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ARC grants wall‑separation variance and approves porch project at 5912 North Branch Avenue amid debate over lost oak tree
Summary
The Commission granted a variance reducing the required wall separation to 2 feet 8 inches and approved a certificate of appropriateness for a porch cover at 5912 North Branch Avenue in Seminole Heights; commissioners debated whether the property’s loss of a large oak tree constituted a hardship under the variance criteria.
The Architectural Review Commission voted March 2 to grant a variance reducing the required wall‑to‑wall separation from five feet to 2 feet 8 inches and approved a certificate of appropriateness for work at 5912 North Branch Avenue in the Seminole Heights Historic District.
Applicant Allen Dobbs and owner Bruce Swain said the request followed removal of a large live oak that the city arborist and other experts found to have hollow sections and structural compromise after Hurricane Milton. Owner Bruce Swain told the board the tree “was between 75 and 80 years old and much in decline” and that its removal left the rear deck unusable during afternoon heat, prompting the request to add a covered porch.
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