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Planning commission approves two-car carport on recorded Tamopias easement, citing nonrevocable easement as basis for variances
Summary
The Fairfax Planning Commission approved Resolution 2026-07 allowing a two-car carport on an easement serving 118 Tamopias, granting a height variance, setback variances and a tree-removal permit; staff and commissioners emphasized the easement's permanence in making the required findings.
Fairfax Planning Commission on March 19 approved a conditional-use permit and multiple variances to allow a new two-car carport to be built on a recorded parking easement serving 118 Tamopias (application 2603, Resolution 2026-07).
Staff told the commission the project replaces an existing one-car carport on an easement created in the 1970s to serve houses across the street and requires a conditional-use permit, rear-yard and side-yard setback variances, a tree-removal permit and a height variance because accessory structures are limited to 15 feet in Fairfax and the proposed carport reaches approximately 27 feet.
Public comment on the item was closed with no speakers in attendance. Commissioners questioned whether the easement is revocable, how floor-area-ratio and lot-coverage rules apply when the structure sits on an easement rather than the underlying parcel, and whether there is sufficient hardship to justify setback variances. Staff and several commissioners noted the recorded easement runs with the land and appears to grant permanent parking rights; commissioners said the nonrevocable character of the easement, combined with slope and narrow geometry, could constitute the special circumstances needed for variance findings.
A motion to approve the resolution, amended per staff corrections and with language explicitly referencing the irrevocable easement as part of the findings, carried on majority voice vote. The commission announced a 10-day appeal period for the decision.
What happens next: the approval includes conditions in the resolution and the tree-removal permit was recommended by the Fairfax Tree Committee (meeting dated Aug. 25, 2025). Applicants and neighbors were reminded that the decision may be appealed to the town within 10 days; staff also noted several small corrections to the final resolution language and date.
Authorities and procedural details in this item were drawn from the staff report and the packet submitted to the commission; the town's appeal period for planning decisions was announced on the record.
