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Homewood zoning board denies setback variance for 208 Raleigh Avenue addition
Summary
The Homewood City Zoning Board voted 3-2 to deny a variance request for a bathroom addition at 208 Raleigh Avenue because the request did not receive the four affirmative votes required for approval.
The Homewood City Zoning Board denied a setback variance for 208 Raleigh Avenue on a 3-2 vote, preventing the owner from building a bathroom addition that would extend from an existing nonconforming wall.
The decision matters because the board requires four affirmative votes to approve a variance; the motion to approve did not meet that threshold. The applicant, Russ Gurley, had asked to extend an existing exterior wall that sits 8.8 feet from the neighboring property line, short of the 10-foot setback the board enforces.
Gurley, the owner at 208 Raleigh Avenue, described the project during the public hearing. "We're adding a bathroom on to one of the back part of the house," he said, and noted the existing wall is 8.8 feet from the neighbor. He told the board the proposed bathroom would "go right beside the deck" and that making the addition comply with a 10-foot setback would require removing part of the deck and would reduce the bathroom’s usable area. Gurley said he and his family bought the house "maybe 3 or 4 years ago."
A city planning staff member told the board they could not find a prior variance on file and characterized the existing condition as an "existing nonconforming" situation: "I don't think that there was a variance approved. Based on our records, I couldn't—I never found a previous variance," the staff member said.
Board members questioned alternatives to the proposed design, including narrowing the bathroom or altering the deck. Gurley said shrinking the room would remove roughly 16 square feet of usable space and that keeping the addition aligned with the existing exterior wall would be easier for roof and HVAC work. He also said the air-conditioner would be relocated a short distance as part of the project.
A board member moved to approve the case (identified in the meeting as SV25-01-01, 208 Raleigh Avenue); another board member seconded the motion. The motion failed when it received three affirmative votes and two negative votes. The chair explained the board needs four affirmative votes to grant a variance, and because that threshold was not met the request was denied.
After the vote, the board told Gurley he could meet with planning staff to review the decision and possible next steps. The meeting record shows the Edgewood case had been removed from this month's agenda and that the board deferred nominations for chair and vice chair to the March meeting.
