Planning commission approves variance for 72-sq-ft shed at 70 High Meadow Drive with screening condition

The Gahanna Planning Commission approved variance application V-0001-2025 to allow a 72-square-foot accessory shed at 70 High Meadow Drive to be sited to the side of the principal structure and one foot into the standard five-foot side-yard setback.

Planning staff described the lot as sloped and partly within a 500-year flood plain; staff recommended approval because flooding and slope limit viable rear-yard locations. The proposed shed would sit roughly 45 feet from the front property line and 4 feet from the east property line; the applicant said an existing concrete pad adjacent to the house provides the preferred location because the rear yard floods. Staff noted the applicant provided photos documenting flooding in 2015, 2019 and 2024.

Applicant Andrew Wallenmeyer told the commission the backyard has a roughly 45-degree slope and that flooding previously damaged a play structure, saying the 2019 incident produced about $600 in damage. “I would hate to put a structure down there that, to get damaged,” Wallenmeyer said, explaining the pad adjacent to the garage is less prone to flood damage and offers easier access for children's bikes.

Commissioner Shepaca moved to approve the variance with the condition that landscape screening be installed between the shed and the road; Commissioner Seriano seconded. The motion passed: Shepaca, Seriano, Mako, Poillier, Tamarkin and Greenberg voted yes; Hicks abstained due to a conflict of interest. The commission noted the shed would be anchored to the existing concrete slab and that the applicant would not include a permanent ramp in the variance.

The approval allows the shed to be constructed on the existing concrete pad with a condition for screening. Staff and the commission cited rear-yard flooding and lot slope as the primary justifications for granting the variance.

The applicant may proceed under the city's conditions and permitting requirements.