Matt Sandy, assistant planner, far right, goes over the responsibilities of the Syracuse BZA with new board member, Matt Goodnight, second from left. Also shown are board members Joe Leatherman and Randy Cox. Photo by Deb Patterson.

By Deb Patterson
InkFreeNews

Matt Goodnight, a Syracuse resident was introduced as the newest member of the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals, Thursday, July 21. Goodnight replaces the seat held by Joe Cazier, who stepped down. Cazier won the Republican nomination for Turkey Creek Township Trustee in the May primary. He will be unopposed in the November election.

Goodnight was initiated with several unique cases Thursday. All petitions were granted, several with conditions.

One of those cases was two requests by Travis Davidson on properties at 1015 S. Huntington St. and 600 S. Huntington St. While the two variance requests were separate, Davidson stated if he was granted his request at 600 S. Huntington St., it would alter his request for the 1015 S. Huntington St., location.

An exception to allow boat trailer storage, overflow parking and overflow storage of sheds was requested at the 1015 S. Huntington St., location. Matt Sandy, assistant planner, gave a history of the property, stating it has been before the board several times, the most recent as a request for auto sales and repair. The conditions placed at that time was if there was any use change, it would have to come back before the board.

Currently the property is being used to store storage sheds and boat trailers as well as overflow parking for Peterson’s Fish. At one time there were over 40 sheds on the property. After hearing Davidson’s plans for the property and reading a remonstrance letter from Connie Anthony, the petition was approved with conditions. Among the conditions was the installation of the fence. The ability for that location to be an auto dealership was also approved.

Regarding his property at 600 S. Huntington St., Davidson requested an exception to allow a change and alteration to the previously granted exception by allowing sheds and outdoor furniture sales and a veggie stand. This was granted with the previous conditions still in place and some type of landscaping added to prohibit parking in front of the business.

Davidson presented a diagram of how the sheds are displayed and noted the sheds are display models only, so there will not be inventory moving in and out. A portion of the property is also used as overflow parking for Bales Butcher Shop. While it was approved a condition was issued that some type of landscaping be added to prohibit parking along the front of the business.

BZA members additionally approved a petition by Steven Fryman to allow two residences to be constructed at 720 E. Medusa St. Steve Snyder presented the request in a unique platted area. The second residence would be above a three-car garage and be used as an overflow of the main residence.

A variance request by David and Marcis Parsons to allow construction of a new single-family residence at 905 Hansing St., 14.6 feet from the east right of way, 5-feet from the south sideline and 4.6 feet from the west alley, was approved but with conditions. The Parsons wish to make their new home a permanent residence.

Concern was expressed over the location of the garage in comparison to the street and safety concerns due to the limited exit space. It was noted the garage location was chosen due to the elevation of the land to avoid steps.

The condition placed on the request was the garage be located on the property where it would have a 20-foot setback.

Jack Birch received approval for his client’s request — a variance to allow homes, accessories and additions to remain as placed at Bayview Estates. The request was made by FR Syracuse LLC and is located at 537 Railside Drive, Syracuse. Birch stated, based on the limited information his clients provided him, the two properties in question were believed to have been placed on the original footprint of previous mobile homes. The relocation of one of those homes would cause a hardship. The condition placed on the request if the home at lot 436 is replaced it will comply with the set back requirements.