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Greendale zoning board approves variance allowing easement access for Butler lot
Summary
The Greendale Board of Zoning Appeals voted to grant a variance allowing the Butler family to create a roughly two‑acre building lot accessed by a recorded easement rather than a panhandle (flag) frontage, after the applicant and board discussed setbacks, frontage requirements and shared‑driveway maintenance.
The Greendale Board of Zoning Appeals on June 22 approved a variance allowing the Butler family to create a new single‑family building lot accessed by an easement tied to the deed rather than a traditional panhandle (flag) frontage.
Rob Sig of Sig Surveying presented the request on behalf of Jessica Butler and her father, Richard, saying the parcel’s steep topography and existing buildings make the standard 60‑foot frontage requirement impractical. The applicant initially sought a 30‑foot frontage variance and then proposed eliminating the panhandle altogether and recording a perpetual access easement serving the two‑acre parcel.
Jessica Butler told the board she is the sixth generation to live on the property and that the family’s intent is to build a home for her brother — not to subdivide for development. She said removing the panhandle would allow a small woodsided barn to screen an adjacent cement commercial building and would avoid creating a long, narrow frontage strip that she said would limit future small outbuildings.
Board members discussed the ordinance’s original purpose to control density but noted local precedents for panhandle lots and deeded access easements, with one member citing practices in Franklin County. Members asked whether an easement that leaves a parcel with zero road frontage would still require a variance; the board did not have an attorney on hand to give a binding legal opinion and proceeded based on the applicants’ request for relief from frontage requirements.
A member moved to grant the variance requests as presented (frontage reduction and the easement/panhandle removal); the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor. The board directed that the easement and shared‑driveway maintenance language be included in the conveyance documents and that staff (Anthony, who was absent) review final wording.
The board’s action allows the Butlers to record access by easement so the proposed two‑acre lot will not rely on a panhandle strip to meet frontage requirements. The meeting adjourned after the vote.
