At its July 17 meeting, the City of Highland Park Zoning Board of Appeals approved variances permitting a garage and living-space addition at 1989 Richfield Avenue that will encroach into both the front and side yard setbacks.
Staff said the property sits in an R-4 zoning district and that the applicants sought relief to encroach 18.3 feet into a required 40-foot front-yard setback and 6.05 feet into a required 12.2-foot side-yard setback; staff reported the total front-yard encroachment area as about 344 square feet and a related sliver of about 133 square feet. The proposal had previously received an approval order in February 2022 that the file indicates was not acted on and therefore lapsed.
During the hearing, staff explained the encroachment largely results from the lot’s irregular, pie-shaped geometry, which alters how side-yard widths are measured (measured at the midpoint of lot depth). Applicant Jeff(rey) Golden described the project as an effort to "stay here" and age in place, saying the owners wanted an attached garage for easier and safer access and to reduce light spill and sightlines toward neighbors. Architect Lenore Weiss told the board that an attached garage at the proposed location best met the owners’ ADA-access and interior-layout needs: "The attached garage logically makes sense at that location based on all of the spaces inside the home as well as the new spaces that would be added on," she said.
Neighbors who spoke in support said they had been consulted and had no objection. Board members repeatedly cited the lot’s unusual geometry as the hardship justifying the variances and noted that there were no staff or neighbor objections recorded. Vice Chair Yablon moved to approve the variances; the motion carried on a 6-0 roll-call vote. The approval covers the specific additions and dimensions proposed; staff and the board noted that any materially different plan would require separate review.
The decision regularizes a plan that homeowners said will enable them to remain in their house and to modernize circulation and storage; the board directed staff to record the variance approvals.