Zoning Board approves variances for garage, carport

The Board of Zoning Adjustments approved variances for an attached carport on Churchill Drive and an accessory building on Scotch Broom Lane during its regular meeting last Tuesday, March 20.

The first variance, for Churchill Drive, was to reduce the rear setback on the property from 15 to 10 feet, which would allow the resident, Lee Felmlee, to extend his garage rearward and build a screened carport on the side of the garage.

It’s important for the use of his property, he said, because he has a boat he needs to store but it will only fit diagonally across his garage now. The proposed extension, he said, will allow him to back the boat straight in and still have a space for his wife to park, while he parks under the carport, which he intends to widen his driveway for.

“The whole idea is to put the boat inside and sealed, away from the elements,” he said. “The boat is my precious thing.”

Felmlee said that 10 feet was the required setback initially, but this was changed recently to 15 feet in the city’s code.

“The community has been trying to respond appropriately … I understand that completely,” he said.

But in his case, he explained, with his lot’s odd shape he doesn’t have a typical rear property line. The lot essentially has three sides, he said, with one butting up against the next door lot and the other against common property.

Felmlee said that he owns the next lot over as well, meaning it is very unlikely for this extension to end up uncomfortably close to another structure.

The alternative to this variance, he said, is to build on the next lot over, but that would require clearing trees that he values for the privacy they provide. This is especially important, he said, because his house sits on a curve, making it difficult to minimize visibility.

Board member Angela Goodman said she didn’t have any issue with granting the variance.

“If he’s willing to do it so that it enhances the property and gives him what he needs, no harm no foul,” she said.

The board voted unanimously in favor of this variance before moving to the next one, to allow a nonresidential accessory building in front of the front plane of the house on Scotch Broom Lane.

The applicant, Donald Burkhead, explained that he intended to build a detached structure, which is part of a plan from before the house was ever built. Essentially, he said, the structure is expected to sit mostly behind the existing fence, with the very front poking through the fence for easier access.

Because the front door on the house is recessed and current language in the city’s accessory building regulations uses the front door to determine the setback, he said, this building would be required to be built roughly 44 feet back, though he would prefer a setback of 35 feet.

Vice chair Chuck Whittenberg said the door’s location is more the issue than any failure to adhere to the code’s intent.

“So we have a malpositioned front door,” he said.

Board member Larry Wilms said this definition in code was certainly a factor — and a strange way to define a front plane.

“I think the unusual part is the way you define the front setback on the house being the front door,” he said.

The board voted unanimously in favor of approving the request with the condition that the front of the structure extend no further than three feet beyond the existing fence.

The board also had its annual election of officers. Board members voted unanimously in favor of keeping last year’s positions, with Robert Walker serving as chairman and Chuck Whittenberg as vice chairman and secretary.