Board approves Berwyn Road variance; Club Road case postponed to March 5 work session

Upper Arlington’s Board of Zoning and Planning approved a variance on Feb. 5 allowing a one‑story addition at a Berwyn Road property that will alter setback and coverage requirements, and separately postponed a Club Road variance to the board’s March 5 work session.

After hearing staff and applicant testimony, the board voted to approve “variance application 0525” to permit a one‑story addition that will attach to an existing garage, reduce the side‑yard long‑wall setback encroachment to about 2 feet 5 inches (from a larger initial encroachment), and increase building coverage from about 29% to 31%. The motion as read at the meeting asked the board to adopt findings 3 and 4 supporting approval. The board approved the motion by voice vote; members answered “aye,” and the chair said the motion carried.

Staff had presented three design options. The original plan required five separate variances because attaching the existing detached garage would make it subject to current side, rear and long‑wall setback rules and increase coverage. The applicant later proposed an alternate “option 2” that preserves the detached character by using an open porch roof connection; that approach reduced the number of required variances to two (a smaller long‑wall encroachment and the increase in building coverage). The board said it was leaning toward option 2 during deliberations, and the applicant signaled they would accept that direction.

The two applicants who spoke under oath — who identified themselves as “I've been Calhoun” of 2587 Berwyn Road and Brenda Parker of 930 Northwest Boulevard — said the goal of the addition was to add a first‑floor bedroom and mudroom to allow aging‑in‑place, and to encourage more frequent use of the garage for safety and convenience. “We want that solely for garage,” one applicant said, adding the intent was not to convert the structure to living space; board members noted the city lacks a reliable mechanism to enforce a condition that forbids future conversion.

Separately, the board postponed Variance Application 6324 (noted at the meeting as 6325 in a correction) for 2248 Club Road to the March 5 work session to allow staff and the applicant additional time to provide materials.

Votes at a glance • Variance Application 0525 (Berwyn Road) — Motion to approve variance application 0525 to permit a one‑story addition attaching to an existing garage, with an encroachment into the side‑yard long‑wall setback of approximately 2 feet 5 inches and building coverage increasing from ~29% to 31%. Approved by voice vote; mover/second not specified in record. • Variance Application 6324/6325 (2248 Club Road) — Motion to postpone to the March 5 Board of Zoning and Planning work session. Approved by voice vote.

The board gave staff and the applicants procedural follow‑up instructions: staff will email next steps to the Berwyn applicants and the applicant for the Club Road case will supply additional materials before the March 5 work session.