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BZA approves frontage relief but denies three-foot height variance for InvestWise building at Woodward gateway
Summary
The board granted frontage relief for a new InvestWise office at 36977 Woodward but denied a requested 3-foot height variance for a rooftop conservatory, splitting the motion 4–3 after extended debate about ordinance interpretation, aesthetic prominence and engineering substantiation.
The Birmingham Board of Zoning Appeals voted Wednesday to approve a street-frontage variance but denied a separate three‑foot height variance for a proposed InvestWise office building at 36977 Woodward, after extended testimony and technical questioning about roof height, eave lines and mechanical needs.
City planner Summer Aldred Ahrens told the board the project is proposed for a vacant, oddly shaped corner lot at Horton and Woodward and that the applicant’s current design places the building frontage where necessary to accommodate a drive aisle and required parking. She summarized the two variance requests: (a) relief from the ordinance’s façade/street-frontage standard — the applicant’s façade occupies roughly 96.1 feet of frontage, yielding a requested variance…
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