Red Oak board tables Avila Road variance after owner requests more time to revise plans

The Red Oak Zoning Board of Adjustment on Feb. 24 tabled a variance request for a property at 230 East Avila Road after the building owner asked for more time to submit corrected plans and additional variance requests.

Staff described the application as seeking a reduced front yard setback from 25 feet to 5 feet adjacent to East Avila Road and relief from street-front landscaping requirements, but the property owner, Danny Humphreys, said the packet did not reflect agreements reached in pre-submittal meetings. Humphreys told the board the necessary setback is 2 feet where the building currently sits, that placing a dumpster would remove parking and that a sign-setback variance also was needed. "The setback of allowance was not 5 feet. It was supposed to be 2 feet because that's where the building currently sits as is," Humphreys said.

Humphreys said he and his representatives (attorney Chris Bauer and engineer Jared Strobel) had expected to present a revised site plan and landscaping plan to staff before appearing on the agenda and asked the board to move the item to the next meeting so notices could be updated. A resident, Mark Blamowitz, spoke in support of Humphreys and urged the board to consider the hardship created by TxDOT’s prior road work that removed frontage parking.

Board members noted they could not amend noticed variances at the meeting without re-noticing. The board then voted to table case ZBA26-02 until the next scheduled meeting; the motion carried 4-0. Staff and the applicant said the item will return after the applicant submits a revised site plan and the city updates required notices.

The board adjourned at 7:12 p.m.