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Board grants impervious‑cover relief for Adkins family to finish modest home additions
Summary
The Board approved an impervious‑cover variance permitting a modest attached garage, residential addition and covered porch after petitioners said they started permitting before the new ordinance limit took effect and neighbors submitted support letters.
Monroe County’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved VAR‑25‑19 on May 7, granting relief from the impervious‑cover maximum (Chapter 8.04) to allow a series of modest additions to a Perry Township property at 6330 East Lampkins Ridge Road.
Planning staff recommended denial, arguing petitioners had not demonstrated practical difficulties and could reduce impervious area by redesigning or relocating portions of the proposed work. Petitioners said they bought the property after a period of storm damage, spent time and money clearing debris and obtaining a permitted detached pole barn earlier in 2024, and had a modest plan to add a 576‑square‑foot attached garage, a 484‑square‑foot residential addition and a 125‑square‑foot covered porch. With the permitted pole barn included, the petitioner’s calculated impervious total exceeded the 4,500‑square‑foot limit that applies in the site’s critical watershed designation.
Property owners described the work as necessary to make the small existing house livable (the house is roughly 900 square feet) and said neighbors had signed letters of support. Board members cited the timing of the petitioner’s permit activity and the post‑storm cleanup costs as practical difficulties and voted to approve the variance 4‑0.
Why it matters: The approval allows the owners — both over age 65 — to adapt a modest existing home for longer‑term occupancy. The board’s decision hinged on the facts that the owners obtained prior permits for the pole barn and that site remediation and permit timing occurred as the county’s new ordinance standards were adopted.
Next steps: The petitioner will proceed with permits consistent with the variance; staff will continue to review stormwater implications during permit processing.
