Oklahoma County Board of Adjustment approves variance allowing homeowner to rebuild on undersized lot

Oklahoma County — The Oklahoma County Board of Adjustment on May 29 approved variance VA2025-09, allowing Jesse Pelfrey, co-trustee of the Rosemarie Pelfrey Revocable Trust, to rebuild a single-family home on a 0.74-acre lot and to use an existing foundation that does not meet the county's 2-acre minimum or the required 80-foot setback from the road center line.

The board's approval permits both the lot-size variance and the reduced setback; the motion to approve passed on a roll-call vote with Member Jennifer Arsenal and Member Coover Robinson recorded as voting yes. A board member moved to approve and another seconded the motion during the meeting.

The variance affects a parcel described by staff as being in the southeast part of the county near the new turnpike. "This particular piece of property is out near the new turnpike, kind of in the Southeast part of the county," a staff member said, noting the lot has been divided and does not meet the R-2 rural residential requirement of a two-acre minimum. The staff member told the board that assessor records indicate a structure has been on the site since 1943 and that the house recently burned.

Jesse Pelfrey, identified at the meeting as a trustee of the Rosemarie Pelfrey Revocable Trust, said the family has had a financial interest in the property for about 25 years and that the fire was accidental. "We had a financial interest in this home for about 25 years, and we were unaware of the variances or the setbacks," Pelfrey said. He told the board the damaged house measured about 1,700 square feet and that planned reconstruction would be just under 1,800 square feet; the existing garage survived the fire and the contractor is using the existing foundation.

Pelfrey also said the tenants, a family of five, have been relocated to another property owned by the trust. "The contractor that I contracted with already started building," Pelfrey said, adding that was an error on the contractor's part.

Staff told the board that no building permit or construction plans have been submitted yet and that outstanding issues, including possible relocation of a septic system, must be resolved before a permit is issued. The staff member said similar undersized parcels exist nearby and that the board has considered comparable requests in the past on a case-by-case basis.

Discussion at the hearing noted the property's long-standing placement predates current zoning and that reusing an existing foundation reduces cost for the owner. The board did not place additional conditions on the variance in the discussion recorded in the transcript.

The action taken is a formal approval of the requested variances; the applicant will still need to submit required building permits and address any site-specific utility or septic issues before construction can proceed.