Decatur zoning board approves variance to keep decades-old concrete outbuilding near US 380 Business

The Decatur Zoning Board of Adjustments voted to approve a variance for an existing nonconforming concrete block building at a property on US 380 Business, allowing the structure to encroach approximately 9.52 feet and 9.78 feet into the required 10-foot rear-yard setback. Chair opened the public hearing, heard the staff report from Lisa Hannon, and then moved approval; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.

"This is a variance request for an existing nonconforming building," Lisa Hannon, Planning Director, told the board during the staff presentation, noting the Board may legally grant a variance under the Texas Local Government Code and city ordinances if the criteria are met. Hannon said the building appears to have been in place since "approximately or before 1995," that it is not unsafe, and that moving or demolishing it would create undue hardship. She also told the board that a sewer line crosses both proposed lots and that an easement-encroachment agreement must be approved by Public Works and recorded by the applicant before the variance is recorded.

Applicant Deborah Lusk, who identified herself as the owner of the properties, asked the board to approve the variance so she can proceed with platting. "I haven't had any complaints about it being there," Lusk said, describing the building as long-standing and saying she has made it "aesthetically more appealing." She told the board she is willing to work with neighbors on a fence but raised practical concerns about placing fencing where a sewer line runs and about mature cedar trees along the property boundary.

Neighbors speaking as "Guy and Irene," who identified themselves as residents at 1803 Oak Meadow Drive, said their primary concern was protecting mature cedar trees and their roots and described prior trimming that reduced the trees' lower branches. "Our primary concern is appearance and our cedar trees," the neighbors said, pressing the board for sensitivity to potential tree damage. A committee member reminded the board the narrow legal question before them concerned the variance for the existing outbuilding, not the separate neighbor dispute over trees or trespassing.

The chair moved to approve "a variance for encroachment into the 10 foot rear yard setback for that building, not for new buildings, just for that building." The motion was seconded; the members responding by voice approved the variance and the board closed the public hearing. Staff recorded that 26 property owners had been notified and that one owner had changed a response from neutral to opposed earlier in the day and had requested buffering across both lots. The board directed that the required easement-encroachment agreement be approved by Public Works and recorded by the applicant as a condition of final recording.

The decision affects two proposed lots created by the plat: Lot 1 (proposed west lot) of about 0.73 acres and Lot 2 (proposed east lot) of about 0.64 acres; both are zoned C-2 (commercial). Hannon said Lot 1's planned redevelopment will trigger buffering requirements between Lot 1 and the residential property to the north, while Lot 2 contains the existing house and is not changing use and therefore does not currently require buffering. The board moved on to other business and adjourned.