Hinsdale ZBA approves setback variance for three homes at 501–507 S. County Line

The Hinsdale Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 17 approved variance B-02-2025, permitting a 100-foot front-yard setback for three proposed homes at 501, 505 and 507 South County Line Road. The vote was unanimous.

The applicant’s representative, John Green, civil engineer and president of Engineering Resource Associates, told the board the request responds to a unique physical condition created by a previously existing estate home that occupied the footprint of multiple platted lots. Green said the prior house established an unusually deep average front setback on the block and that rebuilding three homes oriented toward County Line Road with a 100-foot setback would make the lots' front and back yards consistent with neighboring properties.

Green said the demolished estate had a roughly 142-foot setback and that applying the block-average method across adjacent blocks would yield an average closer to 92 feet, while the homes immediately north of the site average about 103 feet. He said the petition seeks about 42 feet of relief from the old house’s setback to permit what he described as "a balanced approach" for front and rear yards on the three lots. The proposal would build one house on each of the three zoning lots of record with drive access shown away from South County Line Road for two lots and a circular drive on the middle lot.

Board members questioned whether the condition was "self-created," since the applicant proposes to develop the property into three homes. The applicant’s counsel and the applicant’s representative told the board the underlying zoning lots already existed and that the unusual setback was created by the prior house, not by the current owner. Board members said they accepted that rationale and noted the village's previous guidance that a decision on a variance in one case does not bind future decisions in other cases.

Members also discussed practical effects if the variance were denied. One member noted the lots are approximately 300 feet deep and said enforcing the larger setback would place nearly half of each lot in a front-yard setback, leaving limited usable backyard space. Board members said the proposed 100-foot setback would allow rear-yard areas suitable for pools, gardens and outdoor living without changing the number of homes on the property.

The board held a public hearing, heard the applicant’s presentation, asked questions and then closed the hearing. A motion to approve the variance carried on a roll-call vote in which Member Moberly, Member O'Brien, Member Neiman, Member Murphy, Member Lee, Member Padliska and Chairman Giltner each voted yes (7–0). No conditions or amendments were recorded in the transcript.

The approval allows the three homes to be sited with a 100-foot front-yard setback along South County Line Road; other zoning standards (lot coverage, utilities, stormwater) were discussed by the applicant as unchanged by the variance request. No further implementation directions or deadlines were recorded in the meeting transcript.