The Morgan County Board of Zoning Appeals on Dec. 30 approved a development-standard variance allowing an existing accessory carport to remain roughly 5 feet from the side property line at 7119 North Kivett Road.

Property owners Doug Vare and Marsha Vair told the board they installed a freestanding carport during the spring and summer to protect vehicles and said available flat building area on their wooded, hilly lot is limited. "We are surrounded by hills and woods. We have very little space of flat land to use," Marsha Vair told the board.

The application describes the carport as about 20 feet long, 18 feet deep and 10.2 feet tall and states it sits approximately 5 to 7 feet from the property line. The Unified Development Ordinance requires a 15-foot side-yard setback for the accessory structure; the applicants requested relief to allow the structure at approximately 5 feet from the line.

A neighbor, Lee Bernard, who lives at 7099 North Kivett Road, said he was not entirely opposed but believes the property line may be closer to the carport than the applicants contend, and that a 3-foot variance might be sufficient. Planning staff told the board the county property-line mapping shows the structure on the applicant’s property and identified the setback as approximately 5 feet; staff noted there was not a contemporaneous survey submitted and the county surveyor made no comment.

The county health department offered no objection and staff recommended approval, saying the site’s steep, wooded topography leaves limited options for placement and that the request meets the findings for a development-standard variance under the UDO.

A board member said, given the remonstrator’s comments, the structure still appears located on the applicant’s property and that without an exact survey it is difficult to be more precise. "To not split hairs here, my final comment is that it was approved for approximately 5 feet," the chair said before the motion carried.

A motion to approve petition D-24-21 based on the petitioner’s and staff’s findings passed by voice vote; a board member seconded and the chair announced the motion carried.