08-28-2003 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment

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Zoning Board of Adjustment December 4, 2003 #V 03-005 Page 2 of 3 Analysis: Section 106-192(bxl), in the Code of Ordinances, defines a variance as a deviation from the literal provisions of the chapter which is granted by the Board when strict conformity to the chapter would cause an unnecessary hardship because of the circumstances unique to the property on which the variance is granted Except as otherwise prohibiteg the board is empowered to authorize a variance from a requirement when the board finds that all of the following conditions have been met. -00• That the granting of the variance will not be contrary to the best public interest. ❖ That literal enforcement of the chapter_ will result in unnecessary hardship because of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, -shape, topography or other extraordinary or exceptional physical situation unique to the specific piece of property in question "Unnecessary hardship" shall mean physical hardship relating to the property itseff as distinguished from a hardship relating to convenience, finial considerations or caprice, and the hardship must not r. esult from the applicant or propen7y owner's own actions; and ❖ That by granting the variance, the spirit of the chapter will be observed The Board is charged with determining if the applicant's variance request to Section 106- 741(eX2) is reasonable and whether all of the above conditions were met. To determine if granting the applicant's request would be contrary to the general public, Staff considered the fact that the overall size of the property is 5.89 acres and placement of the structures on property this size would not appear to present a problem to the general public. When looldng at the next test, Staff considered whether granting of the variance would still observe the spirit of the law. For fire safety reasons, the spirit of the law was to ensure that no single accessory building exceeded 2,000 square feet in floor area. However, an individual is allowed multiple large accessory buildings. provided they, along with other roofed -over structures on the property, do not accumulatively exceed the maximum forty percent_ (40%) lot coverage. The Board will need to determine if the granting of a variance for the over -sized building would still observe the spirit of the law. The final test is the most Micult and involves unnecessary hardship. Staff does not find the applicant's request meets the physical hardship test, as there is nothing unique about his property.