Staff recommends approval of variance at 1160 Victoria Street after plan revisions; neighbors raise specimen‑tree concerns

Summary

Planning staff told the Brookhaven work session that a variance to increase impervious coverage at 1160 Victoria Street can be approved after plan revisions avoided root‑plate encroachment on a specimen tree; neighbors and staff debated buffer enforcement, tree protection and whether an existing entitlement makes the development inevitable.

Unidentified Speaker 3, a planning staff member, told the work session that the applicant for 1160 Victoria Street originally sought two variances — raising maximum impervious coverage from 35% to 44.96% to construct a covered deck, and reducing a side‑yard setback — but revised plans removed the need for the setback reduction. “This is a variance at 1160 Victoria Street. They originally requested 2 variances,” Speaker 3 said, explaining that the initial plan showed encroachment into a specimen tree’s structural root plate and that staff asked the applicant to revise the plan to avoid removing the tree.

Why it matters: the property is undersized for the zoning district (about 6,000 sq ft versus a 10,000 sq ft requirement cited by staff), so the variance petition is central to allowing the proposed building configuration. Staff recommended approval of the remaining…

Staff recommends approval of variance at 1160 Victoria Street after plan revisions; neighbors raise specimen‑tree concerns

Summary

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