the age or their circumstances change or to the next owner the applicants States the sink to the left was planned to have a 15-in center line but because of a layout mistake the dimension was finished at 13 in uh section 27055 says water closets laborator Laboratories and Beday um shall be shall not be set closer than 15 in from its Center to any side wall partition or vanity or closer than 30 in Center to Center between adjacent fixtures um the basis of this appeal is that the installation is
005equal to or a better form of construction If This Were an equal form of construction the code would require 13 in and not 15 and a clearance reduction is not better than the code requirement okay thank you we can have the applicant come up now and present their appeal sayate your name and you can sign in there there is you to sign in already sign okay my name is Bruce Curtis my company is Washton Allwood rights we are local Home Remodeling firm specializing in kitchens and baths we've been in business for 40 years in an arbor renovating homes uh we take it very seriously our responsibility to pull building permits on all of our projects we're diligent about that and I know many contractors that don't on projects like bathrooms um uh our our situation
006on this case was um probably possibly a combination of a me measuring mistake and certainly a layout mistake on site um the sink was placed a little too close to the wall we didn't pick it up right away the job moved along and it was well along before we realized the mistake and was pretty hard to reverse at that point we didn't think we were going to have a major problem um my customers are extremely happy with the project um my customer an wil is here on Zoom with us today um so the only thing I can do really I mean it's going to be um costly and uh somewhat complicated to uh fix it the customers are happy with way it is and they don't really want us back um so that's our situation
007I'm asking for basically um a little of Mercy because of a of a mistake that was made uh we we we understand that we are not beating the code um but is you know this is not a matter of just swapping out a couple things and being done in a couple days this is going to take a multiple weeks to fix and a lot of um a lot of um displacement of the customers so um that's why we came to the building board um hoping that um you and the other piece of that is that actually when I looked at my old drawings and the drawings that you have copies of my existing floor plan the existing syn that was there in that location was also um too close to the wall now I didn't
008notice that initially but it was at 13 in um so and we also have a working syn that is totally legit so um you know and so it's not like someone can't use the other sink you know if it was if it was the only sink in the bathroom I would understand a little bit better but that's our situation and um I don't know what will happen if you turn us down I don't know what my customers are going to do are they going to let me back in the house I don't know what happens to my license or to me if we're not able to fix this I have no idea we never had a problem we've never had a we've never had a conflict with the building department we have no marks on
009our license at the state nothing and um and this is kind of I'm pretty whacked out about this because you know we keep our nose clean and here we are in this situation and I don't know what to do okay can I am I allow to speak yes absolutely okay hi I'm Ann Rie I'm uh my husband and I own the property and I just you know to EO what um Bruce is saying like the bathroom is perfectly functional uh my husband is a you know you you referenced like different people of different sizes and I mean he's a very you know tall large person and both of us managed to use the bathroom um fine our children use the bathroom fine like we are already people of different sizes functioning and using the bathroom
010um we plant you you know to stay in the house forever we have no um issue with it for us having to redo it to you know simply you know add 2 in to you know between the sink and the wall like it's just incredibly disruptive to our busy um you know family life uh compared to really no um like there are no downsides to to the way it is now it is 100% functional so that's um um just our our perspective too it really uh seems irrelevant to me it's not a safety issue it's not a you know something's going to light on fire or flood or whatever because it's too close to the wall it's um thank you does the board have any questions for the applicant so the 13 in is really
011derivative of the fact that the existing Plumbing roughing was there it just happened no we moved no we we um we readed the plumbing rough oh you did um yeah it was um um what happened was the it was a tight layout and uh there was I had measured the toilet at 15 in off the wall on the other end of the bathroom uh there was a wall there before we took the wall out I possibly might have made a measuring mistake and and might maybe not getting the right wall thickness or anything but I put the I did in the drawings we had a 3-in filler strip and in a 24in cabinet so centering the sink there would have given us 15 in my Carpenter um was worried about the space for the toilet
012on the other end he cut the filler strip uh without telling me and um so we wound up with 13 in um in an exchange for having the right space for the toilet and uh we didn't catch the mistake right away until uh the countertops went in and um so that's basically what happened and it was a you know as a designer my fault I should have made the Cabinetry a little bit narrower I probably missed an or something in there I don't know but um that's the way it unfolded so of the two I mean for this bathroom really only one laboratory is required by code the other one is kind supplemental fixture it's another any other questions for the applicant we have a motion I move that in the case of BBA 24-3
013the appeal of the building officials decision that the reduced fixture clearance of the sink at 1422 McGregor Lane is granted Rel from section p275 of the 2015 Michigan residential code and that the building board of appeals reverses the building officials decision for the reasons that the applicant has proposed an equal or better form of construction but only in so far as of the two Laboratories provided the one minimally required meets the standard of the code additionally in granting this approval the appeal shall not form the basis for presedent and future similar appeals any questions or comments on the motion those in favor the variant I I those against no so it passes Grant granted thank you you'll hear from the building department in a period of time okay by tomorrow okay and we will still
014need to get our final building inspection correct you need yeah okay you'll need to schedule a plumbing inspection because that's where the the inspection failed at plumbing and in order to get your final building the plumbing will have to be passed okay all right thank you I really appreciate it okay thank you thank you so much thank you that is the last um variance for today's meeting next item of the agenda is old business any old business nothing uh new business is there any new business anything for next month's meeting coming in yet nothing yet okay can I have a motion to adjourn move second those in favor I we are adjourned de