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Historic commission approves enlarged driveway at 2535 Louisiana Street with landscaping condition
Summary
The Beaumont Historic Landmark Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness to enlarge the driveway at 2535 Louisiana Street, subject to maintaining a 2-foot setback from the side property line (or obtaining a variance), required permits, and keeping a front flower bed.
The Beaumont Historic Landmark Commission voted to approve file PZ2020Five-1-107 on April 14, 2025, allowing the driveway at 2535 Louisiana Street to be widened to provide additional on-site parking, with conditions to preserve a front landscape bed and meet setback and permitting requirements.
Planning staff told the commission the house, built about 1942 and recorded in the 1991 survey as a traditional ranch-style home, must comply with local parking and setback rules; staff recommended approval with conditions including maintaining new pavement at least 2 feet from the property line or obtaining a variance and obtaining all applicable permits and inspections. Planning staff also cited ordinance language that off-street parking is not permitted on grass and that paved surfaces must be a minimum distance from side or rear property lines.
During discussion, Curtis White, who identified himself as owner of CRW Contractors and the applicant on behalf of the property owner, said the work would not remove the prominent trees at the front and described the design as widening the existing slab to better serve an elderly occupant. "I'm not taking any trees," White said, and he told the commission the owner is "83 years old" and that the owner's wife is a recent cancer surgery survivor and has difficulty walking across grass.
Commissioners pressed for clarity on setbacks and the final paving footprint; staff reiterated that the permit process will require more-detailed drawings and that a variance from the Board of Adjustment would be required if the pavement cannot meet the 2-foot setback. The commission attached conditions requiring the applicant to obtain required permits and inspections and to preserve the flower bed/landscaped area immediately in front of the house.
A motion to approve PZ2020Five-1-107 passed on a roll-call vote; Chairman Labiche, Commissioner Crawford, Commissioner Goodness and Commissioner Kelly voted yes, producing the recorded approval. The city’s building codes review and any Board of Adjustment action on a variance will determine the final graded footprint of the driveway.
