Leavenworth County Board of Zoning Appeals grants variance for driveway spacing on high-traffic collector (DEV-25-077)

The Leavenworth County Board of Zoning Appeals granted a variance to the county's residential entrance spacing requirement (Article 41, Section 6, Exhibit B) for case DEV-25-077, allowing an existing driveway to continue to serve a newly created parcel despite falling approximately 90 feet short of the 660-foot spacing standard for high-collector roads. The board approved the variance on a 7-0 roll call.

Planning staff explained the subject parcel is on 200 and Seventh Street, a high-collector arterial where the county's access management policy requires 660 feet between residential driveways. During the proposed two-parcel split, staff found an existing entrance classified as an agricultural field entrance that would need to meet the residential spacing requirement if the split is approved. The applicant, represented by Joe Herring of Herring's Surveying, said the driveway has been in place since the early 1990s, that a mobile home had been on the site for about 12 years, and that a power pole with a transformer serves the property.

During discussion board members noted the driveway pre-dates the county's 2020 access management policy and that denying the variance could leave a 20-acre parcel without practical driveway access or force the owners to bear the cost of a new entrance. The board found the variance criteria had been met and voted to approve the request; the approval is final unless appealed to district court.