North Ridgeville’s Board of Zoning and Building Appeals on a motion approved two variances for a detached garage at 5884 (transcript shows Roosevelt/Rosebell) after hearing that the structure was built without a permit and that the applicant’s builder left the project. The board approved a 1-foot side setback variance and a 44-square-foot area variance, each conditioned to apply only to the current structure and to lapse if the structure is removed.

The decision follows testimony that the applicant, Javier Feliciano, constructed the garage without first obtaining required permits and sought relief after the builder “absconded with [his] money,” as recorded in the hearing. The board weighed the practical-difficulty standard, reductions in the requested variance compared with earlier denials, and the public-safety and zoning implications before voting unanimously to grant the two variances with the sunset condition.

At the hearing the city staff read the application as requesting a 1-foot side-yard variance (applicant proposing a 4-foot setback where the code requires 5 feet) and a 44-square-foot area variance (applicant proposing a 720-square-foot garage where the ordinance allows 676 square feet; code cited: Section 1294.03(a) and 1294.03(d)(1)). Javier Feliciano told the board he planned the structure to provide winter protection for trucks and later described the covered area as also intended for family use: "I'm gonna actually put, like, a little picnic table there so they can play." The building official confirmed the city treats a carport as part of the garage area for zoning calculations.

Board members questioned the applicant about repeated variance requests and whether the current proposal represented a smaller departure from code. A board member noted earlier requests had been larger — 356 square feet in July 2024 and subsequent denials for 308 and 284 square feet — and that the current request constituted a substantial reduction to 44 square feet. Council liaison Winkle (first reference: Council liaison Winkle) estimated the current square-foot variance at about 6.5 percent of the allowable area. Member discussion also explored whether the variances could be limited to this building; the assistant law director confirmed a conditional approval that sunsets with the structure was a viable approach if the board chose to adopt it.

The board first moved to approve the 1-foot side-yard variance and then amended the approval to add the condition that the variance applies only to the existing structure and terminates if another structure is built. The clerk recorded unanimous votes for both variances (Grotman: yes; Weaver: yes; Toth: yes; Masterson: yes). The board chair told the applicant he could obtain permits from the building department the following week.

The board’s action resolves the immediate zoning nonconformity for the existing garage but ties relief to the physical structure rather than granting a permanent alteration of the lot’s zoning entitlements. The applicant was directed to obtain the required building permit from the city’s building department.