St. Mary’s County Board of Appeals approves variance to allow handicap-access work at two-house property in critical-area buffer

The St. Mary’s County Board of Appeals on March 17 approved variances allowing work within the critical-area buffer and an increase in lot coverage at a two-house parcel on Morgan Brothers Road in Mechanicsville, finding the requests met the county’s variance standards. The board attached a condition that the small roof extension on a waterside porch be removed.

The variances (VAAP 20-1047 and VAAP 20-1048) allow disturbance of the 100-foot critical-area buffer for porches and handicap ramps and an exception to section 41.5.3.i of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to exceed the county’s 15% overall lot-coverage limit for the property, which the county packet shows as 1.69 acres.

Why it matters: The property owners said they relied on a 2015 site plan and related permit that miscalculated existing lot coverage; the mistake became evident only when the new owners sought permits to make accessibility improvements for an elderly, wheelchair-bound family member. The board’s approval balances the owners’ stated need to provide an accessible living space with mitigation and a narrow condition intended to…