KLAPACHE AVE NE NEIGHBORHOOD
SETBACK / PARKING / RIGHT-OF-WAY CONDITIONSDocumenting the current situation in support of Variance Application for David and Sara Porter, property address: 716 Klapache Ave NE, Tacoma WA, tax parcel 4700000541.
Photos and analysis is provided for the waterfront properties along Klapache westwards from the subject property at address 716, extending to the westermost property, 4742 Hyada Blvd. NE. The photos show the variety of generally non-conforming usage in support of the owners' ability to park automobiles and to pull in and out of the street right-of-way.
Property addresses, tax parcel numbers, and owners names were established by consulting the Pierce County Assessor on-line mapping and information on the Internet.
This image from Google Maps shows the approximate area of analysis. I did not document properties east of our address, 716 Klapache. The photos are of properties in a sequence running from the eastern to the westerly extent.
This shows the neighbor immediately west of our property, looking westerly. Owners are Gerald and Carol Hentschell, address is 710 Klapache, parcel number is 4700000522. Their parking is not directly attached to Klapache, but it appears part of the garage is built in the setback area.
This garage is across the street from parcel 4700000511, owner Jim and Linda Fox, address 704 Klapache. The photo illustrates a single-car garage structure that is nearly at the paved road surface, and the position of the car perpendicular to the direction of travel on Klapache. Jim Fox told me his neighbor across Klapache was compelled to accept Jim's usage of this garage, because it had been in use for years even though it reportedly sits on the neighbor's property. Photo is looking eastwards.
This property is parcel 4700000471, owner Richard and Diane Gamache, 620 Klapache. Its garage is somewhat further away from the Klapache paving surface compared to neighboring properties, but the car or cars do pull out perpendicular to the street. Picture looks in a westerly direction.
This westerly view is of 616 or possibly 614 Klapache, owner Mildred Mees, parcel 4700000491. One of their garage / carport areas (as well as the house) are clearly positioned in the normal setback area, and the car (black one inside the carport) does back out into Klapache perpendicularly. This property and also 620 Klapache have some very odd one- and two-story garage structures opposite Klapache from their main property on the water side. One is a single structure shared between the addresses. I'm not sure what zoning or setback rules were adhered to or broken, that is beyond the scope of this document. The right of way of Klapache is quite narrow and constrained between these structures.
This picture looking eastwards shows 612 Klapache, parcel 4700000501, owners Matthew and Suzanne Michael. Their garages are on the right of the picture, and abut or nearly so the Klapache paved surface. In the background at the left side is the two garage structures associated with 616 and 620 Klapache. Notice the narrow right of way between the houses and the garages.
The structure on the left is built on posts above 610 Klapache, parcel 4700000480, owner James Putnam. It doesn't appear to be currently used for parking but may have been in the past. It is built directly adjacent to the right-of-way surface.
This view looking generally westward is of parcel 4700000450, owner James Day, at 528 Klapache. It is under construction. This new house was built on a vacant lot. It is hard to understand where they are going to park, whether an enclosed garage is anticipated, or just open parking along Klapache. Since the construction is recent, current land-use regulation were probably adhered to, possibly including a setback variance.
A little further west from the preceeding picture, you can see the garage on the property of Clara Otto at 520 Klapache, at the left side of the picture. This is parcel 4700000460. Again, the Klapache right-of-way is quite narrow and constrained by this structure. The parking entry door is around the corner, to the right of the "schoolgirl--drive slow" sign."
This is a second view of Clara Otto's parking garage. It is build extremely closely if not directly adjacent to the paved road surface.
This is a garage structure directly across Klapache from 518 Klapache, owner Matthew and Lisa Stauffer, parcel 4700000440. I did not include a picture of the home itself which is quite far below the street elevation. The garage is nearly or actually adjacent to the paved surface.
The next property to the west is 516 Klapache, owner Virginia Silva, parcel 4700000430. It features a detached garage oriented perpendicular to Klapache, so the car(s) travel and turn across a wooden platform on entering and exiting. I am not sure if one or two cars are inside. It is actively used. The structure itself appears to have "zero setback" from the paved Klapache road surface.
Another view of the Silva garage at 516 Klapache on the left, with 512 Klapache in the middle (grey door with vertical stripes), and 508 Klapache (brown siding) uphill from that.
This shows a garage at 512 Klapache, parcel 4700000420, owners Gerhard & Christine Troger. It appears likely it is built in the setback, but is slightly angled in relation to the direction of travel on Klapache. I think this garage is "detached" from the main home. The next property uphill has a garage (with brown siding in the picture) "attached" to a home at 508 Klapache, owner Ruth Clapp, parcel 4700000400. The direction of entry into the garage is essentially at right angles to Klapache.
The next property to the west has two, two car garages housing four or possibly three cars. It sits on a non-waterfront parcel 4700000411 at address 502 Klapache, owner Jordon McKay. This parcel is northerly from another adjacent tax parcel 4700000412 which lies on the waterfront, but they appear to share access to Klapache and may share the garage structure. The adjacent parcel 4700000412 shows address 500 Klapache, owner David Randles. The concrete apron of the garage touches the road surface, but the structure is 4-8 feet removed from it. The cars must pull out roughly perpendicular to Klapache.
A second view of the garages at 500/502 Klapache, looking easterly.
This garage has a steet address of 418 Klapache. Parcel number is 4700000380, owners Pierre and Helene La Porte. It is angled in relation to Klapache, but the corner of the structure as you can see is within 2-4 feet of the road surface. I don't know if this is an "attached" or "detached" garage.
Immediately to the west of the Klapache addresses above, this property is parcel 4700000370 and appears to have several structures with addresses in the range of 4736 to 4740 Hyada Blvd. NE. Owners are Robert and Futaba Jordan. The parking is "open" with room for about 6 cars. The cars pull out into Klapache / Hyada perpendicular to the direction of travel.
Further westwards, this parcel 4700000360 has addresses listed as 4740 to 4744 Hyada. There are several structures and several garages. Owner is Robert and Futaba Jordan. Cars usually park in the garages as well as next to them, as you can see in the picture. The garages appear to stand somewhat away from the actual Klapache / Hyada road surface, although the whole area is paved.
The blue garage is at 4746 Hyada, parcel 4700000350, owner Gene Hopper. This view looks eastwards. On the left, you can see the fork in the roads where Hyada splits off to the left and Klapache goes rightwards down the hill. Like its neighbor, Gene's garage does appear to have "some" setback from Hyada, but not conforming to a typical setback requirement. Please send an E-mail if you have any comments or corrections, or know something we don't!
