Board approves side-yard exception but denies front-yard variance for 21 West 26th

The City of Holland Board of Appeals on Monday approved a special exception to allow a 5-foot west side-yard setback at 21 West 26th Street but denied the applicant’s request to reduce the front-yard setback to 16.2 feet.

Diane Sinclair, the applicant, told the board she and her husband, Rich St. Clair, want to replace a substandard 6,600-square-foot lot house with an accessible home for her aging parents. Sinclair said the plan requires wider hallways, an accessible shower and a ramp, and that moving the house farther back would make wheelchair access and a fenced yard impractical. “I don’t want to build it if my dad can’t use it. That seems kind of cruel,” Sinclair said.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the special exception for the reduced side-yard setback after staff and board discussion concluded many homes on the same side of the street have similar reduced side setbacks and the lot qualifies as substandard. Board member Lambers moved for approval; Benitez seconded. A roll-call vote recorded six votes in favor and the motion carried.

During deliberations on the front-yard variance, members raised concerns about precedent and whether unique physical circumstances justified cutting the front setback below the neighborhood norm. Staff noted that homes on the same side of the block generally reflect a 21-foot front-yard setback and that one path to a reduced front setback is a special-exception finding that 60% of homes on the same side maintain a smaller setback; the record did not support approval for the requested 16.2 feet. Benitez moved to deny the front-yard variance, Lambers seconded, and the board voted unanimously to deny the request.

Neighbor Janet Boone of 17 West 26th Street spoke in opposition during the public hearing, saying the block contains many historic, modest homes and that a house pushed forward would feel out of character and make sidewalks feel cramped for children and pedestrians. Sinclair returned to clarify driveway location and to emphasize that the 5-foot side-yard request would not affect the driveway placement.

The board’s decisions leave the applicants able to proceed with the approved side-yard special exception but without the requested front porch cover that would require the reduced front-yard setback; staff noted that decisions of the board are final and effective immediately and that applicants may appeal to the circuit court under state law.