Commission approves ADU at 203 W. Sunflower and BZA grants variance to allow 400-sq.-ft. unit

The Haysville Planning Commission approved a conditional use request to allow an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at 203 West Sunflower Drive and conditioned the approval on installation of a minimum 6-foot screening fence. Later the Board of Zoning Appeals granted a related variance reducing the minimum dwelling-unit size from 600 square feet to 400 square feet for the same property.

Planning staff told commissioners the property is developed with a single-family home, has paved road access to West Sunflower Drive, and is connected to city water and sewer. Staff recommended approval of the conditional use subject to a condition that the access pathway and proximity to an adjacent property be screened by a minimum 6-foot fence, and noted the applicant must provide one off-street parking space for the ADU; the site plan shows a carport sufficient for that requirement.

Applicant Paige Rounds, who lives at 203 West Sunflower Drive, told the commission the proposed 400-square-foot unit is intended to house her recently disabled mother and would connect to existing utilities. "I respectfully ask for your support and approval of this request," Rounds said, describing the design as modest and the unit as supporting multigenerational living while preserving neighborhood character.

Commissioners questioned utility and right-of-way issues raised in the staff report. Staff and the applicant discussed the presence of a gas line and an overhead service drop; the applicant said the ADU will be electric-only and that she has contacted Evergy to relocate the house drop if required at her expense.

The planning commission approved the conditional-use request on a roll call vote. The matter then moved to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a public hearing on a separate variance request: the code's minimum dwelling-unit size in the single-family district is 600 square feet, and the applicant sought permission for a 400-square-foot ADU. Staff recommended denial of the variance, finding the first of five statutory variance criteria'that the condition is unique to the property and not caused by the owner'was not met. Members of the Board of Zoning Appeals disagreed, citing the lot's narrow shape and placement of the principal dwelling as factors giving the property unique constraints. The board voted to grant the variance, allowing the 400-square-foot unit.

Staff noted conditions for construction and utility relocation remain the applicant's responsibility. The commission and board recorded no written public correspondence on the item during the hearings.