Board of Zoning Appeals grants 5.42-foot variance for 1420 West Lincoln over neighbor objections

The Birmingham City Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to grant a 5.42-foot combined side-yard variance for a new home at 1420 West Lincoln, allowing construction that would not meet the ordinance’s usual setback requirement.

City presenter Andrew Erickson told the board the ordinance requires a minimum combined side-yard setback of 14 feet or 25 percent of lot width; for this lot the required combined setback was 68.25 feet while the proposed total is 62.83 feet, producing the 5.42-foot variance request. Erickson said the project is for a new home with an attached garage on a corner lot.

The applicant’s representative, Rick Ratner, said the property’s irregular, trapezoidal shape and steep grades significantly limit where a house can be placed. Ratner said the design team arrived at a home that uses about 20 percent lot coverage in a district where 30 percent is allowed and argued the difficulty stems from the lot’s natural shape and topography, not from the applicant’s choices: “It’s the shape of the lot, the size of the lot, the topography of the lot,” Ratner said, asking that the variance be tied to the submitted plans.

Neighbors urged denial. Sarah Dodge, who said she lives at 1370 West Lincoln opposite the site, said she opposed the variance, asked whether the adjacent lot might later be sold and also questioned whether the proposed house could be built without variances. “I don’t want him to get the variance,” Dodge said. Long-term neighbor Richard Shearer, who said he has lived at 1431 West Lincoln since 1957, criticized recent replacement homes as “spec homes” and called the changes “a monument to wretched excess,” urging the board to protect neighborhood character.

Board members repeatedly referred to the legal standards for variances rather than aesthetics. A presiding board member said the panel evaluates special conditions, unnecessary hardship from strict enforcement, conflicts with the spirit of the ordinance, public health and safety, and whether granting relief results in substantial justice. Several board members — including mover Ron Kona and supporters who tied their votes to the submitted plans — emphasized the lot’s unusual geometry and steep grades and described the requested 5.42-foot relief as minimal in context.

In a roll-call vote, Ron Kona, Ron Miller, Ron Reddy, Jason Cavison and Kevin Hart each voted yes, and the variance was approved 5-0.

The board tied approval to the plans presented to the city; applicants were told they may proceed under those plans.