I'd like to call this meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals to order at this time. And it asks Ms. Cornelius to call the roll, please. Thank you the roll call. Mr. Bruce Delphier. Present. Mr. JD Longest is absent. He gave advance notice. Patricia Temple? Here. Mr. JD Longest is absent. He gave advance notice. Ms. Patricia Temple. Mr. Michael Ganon. President. Ms. Penelope Boyd. She is expected so we will note her time of arrival when she does come. So with three we do still have a quorum. Yeah. And what I'd like to do is take a minute to introduce the new staff member who is the, we'll be working with you all. This is Ms. Hope Becker. She is our deputy zoning administrator and community development specialist. She comes with us with quite a bit of experience from Colorado and we're very fortunate to have her. And if you all would just take a minute and do you want to just share a tidbit of who you are? So again, my name is Hope and my name is Becker and I come from Wiggins, Colorado, small town of rural town of 2,000 people. So this is Ashland is a wonder to me with considerably larger population, but it's been fun learning everything. I was the Planning and Zoning Administrator for the town of Wiggins. And we've come out here specifically to be closer to our family. I have nieces and nephews that live about an hour from here and my kids are grown and gone and so it's time to spoil the grand or not the grandkids. The nieces and nephews, I don't have any grandkids yet so but I'm looking forward to continuing to stay with Ashlyn and it's been really wonderful and the support that the community has is awesome. Thank you very much. Welcome. So the next item on the agenda is for us to elect a chair and a vice chair for 2025. So with that I would like to open up the nominations for the position of Chair. I'm not volunteering. I'll call for any nominations for the position of Chairman. I think you're doing a fine job, Mike. I'd like to nominate you. I will second that. So we have a motion and a second. If it looked, then I would serve. I'll be happy to serve. So thank you. No further nominations. Oh, I need to ask. Are there any further nominations? Pardon me? So are there no other further nominations that we can close the nominations? No. And for I'll call for the vote. Actually, because there are no other nominations, we can, by acclamation, congratulate you as chair for the 2025- Thank you. Board of zoning appeals. Very much. So, congratulations. So with that, I'd like to open up the elections for vice chair and would like to take nominations. We have nominations for the vice chair. I wish we were waiting for the one other person. Wait for a second. Could we wait for a... You can make nominations for somebody that's not here and we can vote for them. Continue on. And just if they decline, we can handle that at another meeting. I would like to so do. OK, please do it into the microphone, please. Oh, dear. Let's see. And I don't even, I don't have the names in front of me. And I apologize for that, but I'd like to get some variation on the board. So I would like to have another woman on the board. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I'll second that. Okay, so was the motion to nominate Miss Penny Boyd? Okay. Any other nominations? If not, then we'll call for the vote for the Vice Chair, the position of Vice Chair. All right. So with there's no other nominations, we can. But, Accolination, congratulations, Penny Boyd when she arrives that she is now the Vice Chair for the Board of Zoning Appeals. Thank you very much. Wonderful. So with With that that I'm going to turn the meeting over to you and ask you to move on to the next item please. We'll do one more item housekeeping here before we begin and I'd like to request a motion for the approval of the agenda as presented or if there are any changes that we need to request this time. Second. So moved. We have a move. Second. And I will do a roll call vote for that, yes. So Mr. Delphia. Aye. Ms. Temple. Aye. Mr. Ganon, aye. Motion carries. agenda has been adopted. So with our housekeeping done, I think it's time men that we go to for the business of the evening for our public hearing. And I'd like to recognize Ms. Hope Becker now to present the case for the town. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, tonight's case. I will be presenting this staff report for the case for BZA 2020-04010 Sanoco. and just to give you a little bit of a background on this particular case, Gary Pots, a professional permits is representing Cranal Patel and Sri Sai Sangun, LLC, Property Owner of Sonoco. We all know this location as 10292, East Patrick Henry Road. And as you can see on your screen, this particular property is kind of nestled quite nicely between a telecourt road and I-95 is parallel to Highway 54. This picture was actually taken just this morning. Again, this is just kind of gave you a visual for anybody that is a visual person as to where this location is. I'm sure you've driven by it a couple of times. And this particular side is the convenience store as well as the gasoline fueling canopy. And then this is at the rear of the property with their diesel canopy. Miss Becker, can you pause for just a moment? Yes, ma'am. Let's go ahead and get set up here. I'll show you. I'll show you. Let's