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ZBA grants variances tied to townhouse width rule; city to pursue code amendment
Summary
Two petitions for townhouse-lot-width variances were approved April 28 after staff and applicants said a drafting error in the new zoning ordinance added the word “lot,” producing a stricter rule than intended; staff said the city is pursuing a code amendment and developers were granted variances to proceed.
The Tuscaloosa Zoning Board of Adjustments on April 28 approved two related variance requests that applicants and staff said stem from an unintended wording change in the city’s revised zoning ordinance.
Staff explained the current ordinance language reads that “no townhouse lot shall be less than one third as wide as it is deep,” a drafting change that applicants said differs from the ordinance’s intended standard. Two petitions filed to allow townhouse developments at 202 and 210 16th Street and at 1002 19th Street asked for relief from the minimum width requirement created by the drafting change.
Al Cabiness, representing applicants in both cases, told the board the miswritten provision “forces you into a very, very shallow townhouse” and that the development plans meet the ordinance as it was intended to read. City staff said they are preparing a formal code update to correct the text and that the amendment will proceed through the Planning & Zoning Commission and city council in the coming weeks; meanwhile, the board granted the requested variances so the developments could proceed.
Both petitions were approved without public opposition and with board members noting the pending city code correction.
The decisions allow the developers to move forward under the variances; staff said the code update process may make the variances unnecessary for future applications once the ordinance text is corrected.
