Board of Adjustments considers lot split

Keith Bryant

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The Board of Zoning Adjustments met for a hearing and approved a variance of lot size and shape on Huskins Circle March 21.

Senior planner Jennifer Bonner said both 2 and 4 Huskins Circle, located next door to each another, have septic tanks installed on a lot behind them, rather than on their own lot. The lot the tanks are on, she said, is owned by Jack Keeth, while Jay Ensor owns the home next door.

"When the houses were originally built, their original septic leach fields were inside their own lot," she said.

But at some point in the 1990s, she said, the septic tanks failed and the new units were installed on lot 15, behind the two homes, which were later sold to Ensor and Keeth.

Two septic systems on one lot, she said, is a health code issue. Further, she said, Ensor has no right to access the septic system associated with his home, nor does he have any options for converting to sewer.

Because lots may not be created or destroyed, she said, fixing this situation requires that the lot be split. A portion of it will be absorbed into the lot for 4 Huskins Circle, while the remainder will continue to be a distinct lot. That lot, she said, will be sold to Ensor, meaning he will own the property his septic tank is on.

The request, Bonner said, is actually for two variances. One is because the redrawn lot will not meet minimum size requirements, she said, and the other is for a lack of street frontage.

This process was started before in 2014, she said, but somehow stalled, so now it's starting again.

"You are step one," she told the board.

Following the board's approval, she said, this case needs to go through the Planning Commission, then the City Council. It also requires the mayor's signature. And beyond that, she said, the Architectural Control Committee and Property Owners Association will also need to sign off on it.

Ensor said that he spoke with Keeth previously about purchasing this property, only to learn that lots could not be split at the time.

Business on 03/29/2017