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Homeowners cite flooding, ask county to reduce shed side-yard setback to 3 feet
Summary
Porter petitioners asked the hearing officer to grant a variance reducing the interior side setback for a new shed from 10 feet to about 3 feet because much of their 0.7-acre lot floods; the officer said he was inclined to approve and set the recommendation for Aug. 20.
Homeowners asking to place a new shed within roughly 3 feet of an interior side lot line told the DuPage County zoning hearing July 16 that a 10-foot setback would force them to place the shed in a flood-prone or steep area of their 0.7-acre lot.
The hearing officer read the petition and two exhibits — a survey (the officer noted it appears to be about 25 years old) and a site plan showing the proposed shed location. The petitioners said their lot sits in a cul-de-sac and that more than half their yard fills with water when it rains; they have French drains but said those do not fully resolve the runoff. Because of flooding and slope constraints, they said the only buildable area for a level, concrete-slab shed is near the location depicted on the submitted plan.
“We're on a 0.7 of acre, and our lot either is on a slope or we're also on a runoff lot…all the more than half of our lot ends up underwater when it rains,” one petitioner said, explaining why the 10-foot setback would leave no usable placement.
The hearing officer said he had been skeptical initially because the yard is large but that the petitioners’ description of drainage limitations persuaded him and that his inclination was to approve. He closed the hearing and set the recommendation meeting for Aug. 20 at 3 p.m.; final approvals will follow the county development committee and the full county board in early September.
No formal vote was recorded on July 16; the officer will issue a written recommendation at the Aug. 20 meeting.
