City approves setback variance

MARTINSVILLE — A proposed house along east Pike Street cleared a hurdle Tuesday night during a meeting of the Martinsville Board of Zoning Appeals, which lasted less than 10 minutes in length.

That is because the BZA approved a side setback variance for the new house that is being built in the 1200 block of East Pike Street on the city’s northeast side.

The requested variance is to allow the setbacks from the new house to be 5 feet instead of 10.

Denney Walls, the owner of the parcel of land, was present during Tuesday’s meeting to answer questions.

BZA chairperson Ann Marvel noted that the proposed house would be 30 feet wide, and that the previous house that sat on the land was 28 feet wide.

“And it is a small, small lot,” Marvel said.

Marvel then asked Walls if there was anyone that knew where the corners of the property were located.

Walls responded that the lot is a little more than 41 feet wide by about 132 feet long.

According to Marvel, most of the lots in the city of Martinsville are supposed to have 10-foot setbacks, but many of the older sections of town do not meet that requirment.

Martinsville Building Inspector Bob Strader said that he has previously visited the property, and noted that there is a carport on the back end of the property that has a roughly 5-foot setback from a neighboring property.

“I believe Denney’s intentions are to kind of more or less stay in line with that,” Strader said.

Walls said that he has spoken with the neighbors directly to west of the property, who, according to Walls, are OK with the plans for the new house.

BZA member Anna Elliott asked where the new house would be built in relation to the house that previously sat on the property.

Walls responded that the new house would be built in the same location, and that the structure itself would be 28 feet wide, but the overhang from the roof would be 30 feet wide.

Elliott asked if a survey location report had been completed on the property, with Walls responding that no report had been completed.

Martinsville Director of Planning and Engineering Gary Oakes said that the new house would be an improvement on the property compared to the old structure.

The property has previously come to the attention of the city’s unsafe building and hearing authority.

It was noted during the meeting that part of an adjacent alley is partially in the property, with BZA member Tom Hacker asking why that alley cut into Walls’ property.

Walls noted that the alley has been like that for several years.

Marvel also noted that the property in question sits on the boundary between two historic subdivisions.

“When you get in that kind of a situation, you don’t know what happened,” Marvel said about the alley.

There were no members of the public present to speak out against the requested zoning variance.

BZA member Katie Barnard made the motion to approve the setback variance, with Hacker seconding.

The variance was approved unanimously, 5-0.

The next scheduled meeting of the Martinsville Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in council chambers at Martinsville City Hall, 59 S. Jefferson St.

~ Staff Report | Published September 25, 2020 in The Reporter Times