All right, so we'll go ahead and get started.

This is the meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals for Monday, July 13, 2026.

I will do a roll call.

I'll start at my right.

Here, Tim Nickic.

Christy D'Angelo.

Timothy Redick.

This is then a time for public comment if there's anyone here that is not part of this appeal that wanted to say something on the record.

I do not see anyone.

So to make sure.

Next is the approval of the minute the minutes from our last meeting, which was on June 8th, 2026.

Make a motion to approve the minutes.

Second.

All those in favor.

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

Right.

Then on to new business.

Just to let you know kind of the process.

I will call your case.

You'll the city will start, they will give the presentation to us to kind of tell us the background of the case, information that they have to share.

So do you mind if I call you Megan?

Okay, okay.

So Megan will go ahead and share all of that with us.

The board will have a chance to ask Megan any questions that she might have.

Then you will be welcome to come forward, present to us any information you have that you want us to hear that wasn't presented by the city, or that's you know different from or changed from what the city may have said.

We will again have an opportunity to ask you any questions.

You can ask the city questions, the city can ask you questions.

We're really just gathering information about the appeal and the appeal process.

Once that is done, if there's anyone else that would show up that would want to speak on this appeal, we would let them do that.

I don't see anyone else in the room right now, but it's possible that before that somebody else might show up.

When everyone is done saying what they need to say to us as the board, we will close that portion of the uh discussion, and then as the board, we will deliberate here on the record for you.

You'll hear our deliberations.

There are some specific findings that we need to go through and that we need to discuss when we determine whether or not to grant your appeal.

And then you will hear our decision today before you leave.

So with that.

Um this is new business, ID number 26-03962, the appeal of Heather and Patrick Conway for a dimensional variance from section 22.53 sub 13A and section 22.58 section or sub 2A1 of the zoning code.

If granted, the variants will allow for the extension of the driveway at 851 Oakland Avenue, located within one foot of the lot line.

When lots narrower than 65 feet, the driveway setback shall be no less than 7% of the lot width.

If granted, the variants will allow construction of a new garage at 851 Oakland Avenue, located one foot from the lot line where accessory buildings shall be located so that the foundation is not closer than five feet to a lot line.

Thank you.

Okay, so this is the property in question, um, 851 Oakland Avenue, located just east of downtown off of Arcadian Avenue.

Um this lot is a substandard um width, approximately 50 feet.

And you may also see that many of the neighboring properties are similarly narrow on this block.

Um the applicant would like to extend their existing driveway another 30 to 35 feet, beginning along their side lot line along their existing driveway, um, gradually angling north for a setback of approximately one foot from the side lot line at its new endpoint.

Um code requires a 3.5-foot setback for the size of their lot.

They would then like to construct a new garage at the end of their extended driveway.

That's foundation would have a setback of one foot from the side lot line.

Code requires a five-foot setback from the side lot line.

Um, the applicant provided the survey with the approximate locations of the driveway and the garage shaded in.

Um again, you'll notice that their existing driveway directly abuts the south side lot line.

The uh red shading would be their extended driveway, the green shading would be their new garage.

Um this property and the neighboring property share a driveway approach.

Um, and you'll notice a very narrow setback of the driveway on the neighboring property as well.

Their current driveway ends at the front of the red vehicle.

Um, and you can see again kind of how narrow that lot line sits.

When I had gone to take pictures of this property, the applicant had staked out approximately where the garage would be located.

The orange arrows indicate the sides of the garage.

But we're concerned about the turn radius, given how narrow their driveway currently is, and also concerned about some existing mature tree route systems that would be located in that part of their yard.

And here again you can see kind of how narrow their driveway turn radius would be if they did try to move it north.

Okay, and then the two relevant pieces of code, um 22.53 traffic loading parking and access, specifically the driveway section for lots narrower than 65 feet as measured along the front lot line.

The driveway setback shall be no less than 7% of the lot width.

Again, their front lot line width is 50 feet, so the driveway setback would need to be 3.5 to comply with this section of the code, and then the other relevant code um 22.58 accessory use regulations in specific regulations for garages, um, that the accessory building shall be placed on a pad of concrete, asphalt, wood, or metal, and located such that the foundation should not be closer than five feet to a lot line.

Happy to take any questions.

