Lebanon planners approve conditional use and variance to legalize three units at 1105 Camp St.; owner pledges major repairs

The Lebanon City Planning and Zoning Board voted to approve a conditional use permit and a development-standards variance for a property at 1105 Camp Street, allowing a legalized small apartment building of three residential units after the applicant agreed to remove an unauthorized unit from a converted garage and bring all work up to code.

Planning staff told the board the house at 1105 Camp St. currently contains four residential units — three inside a converted single-family home and one inside a detached garage — but the property's R-4 zoning permits only three units for that lot size under the city's Unified Development Ordinance. “Were basically starting over from scratch here,” planning staff said, describing the application as an effort to “clean up” prior work done without approvals and to require building permits and code-compliant inspections for the remodel.

The decision matters to neighbors and to the city because the approvals will legalize the remaining units only if the garage unit is removed and the structure is brought into compliance with current building code. Planning staff recommended approval of the conditional use subject to conditions that the applicant eliminate the residential unit in the garage, limit the property to no more than three residential units, and apply for remodel building permits with inspections at applicable stages. Staff made the same conditions for the variance from minimum living-area requirements.

The applicants representative, attorney Bob Clutter, said the prospective buyer, Colin Thompson, will invest in a major overhaul. “Hes gonna invest over a hundred and $30,000 just in repairs,” Clutter told the board, listing work that includes replacing sewer and water lines, electrical upgrades, new windows and full interior remodels. Clutter said Thompson plans to house tenants temporarily in a hotel during the interior work.

A representative of Lebanon First Church of the Nazarene read a statement from Pastor Craig Henderson saying the church is concerned about vehicles parked on its overflow gravel lot behind the property and described the rear area as appearing “the beginning of a junkyard,” with vehicles on cinder blocks and scrap metal. The church representative, who also identified himself as a towing company manager, said the church has tagged and towed abandoned vehicles from its lot under state abandoned-vehicle code but said vehicles often return.

Planning staff acknowledged the churchs concerns and said those issues — parking on grass, vehicles on church property and other nuisance behaviors — are not permitted whether the site is a single-family home or a three-unit small apartment building. Staff suggested the church post no-trespassing signs to help the police address recurring problems and said staff would work with the applicant and the church to reduce parking overflow and ensure vehicles are parked on approved surfaces.

On the variance, staff explained the UDOs minimum living-area standards: one-bedroom units must be at least 650 square feet and two-bedroom units at least 800 square feet. The two smaller units in the house measure about 629 and 561 square feet, respectively; the larger two-bedroom unit is roughly 1,400 square feet. Staff recommended allowing the existing interior layout to remain rather than requiring costly reconfiguration, on the condition that all work be permitted and inspected so the units meet building-code requirements.

The board approved both the conditional use permit and the variance with the conditions recommended by staff. The vote carries the approvals forward; the approvals require the applicant to obtain remodel permits, pass inspections, and remove the garage living unit as a condition of the permits.

What happens next: the applicant must submit remodel building plans to the planning office, obtain building permits, and complete inspections specified by the planning office. If the applicant complies with the conditions, the property will remain a three-unit small apartment building under the R-4 district standards; if not, further enforcement action could follow.