The Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 8 approved a variance to allow the enclosure of an existing unenclosed porch at 2741 Southwest Valley Road so the space can serve as an enclosed entrance lobby required for certain lab operations.

City staff described the request as BZA-25-5 and said the applicant seeks to reduce the setback along Cedar Mead Avenue from 35 feet to 23 feet to permit the enclosure. "The variance request is to reduce that setback along Cedar Mead Avenue from 35 feet to 23 feet to allow that porch to be enclosed," said Mr. Velasquez, city staff, during the public hearing.

The property, which staff said was built in 1968 and was annexed into the city in the 1970s, is legally nonconforming under today's zoning standards. The owner, who renovated the building in 2023–25 under Skinnex LLC, added site improvements including the unenclosed porch that is the subject of the variance request. The applicant seeks to convert the porch into an enclosed lobby to meet operational requirements tied to Food and Drug Administration work that the tenant hopes to perform.

"It's a really difficult site to work with," said John Lewis, authorized agent for the applicant, describing the building's constrained footprint, existing HVAC and utility locations, and a concrete masonry wall inside that limit where a compliant entrance could be placed. Lewis said the lobby location is driven by internal lab layout and sanitation needs for the type of work planned.

City staff told the board it had explored alternative locations for the entrance and said, in staff's view, the applicant might have avoided the need for a variance if the FDA-related entrance requirement had been anticipated and incorporated into the earlier site plan and remodel. Staff also noted there would be no expansion of the porch footprint; the proposal is to enclose the existing covered area.

Board members who spoke during deliberations said they found the size and configuration of the lot persuasive and noted the building's adaptive reuse. The motion to approve states that the strict application of the ordinance would produce a clearly demonstrable hardship, that granting the variance would not be substantially detrimental to adjacent properties, and that the character of the district would not be changed. Approval was conditioned on construction conforming with submitted plans and limited to the existing porch enclosure; the variance does not apply to other expansions, additions, or alterations.

The board voted to approve the variance; the roll call in the transcript recorded four affirmative votes and the motion carried. The hearing record shows the board discussed but did not require relocation of utilities or other work beyond the stated condition limiting the approval to enclosing the existing porch.

The decision allows the applicant to move forward with enclosing the porch as an entrance lobby but does not authorize any further increase in building footprint or other alterations without subsequent approvals.

Additional administrative items discussed at the meeting included scheduling and training for board members; no further action related to the 2741 Southwest Valley Road item was taken that day.