Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2015 04 15

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Zoning Variance Request – 500 Lois Drive Summary 500 Lois Drive is a 1-story 1,134 SF brick veneer ranch home with full basement and attached garage built in 1970. In 1971 a 180 SF sun room was added (which we propose to remove). This Zoning Variance Request is to allow: a. the addition of an un-enclosed front porch in the currently-defined side setback on Lois Drive, b. the construction of a new garden shed partially in the currently-defined side yard setback on Lois Drive, and wholly within the rear yard setback, c. the addition of an un-enclosed rear porch (no setback issues). The additional roof area for all of this proposed work exceeds the allowable Maximum Lot Coverage (30%) by 3% without the shed, or 5% including the shed. Zoning Variance Request Criteria 1. That there are unique physical circumstances or conditions such as irregularity, narrowness or shallowness of lot, or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the affected property; When 500 Lois Drive was built in the Bella Vista division of Louisville in 1970, the side yard setback (Lois Drive side) was 15’. (See enclosed copy of Application for City of Louisville Building Permit dated June 4, 1970.) According to Planning Staff, in 1972 the zoning for the entire city was re-written, and new setbacks were established for the neighborhood. Specifically for Lois Drive, the new (and still current) side yard setback is 25’ from a street. This created an existing non-conforming condition where the existing structure encroaches, on average, six feet in the current setback area. Stated differently, roughly 25% (275 SF) of the existing home is built in the current side setback. (Another 209 SF (18%) of the home is built in the rear setback for reasons unknown.) Additionally, the lot is small (7,035 SF), barely exceeding the minimum allowable lot size by one-half of a percent (7,000 SF); and narrow. The lot width is 70’, equal to the minimum allowable lot width (70’). Due to these extremes, exceeding the maximum lot coverage by 3% with open porches (or 5% when you include the 144 SF garden shed) seems reasonable and fair. The proposed front porch (eave) would remain at least 10 feet from the existing Lois Drive property line. The proposed garden shed and six foot privacy fence would remain at least 20 feet from the existing Lois Drive property line, further back than the residence. 2. That the unusual circumstances or conditions do not exist throughout the neighborhood or district in which the property is located. Of the dozens of homes in Bella Vista, there are 6 lots (including 500 Lois Drive) that have this situation; half of them have front doors that face streets other than Lois Drive, so there are really only 2 other properties in this exact situation, those immediately east and west of 500 Lois Drive. (A seventh home, on the west side of Aline, also shares a side yard on Lois Drive. We exclude it here because the lot it much bigger and it does not face the same challenges.)