Jennifer Jastrzemski, I'm the planning manager here. So I do have some images both of the property but also the images the applicant submitted with their application for you. So it is a corner lot. So just briefly kind of to go over city code. City code was modified in May 2020 with changing the retaining wall requirements. Prior to May 2020, there was no standards that limited how close a retaining wall can be from a property line. Current code now requires any walls within 30 feet of a street, that that wall be seven feet away from the property line that's adjacent to the street. So this year, 2021, it was probably April, I think, when Mr. Grafensis first came in with a building permit to build a retaining wall adjacent to his front property line, which is adjacent to the street. At that time, he was told that that did not comply with code. Going through his options, he did decide to apply for this variance. That application came in on June 22nd. requesting a variance to build that wall within the seven feet of his front property line and adjacent to the street. His intent is to raise his driveway so it is not sloped and reorient how he accesses his property. Like I said, I do have some of the images here showing the driveway and the road. These were submitted by the applicant himself. And then those were some example images the applicant sent in of retaining walls adjacent to a sidewalk and a public road. But I'm happy to answer any questions or provide any clarification if you would like. Mark, real quick, can you speak into the microphone for me? Thanks. Do I need to hold that, or can I keep it on? No, yeah, hold the light screen. Okay. I do want to note, for the record, I live in Layton, and I have a driveway that fronts on the north also. It doesn't slope, apparently, as dramatically as it appears the applicants does. But I can... empathize with ice and snow and things of that nature. With that, I'm going to go ahead and let the applicant make his proffer. I have read the materials. I may have some questions. I may interrupt you. I don't do that to throw you off. That's just the approach I take. It's something that helps me many times rather than waiting to ask at the end, so to speak. So go ahead, tell me your reasoning, your thoughts. If you want to go to the podium, that would be great. Okay, my name is Kyle Capensis, and I'm the applicant. The reason why we're submitting this application for these variances is because of the hazard that it's causing, the health issues that it may cause. Because since I moved into this home, the previous owner, I knew the previous owner, and they were married. Was the previous owner the builder of the home? The builder of the home, that's correct. And he worked out of the home. So as we're looking at this video right now, or this picture right now, the far left, which is probably the one driveway that doesn't slope as much, that's the only one he used. And he worked out of his home. He didn't have kids. So it didn't come to me when I moved into the home, north-facing driveway. The furthest driveway you see over there is five feet below. The sidewalk's five feet below it, so it's very steep. And so now I have three kids, and all of them drive, and my wife, of course. So as we started living in the home, I started seeing, okay, this is a very hard driveway to – shovel and I lived there three years and so I've spent so Josh and I he's the contractor I talked to him about a year ago about this so before May 20th we were talking about okay I need to do something here because not only have we been slipping but I have two sons that are were college athletes played at Utah State one was track one was football at BYU and when I would ask them to go shovel I was afraid for them they slipped and One of them cracked her elbow. The other one cracked her head. I've done that. My wife has slipped down just taking, which I don't know why she takes the garbage out, to be honest with you, but she did. And she was sliding all the way down. You can see the hill there on her feet just to put the garbage out one early morning. But the biggest hazard I've seen other than slipping is Springdale Road. You had a picture, an overview picture of it. And Springdale Road, as you come down, there's a blind spot up top on the east side. And as we back down, we have to look up to make sure because people come zooming down that street. I know there's a, you know, it's a 25 mile an hour, but that doesn't happen there. And there's been plenty of times where, yeah, so you see Springdale Road up top there, that bend there. You never see anybody on, what's that called, Laurel Park when they turn left. And a lot of people, this is how they exit Steeplechase. They come zooming down Springdale to Aintree. And we barely see them. They've already picked up speed coming down a few times, more than a few times. Both, not just myself, but my wife and my daughter have slid down the hill because of snow into the street. And thank God, we haven't got T-boned yet. And that was the point where I said, okay, I have to do something here. So I did things like I bought a snowblower. Well, couldn't use the snowblower on there because it just drove me right into the street. Shoveling was tough because if there's just a little bit of ice