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Board reviews variance to shrink setbacks for two undersized lots in Robbins
Summary
The Robbins board, sitting as the board of adjustment, heard a special-variance request to reduce side-yard setbacks from 20 to 10 feet for Lots 10 and 11 because the combined lots measure 100 feet and land-splitting left each parcel below the R-10 75-foot minimum. The town attorney said if all four legal criteria are met a variance must be granted; the attorney will draft an order for the board to consider.
The Robbins Board of Commissioners, acting as the board of adjustment, heard a request to reduce side-yard setbacks for two adjacent parcels identified in the packet as Lots 10 and 11.
Jeremy, the town manager, told the board the combined parcel frontage is 100 feet and that when the property is split each lot yields about 50 feet of width, short of the R-10 zoning minimum of 75 feet. "So a variance to give leeway," he said, describing the applicant’s request to move the required setback from 20 feet to 10 feet so two roughly 500-square-foot houses could be built.
The town attorney outlined the four legal standards that govern variances under North Carolina law and told the board: "If all 4 standards have been met, you must grant the variance." The attorney explained the standards — unnecessary hardship specific to the property, peculiarity of location/size/topography, the hardship not being self-created, and consistency with the ordinance’s spirit and public-safety aims.
Commissioners discussed the parcel’s narrow width and site conditions in favor of meeting the hardship and peculiarity criteria; no formal order was read on the record during the meeting. The attorney said he would prepare an order that the board could approve or deny at a future action. The board then moved on to the next agenda item.
Why it matters: The decision affects permitted house footprints and could set a precedent for future subdivisions in R-10 neighborhoods. The attorney’s statement about the mandatory grant if all criteria are met frames the legal constraint the board must follow before acting on the application.
