Variance Application No - Upper Arlington

Variance Application BZ-11-13
Board of Zoning and Planning
Monday, May 20, 2013
I. Request/Code Requirements:
This application requests approval of a garage room addition that encroaches 1’-1” into
the ten-foot minimum east side yard setback and will encroach two feet into the side yard setback
required where the length of the side wall exceeds 40 feet. Building permit #2013-00000690
was submitted on April 15, 2013 and denied by Staff two days later for the above reasons. Plans
were then resubmitted which removed the garage addition portion of the scope of work, and a
permit was issued on May 7, 2013. Should this variance application be approved, plans would
be re-submitted to include the proposed addition. Therefore, two variances have been requested.
Article 5.02 of the City’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires two-story
homes in the R-1c (One-Family Residence District) to maintain a side yard setback of 12 feet
and that the side yard setback increase two inches for each foot the side wall elevation length
exceeds 40 feet. The side wall elevation length is 43’-8” along the east property line.
Figure 1: Staff Photo of Front Elevation (L) and Figure 2: Property Map (R)
II.
Site Description/Proposal:
The subject property, 1441 Kingsgate Road, is a rectangular-shaped lot found on the
south side of the street, just east of Abbey Road. The R-1b, One-Family Residence District,
zoned lot contains 94 feet of frontage with 130 feet of depth. The home was constructed in 1958
and contains a front-loaded, attached garage on the west side of the property. It sits two feet
behind the platted 40-foot building line and already has nonconforming side yard setbacks of
nearly nine feet on the west side and 16’-1” on the east side.
The applicants are proposing a 53.5-square foot garage addition on the west side of the
property, a large sunroom and living room addition toward the center of the property, and a 120-
square foot two bedroom/two bathroom addition on the east side of the property. A total of
seven square feet of the garage addition encroaches into the side yard and side yard longwall
setbacks. The one-story garage addition aligns with the existing garage, while the
1

edroom/bathroom addition projects six feet out from the existing home, up to the ten-foot side
yard setback. The garage addition encroaches 1’-1” into the side yard setback and two feet into
the side yard longwall requirements (variance required). The additions contain siding to match
the home with each elevation containing numerous windows. The garage addition measures ten
feet tall, the sunroom at 16 feet tall and the bed/bath addition at 13 feet tall. An existing
screened porch would be removed. Proposed building coverage is 23.1 percent, while proposed
development coverage is 34.7 percent, both below permissible limits.
Figure 3: Proposed west elevation of garage addition
The application states that, “We believe this to be a somewhat unique situation due to the
placement of the house relative to the setback line and therefore does not establish a special
privilege.” “The required ten-foot side yard setback overlays the existing house, therefore any
addition is unreasonably forced further inward as compared to homes where the setback is
outside the house.” “We are a family of six and we do feel these improvements are necessary for
our family, and are consistent with the kind of improvements and quality that Upper Arlington is
known for.
Figure 4: Proposed rear elevation of garage addition and sunroom
III.
Summary and Staff Recommendation:
Staff reviewed the application, visited the site and is supportive of the requested
variances. As part of this proposal, an existing screened porch will be removed and the existing
2

garage will be expanded. The addition continues the existing plane of the garage at 8’-11 1/4”
from the west side property line (Finding #6). Stepping in the addition to eliminate the variances
would reduce the width of the garage addition to about ten, reducing its utility (Finding #7).
Only seven square feet of encroachment is requested, and an existing four-foot tall wood fence
helps soften some of that impact (Finding #3). The addition also uses different materials to help
break up the west side elevation. For these reasons, Staff recommends that this application be
approved as submitted.
Attachments:
Application No. BZ-11-13
:jam
Figure 5: Bing ® aerial photo of the neighborhood
Figure 6: Existing view along west elevation (L) and Figure 7: Existing rear elevation (R)
3

Figure 8: View down the west side yard
4