Board approves second-story addition at Wyandotte Road over neighbor objections

The Upper Arlington Board of Zoning and Planning approved a variance May 21 allowing a second-story addition at 2020 Wyandotte Road to be built above an existing nonconforming sunroom, leaving the current rear‑yard encroachment in place.

City planner Charles Oliver summarized the application, saying the house is already nonconforming and that the proposed second-floor addition "doesn't, get any worse. There's no additional coverage to the property" and that the addition would be about 5 feet shorter than the existing house and meet the city’s rear‑yard profile limits.

Neighbor Elizabeth Farrell, who identified herself as living at 2011 North Edgemont Road, testified in opposition. Farrell said the application "fails to mention that the sunroom and patio are nonconforming" and argued the vertical expansion would create new privacy and shadowing impacts. She told the board granting the variance could "systematically erode the effectiveness of setback requirements throughout the neighborhood" and said she believed the application lacked a demonstrated hardship.

The applicant said the addition would provide additional bathroom facilities for aging household members: "wanted to get a little more space to, provide more bathroom facilities as they get older," the applicant said under oath. The applicant also noted the rear windows would be obscured bathroom windows.

After discussion, the chair called for a motion to approve variance application 18-25 to permit a second-story addition encroaching up to 8 feet into the required rear-yard setback with findings numbers 1, 3 and 4. The motion passed; members responded "aye."