The City of Lorraine Board of Appeals on Aug. 6 approved a variance that will allow parking closer to a watercourse at 2105 Silver Mabel Way to serve Lost Nation Sports Park, with the applicant required to submit stormwater engineering and to avoid removal of wooded vegetation.

Mike Cloud, representative for North Coast Design Build LLC, told the board the project would not change the facility’s use but would relocate parking closer to the sports-medicine entrance so patients have accessible spaces. “What we need to make this a success is to get parking approximate to the entrance to the building that’s adequate, accessible parking,” Cloud said.

The variance request cited provisions in Chapter 15.33 of the municipal code, including sections 15.33.07, 15.33.11 and 15.33.12 governing riparian and wetland setbacks and permitted uses. City stormwater manager Kate Golden said the request was “not inconsistent with previous decisions this board has made” because the area in question is maintained lawn rather than naturally wooded buffer and because the project will not clear additional native vegetation. “The engineering department does not have any objections to the variance request,” Golden said, while emphasizing that any storm infrastructure must be located and designed so it does not reduce floodplain storage in the Zone AE area.

Board members pressed the applicant and staff on floodplain and vegetation issues. One member noted that the watershed (Beaver Creek) can require large buffers and estimated the buffer distance could be in the order of 120 feet; the applicant and staff clarified that the portion of the parking within the setback is limited and that engineering calculations and final grading will be submitted during the building-permit process. The applicant estimated roughly 25–35% of the proposed parking would fall within the riparian setback area; the remainder would be outside it.

The board approved the variance after a motion; the approval included the expectation that the applicant complete full stormwater and floodplain engineering through the ordinary permitting and review process and avoid additional tree or underbrush removal in wooded berms that act as buffers.

The vote was recorded as in favor and the chair declared the motion carried. The engineering and stormwater reviews remain prerequisites to the building-permit approvals and any final grading and drainage changes.

Why it matters: Riparian setbacks are intended to protect stream banks, water quality and floodplain function; this approval allows a public-service adaptation (sports medicine access) while requiring technical review to ensure flood-storage and water-quality protections are retained.