Following the denial of a request by a property owner to construct a one-bedroom cottage where a garage was located on the grounds that it would violate the setback requirements in the local zoning ordinance, the owner applied for and was denied an area variance. The trial court dismissed the appeal, and the appellate court affirmed, holding that the denied variance request would have resulted in a 92% reduction in the setback requirement, and noting that this would have permitted the cottage to be located only four feet from a public road, and that it amounted to significant deviations in shoreline and setback requirements. Therefore, the Court agreed that the Board’s denial was rational.
Mary T. Probst Family Trust v Zoning Board of Appeals of Town of Horicon, 913 N.Y.S.2d 813 (3 Dept. 12/16/2010)
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_09326.htm
