Zoning board approves reduced front setback for 11222 Schwartz Drive

The Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment on May 7 approved a special exception allowing the property at 11222 Schwartz Drive to reduce its required front yard setback from 20 feet to 16 feet to accommodate exterior stairs and a landing.

The exception was approved after staff reported that adjacent lots on the north side of Schwartz Drive already have shorter front setbacks, including 11220 Schwartz Drive which received a board exception on Feb. 5, 2025. Staff said 24 public notices were mailed for the case, two were returned (one in favor, one in opposition), and no city departments or private utilities objected.

Donna, planning staff, told the board the request is an exception under the Galveston Land Development Regulations (LDRs) and is supported by surrounding lot conditions. She noted that 11220 Schwartz Drive has a 16-foot setback and that nearby lots at 11216 and 11214 have front setbacks of 4 feet and 11 feet respectively. The applicant’s submittal included a site plan showing the proposed 16-foot setback for the subject property, which is currently under construction.

Applicant David K. Brown said construction began after the lot’s reduced size created constraints. Brown described that the State Highway Department had taken 15 feet off the back of several lots on that side of Schwartz Drive, reducing the lot from the neighborhood’s typical ~3,100 square feet to about 2,642 square feet on the subject parcel. Brown said that, combined with elevation and headroom code requirements, “there was not a way to get the stairs to come from underneath the house, meet code for headroom requirements… and then still have enough room to land the stairs on the upper balcony,” so the stairs otherwise would have ended immediately at the front door and created a safety concern.

A board member asked whether the exception rule applies only when an adjacent lot does not meet the front-yard requirement; staff confirmed the rule centers on adjacent setbacks and pointed to the 11220 property as the relevant neighbor that is out of compliance. No members of the public spoke on the case.

A motion to approve the applicant’s request — finding it would not adversely affect adjacent property or the public interest — was made and seconded. A commissioner noted on the record that the board could only consider the exception because the adjoining lot already had been granted relief. The board voted to approve the exception; the final vote tally was not recorded in the hearing transcript.

The approved exception allows the stairs and landing to sit at a 16-foot front setback rather than the 20 feet required by the LDR. The staff report and the applicant’s site plan were entered into the public record as exhibits.