The Board of Zoning Appeals is holding their first meeting of 2023 on 02/20/2023 at 7:30PM.
They will be voting on three variance requests, all three of which are related to accessory dwelling units.
The first request is from a property owner who would like to build an accessory dwelling unit 7’6” from the rear property line even though the city code requires a minimum setback of 25’. While the property owner could build an accessory dwelling unit that conformed to code, doing so would chop up the “large open green space” of their current back yard into “several small, unusable open spaces.”
The second request is from a property owner who would like to build a detached garage with an accessory dwelling unit on the second floor; however, city code limits accessory buildings to 1 story in height. It does not appear that that property owner completed a questionnaire or offered any explanation as to what the hardship might be that would require a variance.
The third request is from a property owner who would like to build a detached accessory dwelling unit 6’ from the rear property line even though city code requires a 25’ setback. [This one is a little confusing to me because the applicant seems to want, like the previous applicant, to build a detached garage with a second floor ADU which would seem to have the same municipal code issue as the second application; however, the only issue listed on the agenda is the 25’ setback.]
[It’s a little hard to see how a property owner not being allowed to build an ADU would be a hardship given that, by its nature an ADU is a supplemental “extra” and not really in any way necessary to a homeowner, so in that respect I can’t envision any situation in which a variance ought to be granted to facilitate the building of an ADU.
At the same time, the option to build accessory dwelling units was only approved less than 2 years ago, so the issues that are now coming up may be something the Common Council would like to review and consider whether they indicate some additional changes to the city code would be warranted.]
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1067316&GUID=C0CEE0C6-1AA5-4ED3-AF33-67AA901E3B8D
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