The Homewood Board of Zoning Adjustment on April 3 voted to approve one variance and deny a second for 2919 Parkridge Drive, where the property owners sought space for a rear addition and to rebuild an existing deck.

Applicant Timothy Courtman told the board the lot is irregular and "pie-shaped," causing converging lot lines in the rear; he said the shape produced the hardship for the requested addition. Courtman said staff and the design process produced cascading interior changes if the addition were pulled back. He asked the board to vote on the two variance requests separately.

For the primary-structure variance (labeled request A in the record), the motion described reducing the side setback to 7 feet 9 inches (a reduction of about 2.1 feet) for the existing primary structure to permit the addition. After board discussion about alternative approaches, the roll-call vote was Miss Childs: Yes; Mister Nieves: Yes; Mister Johnson: No; Miss Hand: Yes; Mister Perkle: Yes. The motion carried 4-1.

Request B sought a variance to reduce the left side property line setback from 5 feet to 2 feet (a reduction of 3 feet) to construct an open deck. The board discussed whether the deck could be reworked and clarified that an existing brick foundation on the deck would be removed and the rebuilt deck could be a conventional raised wood deck. On the deck variance the roll call was Miss Hand: No; Mister Johnson: No; Mister Nieves: Yes; Miss Childs: Yes; Mister Perkle: No. The motion failed and the deck variance was denied (yes 2, no 3).

Courtman told the board he had explored alternatives including pulling the addition in and whether the city easement/alley could be vacated to gain space; he said his 87-year-old neighbor Rhonda Montgomery supported the proposal by phone. The board instructed the applicant to contact city planner Emily Harris Miller for next steps on approved items and provided directions for how to proceed with denied requests.

All quoted statements are taken from the public hearing record of the April 3, 2025 Board of Zoning Adjustment meeting.