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Zoning board grants variance to allow narrower side setback at 1202 Cheyenne Place
Summary
The Richardson Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a variance allowing a 7.3-foot side-yard setback on the northwest property line at 1202 Cheyenne Place, after staff recommended denial but the board concluded the lot’s shape, floodplain and tree preservation arguments justified relief limited to the applicant’s plans.
The Richardson Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant a variance that will allow a new house at 1202 Cheyenne Place to be built to a 7.3-foot side-yard setback from the northwest property line instead of the current 10-foot requirement.
Senior Planner Derica Peters told the board that the property was developed in 1962, the existing house was demolished in 2025, and staff’s analysis found the lot did not, on its face, demonstrate the kind of physical-property hardship required to justify a variance. "Based on the information provided by the applicant and the applicable codes and ordinances, it is staff's opinion that a physical property hardship does not exist and the request should therefore be denied," Peters said.
The applicant, Tim Kale, urged the board to consider the lot’s combined constraints: an irregular, seven-sided parcel on a cul-de-sac, the confluence of two creeks that creates FEMA floodplain encumbrances, a power pole and five large live oak trees the applicant said are roughly 65 years old. "There are several giant live oak trees in the front yard that we desperately want to preserve," Kale said, arguing that redesigning the house would be costly and would force a smaller, less functional two-car garage.
Board members debated the correct reading of the city's reconstruction exception in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, which permits a new house on an existing platted lot to use the side setback established for the previous dwelling but "in no instance shall the side setback be less than 7 feet nor less than the side setback of the previous dwelling." The board discussed whether that provision could be applied to a previously conforming side of the house when the prior dwelling had a larger than typical setback on that side.
After questions and additional explanation from staff about how the city has historically applied the reconstruction provision (staff said the relief is typically tied to the side that was previously nonconforming), Vice Chair Scott Rooker moved to grant the variance "limited to those specifics which the applicant has presented," saying he found that literal enforcement would create an unnecessary hardship under the ordinance. Mohammed Hafeez seconded the motion, and the board approved it by voice vote. The meeting record notes the motion carried unanimously; a roll-call tally was not recorded in the transcript.
The approval is limited to the plans presented to the board; the applicant may proceed under the terms discussed at the hearing. The board thanked the applicant for appearing and closed the case.
