Zoning board approves reduced rear-yard setback for 14550 Vernon Avenue

The Oak Park Zoning Board voted to approve a variance for 14550 Vernon Avenue that allows a rear‑yard setback of 17.9 feet, below the zoning ordinance minimum of 30 feet. The board approved the request following an applicant presentation and a unanimous recorded vote.

The case, filed for property owner Zev Posik, drew a presentation from architect Steven Kwasnick of Architectural Intelligence, who described the lot as irregular and narrow, with an existing detached garage and a principal structure that are currently nonconforming. Kwasnick said the renovation would attach and reconfigure the garage to sit farther from the property line, creating "more rear yard, more side yard" for neighbors and providing safer, internal access to the home for the family.

"We are actually making the existing garage further away from the property line," Kwasnick said, adding that the attached design would be "a safer way to do it because then now it's safer for the family." The architect said the existing principal structure is about 2.8 feet short of current setback requirements and that converting the garage to an attached, architecturally consistent element would be an investment in the property and its surroundings.

The board chair cited Article 2, Division 2, Section 214 of the zoning ordinance, which requires a 30-foot rear-yard setback. The motion to approve the variance was made by the chair and seconded; members present — Member Steinberg, Member Seligson, Member Lovovic, Member Clyde, Member Brown and Member Anderson — each voted yes and the motion carried.

The board record shows the variance permits the 17.9-foot setback requested by the applicant; no conditions or amendments were recorded in the transcript. The decision allows the property owner to proceed with the proposed renovation under the granted setback relief.