BZA approves Town & Country Veterinary sidewalk waiver after debate over tree, sign and cost

The Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals voted 5‑0 to approve a sidewalk variance for Town & Country Veterinary Clinic, allowing the clinic to expand without installing an estimated 160‑foot sidewalk required by Chapter 8‑18 of the Monroe County Development Ordinance.

Planner Daniel Brown told the board the site meets the ordinary triggers for sidewalks under the county ordinance. Petitioner Casey Shaake, owner and veterinarian at Town & Country Veterinary Clinic, said a sidewalk would bisect the site, conflict with an established business sign and lighting, remove landscape plantings and require cutting roots of a mature maple he estimated to be greater than 120 years old. Shaake provided contractor estimates: about $6,500 to pour the sidewalk itself and roughly $15,000–$20,000 in additional costs to remove the tree, relocate the sign and related electrical work. He said the sidewalk would dead‑end at the property line because the county lacks connected right‑of‑way along that section of North Smith Pike.

Highway engineer Paul Satterley had earlier urged sidewalks wherever feasible along Smith Pike, saying prior developments have installed short sections and that Smith Pike is a pedestrian corridor, but he did not provide pedestrian‑count data. Board members pressed the petitioner about alternate layouts and drainage. Shaake said moving the sidewalk closer to the roadway would intrude on the existing drainage and utilities and moving it toward the street would eliminate parking spaces.

In deliberations board members noted competing public interests: the county’s long‑term plan supporting sidewalks versus the practical hardship to an existing small business of removing a century‑old tree and paying for sign relocation. The board concluded the petitioner demonstrated practical difficulties and approved the variance to Chapter 8‑18 (sidewalk requirement) by voice vote 5‑0.

Action and next steps: The variance allows the clinic addition to proceed without the sidewalk; any required building permits and site‑plan steps remain subject to staff review.