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Buncombe County Board of Adjustment grants variance to Gonzales for front-yard setback
Summary
The board approved a variance allowing Jorge Antonio Gonzales to keep a mobile home placed at 0-foot front-yard setback after staff confirmed a county site-plan error permitted the placement.
The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment on a unanimous vote approved a variance that reduces a front-yard setback to 0 feet for property owner Jorge Antonio Gonzales, allowing an already-placed mobile home to remain where it sits.
Planning coordinator Savannah Glantz told the board the item, filed as ZPH2025-00017, involves a 0.37-acre property at 2 Hazelwood Road in Asheville and that the home was placed after a county site plan review approved incorrect setbacks. “To no fault of the applicant, a county site plan review approved the plans with the incorrect setbacks for the zoning district and allowed the applicant to move forward with the pulling of a building permit,” Glantz said.
The variance request was the product of the board’s review of the petitioner’s application, submitted site plan, GIS map and the staff report. During the hearing Gonzales said he followed county directions and obtained permits before siting the mobile home. “I bought a piece of property, put a mobile home on it, went through all the permitting, zoning, was approved on both, the permits and the zoning,” Gonzales said.
Board members discussed whether the error was attributable to the county and the effect on the property owner. One board member noted similar county errors had occurred “2 or 3 times over the years,” and that enforcing the ordinance strictly would impose an undue burden on the owner. After deliberation a board member moved findings of fact and conclusions of law referencing Buncombe County Code and the standards for variances. The board then approved a motion to grant the variance and instructed staff to draft an order consistent with the motion for the chair’s signature.
The order adopted by the board cites Buncombe County Code sections used in the hearing and states the board concluded an unnecessary hardship would result from strict application of the ordinance and that the hardship did not result from actions by the applicant. The minutes record the motion passed; the board directed staff to prepare the written order reflecting that motion.
The board accepted the applicant’s testimony and the staff-submitted site plan into the record and indicated there were no additional conditions attached to the variance.
The approval resolves the immediate siting question for Gonzales’ property. Staff will prepare a final order for the chair’s signature and place it into the public record.