go ahead and get set up here. I'll show you. I'll show you. Hello. So I haven't had the introduction yet, but I'm hope that I'm your new deputy zoning administrator. So I'm doing the staff report for you tonight. Okay. So I didn't miss, I just missed your introduction. With us. You miss something important. Oh. You're the new vice chairman. Oh, oh. Oh. Yeah. Go ahead. So as we continue with the staff report, this particular slide is a snapshot of our zoning map. The Sanoco is currently zone B2, highway commercial, and you can see that it is several other B2 zoning are around it as well as it's surrounded on the rear side of on the north side with industrial and on the east side with residential. The applicants are currently seeking a variance from Ashland Town Code Section 21269A, which is referring to the gas stations which regulates canopy height. Back in February of February 24th of 2022, Sonoka received a conditional use permit approved by the town council to operate a gas station with a convenience store. Their site plan was not approved until May 6th of 2024 with the canopy heights. And then just to refresh your memory of what our town code does date in Section 21269, it's actually in our supplement section. It's pertaining to the gas stations with their canopy heights, architectural features, exterior lighting, requirements, and design guidelines. Specifically, it states that gas station canopy must be in scale with the main structure and shall not exceed the maximum height of the main structure approved by the zoning administrator. The maximum height at the base of the canopies shall not exceed 15 feet. Pitch roofs are strongly encouraged. After research of other local jurisdictions and government requirements, the height of the canopy requirements were increased from 14 foot 6 inches to 15 foot. And this was done through a code amendment that was approved December 20th of 2022. It was recently determined when I went out to do inspections on January 21st of 2025 and then then I did a re-inspection on February 6th, that the canopy heights had exceeded term code of the allowable 15 foot height. The gasoline canopy measured at that time, 14 foot six inches on the east side, and 15-9 on the west side. The diesel canopy measured at 16-1 on the east side, and 15-2 on the west side. The diesel canopy measured at 161 on the east side and 152 on the west side. This particular photo is an old photo. If you drive by, obviously, the pictures that I showed you previously has the new Vesha on it. It is completed state. This particular Our photo was done the fascia was applied. And we put the current measurements with Director Amos and I went out this morning. And we remasured with the new fascia on there. The gasoline canopy still remains at 14, 6, and 15, 9. And the diesel canopy with the new fascia on it, it provided a lip that goes around the outside edge. I always measure from the lowest point and so now we have measurements of 1510 and 15 foot. After the inspections were done, we did talk to Mr. Cranall and we offered some suggestions that he might decide to do. And that was for his face to do a larger face that would bring the major point lower. He could also apply for this variance. Or at the extreme, he could physically, dismantle the canopies and lower them to the proper height and then rebuild them. We had additional meetings with Mr. Cranall and Mr. Pots on March 5th and March 17th. And although there was no argument with staff's interpretation of Section 21, 20169, they continue to make the argument that they should be granted the variance based on the financial hardship. Also the fact that they have a diesel canopy on the rear that, you know, semi-ruck clearance and There are certain that other gas stations in the community have canopies higher than the code limit During the conversations of the meeting mr. Pots application we reviewed it We also it explains that the project site elevation at the gasoline canopy changes by 1.49 feet from the high end to the low end. The reason for this is the canopies were designed to be exactly horizontal from aesthetics purposes instead of going with the parallel to the surface of the slope. And as you can see, this is actually taken from Telecourt Road, and you can kind of see what that 1.49 kind of looks like. You can actually see the grade. But the canopy looks horizontal. So possible solution that staff offered was adding additional face whether that be on the bottom or on the side. A viable option would and this would obviously I said before is to lower the measuring point. The applicant provided us some generated images of what a larger fascia would look like if they were to do so. And these images are the computerized images. Obviously the pictures that I showed at the beginning where you can see that new fascia has already been installed on the canopy. This is similar to the first picture, showing what the original fascia was ordered to be at. And then this is the white trim on the bottom is to simulate what the fascia looked like if they were to make the fascia even larger than what they currently have. So in summary, Mr. Patel has allowed construction of two canopies to be higher than the allowable limit within the town code and higher than what was approved on the site plans. Staff provided Mr. Patel a few options