The Development Review Committee on March 26 reviewed a variance request for 3000 West Orange Avenue to allow an industrial building with less than the required 10-foot rear setback adjacent to a rail spur. The applicant’s attorney, Tara Tedrow (Lowndes), and civil engineer Andrew Ryland (Lang Engineering) explained the prior building had been located adjacent to a rail spur and argued the property’s rail adjacency creates a unique physical circumstance that supports a variance for rail-served industrial use.

Staff objected to the variance without additional documentation, noting the prior building had been demolished and that the nonconforming status was therefore lost; planning staff said the applicant had not demonstrated the statutory hardship. Several department heads and safety staff said a building placed close to a rail spur raises public-safety and emergency-access questions and that a railroad operator’s written no-objection would be required before staff could support zero setbacks. Fire staff also requested confirmation of hydrant location, water-system hydraulics and a secondary or emergency access route for apparatus.

Why it matters: allowing shallower setbacks for new structures adjacent to active rail facilities can create public-safety and operational implications for both railroad operators and municipal emergency responders. Staff said those implications should be resolved before a variance is approved.

Key requests from the DRC to the applicant: obtain a written no-objection or service-authorization from the railroad (CSX) confirming the spur can serve the parcel as proposed; demonstrate building rear doors/loading configurations that would function with rail loading; provide engineered hydraulic calculations and confirm fire-hydrant location and condition; show a secondary or emergency-only access plan acceptable to police/fire; and provide a commitment that rail-related loading infrastructure will be physically and operationally feasible (e.g., track siding configuration and agreements to have trains stop to load/unload).

Next steps: applicant representatives said they will seek CSX input and confirm hydrant status and access arrangements. DRC directed the applicant to return with written railroad concurrence and the requested public-safety documentation; staff indicated that without those materials they would not support the variance.