under there, you just slip. It's impossible to shovel it. The only thing I could do – well, I talked to Josh about putting in – tearing up the concrete and putting in a heated driveway. The problem with that is it doesn't heat up fast enough. If I got to go, I got to go. Or if the kid's got to go to school or my wife's a teacher, so she has to leave by 6, 630 to get to the high school she teaches at. And I know they have, you know, temperature settings you can do to – turn on all night but it was yeah you could we could do that but still that's very costly to put that in the ground on there so the best thing that we thought the thing that worried me the most was people coming down regardless even now as I left the house without snow as I back down I checked my blind spot and as I back down a car just came zooming down the street and almost hit me and that happens with or without snow So in talking with Josh, our contractor, I asked him if he could bring that up and we could enter in through Foxfield Court. That way we get rid of all of the problems above. So we have a flat driveway. We're entering and leaving from Foxfield Court. And there's no issues of even if it were to snow, I don't have to put in a costly temperature control into the ground that that. heats up the driveway. If for some reason I didn't shovel it or whatever, it's still level. And we're not sliding out onto Springdale. We're now driving out onto Foxfield Court. So it's very costly to do that. But the look of the house and the money we're putting into the retaining wall, which I can't remember the word you use. What's it called? Architectural... finish on it which is very nice and then on top of the the there was one example we showed of a fence or a retaining wall with the fence on top our fence is a wrought iron fence around the other side of the house so look wise it'll be very appealing but really more than anything it's a safety hazard that we're taking care of that more than once we've had issues with it And you showed pictures of other retaining walls. Were they related to driveways in any regards? Were they raised up for a driveway? Or were they dealing with comparable problems, if you know? I don't know. I know that one right there, I showed the pictures as I was driving, but it's in the corner. I just live across that street. To be honest with you, I don't know where they enter. Well, I do know. They actually enter on Akagi Lane around the corner is where they enter. I'm assuming the property line. That's correct. To separate that from the public. That's correct. I actually enter and leave my house on that busy road. They don't. All these people right here get to enter and leave around the corner onto Akagi Lane, which is not as busy. created by the city code, which in essence is incorporating the state statute. I believe this is 10-9A, but it has five elements. It's 10-9A-702. you've referenced in your application and have explained it, and in essence have, I believe, spoken to. And I have just a couple of questions to clarify that. Can I just add? Sure. Mr. Kempfensis. Can you go up to the mic? I'm Ted Smith. Mr. Kempfensis addressed those questions in his initial filing Jennifer approached us and said, could we be a little more specific and clear? And we then filed a supplemental set that supplemented those. And I just wanted to make sure. Yeah, I've got that. That's what I'm trying to do, to make sure I've got a complete record. I just speak to those on the record. And I can maybe only. And I'm happy. I helped draft the supplemental set. And you're his counsel. Yes, we represent Mr. Pitt. And what is your name, sir? Ted Smith, the law firms Mitchell, Barlow, and Mansfield. Okay, thank you. I think, one, you've spoken to quite specifically and detailed as to the safety both from physically walking on the driveway, backing out of the driveway, et cetera. The second one is, are there special circumstances attached to the property that do not generally apply to other properties in the same district? Are there any other ones on the Springdale Way that have comparable driveways and fronting on the north also? Not with that slope. Not as extreme? Not as extreme, and there's, yeah, no one's other people with maybe like our first day, which would be easier if we only had one car. It's more like a two or three-foot job. And they don't have another way to access, too. There's only one other... They're not a corner lot. They're not a corner lot, so they wouldn't be able to build it up however they tried. The third one is referencing... Is granting this variance essential to the enjoyment of a substantial property, right, possessed by the other properties in the same district? You've lived there three years. Fortunately, you haven't had an accident or anything like that, but it does sound like you've had some slips and injuries, et cetera. And so do you feel that your property is limited? Yeah, I mean, 100% of the injuries, though— son did get a concussion when he hit his head and he's a college football player and that's what I said okay you're not shoveling anymore I cracked my elbow on it because you know as you get older I think the balance isn't there and so I thought I'd agree I was going to put my hand down and I couldn't get my hand down so I put my