Lexington County BZA approves 15-foot setback variance for Cedar Ridge Tree Farm on Priceville Road

The Lexington County Board of Zoning Appeals on an evening hearing approved a variance reducing the required road right-of-way setback for a general retail limited activity at Cedar Ridge Tree Farm from 40 feet to 25 feet, a 15-foot variance that allows the farm’s gift shop to remain in its current position as the applicants pursue a private-road subdivision.

Stacy Nates, deputy zoning administrator for Lexington County, presented the request on behalf of applicants Joey and Jessica Kiesler and described the variance as the result of an “unforeseen circumstance” created when parcels the family planned to subdivide required a private road. Nates said the business previously operated with the building facing a private driveway, which did not trigger the 40-foot road right-of-way requirement; reclassification of that driveway to a private road as part of subdivision approvals created the setback conflict.

The matter matters to the applicants, the presenter said, because reclassifying the driveway would make the gift shop — built in 2018 on a site the family has occupied for generations — noncompliant…