Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-16-02-154 — MARK DEMIRDJIAN

Request: Variance in the R-1AA zoning district to validate existing addition to single family residence 29 ft. from rear property line in lieu of 35 ft. (Note: Contractor converted screened room into living area without permits. This is a result of code enforcement action. Applicant submitted 6 letters of no objection from his neighbors.)).

Decision: Approved

Hearing: The applicant submitted six (6) letters of no objection from his neighbors. Staff noted the main reason that the variance was needed was due to the fact that the contractor had converted an existing screen room into a glassed-in living area, causing the need to meet setbacks for the principal structure. The applicant explained that they had done a significant number of improvements to the house, as it is older. All of those improvements were properly permitted. It was only this one improvement which was done without a permit. Two (2) residents were in attendance to speak in opposition to the request. They noted that the subject property had a long history of code enforcement issues. The current owners had done numerous improvements which were not in character with the neighborhood. They questioned the two (2) existing sheds on the subject property. The residents also complained that they had not been notified of what the owners were doing on the property. The BZA asked staff if the sheds were an issue. Staff explained that when the Code Enforcement Division receives a complaint, everything on the site is inspected to determine if there are other violations, in addition to, that for which the complaint was initially made. The two (2) sheds were not included in the violation, only the work on the new living area. Staff also noted that the sheds were below the 500 square feet of accessory floor area permitted, being only a total of 364 square feet. The applicant confirmed that the two (2) sheds were properly permitted. The BZA asked if there was an HOA for this neighborhood, and the applicant confirmed that there was not an HOA. The BZA concluded that there being no HOA, not any type of notice was needed to neighbors regarding improvements not requiring variances. Further, the BZA concluded that the request was well within the range of past approvals for similar requests.