Board of Adjustment approves front-yard variance for home at 2308 North Fort Thomas Avenue

FORT THOMAS, Ky. — The Fort Thomas Board of Adjustment on Wednesday approved a front-yard setback variance that will allow a detached single-family home to be built at 2308 North Fort Thomas Avenue closer to the street than current zoning permits.

The board granted the variance to permit a 20.53-foot distance from the front property line — a 19.47-foot deviation from the required setback — after hearing from the project representative and the property owners. The approval was made by roll-call vote: Carol Dixon, Chris Buecher, Randall Vogt, Randall Schultz and Chairman Bryant voted yes and the motion carried.

Builder Doug Call, owner of Call Homes, told the board the lot is unusually steep and narrow and that moving the planned house closer to the road reduces the depth of excavation and the complexity of the foundation work. "We put together a plan that tried to be as low of depth as we could stand so we could spread the house out along the frontage of the road rather than going deep into the lot," Call said.

Call said a storm sewer runs near the middle of the lot and that relocating the sewer through the sanitation district would be costly; shifting the house laterally by roughly 22 feet would meet side-yard requirements without further variances. He described geotechnical findings indicating bedrock sits approximately 4 feet below a proposed 12-foot front wall in places, which would require footers founded in bedrock or piers to meet structural requirements.

Owner Nicole Hall said she and her husband are longtime Fort Thomas residents and plan to keep building in the city: "Our children will be fourth generation. So we're really interested in this because we love this city," she said.

Before the public hearing item, the board discussed filling officer positions following the retirement of board president James Beinecke. Staff advised that elections could proceed with a quorum, but several members said they preferred to wait until the full board is present; the board postponed elections until a future meeting when more members can attend.

The board did not record any opposition during the hearing; staff noted that required notice letters were mailed to neighboring property owners and that no responses had been received. The builder said he did not personally contact the adjacent property owner and believed that residence may be an absentee-owned property.

The board also approved the April 22 meeting minutes earlier in the session and adjourned after completing the single public hearing item. No further actions or conditions were recorded for the variance beyond the formal approval.