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Rogers buildable-area variance for West May Road continued for site visit and revised driveway plan
Summary
Monroe County’s Board of Zoning Appeals continued a Rogers family petition for a buildable-area variance after staff identified a proposed driveway alignment that would cross an intermittent riparian area and slopes measured as steep as 36 percent.
The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals continued a petition from the Rogers family for a buildable-area variance that would have allowed a proposed single-family home driveway to cross a mapped riparian area and an area of slope greater than 25 percent.
Planning staff recommended denial, saying there is buildable land on the parcel closer to the road where a single-family house could be placed without crossing riparian features or steep slopes. The petitioner asked to place the primary residence toward the rear of the parcel for privacy and to situate a second structure near the road; staff’s objection centered on the proposed driveway, which would traverse an area shown in the county’s maps as over 25 percent slope and cross an intermittent stream or riparian corridor.
The petitioner, Daniel Rogers, told the board the rear location is substantially flatter for a house platform and that family members planned housing there; he said the driveway could be routed as a curved approach and that a civil engineer could show how the gradient would be made safe. Easting that, planning staff noted that the existing submission showed a straight driveway alignment crossing a very steep section — GIS-based slope mapping measured the steep portion at about 36 percent over a 50-foot run — well above the ordinance’s 25 percent limit for drive and land disturbance set in Chapter 8-13.
Board members agreed the record was incomplete on the driveway design and approved a continuance to allow the applicants to draft a revised driveway alignment and for board members to conduct a site visit. The motion to continue to the board’s next meeting (March 5, 2025) passed unanimously.
Votes at a glance - VAR-25-2 (Rogers buildable-area / riparian and 25% slope variance): Continued to March 5, 2025 (unanimous).
Why it matters: The board signaled that steep-slope restrictions are a substantive technical threshold for land disturbance and that applicants should present a specific engineered approach when requesting variances that would allow driveway or access work across mapped riparian corridors or steep slopes.
What’s next: The Rogerses will prepare a revised driveway concept (ideally with engineer input) and the county will schedule a site visit for the board; the case will be re-listed for the March hearing.
