Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-02-08-060 — Hagen Custom Homes

Request: In R-1A (single family-7500 sq. ft. lots) zone to construct a single family residence with the following Variances: 1. 50 ft. of lot width in lieu of 75 ft.; 2. 5 ft. from side property line on northeast in lieu of 7.5 ft.

Decision: Approved

Hearing: The property is located in the Dubsdread area, where several similar variances have been approved. Regarding Variance #1 (substandard sized lot), the lot would be unbuildable without a variance in that the lots on either side are owned by others and are already occupied by homes. The second variance is for a 2 1/2 feet variance along the northeastern side of the lot. The property owner abutting that side wrote a letter of no objection. The applicant stated the reason for the side lot line variance was in order to have a driveway along the opposite side of the lot running from the street to the backyard. The purpose was to prevent vehicular parking in front of the house, which would give the front yard a more visually-appealing appearance. Eight commentaries were received in favor and four in opposition. The abutting property owner on the southern boundary spoke in opposition at the public hearing. In general, all the opposition felt the proposed house was too big for the lot. The BZA pointed out that Variance #1 was needed regardless of the size of the house. The BZA also explained to the speaker that Variance #2 would not impact his property because the applicant's driveway, not the house, would abut that side of his property. The BZA felt the variance requests were reasonable. It was noted the area, particularly this street, contained a hodgepodge of home styles both small and large, old and new, and that a newer home would be an improvement.