Is that what I'm so the 3.5 feet is specifically for the driveway?

The driveway, okay.

Yep, the garage is the five foot.

Five feet, okay.

Yes.

Can you um go back to the picture that showed the staked out here?

Yes.

Yeah, maybe this one best shows it.

Whose fence is that?

Do you know?

Is that on the lot line?

Is that the neighbors?

I do not have that information would defer to that.

I can ask them when they come up.

I think it may be about photo again with some of the surrounding properties having a very similar condition.

The closer one.

Yeah, the closer one.

Sorry.

Is their neighbor in compliance to the uh let's call it the south 847?

So certainly not the driveway setback.

It's within I don't have the exact width of the neighbors um lot, but the driveway setback would not be.

It was unclear if the garage setback is within the regulation without having a survey of the neighboring property.

Do we know if they've spoken to their neighbors already and how their neighbors feel I would defer to the applicant when they're not there?

Can you actually go to the aerial that's farther out too?

Thanks.

And just a reminder too, the neighbors are notified of the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, so they would have received the notice just in case you didn't know.

They would have received notification and an opportunity to have responded, correct?

That's correct.

Yes.

Any other questions for the city?

Not correct.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Um if Heather or Patrick Conway are here, both of you.

Um, when you approach the microphone, if you could please just state your names and your um address, residential address.

Um Patrick Conway, 851 Oakland Avenue.

Heather Conway, 851 Oakland Avenue.

Also, thank you.

What would you like to tell us?

So great job with all the pictures, thank you, so I didn't have to send those.

Um, the main reason here.

Well, there's a number of reasons, but um obviously curving the driveway to go to the north.

Um you can't see it.

There's uh one of the pictures you can see.

Oh, yep.

Back up one, please.

That one right there.

It actually used to be about an 80 or 90-year-old chestnut tree that we had to drop.

It was about half dead.

We'd rather not have to dig through that again.

Um, which is kind of the reason why, plus uh obviously the added footage for concrete.

Uh cost wise, not feasible for us.

Um, the driveway itself is on the property line itself.

Uh, it's eight and a half feet wide at the end of the driveway where the front of that red jeep is.

The house is uh just over a hundred years old.

We'd rather not bump it.

Um that's why we're asking to go from the zero point on the lot line out to the driveway would actually be about two and a half feet off the lot line where it meets the garage.

The garage would be a foot off the lot line.

We're trying to keep it as minimal as possible and use the length so we can park our jeeps in there so we can work on them if we have to.

Uh currently, right now, something goes wrong during the winter, it's a bear.

Um the neighbor's lot line is six inches off their fence.

So in the fence is on their property.

On their property, it's six inches off.

Six inches set in.

Yes, to the to the south.

So it's six inches on their size where that is set up to.

Um their garage.

When they bought it, they tore down the old garage and put one on there.

It's just about four and a half feet off the lot line.

Okay.

We have other neighbors who are that were built years and years ago.

They're three feet off.

There's a structure a couple doors down that's a foot off, a couple doors past that.

Their garage is either on the lot line or a foot off.

The neighbors across the street, it's a foot and a half off.

They used to have a garage.

The slap is still there.

Um, so we're just trying to not have a garage in the middle of the yard.

Can you go back to the pictures of that are staked out?

Thanks.

Sorry.

On here, yeah, the picture she has.

Uh the arrow in the bushes.

That's actually the start of the garage door.

A foot to the south of that is actually where that would be a foot off the line, it's a foot and a half off the fence post.

And there is a state there as well.

Yeah, it's just it's hidden in the shrubs.

It's hard to find.

We marked that off roughly because Heather is very visual.

Um, so I have to do stuff like that when we're doing stuff in the yard so she can understand it.

Um, so the one on the left, the second one that's not marked would actually be the width of a nine-foot garage door, and then the one on the right, it would be 14 a 14-foot wide garage.

The ones in the back are the uh foot off the lot line, and then 14-foot garage width.

And we got that rough estimates, but uh it'd be about 24 feet long enough for both jeeps to fit in.

So it is a two-car.

Two-car in length, yes.

Currently, the way we have it now, every night we go home and look at the counter who's first out in the morning for her job at the hospital or my job.

