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Caroline County board approves variance allowing 20-by-20 addition within critical-area buffer
Summary
The Caroline County Board of Zoning Appeals on Nov. 18 approved a variance allowing homeowner Tyler Pepper to build a 20-by-20 bedroom addition within the 100-foot Chesapeake Bay critical-area buffer, subject to a required 3:1 mitigation plan, building permits, and commencement within one year.
The Caroline County Board of Zoning Appeals on Nov. 18 approved a variance allowing homeowner Tyler Pepper to add a 20-by-20 bedroom to his 1,100-square-foot house, which the board found sits entirely inside the 100-foot Chesapeake Bay critical-area buffer.
Chair Karen Hardy opened the hearing and staff read the application and exhibits; Assistant Director Matt Kaczynski told the board the proposed 400-square-foot addition would be located over an existing stone patio and that the health department had required soil testing and a site evaluation during review. ‘‘The department received a building permit application for a bedroom addition,’’ Kaczynski said in his staff summary.
Tyler Pepper told the board his home was built in 1975, before the buffer rules, and said the addition would not create new impervious surface because it sits above the existing patio. ‘‘I’m looking to build…a 20 by 20 addition over where there’s an existing stone patio,’’ Pepper said, adding he would upgrade the septic if required.
Neighbor Mike Wojnowski testified in support, saying Pepper has been ‘‘a good steward of the land’’ and that he did not expect the addition to harm wildlife or the waterfront.
Board members discussed whether to limit relief to the existing pad footprint (24-by-16) or allow the 20-by-20 plan. Hardy and other members noted the house’s age, the practical difficulty of strict enforcement for a one-bedroom house, and the absence of nearby houses that would be adversely affected. The board also noted that mitigation will be required for any disturbance in the critical-area buffer and referenced the 3-to-1 mitigation ratio included in application materials.
A board member moved to approve the 20-by-20 addition for case 24-0046 with conditions requiring a building permit or zoning certificate, a buffer management plan, compliance with applicable site-plan requirements, and a one-year void-if-not-starter clause; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
The board’s action is conditional: Pepper must obtain required permits, submit the buffer management (mitigation) plan that meets the county’s 3:1 mitigation ratio, and begin construction within one year for the approval to remain valid.
