Board grants Plager homeowners variance for rear‑setback to legalize unpermitted patio work
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Summary
The Board approved a variance reducing the rear setback from 21 feet to 12 feet for a Plager property in Anthem to allow previously constructed/unpermitted patio additions to be regularized and combined with a new permit.
The Maricopa County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a variance to reduce a rear yard setback from 21 feet to 12 feet for a home in the Anthem subdivision, allowing the property owner to include an existing unpermitted patio structure in a building permit.
Staff reported the property, acquired in 2017, had an HOA approval in 2019 but the required county permits were not secured for the patio work. Applicant representative contractor Matthew Ducharme told the board the homeowner relied on representations from a prior contractor that permits had been pulled and that the homeowner was surprised to learn a county permit had never been filed.
Homeowner Jean (recorded in transcript as Gene) Plager called in and confirmed the omission was not intentional: “Had we known that there wasn’t a permit pulled, we would have taken care of it at the time,” he said.
Vice Chair Person moved approval and Member Carden seconded; the board approved the variance 5–0. Staff noted the R1‑18 RUPD subdivision has a maximum lot coverage of 50 percent and that lot‑coverage limits should be observed when the applicants finalize permit submittals.
