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Board approves four variances to allow detached accessory unit on Sanders Avenue property
Summary
The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals approved four variances allowing a detached accessory dwelling unit larger than the code limit on a four-acre Sanders Avenue parcel, with one condition requiring proof of an adequate septic permit.
The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday approved four variances for a property on East Second Sanders Avenue in Perry Township that will allow a detached accessory dwelling unit (DADU) larger than the county standard and two dwellings on a four-acre parcel.
The board voted to allow a DADU of 1,280 square feet (the county standard is 1,000 square feet), to waive the five-acre minimum lot size normally required for a detached accessory dwelling unit, to permit two dwelling units on a four-acre parcel rather than the 5-acre threshold implied by the environmental constraints overlay, and to permit the existing contiguous buildable area to serve both dwellings. The approvals carry one condition: the petitioners must provide planning staff with proof that both the primary residence and the DADU can be served by an approved septic system prior to permits progressing.
The petitioners told the board the property has been in the family for roughly 80 years and described plans for a primary residence of about 1,600 square feet and a DADU of 1,280 square feet to house a son. Planning staff recommended denial of all four variances, saying practical-difficulty findings were not met and suggesting alternatives such as redesign to meet the 1,000-square-foot limit or acquisition of adjacent land to meet acreage requirements. Staff also noted the petition lacks a septic permit that explicitly covers the DADU bedrooms.
Board members heard from the petitioner, who said the mobile home for the DADU was already purchased and due to arrive in September, and that buying adjacent land would be an unplanned and likely impractical expense. Several board members expressed sympathy for the family situation and difficulty of finding 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom manufactured homes. After discussion, one member offered a friendly condition that the petitioners provide proof a septic system can be permitted for both units; the maker accepted that condition.
Votes at the public meeting recorded four affirmative votes and one member voting present; the motion was adopted with the stated condition. The board noted staff’s alternative approaches in the record (redesign, relocation of the DADU to other buildable parcels owned by the petitioners, or purchase of adjacent land) but found the petitioner’s long family ownership and the site’s specifics constituted an unusual circumstance sufficient to satisfy the board’s variance standard in this instance.
The board’s approval modifies the application of Chapter 8 (Accessory Dwelling Unit and Environmental Constraints) provisions for this parcel as described in the staff packet; staff and the petitioner will next work to document the septic approvals required by the condition.
The case file lists the applications as BAR-25-44 A–D (Tobias Second Sanders Avenue).