via email, one being to add more face to the canopies and Mr. Patel has stated in a meeting that he is extremely over budget and has chosen to apply for a variance instead of attempting to add face or physically lowering the canopies. In the process of doing the variance the state of Virginia has set forth the requirements that this board has to consider in order to approve or disapprove the application request. The code of Virginia's section 15.2-209 stills out six requirements that must be met for of areas to be granted. If all of the requirements are met, then the variance must be granted. And if not all of the requirements are met, then the variance may not be granted. The burden of proof shall be on the applicant for a variance, and to approve by a proponderance of the evidence that his application meets the standard for a variance as defined in section 15.2-2201 and the criteria set out in this section. So I want to go through each of the requirements and then add in you know what the staff has determined with each one. Requiring number one, the evidence shows that the strict application of the terms of the ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property or the granting of the variance would alleviate a hardship due to a physical condition relating to the property of improvements. They're on at the time of the effective date of the ordinance, or alleviate a hardship by granting a reasonable modification to a property or improvements they're on requested by or on behalf of a person with disabilities. And for this particular requirement, there is no end. It's any one of these. It doesn't have to be all of these for requirement number one. So if we look at the evidence shown that the strict application of the terms that the ordinance would unruisably restrict the utilization of the property, staff did provide the applicants to reduce the majoring points of the canopy. And the applicant has stated that the length of the project, the unforeseen circumstances that arose during the project and the project being over budget has created a financial hardship which has prevented them from considering the two options that staff has provided. The second part of this particular section or requirement, the granting of the variance would alleviate a hardship due to a physical condition relating to the property or improvements there on that the time of the effective date of the ordinance. And to staff's knowledge there is no known hardship due to the physical condition of the land that was not brought on by the applicant or his constituents. Or to alleviate a hardship by granting a reasonable modification to a property or improvements they're unrequested by or on behalf of a person with the disability. And just staff's knowledge, there was no hardship presented by or on behalf of a person with the disability and just ask no one. There was no hardship presented by or on behalf of a person with the disability. Requirement number two, the property interest for which the variance is being requested was acquired in good faith and in hardship was not created by the applicant for the variance. The canopies are not part of the land and did not previously exist on the land when Mr. Patel made the decision to begin the project. The applicant chose to construct the gasoline and diesel canopies and hired contractors to construct them on the property. And lastly, the approved construction plan showed a height of 14.6 and the town has since increased that allowance to 15 foot through an ordinance amendment. The contractor is required to meet the requirements of the code. In this particular one, BZA 2020-50410 fails to meet requirement number two. In requirement number three, the granting of the variance will not be of substantial determinant to adjacent property and nearby properties in the proximity of the geographical area. And although the granting of the variance has no significant impact of the adjacent properties, it may have an impact on the town of Ashland's overall goal to encourage businesses to have well-maintained and constructed basades that encourage travelers to stop in Ashland. Adjoining property owners have had to meet the same minimum canopy height requirements. In this particular requirement due to those reasons, it could possibly meet requirement number three. Requirement number four, the condition or situation of the property concerned is not of so general or reoccurring in nature as to make reasonably practical the formulation of a general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to the ordinance. And this particular... the formulation of a general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to the ordinance. In this particular requirement, all gas stations constructed prior to the amendment of the Ashton town code, Section 21269 are not required to meet the 15 foot height, unless there are structural changes made to the canopy. I want to make note that just because a gas station may be purchased by a new owner, the ownership alone or the change of signage does not mean that the canvases must then be lowered. A structural change to existing canvases prompts gas stations owners to comply with the updated codes. So if they were going to physically do something to the canopies that would have them bring it down then at that time they would be