Planning commission approves administrative variance to screen portion of deck at Cambridge property

At a Dorchester County Planning Commission meeting, commissioners voted to approve an administrative variance allowing the screening of a 426-square-foot section of an existing 1,400-square-foot deck at 5217 Heron Road in Cambridge.

The request, submitted by petitioner Jeremy Hartman, concerns work entirely within the county's mapped critical area. County critical-area staff recommended approval with conditions, including a 3:1 mitigation requirement for any permanent disturbance to the shoreline buffer and submission of a buffer management plan.

"We're replacing an aged deck with the same footprint ... we do not plan on increasing the footprint," Jeremy Hartman said, describing the proposal as a replacement rather than an expansion.

Dorchester County critical-area staff member Cassie Hoy told the commission that the administrative-variance standards were met and recommended approval on the condition that the planning director find the request satisfies each variance standard and that the applicant submit the required mitigation plan. "I would recommend approval for the administrative variance as presented given that they submit a buffer management plan with the required mitigation," Hoy said.

Commissioners added the buffer-management-plan and mitigation requirement to the motion before approving the variance by voice vote. No vote tally by name was recorded in the transcript.

The commission noted that the project will not enlarge the deck's footprint and that lot-coverage limits remain within county allowances; the applicant must meet the mitigation and site-plan conditions before final permits are issued.

The commission moved on to the next agenda item after the approval.