Hearing officer signals likely approval of variance to allow deck projections at Powder Mountain Village Lodge

A representative of Alsar Group asked Weber County’s hearing officer to grant a variance allowing uncovered exterior decks and an external staircase to project as much as 8 feet into a required 20-foot side setback at the Powder Mountain Village Lodge three site.

The applicant said the request is driven by a pre-existing, physical hardship: a concrete podium and poured deck footings installed around 2006 that remain on the site and constrain where load-bearing walls can be placed. The representative said the residential building itself will comply with base setbacks and that only unenclosed decks and one stair would project into the setback; the application is framed as completing elements already contemplated in the original approved design.

Planning staff explained the county ordinance permits limited projections into front and rear setbacks (with numeric limits for porches, balconies and similar features) but contains no explicit allowance for side-setback projections of uncovered decks in the CDR1 zone; staff also noted it does not make a recommendation to the board but presents the ordinance and the variance criteria for the applicant to meet. A planning staff member told the panel that roughly 10 variance requests have been filed in the neighborhood since 2017 and that, according to staff recollection, those requests were granted.

After questioning and review of the variance criteria, hearing officer Matt Wilson said he believed the applicant had met the statutory elements and indicated he intended to grant the variance; he said he would prepare a written decision and serve it to the parties. Wilson said he would issue written findings to show how each statutory element was satisfied.

What happens next: Wilson will issue a written decision that will state the formal outcome and the findings supporting that outcome.