Clay County Board of Adjustment approves 5-foot side setback for lake lot

The Clay County Board of Adjustment on March 7, 2025, voted 5-0 to approve a variance allowing property owner Christopher Moody to reduce a required 20-foot side setback to 5 feet for Lot 31 in a 1967 plat on the northeast side of Gatorbone Road.

County staff presented the application as BOA25-0003 and recommended denial. Jenny Breil, identified in the hearing as “chief for Clay County,” told the board that the lot is zoned AR, is 1.03 acres and vested by the 1967 plat, and that the AR district requires a 20-foot side setback. Breil said the granting of a variance would "confer on the applicant a privilege denied to other properties in the AR zoning district" and "may impose a hardship on the adjacent Homestead property, to the north," and that staff therefore "does recommend denial of the request to allow the setback reduction in the AR zoning district."

Christopher Moody, the applicant, said he bought the parcel in February 2025 and that surrounding homes on the same plat sit within 5 to 7 feet of property lines. "I wanna be 5 foot off of this property line and have 20 foot access down my left side of my house so I could put a 45 foot house on the lot," Moody said, adding he wants access to the lake for a boat and trailer. Moody told the board many nearby houses were built before the current setback ordinance and said he provided photographs of adjacent homes.

Board members asked whether the applicant sought a reduction on one side only; Moody said the request is for one side of the lot (the south/southeast side when facing the lot from the street). After brief discussion the board member identified in the record as making the motion moved to approve the variance "as submitted," a second was recorded, and the board voted unanimously in favor. The record shows the board approved the reduction to a 5-foot side setback by a 5-0 vote.

Breil told the board she checked county code and noted the setback ordinance has been in effect since 1993; she also said no other variances were found for lots in that plat. The staff report, included in the record, described the lot as approximately 1.03 acres and said other lots on the plat "have complied with the required setback." The staff report also noted the property is in the AR zoning district, where development ordinarily requires a 10-acre minimum except for vested lots of record created before current rules.

The board concluded the matter without further conditions recorded in the public minutes. The meeting agenda noted one item for the next month: an application concerning a shed.