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Board approves variance for 38-foot deck in expanded buffer; staff to record planting agreement
Summary
The Board of Appeals unanimously approved VAAP 08-1132 allowing a 38.2-foot-by-10-foot deck (382 sq ft) to be constructed in the expanded critical-area buffer where hydric soils prompted buffer expansion; the Critical Area Commission did not oppose, and staff required 3:1 mitigation to be recorded in a critical-area planting agreement.
The St. Mary's County Board of Appeals on Nov. 20, 2008 approved a variance (VAAP 08-1132) allowing property owner Jeffrey Earl Fisher to build a 38.2-foot-by-10-foot (382-square-foot) elevated deck within an expanded critical-area buffer created because of adjacent hydric soils and non-tidal wetlands.
Surveyor Jerry Nuckelby, representing the owner, told the board the rear yards in the subdivision commonly have decks and that the subject lot is largely grassed yard. Nuckelby said construction disturbance would be limited to placing deck footings and that the applicant did not plan to remove trees or shrubs. The Maryland Critical Area Commission reviewed the plan and did not oppose granting the variance; the commission does not consider a wood deck with spaced boards to be lot coverage or impervious surface if water passes through.
Initial staff recommendations had proposed limiting the length to reduce the disturbance, but staff clarified at the hearing — after reviewing the Critical Area Commission guidance and the site conditions — that it did not object to the full 38.2-foot length and that required mitigation would be set at the standard 3:1 planting ratio. The board voted to approve the variance subject to adherence to the critical-area planting/mitigation agreement and other standard buffer-management conditions. Staff will prepare and sign the board order within 60 days; the order can be appealed to circuit court within 30 days of signing.
The deck will be elevated roughly 7.4 to 9 feet above the ground at varying points, which staff and board members noted reduces the footprint impact and allows plantings beneath the structure if desired. The board accepted staff’s finding of fact and granted the variance unanimously.
