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Board grants setback and driveway-width variances for Wright Drive property despite neighbor concerns
Summary
The Board approved variances for Kenneth Fields at 7144 Wright Drive to allow a 0-foot front-yard setback and expand a commercial access drive beyond the 40-foot code limit to address existing site conditions and future tree/ timber uses, with a 4–2 vote after extensive questioning about right-of-way, road wear, outdoor storage and enforcement.
Kenneth Fields told the Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 19 that his 12-acre parcel at 7144 Wright Drive has a history of a burned house, fill work and a pole barn; he asked to legalize existing conditions and allow a change of use to a tree/ timber operation that could include a sawmill and Christmas-tree production on a small portion of the site.
Area Plan Commission staff said the applicant had existing conditions that appeared to violate front-yard setback requirements and that the site plan did not match the recorded right-of-way; staff also advised the board that outdoor storage and equipment related to a construction business are not permitted without an 8-foot opaque fence and additional site approval. Board members probed the record, asking why heavy equipment and gravel had been placed on the parcel, how long violations had existed, and whether commercial trucks could safely access the 12-foot blacktop lane serving the property.
Fields said he did not currently run a business from the residential lot but had been accumulating equipment for many years and planned to operate under KF Farms or a related LLC; he described plans to clear and manage two acres initially and estimated future yields in very approximate terms. Staff and board members emphasized that outdoor storage tied to a construction business is not allowed under current zoning and that any future storage for tree-farm uses would require an 8-foot opaque fence and site approval.
After discussion and with no remonstrators present at the hearing, the board moved and approved the requested variances (relaxation of the maximum commercial access drive width and front-yard setback) by a roll-call vote of 4 yes and 2 no. The motion notes that approval addresses existing nonconforming conditions but leaves site-enforcement expectations and potential fencing/ screening obligations to staff and subsequent site review.
