Lago Vista Board of Adjustment tables variance requests, plans code workshop on height exceptions and pool setbacks

The Lago Vista Board of Adjustment elected a Pro Tem chair and, after a staff reading of the city zoning code, tabled three variance applications because the board did not meet the 75% concurring‑vote threshold required for variances.

Council liaison (speaker 1) opened the meeting and asked members to nominate a temporary chair. A member moved to nominate Ed Tidwell to preside; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote, after which Tidwell chaired the meeting.

The nut graf: Staff told the board that Section 11‑40 of the zoning ordinance requires a concurring vote of 75% of board members to grant a variance. Staff read the provision aloud and noted that five votes of seven falls short of the 75% threshold (5.25 votes required). Because the first three agenda items were variances, staff recommended tabling them to the next regularly scheduled meeting rather than attempting action that might be invalid without the required concurring votes.

"The board shall not grant a variance unless it finds that each 1 of the conditions in 11/20 have been met…The concurring vote of 75% of members of the board shall be necessary for any decision in favor of the applicant," a staff member read from the ordinance during the meeting.

Board members asked whether a specially noticed meeting could be called to hear the variances sooner. Staff replied that a special meeting would require renoticing the applications and that, because there is already an application on next month’s agenda, the practical outcome is to roll the items to the next regularly scheduled meeting.

In addition to tabling the variance requests, the board voted to table the consent agenda and all three public hearings under Section 5 of the agenda until the next regular meeting. Each motion to table passed by voice vote.

The meeting also included an extended discussion of recurring pool variance requests tied to the city’s setback rules. Staff said pools are not listed among allowed features in setback areas under the code (citing sections 5.30 and 5.40), producing frequent requests on shallow lots where a 25‑foot rear setback can make pools impractical. Staff asked whether the board had a general consensus to pursue code amendments or a joint workshop with the Planning & Zoning Commission to clarify height exceptions and special exceptions.

Members agreed that a workshop and some code cleanup were appropriate. A motion passed to bring the item back on the August agenda as a workshop and to recommend a joint work session with Planning & Zoning and staff to review possible ordinance changes regarding height exceptions and related procedures.

Board members and staff also clarified procedural rules: state law generally bars board members from visiting properties that are the subject of quasi‑judicial cases; applicants must provide surveys and other evidence in their application packets, staff vets those materials, and incomplete applications are returned to applicants rather than forwarded to the board.

The board adjourned at 7:34 p.m.; the tabled variance applications and the planned August workshop are set to return to the board for further action.