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BZA denies setback and height variances for Bainaka lake property
Summary
The Brown County Board of Zoning Appeals denied variance requests for setbacks and a height increase on a lakeside rebuild at 6792 Eagle Drive (docket 26-VAR-01), citing an insufficient hardship under the zoning ordinance after neighbors raised drainage concerns.
The Brown County Board of Zoning Appeals voted to deny a request for setback and height variances for a lakeside rebuild at 6792 Eagle Drive (docket 26-VAR-01).
President John Dillberger said he could not find a hardship under the zoning ordinance in the plans provided and moved to deny the petition; the motion carried on a roll-call vote (Dillberger yes, Harrison yes, Brown no, Jones yes, Gore yes). Planning Director Kayla Robertson had read the staff report noting the property is in the Cordry Sweetwater Conservancy District in Hamblen Township.
Henry Murray of All Things Property Solutions LLC, speaking for petitioners Steve and Catherine Bainaka, said the rebuild would occupy the same footprint and that losing the requested setbacks would “lose a substantial amount of area from their home.” Murray said the requested one-foot height allowance for the basement was needed for drainage and to provide mechanical space between floors. Murray also told the Board that the basement had been excavated and that dirt was staged for backfill.
Adjacent neighbors opposed the variances. Marilyn Haag said the petitioners had a vacant lot and “did not see the necessity for variances,” adding she feared water could be shifted onto her property if changes were made. Mark Haag said other lake-district properties do not have the requested height and argued the claimed financial hardship did not meet the ordinance’s hardship standard.
Petitioners’ representatives described an engineered drainage and erosion-control plan and said two cleanout/trap boxes would be installed for maintenance; contractor Matt Floyd (ABG Property Services) said the previous house had been demolished because of drainage-related mold and expressed confidence the planned system would address storm-water concerns. The Board nonetheless concluded the hardship standard was not met and denied the variances.
The denial was a formal Board action recorded at 6:56 p.m.; the file will remain available to the petitioners should they choose to revise plans or appeal.
