Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Variance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Covington Board of Adjustments approves slab-elevation variance for 824 Collins Boulevard
Summary
At its regular meeting the Board of Adjustments approved a variance to the city's minimum slab-elevation rule for a 3.61-acre commercial site at 824 Collins Boulevard, citing site drainage and FEMA elevation compliance; the motion passed on a 4-0 roll-call vote.
The Board of Adjustments for the City of Covington approved a variance request for Case 25-03-08-BOA affecting 824 Collins Boulevard at a regular meeting.
The variance overturns a strict reading of the city code that requires residential and commercial slab or floor elevations to be at least 1 foot above the crown of the roadway abutting the property (City of Covington Code of Ordinances, Article 2, Division 2, Uniform Construction Codes, Section 18-55). Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the request.
The matter concerns a 3.61-acre parcel described in the meeting record as located in Section 37, Township 6 South, Range 11 East, bounded by Collins Boulevard and the old New Orleans electric car line. Jeffrey Fussell, an engineer with Aero Engineering, told the board he had sent a letter to Chris Brown, the city engineer, and said the engineer had indicated the project would typically need to be set 1 foot above the centerline of Highway 190. Fussell said the site’s elevations range from about 26.32 at the north end down to about 21.7, that most of the property is in Flood Zone C, and that “we proposed that the buildings would be … 18 inches above the nearest flood zone base flood elevation of 20,” citing FEMA minimums.
“Mister Rodrigue” explained that the ordinance’s one-foot-above-road requirement is waivable by the engineer but that an engineer on the file (identified in the discussion as choosing not to waive the standard) had declined the waiver. Rodrigue said the properties north of Collins Boulevard are generally lower than the road crown but drain north and east toward the river rather than toward Collins, and that the petitioners argued the strict application would require building fill that would impede neighbors’ drainage.
A project representative, identified in the hearing as Mister Perkins, described the site’s slope and said raising the buildings to meet the road-crown standard would create drainage impacts for adjacent properties: “The property slopes greatly … the elevation probably is 5 foot difference from one end to the other end,” Perkins said, and said the hardship for neighbors would be significant if the buildings were raised substantially.
After brief questioning, a commissioner moved to approve the variance. The board recorded a roll-call vote: Commissioner Butler — yes; Commissioner Gilley — yes; Commissioner Williams — yes; Commissioner Lucas — yes. The motion carried, and the variance was approved.
Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes from prior meeting — approved on roll call (Butler, Gilley, Williams, Lucas: yes). - Case 25-03-08-BOA — variance to Section 18-55 (minimum slab elevation) for property at 824 Collins Boulevard — approved by roll call (Butler, Gilley, Williams, Lucas: yes).
The board did not record additional conditions or amendments on the variance during the discussion. Meeting staff indicated the engineer who reviewed the request had not waived the ordinance requirement, and the board relied on the petitioner’s statements about site drainage and FEMA elevation compliance in granting relief.
