Foley Board approves variance allowing Rivi Apartments to rebuild if damaged, requires rezoning application within 30 days

The City of Foley Board of Adjustment & Appeals on Feb. 9 approved a temporary variance to the zoning ordinance so Rivi Apartments can be rebuilt if more than 50% damaged, conditioned on a prompt rezoning effort.

The variance (Article 6.2.2, "restoration after damage") was requested after applicants said the complex was built about 2021 when apartments were allowed in the district but subsequent zoning changes removed residential use from the B-1A zoning category. Eric Jackson, representing applicant Thompson Engineering, and Mark Taupeka, legal counsel for Rivi Apartments, told the board that without the variance the property could be out of compliance with mortgage and insurance requirements if substantial damage occurred while they pursue a rezoning to R-3 (Residential Multi-Family).

Board members discussed a previously referenced time limit and staff confirmed the condition was revised so the property owner must file a complete rezoning application within 30 days of the variance approval and diligently pursue rezoning through the Planning Commission and City Council. Steve Bailey moved to approve the variance with that condition; Luanne McCarley seconded. In a roll-call vote Gregg Knight, Luanne McCarley, Keith Jiskra, Steve Bailey and Tyler Higginbotham voted aye and the motion carried.

The board's action allows rebuilding despite the ordinance—ondition that structures exceeding 50% damage normally cannot be restored; the variance is explicitly tied to the applicant's commitment to seek rezoning to bring the property into a zoning category that permits multi-family housing. The next procedural step is for the property owner to submit the rezoning application to the Planning Commission and for the Planning Commission and City Council to consider that request.