forced to be in compliance with the cut town code. The town has recently updated the ordinance to allow for additional height and would not seek to increase it further. And going back to that with number, requirement number four, we feel that they have failed to meet that requirement. The branding of the variance does not result in a use that is not otherwise permitted on such property or a change in the zoning classification of the property. And in this particular one, the gas canapies and gas stations are or are uses as permitted with the approval of a conditional use permit and by meeting all applicable requirements of the town code. And Mr. Prattell has received a conditional use permit that was approved by the town council on February 24th of 2022. Requirement number six, the relief or remedy sought by the variance application is not available through a special exception process that is authorized in the ordinance. And in this particular case, there is no exception built into the town code to provide Mr. Patel with the relief that he seeks. Therefore, he has requested a variance. As a result, the applicants have chosen to request a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals through that variance request. Because there is no exception in this particular section, then the applicant does meet the requirement for number six So if we do a summary of the variance requirements You can see that we have three that have failed to meet the requirements two that do meet the requirements and then we have one that could or could not meet it could go one way or another. Unless the applicants meet the burden of proof demonstrating that all six of the requirements are met, the Board of Zoning Appeals should deny any request for a variance from the zoning ordinance. The variance request for this following section, Section 21269A, gas station canopy heights, and to review gas station canopies must be in the scale with the main structure and cannot be higher than 15 foot. The variants we cross should be denied. The board of zoning appeals does the following. This is what the staff recommends. We recommend that the variants for the zoning ordinance section 21269 to allow gasoline canopy to remain at height ranging from 146 to 152. And the diesel canopy to remain at a height ranging from 159 to 161 because the applicant has failed to meet this burden approved by a preponderance of the evidence. That's all that I have. Does anybody have any questions for the town? Thank you, Miss Becker. Any questions? Well, you probably should hear from the applicant prior to questioning the staff report. Okay. I'll ask. I can't not hear you. Okay. Yeah. So, I would like to invite the applicant to speak or are the representative of the applicant to speak? And Mr. Ganon, and do so would you also open up the public hearing? Pardon me? I forgot to add that on the script to open up the public hearing. Yeah. Okay. How are we currently? Let's go for a second. If you'd please state your name.. My name is Cornell Patel. Thank you. I'm the owner of the Synoco gas station. Look at it at 10292. East Patrick Henry Road. I would like to sincerely thank each of you for taking the time to participate in today's hearing. We understand the importance of your role in shaping decisions that impact our community, and we value the opportunity to engage in this process. We look forward to the next steps and remain available should you require any further information. I'm requesting a variance from the Zoning Ordnance269 to allow the gasoline and diesel canopies to remain at the current height because the site was graded with 2% slope across the fueling areas. 2% is generally this low slope desired and paved areas. Having the site graded to drain will cause one end of the canopy to be higher than the other. Knowing that the gas fueling canopy is 75 feet wide, we did expect the canopy elevation height to vary by 1.5 foot. For site investigation, the canopy ranges from 14 foot, 6 inches to 15 feet feet nine inches, which equates to a foot and quarter. Our contractors, Jeff Petroleum, they're here right now, they would like to speak afterwards. Our contractors, Jeff Petroleum, as mentioned that if the canopies were constructed and parallel to the slope, then the liability of damage to property is significant. As in the past, there have been instances where large tractor trailers have damaged canopies that were below a certain height. This was done keeping that in mind, and also a slanted canopy or a crooked canopy would not look appealing from a street view and would not blend in the appeal that the town of Ashland is seeking from the community members and businesses. Thank you once again for your dedication and service and we are hoping our variance is granted. Thank you. Don't see a green dot yet. It's not like this. Nothing? Just trying the work. Right. there we go. Well, momentarily, there we go. We go back that we cause. Well, more materially there we go. There you go, sorry about that. