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Board denies variance for unpermitted front porch at 1317 Spence Street
Summary
The Green Bay Zoning and Planning Board of Appeals denied a variance request from homeowner Carol Fleming after staff said an unpermitted front porch extended beyond the block's average setback and failed building-code inspections. The board directed staff to work with the owner on next steps.
The Zoning and Planning Board of Appeals voted to deny a variance request from Carol Fleming, the owner of 1317 Spence Street, after staff said an attached front porch installed last summer extended about 9.7 feet beyond the block's established front-yard setback and lacked required building inspections.
John, a city inspection staff member, told the board the block's average front-yard setback is about 33 feet and that the structure added an approximately 112-square-foot porch that exceeds the municipal allowance for a landing. He said the porch was constructed without a permit, several required inspections were not performed and, from a building-code perspective, the structure must be taken down and rebuilt to meet code or replaced with a permitted 25-square-foot landing or a conditional-use covered porch approved by the plan commission and common council.
Carol Fleming, who testified by phone and gave her address for the record, said she asked contractors to add a safer porch after she fell through rotting boards and that she believed the contractors would obtain permits. "I fell through one of them and I didn't want the mailman to get hurt," she told the board, adding she had relied on the contractor's assurances.
Board members expressed sympathy for Fleming's safety concerns but said they could not find the legal grounds to grant a variance that would leave the unpermitted construction in place. One member said the board must consider both setback criteria and whether an applicant shows exceptional circumstances; members concluded the standard was not met. The board voted to deny the appeal and asked staff to contact Fleming to explain required next steps, including the removal or rework of the porch to comply with building and zoning regulations.
The denial leaves Ms. Fleming responsible for coordinating with inspection staff to bring the entry into compliance, either by constructing a permitted landing within the 25-square-foot allowance, pursuing a conditional-use path for a covered porch, or by rebuilding the porch in a permitted configuration. The board did not set a further hearing date for this item.
The board will post final instructions and timelines with city inspection staff.
