Owen County board accepts high survey quote as meeting "impractical" threshold, approves homeowner request

The Owen County Board of Zoning Appeals accepted that a homeowner's quoted survey cost of about $10,000–$12,000 met the board's prior standard for "impractical," and the board approved a motion to accept a letter equating the high quote with that requirement.

A board member raised the issue during the meeting, saying the homeowner (referred to in the record as Brenda Flores) had solicited multiple quotes from surveyors and that the estimates were all in the $10,000–$12,000 range. "If I mean $10,000 is a lot of money and I think that would qualify as impractical for the purposes of this exercise," a board member said during debate.

Planning staff confirmed the quotes had been discussed with the board and the board discussed what to require of the homeowner going forward. Board members noted that if the homeowner proceeds without a formal survey and locates a structure close to the boundary, the homeowner assumes greater liability for potential encroachment.

One board member moved that the board accept the correspondence equating the high asking price of the survey work with the board's impracticality requirement; another board member seconded the motion. The board voted in favor; the meeting record shows the motion carried, but the transcript does not record a roll-call tally or the names of the mover and seconder.

The board said staff could bring further documentation back if the homeowner provides it, but that, as approved, the homeowner's demonstration that a survey costs $10,000–$12,000 would satisfy the board's prior impracticality criterion for this case.