Uh we rearrange stuff, but when any time anybody comes in, they have to park on the street, otherwise they're blocking the sidewalk, which we're adamant about not doing because we have a lot of nice neighbors.

Um, it's not the best intersection.

There is uh we've actually had people drive through our yard before to go around cars when uh there's accidents out there, which is pretty frequent.

So we'd rather not have have to use the street as an option for parking if we don't have to.

So I'm sorry, the when looking at this, the front left arrow is where the garage door would start, not where the actual garage would start.

Where the garage door would start, it's a foot more towards the fence towards the fence, which would be a foot and a half off the fence, a foot off the lot line.

And most of those shrubbery uh is they're on they're on our lots.

Our plan with that is to actually, as long as it's reasonable when they're dug up, if we have to dig them up to put the foundation on, is to move them to the left.

There's a big gap there uh by the back where the back of the garage would be, and replant those in there because we I actually really like them, they're nice flowers.

But we would not be disturbing any of their shrubbery in the process.

And their garage is back farther still.

Their garage is back towards the bot back of their lot on our side, and the front corner of their garage is about four and a half feet off the lot line.

But it was pre-existing when the previous owners, Ken and Mary, they lived there for 40 or 50 years.

And the reason you don't want to have yours back there is because of the tree, the mature tree that's in the backyard.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's got uh pretty pretty wide road system over there.

We're trying to do everything we can to keep it alive.

Uh there's animals living under there, and we're constantly just doing maintenance on it as it is.

Can you show the view toward the back of the house, the tree?

Thank you.

And that white ish garage back there.

It's about three feet off, but again, that was built when the cone was three feet.

But that's the garage for the neighbors behind us, not the ones for Ricardo and Caroline 47s.

They're directly to the east of us.

And why is it that you couldn't just angle the garage more to the left to get it?

We'd rather not go into the yard anymore because it's such a narrow yard.

Um the front left corner here again.

We have that old chestnut tree.

Um we bought the house.

There was a or no, that was the black walnut.

The black walnut and the chestnut on the other side, huge trees, they were both half dead, so we had to drop them.

Um a lot of work by hand, and we'd rather not have to dig and tear all that up because I'm worried that once I start tearing up, it's gonna tear my patio up.

It's got a brick and way stone patio.

How big is the garage structure going to be?

Uh, approximately 14 by 24.

Is that otherwise in compliance with the zoning code?

That's the same question.

Okay, do I have that part of the code in front of me, Maria?

Would you be able to advise?

Otherwise, okay.

Thank you.

Questions?

Other questions?

Um I do, but I'm not sure if my question is whether or not if we as the city have any record of compliance for the neighbors around them, because everyone seems to be out of compliance with their garages in regards to lot lines from what Mr.

Cunt Conway Conway was saying.

I believe the other garages all in the neighborhood were built before changed to five feet.

They're it's it's a really old, it's in a state, like I said, our house is a hundred years old.

Yeah, yeah, and they're all pretty much about the same.

And you've never had a garage on your property?

No.

No.

Okay.

Okay.

Any questions?

Yeah.

You're on, yeah.

Okay.

Um, what's the reaction in the neighborhood that you've gotten?

That nobody's uh obviously come to us if they've been notified.

What's what are you hearing from your neighbors that you've talked to?

They're all all positive.

We we went door to door because we were out there measuring with the measuring tape and finding lot lines.

Um the neighbor directed to the south, said, Well, we did apply for a variance.

Which, okay, you didn't apply for a variance.

I'm not sure really how that affects me.

Okay.

So, but everybody else, as we went up and down, like I said, Taylor's house, uh, the yellow house, four or five houses down.

We're out there measuring uh Brian's old house.

We might all know Brian.

Uh he just built a Pergola, a foot off his property.

Um, his garage is about two and a half feet off the property line, so thank you.

Question?

Anything else?

All right, thank you.

There's nothing else.

Thank you.

You can have a seat.

We will I don't think there's anybody else here that wants to speak on this, so we will close that portion of it and we'll chat.

Um, in my experience, there's a lot of areas around the city where you have these tight driveways with each other, they're sharing concrete, etc.

etc.

to get back to a garage.

I owned a home that had a tight variance with my neighbor.

Okay.

Concrest for both driveways was like seven inches apart.

So it just depends on the neighborhood.

