Board approves reduced street-side setback for vacant Illinois Street lot

The Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to allow a 1,748-square-foot single-family home to be built on an Illinois Street parcel with a reduced street-side setback, granting a variance to reduce the required street-side yard from 15 feet to 7.5 feet. The application (BOA2025-019) was presented by Tanisha Swanson of Swanson Consulting on behalf of Harris Global Management LLC. Swanson said the lot is adjacent to a parcel considered in the previous month and described the site as a "tight little space" within a flip-plan development; the request was part of a set of three remaining lots the applicant is completing. Swanson told the board that buyers are informed about the existing variance and that the developer accounted for potential future changes such as sidewalk installation. Board members asked about sidewalks and how future public works improvements would affect the structure. Staff and the applicant pointed to the survey and plot plan showing a wide public right-of-way—roughly 12 to 14 feet between the edge of the concrete and the property line—so sidewalks would be constructed in the public right-of-way and not on private property. The applicant said they were transparent with buyers about the variance and potential future drainage or sidewalk projects. After brief discussion and no public comment, a board member moved to approve BOA2025-019. The motion passed 5-0 with votes from Charles Cameron, Patrick Connors, Leon McCray, John George and David Betts. The variance allows construction of the described dwelling with the reduced street-side setback; future public-works improvements would be implemented in the right-of-way and are not precluded by this approval.