elbow down and so I still have residual effect from that but the worst was my daughter and wife my daughter backing out and she couldn't she just slid all the way down brakes on, slid right into the middle of the road, and then my wife sliding down to try and take garbage out in the morning, which again, I don't know why she did it, but it's still, it's a hazard. I'm curious, when did these accidents occur? What time of the year? November, December, January? All those accidents I'm talking about happened in the winter from November to March, through March, because just snow or ice. One day it was, there was just a little bit of rain, and it turned up to ice, and you couldn't even see it. We didn't even think it was snow. I think that was in March, and that's when my daughter just slid out of the driveway, and you couldn't even see it was black ice. So I think that was probably the scariest, because someone barreling down that road could have T-bombed her, and that could have been it. And so that's when I said, no, I've got to change this. Something's got to happen. The cost-wise, I mean, I know aesthetically Yeah, this is freezing. That's a vinyl fence. We're putting wrought iron things up top and see-through. You still see the land. You still see everything with balusters in it. It's not going to be closed off like that fence is. Okay. Four and five, to my mind, are comparable. Will the variance substantially affect the Draper City general population? and will it be contrary to the public interest? And five, will the spirit of the zoning ordinance be observed and substantial justice be done and the variance is granted? I mean, you're going to comply with all other aspects in the putting in of the wrought iron fence. You're going to comply with the zoning ordinance in that regard. This is the only variance would be permitting that. border on the sidewalk. That's correct. No other modification. No other modification. Okay. Thank you. I do note that we haven't apparently received any comments from the public, either pro or con, but for the sake of the record, I'll note that it's 1021. Are there any members of the public present that want to make a comment on this app? Mr. Kempensis could just indicate he's talked to some of his neighbors. Yeah, and they were actually happy to see it. My direct next door neighbor, both of them were happy to see that because they'd known what had been going on there as far as the slipping, and they felt that that would just hopefully be granted. I will say all the utilities signed off on that. I saw that in the packet. When I called them and told them the situation, they looked up the area. Oh, man, yeah. So right away, I got a letter. And just one, maybe I could just, has anybody expressed opposition? I haven't had anyone express opposition. We also know what would be aesthetically, I think that's important for the neighborhood, for it to fit into what our house looks like, also the neighborhood, which is what it fits into, and we're keeping with that, that plan. Okay, thank you. That's very helpful. At this juncture, I'll note that I received a letter that's in the file dated August 23rd, 2021 from Mr. Mike Barker, the city attorney, and I'll just read it. It's addressed to myself. If you find by preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Confentense has met his burden, to show that all five factors under Utah Code 10-9A-702 have been satisfied, Draper City supports granting a variance. With that, I'll ask Jennifer, does the city have any further thoughts or comments beyond that letter from Mr. Barker? No, we don't. Okay. Anything else from the applicant? Okay. With that, my goal would be to get a decision out here in, let's see, Monday. The Labor Day weekend is coming up and Labor Day next Monday. And I will note I happen to be going down to TuaCon for a couple, two, three days in the heat. Fortunately, it's not going to be 115 degrees. But my goal would be to make every effort to get this out before I left. I can't guarantee that. The odds are more leaning towards the end of Labor Day week. So more like 10 days, two weeks in that time frame. If for some reason you don't see something forthcoming by then and you have a question of words, I'd certainly feel free to... make a contact at least in that regards. But my goal would be to make every effort. I'm understanding like most projects and I can see from some of the materials here, there's apparently arguably been some marking out. You're ready to rock and roll. You're ready to go at it. Just one last curiosity. If this is approved, how soon do you think you're going to be getting this in? Can you go up to the mic? This is Josh Hanson. Yes. I didn't understand Mr. Hanson's last name, but I took it that he was the contractor. Yeah, and from my standpoint, I'm going to – the minute you rule on it, and hopefully it's favorably, I will call Josh and say, okay, we can start tomorrow. Now it's up to him how quick he can do it. And I've been planning for it. It's going to be a couple days after I get the go-ahead from Kyle. And, yeah, ideally the weather would remain good. Okay, with that, I'll take the matter under advisement and conclude this hearing today on the same day of Monday, August 30th, the year 2021, at 1027 a.m. Thank you.