Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Variance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mesquite Board of Adjustment fails to approve 1,200 sq ft accessory structure at Clear Meadow Drive
Summary
The Board of Adjustment denied a special exception request to build a 1,200-square-foot, 21-foot-tall accessory structure to store an RV at 2941 Clear Meadow Drive after a 3-1 vote; approval would have required four affirmative votes because only four members were present. Staff had recommended approval conditioned on permitting prior unpermitted concrete work.
The Board of Adjustment of the City of Mesquite, Texas, voted 3-1 on Aug. 28 to deny a special exception request to allow a 1,200-square-foot, 21-foot-tall detached accessory structure at 2941 Clear Meadow Drive to be used to store an RV.
Tiara Clark of the Planning and Zoning Division told the board the property is in a planned-development single-family zone and sits on just under half an acre. The city’s typical accessory-structure limits are 500 square feet and 15 feet in height; the applicant proposed a 1,200-square-foot structure 21 feet tall. Clark said the lot coverage of the existing and proposed structures would be about 8% of the lot, under the ordinance’s provision limiting rear-yard coverage, and noted an existing permitted accessory structure on the site of about 630 square feet approved in 1990. “Staff is making a recommendation to approve the special exception to allow the applicant to build a 1,200 square feet accessory structure and be 21 feet tall, so long as they address any outstanding code violations that is currently on the site,” Clark said.
A nearby property owner, Levi Niwokow, told the board he opposed the request, saying a structure of that size would be “very awkward in the neighborhood” and raising a separate concern that a recently built fence encroaches about 2 feet onto his property. Niwokow also said in his experience oversized outbuildings are sometimes used as living spaces rather than for storage.
The applicant, who identified himself as Jose Leonis Hernandez, spoke through translation and acknowledged his awareness of the city’s permitting requirements for the concrete work cited in a notice of violation. City staff confirmed the notice of violation for unpermitted concrete work was sent to the same name as on the application and stated that the condition attached to a potential approval would require that the concrete work be permitted before a building permit for the oversized accessory structure could be issued.
Board Member Williams moved to approve the special exception for file BOA0625-0473 with the stipulation that the concrete work be permitted before issuance of a permit for the oversized structure; Board Member Augustine seconded. The clerk recorded the roll-call votes as Board Member Earhart — yes; Board Member Augustine — yes; Board Member Williams — yes; Board Member Aiken — no. Because only four voting members were present, four affirmative votes were required under the board’s rules; the motion therefore failed 3-1.
The board then received a brief staff liaison report noting the next Board of Adjustment meeting is set for Sept. 25 and adjourned the meeting.
What happened next: No appeal or reconsideration was recorded at the meeting. The record indicates an approval could be reconsidered only by following the procedure identified in the Mesquite Zoning Ordinance; an appeal of a final board decision would be to a court of appropriate jurisdiction under Texas Local Government Code section 211.011.
