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Board approves 995-sq.-ft. secondary dwelling at 3854 Washington Boulevard with recorded restriction
Summary
The board granted a variance allowing a 995-square-foot second dwelling at 3854 Washington Boulevard (Timothy and Carissa Funston) subject to a commitment that the secondary unit not be subdivided or sold separately and other recorded restrictions.
Timothy Funston, owner of 3854 Washington Boulevard in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood, petitioned for a variance to allow a 995-square-foot second primary dwelling (a carriage house) on a lot that permits only one primary dwelling by right.
Petitioner testimony and supporting letters described the carriage house as constructed circa February 2001 and as part of the property when the petitioners bought it. Joseph Lisi, Land Use Committee chair for the Meridian Kessler Neighborhood Association, testified the neighborhood land-use committee and the association’s board unanimously supported the request and characterized the structure as historically treated as a secondary dwelling in similar cases.
Staff reviewed ordinance history and advised the board that secondary dwellings were not permitted prior to April 2016 and that the ordinance has been consistently interpreted to cap accessory/secondary dwelling units at 720 square feet. Staff argued a 995-square-foot unit exceeds that cut-off, shifts the classification from accessory to a separate primary use, and raised concerns about future division or replatting that could create two independent lots. Staff recommended denial, saying the petitioner had not demonstrated the statutory hardship necessary for a use variance.
Board members questioned square-foot calculations, stairway inclusions, parking, and the potential for future subdivision. Petitioner agreed to a recorded commitment, read into the record and accepted by the petitioner, that the carriage house would not be subdivided or sold separately from the primary dwelling; the petitioner also said covered parking would be made available to the secondary unit’s occupant.
The board voted to grant the use variance for case 2025-UV-1-001 subject to the recorded commitment (vote: 5-0). The commitment limits future platting, subdivision, and separate sale of the carriage house and requires the restriction be recorded with the deed.
Why it matters: The decision allows a larger-than-typical secondary dwelling in a neighborhood where the unit size limit has been a consistent administrative standard (720 sq. ft.). The recorded commitment aims to limit long-term land-division consequences and provides a template for how the board may allow larger secondary units while preserving tools to minimize subdivision risk.
