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Board grants variance for garage built inside subdivision street setback at 1501 Winchester Drive
Summary
A Mobile resident who erected a metal garage without permitting received a variance to allow the structure to remain inside a recorded 30-foot street-front setback; the board noted the original carport had also encroached the setback.
The Board of Adjustment on April 7 approved a variance allowing an enclosed metal garage to remain within the recorded 30-foot setback along the street at 1501 Winchester Drive.
Applicant Cecil Watford said he had a carport on the lot when he bought the house in 1996; the carport was removed and replaced with the current enclosed three-car metal garage, which he said a contractor told him did not require a permit. "They said they didn't need a permit," Watford told the board, adding he was not present when the structure was erected.
Staff and board members said the subdivision plat contains a recorded 30-foot setback from both street frontages; the garage now encroaches substantially into that setback and a corner of the garage appears to sit less than five feet from the front property line. The applicant and staff said the earlier carport also appeared to encroach the same setback.
Neighbors did not testify in opposition at the hearing. The board discussed the property's plat-backed setback and its jurisdiction to allow exceptions for structures already in place; after deliberation a motion to approve the variance carried with the chair recording an approval and noting a single opposition vote from the chair in the transcript record.
The board's approval permits the structure to remain in its current location; the owner will proceed through any required building-permit or compliance processes identified by staff.