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Robbie Weaver. I'm a project manager for JEP, the trailing group. I was on site with Crenald and helped bring this gas station to life. I'll start off by saying that as you can see on the drawing, we were given from the city 14-6 minimum clearance on the canopy. The grade does follow the 2% across it so meeting the 146 minimum is what has created the 15 foot 9 on the taller end from grade following away. With that being said, we've kind of did some research.ies are made level, just like your home, your floor is level, grades are the slope away underneath. So you can't do 14-6 on a 2% pitch on a canopy. You got drains from the deck pans that run in there, they run down the columns, either under the ground or on the ground at that point. So we did a little research. You have several brand new gas stations in the area, the dash in right down the street from this site. Did some investigative work and I took a laser measure to those sites and the canopy at the dash in on its lowest end is 14 feet 11 inches and on the high end is 15 foot 11 inches. Now this site opened about three months before ours did. And what they have done is across the fascia they have put down a drop down little sign. So it hangs down from the fascia and it says height 14 feet four inches because they're measuring to that little sign. And so if it would please you, we would ask if can we do something to that effect. Also went the sheet station is open in August 2023, which should have applied to the same rules. It can't be begins at 15 foot 11 inches and ends at 17 feet. This is the sheets back down the road. I'll give you an address. 13840, McLaren Road. Also, at this point, tried to go find Canopy's under 15. I did find two. Exxon that is across the street from the sheets is under 15. And I think it's a marathon in front of the TA truck stop is under 15. But every canopy, the Wawa, Exxon sheets, shell gas station, all of them exceed 15 to 16 feet on their high end. You measure the low end, they all start around 14, 6, 14, 8. That's a great falls away. They get taller on the high end, which is the exact same result we have here. So, and then you have Yeah, that's really what it's after. I mean, we can't change the grade under it, obviously. But if we can just put a sign up just like everybody else has done, that changes the measurement where you measure the canopy, and you always do it off the low end because you don't want to vehicle to hit the canopy obviously. So you always call your lowest clearance the height of your canopy. So in this case 14 foot six inches because anything taller than that will strike the canopy if it goes on that side. So what we ask is if we put a drop down sign on it and say the clearance is 14 foot, 4 inches, whatever the difference to that sign is to make up for this this ruling and comply with the standards as everyone else has done as well. I did measure all the canopies using a laser. It's accurate within one eighth of an inch and a hundred feet. And I was done by places on the ground around the outside of the canopy at its lowest spot. It's to the facial. And that's how I got all the measurements. And I do have all the measurements for these canopies. And like I said, I couldn't find anything under 15 feet.. So that's kind of where I'm at. So we're just asking if that's something due because if we do like she suggested and wrapped some longer face around the bottom side, you run the risk of it getting hit on the low side of the canopy. And it's just not going to very well. It's going to look out of place and really hard to blend into it. That's all I had. I have a question. Yes. You read the requirements when you're disordered this? Did I read the requirements? I read the requirements when you said- I had a set of drawings that called, as you see in front of you, it said 14 foot 6 clearance minimum and that's what I built to. The minimum clearance on that canopy, as she agrees, is the 146. The diesel canopy in the back is a little taller, but that's because it's made for semi-trucks. And as you know, these are a lot taller. They carry oversized loads. So you always bump up about a foot from a regular vehicle can. But you still knew when you did this, you knew what the requirements were. I didn't know about 15 feet. Nobody ever told us. All I knew was my 14 foot six minimum clearance on the canopy, and that's what I followed. But it's now over that. No, I don't know, Louis, on the high end. But we did not dictate the grade under the canopy that was done by the county. They determined to slope and to follow the lock that we poured our concrete to. That was not done by us. They determined that he has a pond behind his door, all the water in the lock runs to, and they determined to slope to get to that pond for all the water flow. So, all I have is a 14-6 minimum clearance, which is met. And then the slope falls away underneath the canopy, so it makes the canopy taller as you get closer to the building. And then like that, you know, again, the dash in, it starts off at almost 15 feet and goes to 16 feet. It's not even, it doesn't even begin under the same regulation, it's, there were being helped. I also have a question if you're done. I just didn't want to interrupt you. If you're still asking. Are you, and this is probably an unfair question for you, but are you aware of the dimensions of the average semi-truck in the United States? Average probably 79.82 feet. So according to the International Use Truck Center, semi-trucks in the United States on average are around 72 feet long, 8.5 feet wide, and 13. half feet tall. Correct, sounds right. The diesel canopy was way over 14, six, way over 15 feet too. Correct. Yeah, the 15th floor on the diesel canopy, that's correct. But you also have oversized loads that all up and down the road and it takes in the accommodation for that. Okay. Um, I appreciate it. Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's what it accommodates for. I mean, I think the argument is more an eye-sorted diesel camping in the back also sits down in the bottom, it's below the roadway. Okay. Yeah. hate to ask it this way, but does anyone here actually have evidence they'd like to present? Evidence? Yeah, evidence, what is that? I don't even want evidence. Evidence you'd like to present? Yeah. I mean, all we have to be, also have is the drawings from the county and The research we did on the can't be all around Okay, I was just curious other questions Do you want to open it up so if anybody from the public wanted to speak? Anybody else from the public that wishes to speak? Thank you. I have a discussion. There's somebody here. I just have a question. I wanted a little clarification. I think he referenced, I'm sorry, my name is Pamela Sopal, 311 North Sneed Street, Ashland, Virginia. He, the gentleman referenced a sheet that was constructed in 2023. I'm just wondering where that is because I'm not familiar you with the sheets in town that was constructed in 2023. There was one, three, eight, four, zero, and with Claire and Rudd. Is that in town? Oh, okay. Okay, that was my only question. Thank you. Any other questions for the applicant or for the town? So I would like to ask the other gas stations that have the higher ones already. Oh, I'm sorry. Can you get closer to the microphone? It's hard to get. I don't have it all. No, you got it right. No, I was just asking. What? Oh, for the other gas stations who have the canopies that are higher than what the code currently allows. So a lot of, I think I understand what you're trying to say. A lot of the gas stations here in town, even the ones that are listed in your packet, they are, have been here prior to the code amendment. And so when lots of gas station is going to do some sort of structural change, you know, maybe at owners that I don't like the entire canopy, I'm going to tear it out. And I'm going to put a new canopy in, or I want to extend it, then at that moment, then they have to become incompliance with the code, and they can't go higher than 15 foot. And for that matter, if they were to tear the whole thing down, then they're going to have to make the whole thing less than 15 foot or 15 foot on the dot. We did go back out and remasier dash in and it measured at 15 foot on the whole width of along England. And sheets opened long before 2023. So, and the one that we're talking about is off of Washington and Ashcake. That's the only sheets that we have inside sitting limits of Ashland. And then the fuel station across from Sanoco does meet code. So basically the, in essence, as long as the gas station existed before the code was amended in December of 2022, right? Then it does not have to meet the compliance. It could still be 17 foot for the next 10, 20 years if they don't make any structural changes. As long as they don't fix anything. All right. Then they don't have to meet that 15 foot code. Is there any other questions I can help with? For the questions. Any comments from the commission? Any comments? Well, I do not like to run around trying to change something just for aesthetics quite frankly. The rule is a rule. And you know what the rule is and you should go buy it. Because if we keep us saying we're making a little amendment here and a little bit of amendment there or somebody else can make it, you don't have any rules. And the other question I had from Mr. Patel was that why did you approve the construction when it didn't meet what had been approved prior? So the plans were presented and it was approved with the canopy drawings so everything was accordingly. So somebody from the county or the town of Ashland did approve the canopy drawings. But they approved that at the height within our code, not at the higher height. I am not aware about that. And my understanding is approved for 14 feet, six inches. Minimum. At the minimum, when the plans were presented, it's set in there. I think my paperwork says minimum. Can you see? 16 minimum clearance. No. I guess that's what the plans were approved with a 14 foot six minimum act. And then with grade fallen away. And that was in writing. Do you have that document? That's what the, that's what you were showing you on the screen. Does it say 14 feet, six inches minimum? Yes sir. Wow. So for the town did you approve that phrasing that it was at a minimum? This is the approved site plan. Yes. That wasn't my question. It was. Is that a minimum or not? So what you're looking at on your screen is the approved site plan. We've just zoomed in on the construction of the canopy. So you can see just below the hand right here, 14 foot six inches clearance minimum. But in any contractors, it's their responsibility to understand or ask questions about the code as well. Engineers call in to me all the time and say, what's the maximum height? What's the maximum? They get those logistics before they start. In the office of contract, but in the information you gave them did it have the word minimum in