OLIVETTE, Mo. — The City of Olivette Board of Adjustment voted unanimously July 10 to grant a side-yard setback variance that allows a second-story addition at 1016 Dolores Avenue.

The board approved a variance of 9.97 feet along the north property line to permit a second-floor addition to an existing house. The owners, Jason and Denise Coustos, sought the variance because the lot’s configuration, a 25-foot stream buffer along a creek on the south side and an MSD sewer easement constrain where they can expand.

Staff described the lot as nonstandard in shape and noted a prior boundary adjustment in 2022 increased the lot width along the street from about 50 feet to 99.7 feet. That change increased the required side-yard setback under the municipal formula; staff said the house currently sits about 2 feet from the northern property line and that under the revised lot width the code requires an 11.97-foot side setback.

"A lot of their buildable area is kind of taken up by this creek and these other additional easements," Jack Carswell, the city’s planning and zoning administrator, said while explaining why staff and the petitioner had limited design options.

Denise Coustos, one of the owners, told the board they looked at multiple alternatives but encountered constraints. "We weren't aware until we had the survey done that there's also, MSD sewer line running across it, so we can't build on top of that," Coustos said. She described options the family considered, including demolishing and rebuilding, but said setbacks, the creek buffer and the sewer easement all limited feasible alternatives.

City planning staff and board members discussed neighborhood pattern and safety details. Carlos Trejo, director of planning and community development, noted a building-code consideration: "when the proximity of structures is less than 10 feet, there are standards, that are required for the exterior of those walls, to meet to enhance the fire rating," he said, emphasizing that wall construction standards apply when houses are close together.

Board members concluded the lot’s physical constraints constituted a practical difficulty under the area-variance criteria and voted in favor of the request. The motion passed 5–0. The board noted the petitioners will now take the project to the Planning and Community Design Commission for design review; staff said the earliest that meeting could be scheduled is in August.

Background and clarifications: the existing house dates to 1926; the owners purchased the property in March 2020; a February 2022 boundary adjustment increased the lot width to approximately 99.7 feet, which altered the required setback calculation. Staff also confirmed that required stream buffers and an MSD (Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District) sewer easement on the site limit buildable options and that mail notice to properties within 300 feet produced no formal objections recorded in the hearing.