After debate and a tabled request, Lakeway approves replat of 214 Capri and 205 Malabar with permit deadline

The Board of Adjustment ultimately approved, on a 7-0 vote, a variance allowing the applicant to vacate a combined plat and re-establish two lots at 214 Capri and 205 Malabar, subject to a permit being issued for a conforming residence on 205 Malabar within one year.

Staff told the board the pair of lots date to the 1960s and were combined by plat amendment in 1996; they are now legal nonconforming because the city's R1 minimum is 15,000 square feet. Staff noted the Malabar lot measures about 14,197 square feet, roughly 803 square feet short of the current requirement. Applicant Arash Zarrabi, who said he purchased the property for his parents and currently rents one house as an Airbnb, said he intends to restore the lots to their historical configuration and build a one-story, roughly 2,300-square-foot home for his parents. Zarrabi emphasized urgency, telling the board "Time is of the essence" and noting his father is elderly.

The item produced extended questioning: board members pressed for a site-plan footprint showing setbacks and potential encroachments, asked whether sewer service was available, and discussed whether the detached garage on the Malabar parcel must be demolished or permitted to remain as an accessory structure until a primary residence is built. An initial motion to approve the split with a demolition/permit stipulation failed when it received only a 5-2 vote, short of the six votes required for a variance. The board then asked the applicant to produce a simple site-plan envelope (a footprint showing where a conforming house would fit) and tabled the matter. After a brief recess and a quick footprint shown on the record, the board approved the requested lot split on the condition that the applicant obtain a building permit for the new home within one year; staff will enforce removal of the accessory structure if the permit deadline is not met.