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Carmel hearing officer approves five residential variances, including privacy-fence request
Summary
At the April 27 Carmel appeals hearing, the hearing officer approved five variances — ranging from a privacy fence height exception to garage and accessory-structure setbacks — after petitioners’ presentations, limited public comment and planning staff recommendations; one approval carries a consent-to-encroach condition.
The Carmel hearing officer on April 27 approved five residential variances brought before the appeals hearing officer, including a privacy-fence height variance requested for 1207 Orchard Park Drive North.
Clay Millender, the property owner, asked for an 8-foot privacy fence on a corner lot (docket PZ-2026-0014), saying the taller fence was needed for security and to block views from a higher-elevation neighbor. “My wife got a cancer diagnosis and had a double mastectomy, so we had to put this whole project on hold,” Millender said while describing the family’s long-term residency and the proposed work. Planning staff told the board it would be “supportive of a 6 foot tall fence,” noting the grade and sight-distance conditions, but the hearing officer approved the variance and adopted the findings of fact.
Neil Estebrooke, the property owner at 14458 Waverly Drive, sought two variances (dockets PZ-2026-0023 and PZ-2026-0025) to extend an attached garage on a corner lot — requesting an 11-foot rear-yard setback…
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