Pitt County Board of Adjustment approves setback variance for 2962 King Farm Road

The Pitt County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously March 24 to grant a variance allowing the existing manufactured home and front porch at 2962 King Farm Road (Parcel 91673) to remain within the required 40-foot front building setback. The decision followed staff presentations of the permitting history and testimony from the applicant's representative; the Board added a condition that the manufactured home and front porch not be enlarged or modified in any manner that increases the portion of the footprint within the encroached setback.

Assistant Planning Director Eric Gooby summarized the case for the Board, saying a survey submitted with the application shows about 11 feet of the double-wide manufactured home and the entirety of an 8-by-14-foot front porch and steps encroaching into the required road setback. Gooby presented a permitting timeline showing Environmental Health and inspections approvals in 2018–2020, including a Certificate of Occupancy issued February 11, 2020, and a Zoning Permit issued June 20, 2019. Mike Baldwin of Baldwin Design Consultants, P.A. testified on behalf of property owner Chap Tucker, noting historical GIS and aerial imagery that he said showed a prior residence in a similar location and arguing the siting is consistent with neighborhood patterns.

The Board considered the five statutory findings under Section 13(B)(1)(b) of the Pitt County Zoning Ordinance and made unanimous affirmative findings on each criterion. Members concluded strict enforcement would create unnecessary hardship given the home's approved occupancy since 2020, that the septic tank location behind the home constrained moving the structure, and that the applicant reasonably relied on county plot plans and inspections. The Board recorded no objection that the grant would harm public safety and found the variance would not extend a nonconforming use. The motion to approve was made and seconded and passed unanimously by the four members present (Molly Holdeman, Sharon Gray, Rita Jackson-Gilbert, and Wanda Wynne).

The variance carries a single explicit condition: the manufactured home and front porch shall not be enlarged or modified in any manner that will increase its footprint as it exists within the encroached setback at the time the variance is granted. The approved action was tied to Parcel Number 91673 and the address 2962 King Farm Road.