Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-00-10-003 — Woodridge Apartments

Request: Variance in P-D zone to erect four (4) garages 6.8 ft. from side property line in lieu of 10 ft. (proposed garages to provide parking for Woodridge Apartments).

Decision: Approved

Hearing: The property is a part of a planned development called Westland Terrace consisting of multifamily and retail commercial land uses. The subject property is a multifamily development under construction. The owner is providing detached garages for the prospective tenants. The garages exist. They were permitted showing the 10 ft. setback from the side property line on the south. During construction, however, four were built within the ten ft. setback area. The applicant testified they cannot be relocated the opposite direction as they will interfere with the project's internal driveway. He showed photographs indicating there is a 6.8 foot decorative wall along the south property line, and a landscaped buffer with sod and trees between the garages and the southern properties; therefore, in his opinion, the reduced setback does not create a negative visual impact. The BZA received opposition from Target and BVT Corporation, abutting property owners of commercial tracts to the south. Their representative told the BZA they had not had an opportunity to review the proposal to determine whether or not it would cause a detrimental impact to their property, such as drainage. In rebuttal, the applicant presented a professional diagram that shows the property slopes downward and away from the the wall; there is a swale there for drainage purposes. Furthermore, the applicant testified the subject property containes retention ponds for both the multifamily development and the commercial development to the south. In approving the request, the BZA felt this was a minimumal variance request, and that the applicant had adequately demonstrated the variance would not detrimentally impact adjacent properties.