Clarksville Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting – August 27, 2025
Clarksville Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting – August 27, 2025
The Clarksville Board of Zoning Appeals held a regular session on August 27, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Clarksville Administration Building. The board considered four variance requests: two for corner lot fences, one for a used car dealership, and one for an ambulance service. All items were approved with varying conditions.
Call to Order & Approval of Minutes
- The meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.
- The board approved the minutes of the July 23, 2025, regular session (despite noting the minutes were not immediately available).
Old Business
- No old business was discussed.
New Business
V-25-0002: Variance for Corner Lot Fence, 8511 Plum Run
- Applicant Anastasia Manaugh requested a variance for a six-foot wood privacy fence that extends past the facade line on a corner lot. The fence, already installed in a previous location, encloses a pool and provides a safe play area for children.
- The fence is located 90 feet from the intersection and does not extend into easements.
- The board unanimously approved the variance with no conditions.
V-25-0004: Corner Lot Fence, 2901 Victory Court
- Applicant Noah Day requested a variance to enclose an area west of his house for his dogs. Without the variance, only about 500 square feet of the yard could be fenced; the variance would allow approximately 3,500 square feet.
- The fence is 41 feet from the intersection and does not extend past the front facade.
- The board unanimously approved the variance with two conditions: (1) the fence shall not extend beyond the proposed plan; (2) the applicant must complete a fence waiver if the fence is placed in an easement.
V-25-0005: Use Variance for Used Car Dealership, 1575 Progress Way
- Applicants Evan Cunliffe and Marjon (last name not provided) requested a use variance to operate a used car dealership (primarily diesel trucks) in an I‑1 industrial zone. The site is currently vacant; the applicants operate an existing business nearby that has become congested and unsafe due to crossing traffic on Providence Way.
- The variance would allow sales and light repair (e.g., oil changes) but not major body work. Staff noted the need for a hard dustless surface for parking inventory and repair vehicles.
- The board approved the variance with two conditions: (1) the variance runs with the business (if the business moves, the variance does not transfer); (2) the applicants must provide a hard dustless surface for all stored inventory. The board found that elements A, B, and E of the variance criteria were met, and that elements C and D were satisfied because the ordinance distinction between industrial vehicle sales and passenger vehicle sales is unnecessarily restrictive and not allowing the use would create economic hardship.
V-2025-0007: Use Variance for Heartland Ambulance, 836 Eastern Blvd
- Tammy Gibson, Economic Development Director, presented on behalf of Heartland Ambulance. The applicant requested a use variance to operate an ambulance service in a live-work unit within the Gateway Crossing PUD. Ambulance services are not explicitly permitted in the PUD, though they are allowed in adjacent B‑2 zones.
- The operation is already in place; the variance is needed to formalize the use and parking arrangements (up to 15 ambulance parking spaces on adjacent town property, approved by the Redevelopment Commission).
- Board members noted the community benefit of having EMS nearby, citing quick response in a recent emergency at a church.
- The board approved the variance with one condition: the use variance applies only to the current applicant and operation (it does not transfer to any other ambulance service or location). The board found elements A, B, D, and E were met, and differed from staff on element C, determining that strict application of the ordinance would create a practical difficulty because the ordinance is silent on EMS services, effectively creating an oversight.
Public Comments
- No public comments were made.
Adjournment
- The meeting was adjourned by motion.
Meeting Transcript
I fled the flag in the United States of America. Liberty and justice or approval of the minutes, but we don't have the minutes yet. From last meeting. Don't have the minutes. Are they in the center there? I looked for the stack, but I didn't put that right here. Yeah, there we are. Oh, great. You put them in Lois's stack and put them in the middle. All right. Thank you. Make a motion to approve the minutes. All those in favor? Okay. All right. We've got no old business, so we'll go on to new business. First new business is it Anastasia? Okay. I wasn't even gonna be close, so I didn't want to say it. And what we'll do if you'll come up and give your name and address, and then Neil will read the report and then it'll come back to you. You can make any uh any other comments about it. Okay. You said my name and address. Yes. Anastasia Maynow, I live at 8511, Plum Run Drive, Sellersburg, Indiana 47172. Thank you. All right, and this one is Kaylee's my microphone. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um I'm gonna summarize these a little bit because we do have two corner lot fences, so similar content here. Um the applicant is requesting a variance for a privacy fence that extends past the facade line of the house. Is the property is a corner lot, the town considers it to have two front yards. The applicant previously had a fence at this location and has replaced it in the same location. This fence was installed to enclose a pool and provide a safe place for children to play. The fence does not extend into any easements and it's 90 feet from the intersection. The fence is a six-foot wood privacy fence as seen in the site plan attached below. Um the property is zoned R1 and is completely surrounded by other R1 properties, and the land use in the area is single family residential. Um you can see in the site plan here where the fence extends. Um the property is around of a third of an acre and rough and the house is roughly 2300 square feet. Um yeah, this is the fence we're talking about. It's it's there in the aerial imagery. Um, so it just extends that little bit out. Um, and that's what it looks like. Uh we're gonna skip down to these. Um, so just considerations here. Um, it is unlikely that the fence will cause any safety, moral, or welfare concerns to the community. One of the reasons corner yard fences are restricted the way they are is to protect against vision issues, especially at intersection. This fence is located 90 feet from the intersection and only extends seven feet past the facade line of the house.
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