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Leach Project Narrative (VAR20-07) My clients, Brad and Manda Leach, bought the properties located at 6350 & 6348 W. Thunderbird Rd in Glendale, Arizona, 85306 in June of this year and, soon thereafter, combined the two lots into one large lot. The combined lot is approximately 226’ wide and 592’ deep with roughly 133,000 square feet (just over 3 acres). The current zoning is A-1 which allows for a max building height of 30 ft, side-setbacks of 50 ft, a rear-setback of 50 ft, and front-setback of 75 ft. The existing house on the property is located over the front property line, approximately 13 ft from Thunderbird Rd. My clients intend to demolish the existing home and build a custom residence that consists of roughly 10,310 sq ft of livable space, 2,333 sq ft of attached garage, and 1327 sq ft of porch and patios. They also intend to build a roughly 2,750 sq ft detached garage/barn. The architectural design will be modern farmhouse with the use of different types of siding, stucco, brick, and roofing (shingle and metal). The new house will be placed around the center of the lot and the detached garage/barn will be placed in front of the main home, but will be setback from the front property line at least 75 ft, which is the front setback of the main residence. Although my client’s property is large, it is very narrow and deep. This shape creates a couple of challenges which can only be remedied by a variance. The variance request is to reduce the side-setbacks from 50 ft to 20 ft. Side-Setback Variance Findings: 1. The shape of my client’s lot creates special conditions that make it harder for them to use the lot in the same manner as homeowners with similar and lesser zonings. Narrow and deep lots are not very conducive for building on, especially those that are zoned A-1 and have minimum side-setbacks of 50 ft. These setbacks, established for A1 zoning, were based off a minimum land size of 40 acres. As these parcels have been subdivided, applying the same setbacks to a much smaller parcel is not comparable to the original rationale for such setbacks. In fact, if my clients had not purchased both lots and combined the two, the larger lot would have been almost unbuildable. Even after the lots were combined, the lot is still extremely narrow given its depth. Given the property’s value, shape and zoning, the previous property owner was looking at selling the two lots to a developer. The developers had plans to rezone the lots and split them up into much smaller lots. A reduction in side-setbacks to 20 ft would alleviate many of the issues of building on this shape of lot and would allow for the main residence to be positioned at the center of the lot but still facing Thunderbird. Placing the main residence here provides privacy from Thunderbird Rd while also establishing a rear yard that would be expected for such a property. 2. We believe a strict application of the Zoning Ordinance would deprive my clients of privileges enjoyed by others in the same and lesser zoning districts. The properties to the west appear to have side-setbacks of 10 ft and 20 ft and have more square shaped lots, making it easier for them to build on. 3. This variance request is the minimum needed to alleviate the property hardships and match the privileges received by the property owners to the west. Some of these property owners have 01/14/2021 structures that are as close as 10 ft to the side property lines. As designed, our main residence does not need to be this close. A reduction of the minimum side-setbacks to 20 ft would be all that is necessary. 4. Granting this variance will not have a detrimental effect on the property, adjoining properties, the surrounding neighborhood, or the City of Glendale in general. To the contrary, this variance will have a positive effect on all and will bring a substantial financial investment to a property that has been run down and neglected. For many years, this property has been covered with weeds, trash and broken-down RVs and other vehicles. The side-setback reduction will not affect the school to the east because there is a parking lot on that side of the school. The neighbors to the west will not be adversely affected because they have their backyards that face this side-setback. In fact, the only feedback we have received from out notification letters that were sent out were by one neighbor to the west and the school to the east. Both were very much in support of the project and variance. With the addition of solid fencing and new landscaping around the perimeter, the reduction in side-setbacks will not be noticed by any of the neighbors. For these reasons, we hope that the community will support my client’s variance request for a reduction in side-setbacks from 50 ft to 20 ft of the main residence. This variance will be instrumental in my client enjoying reasonable and similar property rights as other property owners with similar zoning while, at the same time, make a positive impact on all properties around it by preserving the agricultural nature of the property. Sincerely, ______________________________________________ Adam Venetis Trinity Residential Consulting, LLC