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Chapel Hill board approves 18-foot street-setback variance for Stratford Hills leasing office
Summary
On June 4 the Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment voted 6-0 to grant an 18-foot variance to reduce a 24-foot street setback to 6 feet so Stratford Hills may build a 24-by-36-foot, single-story leasing office at 700 Bolingwood Drive; staff will draft a written decision and council must adopt the order.
The Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment voted 6-0 on June 4 to approve an 18-foot street-setback variance that will allow Stratford Hills to construct a 24-by-36-foot, single-story leasing office at 700 Bolingwood Drive.
Ryan Austin, a professional engineer representing Stratford Investments LLC, told the board the parcel is tightly constrained by a resource conservation district overlay, mapped streams and a 100-year floodplain. "So our request for this variance is an 18 foot variance. The current setback is 24 feet, and the applicant is asking for a reduction down to 6 feet," Austin said, adding the chosen location keeps the building out of RCD limits and the floodplain.
Austin said the owners evaluated five possible sites on the parcel and concluded the proposed footprint provides the visibility and dedicated space needed for leasing while avoiding protected resources. He described the prior leasing office in the development as flood-damaged and said leasing operations are temporarily running out of a residential unit.
During deliberations, a committee member said the presentation "was almost, like, to the T, the example case of a variance you would approve," citing the combination of site constraints and the owners' efforts to locate an alternative. Board member Bartow praised the applicant's documentation and said the hardship finding was supported by the site's history and constraints. Several members noted concern about the magnitude of the encroachment — leaving roughly six feet from the right-of-way — but concluded the request met the four statutory findings for variance relief.
Dr. Wortman moved to adopt Resolution A and approve the variance; after a second the board voted unanimously to grant the relief. Mr. Lagoon (staff liaison) confirmed the roll-call vote recorded six ayes and no nays.
Next steps: because quasi-judicial procedure requires a written order, staff will draft findings of fact and conclusions of law for the board to adopt at a future noticed meeting; staff said it could poll members about a short special meeting as early as July to accommodate the applicant's timeline for breaking ground. The decision will not be final until the board adopts the written order and any required town-council actions are completed.
