Morgan Township BZA denies variance request for Whites’ proposed detached garage

The Morgan Township Board of Zoning Appeals on Aug. 14 denied a variance request from Jeanie and Matthew White that would have allowed a 26-by-30-foot detached garage to sit 10 feet from their rear and right-side property lines instead of the township’s standard 50-foot rear and 25-foot side setbacks. The board voted 3-2 to deny the variance for both the rear and side yards after a two-hour public discussion and a closed executive session. The motion to deny passed with Gabriel Hernandez, Jeff Griffin and Chair Steve Grody voting in favor; Justin Bresnan and Chris Gaines voted against the motion. The Whites applied for the variance to place a garage on the southeast corner of their lot at a property listed in meeting materials as parcel G3210017000102, with a mailing address provided in the packet as 2267 California Road, Okeana, Ohio. Zoning Administrator Dale Marshall told the board the parcel has roughly 371 feet of road frontage and that the applicable setbacks for parcels with 200 feet or more frontage are 50 feet from the rear and 25 feet from the side. The Whites asked to reduce the side setback by 15 feet to 10 feet and to…