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Board approves 8-foot grade-change variance for Meadow Lane rebuild and pool
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals granted a variance allowing up to an eight-foot grade change for a replacement house and pool at 11416 Meadow Lane, subject to standard stormwater and public-works approvals.
The Leawood Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday approved a variance permitting an eight-foot grade change for a proposed replacement home and pool at 11416 Meadow Lane.
Theresa Curtis, an architect with NSPJ Architects representing homeowners Mark and Christina Dimitri, told the board the existing house (built 1999) is being replaced to accommodate aging-in-place features including a ground-floor primary suite and an elevator. Curtis said the project needs the grade-change variance to provide an accessible outdoor living space adjacent to the ground-floor primary suite. "...part of the issue here is the, and we'll get that diagram back ... the areas under consideration with grade change beyond 1 foot are a little bit of the area where we're reconfiguring the drive, and so how as it meets the curb, as well as the pool deck, which is the primary area for that quantity of grade change," Curtis said.
Staff told the board that any permit issued after an approval would still have to meet Public Works stormwater requirements; one staff member read aloud that a public-works approval and submitted engineering letters are in the packet and that an engineer (Todd Thalman) was on Zoom if questions arose. "To obtain a permit once they're passed, they would have to get through public works approval," staff said.
Curtis and the project team emphasized several factors supporting the variance: the lot is irregular at the end of a cul-de-sac, it has limited buildable area because of a gas easement, the property backs to a golf course producing specific view and setback constraints, and the existing site has roughly 9–9.5 feet of grade change that the new design must address. The proposed design reduces some features (the new pool is smaller than the current design) and the project team said they do not expect the build to increase drainage impacts; staff indicated Public Works had taken no exceptions in an initial review but must review final permit submittals.
Board members voted through the five variance criteria (uniqueness, rights of adjacent owners, hardship, public safety/general welfare, and spirit and intent) and recorded affirmative findings for each. A motion to approve the variance under LDO Section 16-2-5.4(G) in the RP-1 district carried. Board members and staff reiterated the importance of meeting stormwater and drainage requirements during construction.
The approval allows the homeowners to proceed to the permitting stage but does not remove the requirement for Public Works and stormwater approvals as part of final permitting.
