Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Residential Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves front-setback variance for Pierce Street home, asks engineering to address chronic drainage
Summary
The board granted a front-setback variance for a proposed Pierce Street home after neighbors raised longstanding flooding concerns; approval was conditioned on coordinating with city engineering to deliver drainage solutions and avoid shifting flood burdens to adjacent yards.
The Southfield Zoning Board of Appeals approved a front-setback variance June 17 for a proposed single-family residence on Pierce Street, while signaling that city engineering must address chronic drainage problems affecting several backyards.
Applicant Steven T. McKenna and builder Keith Mazinski said the owner, Michelle Aphetian, is seeking a ranch-style home to accommodate an elderly household member; because of the lot shape and orientation they asked to reduce the front-yard setback from the 40-foot requirement to 25 feet and requested a minor rear-yard variance.
More than half a dozen neighbors opposed the rear-yard encroachment and raised detailed concerns about longstanding flooding, failed drain tiles and stormwater routing off a neighboring commercial parcel. Several residents said their backyards remain soggy into late spring, that mosquitoes are a health nuisance and that previous attempts to remedy the situation had not solved the drainage problem.
Board members said the drainage issues appear to predate the application and may require a city-wide engineering fix rather than being imposed solely on a single property owner. The applicant told the board that he had been working with city engineer John (surname in the record) and that the city supported creating an easement and extending a drainage pipe from Pierce to the rear of the subject property; the applicant also offered to revise the plan to reduce or eliminate the rear-yard variance by moving the house forward.
After discussion the board moved to approve a single front-yard setback variance (with the rear-yard setback left at the required distance) and attached conditions that the applicant secure required permits, work with the city engineering department on drainage and address any existing easement or utility issues before final inspection. Board members emphasized that the city should manage relief for the existing neighborhood drainage problem and encouraged the applicant to coordinate with engineering and the neighbors on a feasible, shared drainage solution.
The board voted in favor of the front-yard variance and asked staff and the applicant to continue working with engineering to produce plans neighbors can review and tie into if they choose.
