Orland Park commission approves variance to reduce side-yard setback for Lorenz home

ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Orland Park Planning Commission voted to approve a variance July 1 allowing a homeowner to build an addition that reduces the required side-yard setback from 20 feet to 10.7 feet at 11300 W. 150th Street.

The commission’s approval, made on a staff recommendation, will allow John Lorenz and his family to add a garage with living space above and convert the existing attached garage to storage and office space. The petitioners said the lot’s irregular shape and the presence of Spring Creek and associated floodplain limit where they can expand.

The variance was requested because the property was recently rezoned to R-3 and the lot’s shape, creek, and a 50-foot setback from the creek’s high watermark make eastward expansion infeasible. Staff recommended approval of a variance from section 6-204(e)(2)(a) of the Land Development Code, and the commission approved the staff recommendation by roll call…