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Variance approved to allow addition at 4804 Woodmere Road to protect grand oak and historic home
Summary
The board approved a rear-setback variance for an addition to a 1925 home at 4804 Woodmere Road, citing protection of a large oak tree and the house's preexisting configuration as supporting hardship factors.
On July 8 the Variance Review Board approved a variance reducing the rear-yard setback from 20 feet to 4 feet for a proposed addition at 4804 Woodmere Road, a house the applicant says was built in 1925.
Applicant Bradford Perez, who said he purchased the property about a year earlier to renovate and preserve the older home, told the board the house sits on the lot at an angle and a neighboring grand oak tree constrains expansion. "We identified that the oak tree was an issue ... and we think that this approach really minimizes the impact," Perez said, describing changes to the proposed footprint to protect the tree.
Staff materials showed the existing home includes preexisting nonconforming elements and that tree-protection radius rules would apply for the neighbor's large oak. Board members who spoke praised the applicants' efforts to preserve the historic home and agreed that the lot configuration and tree protection justified the variance under the Section 27-2-80 hardship criteria. The motion to grant the variance carried 5-0.
The approval allows the applicant to move forward with plans for a modest kitchen addition, a downstairs bedroom and bath, and a garage that meet other code requirements; staff noted impervious-area calculations were provided and met code. The board conditioned its finding on adherence to tree protection and stormwater technical standards during construction.
