Florence BZA grants setback variance to allow Habitat home at 418 West Sumter Street

The Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance to reduce the required front and rear setbacks so Greater Florence Habitat for Humanity can build a single-family house at 418 West Sumter Street.

City staff described the parcel as a legal lot of record roughly 62 feet deep and approximately 2,800 square feet in area in a Neighborhood Conservation-6.2 (NC-6.2) district, where the UDO requires 25-foot front setbacks and 20-foot rear setbacks. Staff said the applicant requested 15-foot front and about 10-foot rear setbacks to allow a modest single-family detached house to be placed on the small lot without creating an unusable backyard.

Travis Cooper, speaking on behalf of Greater Florence Habitat for Humanity, told the board the city donated the lot to Habitat and that the organization planned to use a development grant available for neighborhood revitalization. Cooper said similar front setbacks are common on nearby houses and that the proposed house would be consistent with the character of the block. “We appreciate the consideration for the variance,” Cooper said, and noted the project would help place a new house on a vacant parcel donated by the city.

Staff showed photographs of adjacent houses and said many existing homes along the block sit 10 to 20 feet from the front property line; staff also noted the smallest new buildable parcel in certain zoning districts is 4,400 square feet, making this lot smaller than typical new parcels but nonetheless buildable because it is a legal lot of record.

The chair moved to approve the variance, citing unnecessary hardship created by literal enforcement of the setback requirements on this small, legal lot and stating the variance would not substantially harm adjacent properties or public welfare. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote (ayes); the transcript does not record a roll-call tally.