Clawson Zoning Board approves rear-setback variance for Renshaw's Lounge

The Clawson Zoning Board of Appeals on Oct. 16 approved a variance to permit a rear addition and an extended covered patio at Renshaw’s Lounge, 210 East 14 Mile Road. The board voted 3-0 to allow a proposed canopy with an approximate 10-foot rear setback and a small 84-square-foot interior storage “notch” with a 25-foot setback, both shorter than the 30-foot rear setback required by the city’s CMD (central mixed use) district.

The variance permits the restaurant to add a 124-square-foot canopy that will cover an existing patio and a roughly 84-square-foot interior storage area, the city planner said. Approval came after a public hearing in which a nearby resident raised noise concerns but offered no formal opposition to the variance.

The approval matters because the property was rezoned from a city center district to the CMD district in 2018, which introduced…