A request for a variance at a residence proved a contentious item at the Augusta-Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals’ monthly meeting Monday afternoon, garnering two rounds of procedural votes.
Kenneth Washington petitioned for a variance from the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance at his Nottingham Drive home to reduce the side setback from 10 to seven feet, and increase the maximum accessory building area from 993 to 1,800 square feet.
Washington’s request, tabled from the August meeting, is to accommodate his plan to build an 1,800 square foot garage on his property, the foundation for which has already been built.
Planning staff recommended denial of the request, though recommended that should the board approve, it should do so under the condition that the setback reduction be denied, and the structure not exceed the 1,800 square feet.
A neighbor attended last month’s meeting to oppose the request on aesthetic grounds, planning staff noted, but Washington had since conferred with the neighbor and reached amicable terms. Another neighbor, Jim Youngblood, attended Monday’s meeting to oppose, citing to the board that runoff water floods from Washington’s property in Youngblood’s and that a new structure would exacerbate the issue.
Staff acknowledged that adding a new structure on Washington’s property could potentially increase runoff, but observed that, because of the substantial slope on the property, such would be expected. Washington stated to the board he intended to install gutters on the structure to mitigate stormwater runoff.
City attorney Samuel Meller made sure to tell the board that its deliberations on that runoff issue ought not be considered a legal remedy for a dispute between the homeowners.
“If there’s a runoff happening between two property owners, it is the obligation of the received property owner… to take action against where the water is coming from,” Meller said. “And there are very strict rules about how to deal with that.”
Vice-chair Sean Mooney motioned to deny the request, citing difficulties with the item such as how the area affects the height in relation to the property borders.
Board members Jerry Brigham, Chris Booker and Mooney voted to deny, while the remaining members abstained from voting.
Because abstaining counts as not having cast a vote according to Robert’s Rules of Order, Meller explained, the only votes counted were those to deny, and so Washington’s request was denied. Youngblood left the meeting.
However, this was not the end of the item.
A discussion ensued among the board members, planning staff, and the city attorney regarding procedure. Some board members, such as Ethoin Rowe, stated they abstained from voting so as to avoid making a decision without more information.
Meller acknowledged that the board does have the power to reconsider a previous decision. Rowe motioned to do just that, with the aim of afterward motioning to table the request again.
“I’m not satisfied that we were in a position to actually vote on this,” said board member Turner. “There are still outstanding items. Frankly, the applicant and the objector did not meet… additional items were brought up today that are kind of beyond the scope of the variance here that impacted both of them.”
In the course of this discussion, answering a question from Rowe, Washington would agree to reduce the height of the structure by three feet, reducing its area to 1,620 square feet instead of 1,800.
The board would vote to reconsider the earlier decision, and then voted again on Washington’s request, under the new proposed size of the garage, this time in favor.
Brigham, who voted against the request both times and also voted against reconsidering the decision, expressed disapproval of this course.
“This is a board that needs to conduct our business while the public is here and in front of us, and not change our decision after we’ve discussed it for 20 minutes,” he said.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
