Variance approved for 486 sq ft addition at Tortilla Park amid property-line discrepancy

The Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance to reduce a minimum rear-yard setback from 12 feet to 0 feet to allow construction of a 486-square-foot addition at the Tortilla Park property, 4057 Grant Street, while noting a discrepancy between an ALTA survey and Franklin County records.

City staff described the site as three parcels totaling about 0.88 acres and said the proposed addition is located in what one survey shows as directly on the property line. Staff recommended approval, finding the variance "is not substantial," would not change neighborhood character, and that the owner’s predicament could not reasonably be obviated by other means.

Staff and the board discussed a discrepancy between the ALTA survey — which places the property line up against the building — and Franklin County/GIS records that show a roughly 12-foot spacing consistent with an alley or right-of-way. Staff said county records appear to lack historical data for this parcel and that the variance is intended to cover a "worst case" where the surveyor’s line places the addition at the property edge. The approval included three staff-recommended conditions, and the board voted 4-0 to grant the variance.

An applicant representative, Megan Williams, told the board the irregular line appears to be a single jog in a long property line that otherwise runs consistently for miles; staff said historical records are incomplete and referenced an historic fire as part of the search for records. One board member moved to approve case BZA 2520 including the three staff conditions; the motion passed on a recorded vote of Steele, McGee, Antle and Barfield voting yes.

The board’s approval covers the addition subject to the conditions and does not change the underlying property-line legal record; staff said if a later determination establishes a different property line the applicant would have to return to the board to adjust permissible coverage.