Columbia resident Kevin Favrite asked a Howard County hearing officer on Oct. 15 for a 20-foot waiver from the county's 50-foot front-yard setback so he can legalize his house and build a covered front porch at 6192 Landfair Drive.

Favrite, who identified himself for the record as living at 6192 Landfair Drive, told the hearing officer that his existing front entry is a small wood landing and steps roughly 8 by 12 feet and that he wants to replace it with a concrete covered porch about 10 by 12 feet. The hearing record shows Favrite said the house currently sits about 40 feet from the front property line and that he needs 10 feet to legalize that existing encroachment plus another 10 feet for the new porch, for a total 20-foot variance request.

The hearing officer outlined the four findings required for a variance and asked Favrite to explain how his lot met each: unique physical conditions, no alteration of neighborhood character or detriment to public welfare, absence of self-created hardship, and that the requested relief is the minimum necessary. Favrite described the lot as narrow and sloping from the house down to the street, said the driveway and an attached garage limit side space, and argued the porch footprint he requested is the minimum to avoid disturbing soil on the slope and to protect the front entry from water. "I do already have a small porch there. So I'm just taking off that porch, putting a concrete porch on ... to give us some shade in the front and block the, the water from coming down over the front of the door," Favrite said. He also told the board the slope from the house to the street is "pretty steep. It's probably 35 degrees."

On neighborhood character, Favrite said many houses in the immediate area have front porches and that the proposed porch would not change the residential use or appearance in a material way. The hearing officer repeated the legal elements she must find and confirmed with Favrite that he considered the requested footprint to be the minimum necessary to afford relief.

No witnesses or neighbors spoke at the hearing, and there was no final vote or decision on the record. At the conclusion, the hearing officer stated that the evidentiary hearing was concluded and that a written decision and order would be issued later.

Next steps: the hearing officer will issue a written decision and order; no timeline for that decision was specified on the record.