Board approves variance for garage setback at 17233 Juliet Road

The Westfield Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance allowing a detached garage to encroach into required side and rear yard setbacks at 17233 Juliet Road.

Dane Crabtree of the Community Development Department told the board the request seeks relief to modify building setbacks, minimum lot size and minimum road frontage so an existing 1‑acre, legal nonconforming lot can be made compliant. The proposed detached garage would encroach about 13 feet into the 30‑foot minimum side yard setback and about 2 feet into the 30‑foot minimum rear yard setback. A shed currently occupies the same location and did not previously require a permit because it was under 200 square feet; staff reported no code enforcement complaints.

Contractor Vince Braun of Coach House Garages said the proposed building is approximately 20 by 20 feet (about a one‑to‑one‑and‑a‑half car size) with a single 9‑by‑7 overhead door and a service door; the footprint replaces earlier, deteriorated outbuildings and will sit just across the driveway from the house. Staff and the petitioner reported there were no emailed public comments before the meeting and no members of the public spoke at the hearing.

A motion to approve the variance (listed on the agenda as 2501‑VS‑01) with the conditions noted in the staff report carried on a roll call (unanimous of members present). The board also voted to adopt findings of fact for the approval.

The approval allows the property owner to replace the small, existing storage structure with a new accessory garage in roughly the same footprint, subject to the permit and inspection processes and the conditions in the staff report.