Commission approves variance letting HMMI place air-handling equipment at property line

The Huron City Commission, sitting as the Board of Adjustments, voted to approve a variance allowing HMMI Incorporated LLC to build an addition and place a connected air‑handling system up to the property line at 640 Arizona NW, reducing the 15‑foot setback required in the I‑2 General Industrial District to 0 feet.

City planner Ray Cranston said the proposal treats the air‑handling equipment as part of the building’s essential infrastructure and therefore eligible for the variance. "The variance... would allow horizontal machining to build up to the property line as the air handling equipment since it is considered an essential function of the building and therefore part of the infrastructure," Cranston said.

The variance approved by the Board of Adjustments covers only the setback requirement; potential abandonment or vacation of adjacent right‑of‑way — and a separate review by the planning commission — remain unresolved. Cranston said the right‑of‑way abandonment would be considered later at the planning commission and, if pursued, would come back to the commission…