Wildwood board approves variance to allow rear-yard stairs at Grover Ridge Drive home

The City of Wildwood Board of Adjustment on March 31 approved a variance (BA5-25) allowing Jeffrey and Tracy Bohm to build exterior stairs and a landing that will encroach into the rear-yard setback at 2489 Grover Ridge Drive.

The variance passed unanimously, 5-0. Board members Arnie Sprungner, Devin Lux, Michael Lee, Bob Morris and Chair Jared Frank voted to approve the request after the Department of Planning recommended approval.

The permit request would authorize a rear-yard setback distance in the range of 7.5 feet to 15 feet to accommodate stairs and associated landings that connect a second-floor deck to a new ground-level concrete patio. The property is a 0.13-acre lot in Main Street Crossing, zoned R-4 (7,500-square-foot residence district) with a Planned Residential Development overlay; the house was built in 2019 and the department recorded a total living area of 1,807 square feet.

The Department of Planning’s report said the stairs are a “fairly minimal” intrusion compared with the overall improvements, that the lot backs to public/common ground and a trail so the rear yard has more separation than a typical lot, and that both affected neighbors had expressed support. The department recommended approval, and the board followed that recommendation.

Jeffrey (Jim) Bohm, the property owner, told the board the project will re-clad the existing deck with composite material and add an exterior stair primarily to provide convenient access from the deck to a new patio and to serve as a second means of egress. “But the more important reason is kind of a second means of egress,” Bohm said. He also described constraints created by an existing retaining-wall system and the location of windows that limited alternative stair locations.

The application materials and the department’s presentation noted roughly 20 feet of elevation change from front to rear and that the new patio will be poured concrete over the site’s current gravel base. Bohm said the patio pour was expected in April and the stair and deck work would follow.

Because the variance was approved, the board reminded the petitioner that the variance will expire if the applicant does not obtain the necessary permits or establish the use within six months of the decision. The Department of Planning said it will provide an official letter documenting the variance for the petitioner to include with permit submittal.

No members of the public appeared to oppose the request during the hearing. The board closed the item and moved on to the next case.