Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-00-02-011 — Joseph Harris & Cindy Christmas

Request: Variance in R-1A zone to convert existing nonconforming accessory building to a single family residence and allowing the nonconformities to remain as follows: 1. side street setback of 13 ft. in lieu of 15 ft.; 2. front yard setback of 6.27 ft. in lieu of 25 ft.; 3. minimum floor area of 680 sq. ft. in lieu of 1,200 sq. ft.

Decision: Denied

Hearing: The subject is located in the Dubsdread area. The applicants bought a large tract of land that contains a large single family residence and an accessory building. The accessory building was built prior to zoning regulations, and is "grandfathered-in" (nonconforming) with respect to encroachments into yard setbacks and structure size. The applicants want to convert the accessory building "as is" into a residence. They applied for a property split to separate the accessory building on its own parcel from the existing single family residence. The property split was approved with the contingency that the nonconformities associated with the accessory building would need to be resolved prior to an approval for any single family residential use on the new parcel. Staff presented two scenarios to the BZA. One scenario would be that if the variance was approved, renovations could improve the appearance of the structure. Photographs taken of the structure reveal an old and somewhat delapidated building previously used as a garage; the garage opening and windows are boarded up. The second scenario would allow a change in use of the structure, which, if improved as such would have a more significant presence and appearance in the neighborhood. A new residential use with significant encroachments into the setbacks and sized way below the standards in the neighborhood, would be inconsistent and incompatible with the other residential uses in the neighborhood. The applicants indicated they would either rent or sell the new residence. They stated their thought was to convert the accessory building instead of tearing it down and building a new house meeting code, in order to preserve its history (it was built in 1927 as a carriage house) and because they believed it may have been used as a caretaker's residence at some point. A neighborhood representative addressed the BZA in opposition to this request. He submitted a 19-signature petition in opposition. The rep*