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Board grants lot-depth and area variances to resolve garage encroachment at 2421 and 2425 60 Eighth Street
Summary
The zoning board approved variances to reduce required lot depth and area for two adjoining parcels at 2421 and 2425 60 Eighth Street so a garage that encroaches on the common property line will sit wholly within a reconfigured lot; applicants said the configuration dates to post-Hurricane Ike construction.
The Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment on May 7 granted variances to reduce minimum lot area and lot depth for two adjoining parcels at 2421 and 2425 60 Eighth Street to resolve a garage that encroaches on the common property line.
Donna, planning staff, said 19 public notices were mailed; two were returned (one in favor, one no comment). The northern lot currently contains a single-family residence; the southern lot contains a residence with an attached garage that encroaches slightly over the existing property line. The applicant proposes a replat that would adjust the common boundary so the garage sits entirely on a single parcel, but because the replat creates two new lots that do not fully meet the R-1 lot dimension standards, variances are required.
Staff summarized the requested variances, describing approximately a 699-square-foot variance requested for proposed Tract A, a 17.15-foot variance in lot depth measurement for one lot, and a 1.13-foot variance required for lot depth on the southern parcel. Staff noted the odd-shaped lots result from an alley that parallels and curves near Stuart Road and that the existing configuration has long been nonconforming.
Architect and applicant representative Brax Easterwood said the owners have held both properties for many years and that a garage was built between the properties after Hurricane Ike. Owner Rodney Rees told the board he is 90 years old and wants the parcels separated clearly so that future sales or estate planning are not encumbered by the encroachment. Rees described the concrete bulkhead supporting the garage and said the bulkhead meets city requirements when installed.
A motion to approve the variances found the situation unique, that strict enforcement would impose an unnecessary hardship, and that the relief requested was the minimum needed to correct the lot configuration. The motion was seconded and adopted; the board directed staff to record the decision and allow the replat/variance to proceed under the conditions articulated in the staff report.
The variances will allow the owner to reconfigure the lot lines so the garage and bulkhead sit on a single parcel; staff will file the decision in the public record and proceed with permit/platting steps per city procedure.
