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Zoning board denies request for front garage-door setback at 302 Cherry Street
Summary
The Erie Zoning Board denied a request to allow two garage doors with a 12-foot setback at 302 Cherry Street, concluding the applicant did not demonstrate the unique hardship required for a dimensional variance under §205.14. The vote was 3–1 to deny.
The Erie Zoning Board denied a dimensional-variance request that would have permitted two 10-by-10 garage doors with a 12-foot setback at 302 Cherry Street, voting 3–1 against the change.
Taylor Hoover, representing his father Timothy Hoover, told the board the building — once a storefront and later a church — is being converted to a two-family residence with storage needs and that garage doors are needed for ease of moving large items and storing construction materials. “This is purely just storage is what we’re planning on doing,” Taylor Hoover said while testifying under oath.
The board questioned whether the applicant had established the legal criteria for a variance under the city ordinance, which requires showing unique physical circumstances and that the hardship was not self-created. The solicitor reminded members that the board, as a quasi-judicial body, must apply those standards consistently. The record also notes that no separate use variance was applied for storage in the proposal.
After a brief executive session the board returned and voted: Mr. Seebald/Seabolt voted no, Mr. Johnson voted yes, Ms. King voted no, and Ms. Guncheon voted no; the variance was denied. The board recorded that the requested 12-foot setback would not meet the ordinance’s requirement of 20 feet for garage doors facing the street (§205.14).
The applicant was told he would receive copies of the record and follow-up from staff. No appeal or next-step decision was recorded in the meeting transcript.