Older, older neighborhoods, probably different kinds of lots and that kind of thing.

And uh so struggling a little bit here because uh I don't see problem with building a garage on a lot tight to the lot line if it's the driveway and it's a matter of the turning circumference to get into a driveway.

I don't I don't also in my mind see that as a problem by what I'm looking at, that the radius has to be that large, could be slight.

So that's where I'm coming from to start.

I would have to agree with you in regards to I guess my standpoint is more that all the rest of the neighborhood is already there, even at the three-foot variance that used to be there's a lot of homes and garages that are not a compliance for the three feet.

Right.

So to grant this, we would at least be aesthetically in line with all the rest of the properties in that area, you know, given the fact that it is a hundred-year-old neighborhood.

There's no wiggle really.

Um that's not going to be detriment cost-wise, and with the economy with the economy that we're currently living with across the board.

Not that that's our problem, but it's it's a thought.

I I guess I I agree with all that.

I think to enjoy your domain, your property, even if you haven't had a garage for 50 years on that property, and now it's time because of storage concerns of traffic concerns in the neighborhood.

I find it people driving across your property to avoid traffic and things like that.

If that's true, that's you know that requires some other things, but still to take the two cars and get them away from the traffic, away from the street, away from maybe blocking the sidewalk and that kind of thing.

I think carries some weight in this circumstances.

Yeah, definitely.

Christy.

Yeah, I I think when looking at the property, and we're looking at whether or not there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions of this particular property in relation to the properties around it.

I think it's a substandard lot.

I think it's narrower than a lot of the ones that the code is designed to apply to.

Um, so I think there are some extraordinary circumstances related to this lot that others in the neighborhood have the ability to have a garage and put a garage in, and a lot of them are non-compliant and maybe got variances, maybe put them in earlier, maybe they've been there, you know, for a long time because the neighborhood is older, but certainly that is you know something that they should be able to enjoy.

And I given some of the tightness and the turning radiuses and a lot of the routes and things that are existent in this lawn, I think it's gonna have to be pretty narrow to the fence, and probably the only place they can put it up.

Yes makes sense of the proof.

Um so from that perspective, I might be in favor of granting the variance.

Motion to vote.

Well, we got to go through the findings.

Okay.

So that's why you're leaving.

Do you want to run through them?

I would be happy to.

All right, thank you.

All right, for the appeal of Heather and Patrick Conway for a dimensional variance from section 22.5313A and section 22.582A1 of the zoning code.

If granted, the variance will allow for the extension of the driveway at 851 Oakland Avenue, located within one foot of the lot line.

When for lots narrower than 65 feet, the driveway setback shall be no less than 7% of the lot width.

If granted, the variance will also allow for construction of a new garage at 851 Oakland Avenue, located one foot from the lot line where accessory buildings shall be located, so that the foundation is not closer than five feet to a lot line.

Finding one, that there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applying to the property in question or to the intended use of the property that do not apply generally to other properties or classes of uses in the same zoning district.

A firm Christy D'Angelo Firm.

Tim Redika firm.

Finding two that such a variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of substantial property rights possessed by other properties in the same zoning district and in the same vicinity.

Tim Neckett's a firm.

Christy D'Angelo A firm.

Tim Redika firm.

Finding three that a variance is not being requested solely on the basis of economic loss or gain, and that self-imposed hardships are not being considered as grounds for the granting of a variance.

Tim Nickitz affirm.

Christy D'Angelo Affirm.

Tim Redick affirm.

Finding four that the authorizing of such a variance will not be of substantial determinant to adjacent property and will not materially repair the purpose and intent of the zoning code or public interest.

Tim Nickitch affirm.

Christy D'Angelo Affirm.

Tim Reddick affirm all four findings affirmed unanimously.

So based upon those findings of fact, I will make a motion to approve the appeal of Heather and Patrick Conway for a dimensional variance.

Um for the extension of the driveway and the erecting of a garage at 851 Oakland Avenue.

Tim Reddick, second motion.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

All right.

Your variance has been granted.

You are free to go.

Good to go.

All right, and then we just need an adjournment.

So move.

So move, seconded.

All in favor, we're adjourned.

Thank you very much.

You'll run out of a position meeting.

I try.

Thank you so much for that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye guys.

Thank you.