Planning staff recommends denying grandfather‑rights request for 530 Bentley Drive

Planning staff recommended denying a grandfather‑rights recognition for a property at 530 Bentley Drive, borough staff told an administrative hearing on April 16.

Sarah Bingham, the staff contact on the file, told the hearing the single‑family house on Lot 10A, Block P of the Slater Subdivision appears to have been built in 1965 and that an attached carport shown in assessing records was likely constructed in 1993. Bingham said no building permits were on record for the parcel and summarized the lot's zoning history and setback requirements dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. "No permits were on record for being approved or issued," Bingham said.

The application, filed as GR2026‑074 by Thomas Accord, asks recognition of legal nonconforming status for an existing single‑family detached dwelling with a south front yard setback of 1.2 feet (required: 20 feet) and a west side yard setback of 0 feet (required: 5 feet). The clerk read the application into the record at the start of the hearing.

Presiding official Kellen Spielman confirmed no applicant or representative was present in chambers or online and closed public testimony after the clerk reported no one had signed up to speak. Spielman told the hearing that "the department shall issue an administrative determination within 15 days of the hearing," and that the determination may be appealed to the planning commission by filing a notice and fee with the borough clerk's office no later than 15 days after the determination is mailed.

Bingham described aerial imagery and assessor field‑card entries she reviewed: assessor notes indicate the house was about 50% complete in December 1965; the field card records the carport construction date as 1993, and 1993 imagery shows a structure matching the carport's location. Bingham told the panel the carport encroaches on the west lot line and that a small portion also touches Lot 11, but she said the current grandfather‑rights application would not seek recognition for the portion that crosses Lot 11. She recommended against granting grandfather rights for the application as filed, while noting the lot's historical setbacks and the later‑dated carport construction.

Because the hearing is administrative, no final determination was made on April 16. The hearing adjourned at 10:10 a.m.; the written determination and appeal deadlines will be set in the mailed administrative decision.