Fishers zoning board allows home-occupation parking for landscaping company, approves driveway variance with engineering review

The Fishers Board of Zoning Appeals approved a land-use variance allowing a landscaping company to store five commercial vehicles and five trailers at a residence on East 120th Street and approved a related development-standards variance with conditions and an engineering review. The board also approved an administrative update to hearing rules.

The approval matters because the property sits adjacent to a planned roundabout and a neighborhood elementary school; neighbors and school staff said they want the business to continue if it can operate safely, while city engineering and planning staff expressed concerns about driveway width, sight lines and a septic field on the parcel.

Attorney Jeff Heintzeman, representing the property owner identified in the hearing materials as Nocturne (also referred to during the meeting by the name Nathan), told the board the owner seeks two variances: “a land use variance and a development standards variance.” He described the request as legalizing an existing in-home landscaping business and allowing five vehicles and five trailers to be stored behind an accessory structure rather than in front of the house. Heintzeman said the owner planned to pave the approved storage area and to preserve most of the trees along the southern property line.

City staff set out the legal framework and the staff recommendations. Christie Cashman, planner with the City of Fishers Planning Department, described the land-use request as seeking relief from section 5.7.0.2.c of the Unified Development Ordinance to permit the larger home-occupation parking count and the development-standards request as relief from UDO section 6.4.0.3 to allow a wider driveway entrance than ordinarily permitted in R2 residential zoning. Cashman said staff would support a smaller curb cut than the petitioner requested—up to 36 feet—while recommending conditions to control the paved area, screening and preservation of the southern tree line.

Hansette Menke, Fishers director of engineering, said the city’s principal concern is the planned roundabout adjacent to the property. “The logic behind a lot of the decisions that engineering has made is for the safety and the operational integrity of the roundabout,” she said, explaining that driveways within a roundabout envelope are generally limited and that engineering prefers a single access point to the parcel.

Public testimony was overwhelmingly supportive of the petitioner. Hoosier Road Elementary physical-education teacher Carissa Mayle said she was unaware of problems from the business and that staff there has benefited from help the owner provided: “I did not know that there was a landscape company, until I needed some wheelbarrows,” she told the board. Neighbors and nearby business customers likewise urged the board not to force the business to relocate; several called the owner a longtime, responsible neighbor.

Board discussion focused on two topics: whether to require annexation of the property into the City of Fishers as a condition of approval (a staff-recommended condition) and how wide a curb cut or driveway to allow given roundabout safety and a septic field near the house. The owner and his attorney said a 60-foot curb cut and the ability to pave an L-shaped apron or a 22-foot side drive were necessary for safe maneuvering of trucks and trailers and to preserve usable access to the homeowner’s garage. City staff and engineering said 60 feet would be wider than the city normally permits near roundabouts and that a 36-foot curb cut was their preferred compromise.

After public comment and extended discussion, the board took two linked actions on the petitioner’s requests. For the land-use variance (VA 25-4) the board voted to approve the request to allow the business and the requested vehicle counts, subject to conditions requiring that outdoor storage and paved areas be limited to the sketch approved by staff, that all storage be screened per the UDO and that tree lines on the southern edge be preserved; the board added a condition that the variance run with the current owner (i.e., expire if the owner sells the property). The motion passed with three affirmative votes and one abstention. The board’s approval requires the paved areas to stay within the staff-approved sketch; the wider curb cut shown on the petitioner’s plan remains subject to approval of the development-standards variance (VA 25-5).

On the development-standards variance (VA 25-5)—the request to allow a driveway and curb cut wider than the UDO typically allows—the board approved the petition with conditions but removed annexation as a required condition. The board’s approval requires: paving of the approved driveway/parking/storage areas consistent with staff sketches; removal of gravel outside the approved paved area; screening for outdoor storage and dumpsters in compliance with UDO section 6.10.4; preservation of the southern tree line; recording of the approval with the Hamilton County Recorder; and final design/width approval by the city engineer. The motion passed with three yes votes and one abstention. The board and staff said they expect the engineering review will be used to refine the exact curb cut and driveway configuration to address roundabout operations, sight lines and septic-field constraints.

Following those land-use items the board approved the staff-proposed update to its rules and procedures for hearings and rehearings so the order of presentations is clearly described in the hearing order. That administrative change passed on a roll call vote.

What happens next: the petitioner and city engineering staff were directed to continue discussions on driveway geometry and curb-cut approval. If engineering and the property owner cannot agree on a final curb cut/design under the conditions the board approved, the parties may return to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a final decision. Several conditions require recordation with Hamilton County, paving within the approved footprint and screening consistent with the city’s UDO.