there. I see what it's saying here. The section says it used to say 14, but now it says 15. Yeah, but I'm in in terms of they're thinking that this was a minimum. Was there something that they received in all this young man young man just pointed out words as minimum. Yeah. Excuse me. No, no, no problem. I didn't see it either. Yeah, it's very, it's very awfully. But yeah, it's right there underneath the clarins. Yeah, I was wondering if that's a number or not. So it's, if that, then I don't understand if that's a minimum then. So that may so this plan was prior to when I started so I can't speak for you know how a plan was approved or you know why it was approved. The site plan does stay 14 foot six inches, but your zoning code does date, you know, 15 foot for a maximum height clearance. So it's something that I can't approve. I can't say, okay, you win above the 15 foot, even though your plan say 14, six minimum, there may not be a maximum around this drawing, but again, it's the contractors and an engineer's responsibility to make sure that they know what the code is. They do it with storm water, they do it for heights of other buildings and you know, a maximum heights of residential, commercial, canapies are not the exception to the rule. When they were going to go above the minimum, did they need to tell you that in advance? They don't necessarily need to tell us that they're going to go above the minimum, did they need to tell you that in advance? They don't necessarily need to tell us that they're going to go above the minimum, but I mean we're going to go off of code and then the Ashland town code. I just meant that if they knew they had a request to go above that, then they wouldn't be in this predicament right now. Correct. If they would have said at the beginning, hey, due to the slope, we need to make an amendment to the site plan. We would have gone through that process and said, okay, how high is it going to be now? Well, it's going to be 15 foot 9 inches. Okay, well, that's above our code. Our code will now. you're going to have to go through, you know, make some adjustments to your slope, make some adjustments to your grading, or make adjustments to the columns of your canopy so that it meets, you know, the 15- maximum. As she said, we probably should have researched found out ourselves, but the approved overall site plans that have the grade of the concrete underneath that, so the 14, six minimum, and then the grade falling away, thus making it the 15 foot nine on the tall end. That was approved by them. We didn't change grades. We followed the grades they gave us to set the lot for the slope. So that's why it was never brought into any question on our end because we were given a 14-6 minimum in the grades underneath the canopy at which to pour to concrete too. So in my mind, I assume they knew exactly what the grades would be across that canopy. And that's why it was never brought into question. Thank you. Thank you. I do have a question from Ms. Becker when we we measure the- But get closer to the microphone please. When you measure it, as I understand it, it's from the ground up to the bottom of the face. Is that correct? That is correct. So I do, I also use a laser measuring device. It does sit on the concrete and then you look for the laser at the top and I use the lowest point. And in this particular case, I used the East End and the West End. So we can actually use this picture but I basically took the center point on this end and the center point on this end. And this end did reflect at 146, but this end is sitting at 159. So, and that's just for the gasoline canopy, as you saw with the diesel canopy, they were significantly higher. Now, the difference is is with the new VAsia that they have already installed on the canopies, on the diesel side, when they attached it, there is a lip underneath it in addition to what was there before. So it provided a new lower point for us. So that was why there was a difference in my staff report compared to with the drawings that you saw today, is because my initial inspection had a 16 foot one height on the diesel on the east side. But then today when we went out there this morning, knowing that they had installed the new Vesia and it has a lip underneath it, it provides the lower points and now it's 1510. So it did lower its sum but just not enough to meet the 15 foot clearance. Thank you. And I had one of the questions. Is there a reason that you did that the it says MIN minimum rather than M A X maximum? I could not tell you I didn't draw the drawings. So that is the maximum, right? Yeah. Again, I was not the engineer that drew the plans. So, and I was certainly not one that participated in approving the plans. So that was a catch that I don't know about. Okay, thank you. I'm a catch that I I don't know about. Thank you. The further discussion. No. All right. So if and don't forget to close the public hearing, please. Let me close the public hearing. Yeah. Just make sure anything else from the audience or would declare the public hearing session of this closed. And bring it back to the council. And I guess do we have any motions to be made from the members at this time? We'll be able to discuss it. Move the close, the public hearing, and bring this back to council. Second. Oh wait. Is that a motion? Second. What