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Board approves duplex at 717 S. Henderson after neighborhood review
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals approved conditional-use CU-24-25 to allow a two-unit duplex at 717 South Henderson Street, subject to three staff conditions including required street trees and a new sidewalk; neighbors raised parking and conservation-easement concerns but the petition met UDO standards.
The Board of Zoning Appeals voted to approve conditional-use petition CU‑24‑25 from North College Partners LLC to replace an existing single‑family home at 717 South Henderson Street with a two‑unit duplex.
Staff presented the project as compliant with the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and the comprehensive plan’s infill housing goals. "The petition meets all of the requirements within the UDO," Development Services Manager Eric Gruelig said during the staff report. The board adopted the staff findings and approved the petition with the three conditions listed in the staff report.
The petition would remove the existing residence on the lot and construct a duplex oriented toward Henderson Street. The proposed building follows the UDO's duplex design standards — porch incorporation, roof slope, and parking orientation — and provides a 20‑by‑20 off‑alley parking pad, the maximum pad the UDO allows when alley access is used. Staff noted the UDO requires a minimum of one parking space for this use.
Neighbors and the neighborhood association raised questions about parking capacity and the adjacent conservation easement. "Parking in that area is already very constrained," Eric Oest, president of the Elm Heights Neighborhood Association, told the board during public comment, citing the UDO's low parking minimum and the three‑bedroom unit layouts proposed. Tom Swinford, Land Preservation Director at Sycamore Land Trust, participated in the applicant's neighborhood meeting and the staff report noted the lot immediately south of the site is held in a conservation easement. The petitioner said the lot lines were adjusted so the conservation easement would remain on its own lot and would be left undisturbed.
The board’s approval includes the three staff conditions in the packet (installation of required street trees, provision of the new sidewalk along the property frontage, and any standard conditions contained in the staff report). The petitioner and staff also confirmed that the parking layout is constrained by the UDO’s alley‑access rules and that additional pad space would require a variance.
Board members had no further conditions beyond staff’s recommendations and called the roll; the vote was recorded as affirmative by all members present, and the petition passed.
The project will return only if changes are proposed; otherwise the applicant will move forward to secure building permits and implement the required street‑tree and sidewalk improvements.