is the motion to close the public hearing and bring. Oh, you don't have to make a motion to close the public. You just the chair just closes it. We need to discuss it here. So next motion should be on the request for the very. very Can we discuss this? So yeah, all discussion is open and into the microphone so that it's a public hearing so that they can hear what you're thinking and saying and asking Right Penny has to be under record. Okay. Right. This is Penny and I wanted to ask what your thoughts on this are. If the board were allowed to make decisions based solely on sympathy for the applicant, I would say that they were, they made an articulate and a very good argument based on, you know, passion and there was definitely some cost over runs and some other issues. But I also have to say that our hands are tied by statute and the oath we took to follow that. And so, you know, what I'm looking at is we have to follow the statute as it stands. That's why I asked you if you had any evidence that you wanted to present because we have to work on evidence. And that evidence has to overcome the legal threshold of the statute. I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that you're here and you did a good job. Thank you, and I did have a good one. And I would add this is not the first time we have had, particularly with things like the sign ordinance. If you had that sign up before the ordinance went through and you kept it till it fell apart, it could still be out of order. The instant that you fixed it, you had to meet the requirements. So it's kind of, it's the way the law works. If you're in a position where you fit the parabolas of fixing things, you have to fix it by the law. I guess my only comment is that what we have to do as a board is to ensure that the strict application of the terms of the ordinance would not unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property and that the granting of the variance would alleviate a hardship due to a physical condition or to the property improvements. So again, we're kind of restricted by the code of what we're authorized to do. So we just, again, we understand the predicaments and such, but we're fairly restricted into what we can do in terms of proving of various. And the check sheet that we have says that we have to meet all six requirements in order to grant a variance. And as you saw, three of them failed to meet. One of them is a kind of a partial, actually, the other three are kind of partial meets, but could meet. So it kind of restricts us to that the proof demonstrating that all six are met we really should have to deny the request so any further comments? No thank you. Further comments? I've seen this happen before. It really is. We went round and round and round when the sign ordinance came in. I thought we'd never get to the end. But you have to follow what you've got. And we apologize, but we're going to have to make a motion. Please. Okay. You want to state the motion? It's going to say. Yeah. Let me just find what I need to say here. What do I need to say? I just want to move to call a vote. So would you like me to assist you with the motion? Oh, yes, that would be very kind, thank you. So would you do me a favor and tell me if it's approved or denied I don't want to put words in your mouth and then I can go with the formal part after that. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to based on the statutes in our oath. We have to deny the variance request from the zoning ordinance section 21-269 to allow the gasoline canopy to remain at a height ranging from 14-6 to 15-2 and the diesel canopy to remain at a height ranging from 15-9 to 16-1 because the applicant has failed to meet his burden by a preponderance of the evidence. That sums it up very nicely. Thank you. Thank you. So we do have a motion. Do I hear a second? I guess I'll move second. Second. OK. Mr. Cornelius, what you call? All right. Mr. Delphia. I. Ms. Temple. I. Mr. Ganon. Aye. Ms. Boyd. Aye. The motion denied to deny the variance carries. So at this time, there being no further business before the board. Wait a minute. We have to approve the minutes. The minutes of the previous meeting just more housekeeping kind of work. The minutes have been distributed with the agenda packet to all of the members of the board. And again, I'd ask for a motion concerning the minutes as presented. I move we approve the minutes as presented. I second. Thank you. Again, will you call the roll? Please. Miss Boyd. Excuse me? Miss Boyd. Would you like to approve? Yes, I. Yes or no? I. The minutes. Yeah. Okay. Miss Temple. I. I, no. The minutes. Okay. Ms. Temple. Aye. Mr. Delphia. Aye. And Mr. Ganon. Aye. Thank you. The motion carries. I know. Well, the completion of the agenda, I think now that there's no further business before the board. I thank the applicants for coming. We thank the Tom folks for being here to present the information. Thank you, everybody board. I thank the applicants for coming. We thank the town folks for being here to present the information. Thank you, everybody, for attending. And I will entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. I ain't moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion carries. Hearing any opposed in the opposition? If not, motion carries. This meeting is adjourned. BAM!