Eugene Fife explains to the board about his proposed third story plans. The board, pictured from left: Matthew Goodnight, Scott Abbs, Randy Cox, Matthew Sandy and Andy Heltzel. Photo by Marissa Sweatland.

By Marissa Sweatland
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 17, had a light agenda. Jason Metz dropped his continuance from last month’s regular board meeting.

John Oglesbee petitioned the board for an exception to build a 1,500 square foot oversized garage in a residential district where ordinance allows only 576 square feet. The property is located at 133 N. Front St., Syracuse.

“It doesn’t have to be that big. But we want to build it for storage purposes. Right now, we are paying $700 to $800 a year to store our boats in storage,” Oglesbee explained, “or we could build on to the house. How much can we build onto the house?”

“So if it is attached to the structure, if it is a residential addition, then there is no size limitation. As long as you’re meeting minimum setbacks,” explained Matthew Sandy, plan commission director and board member.

“We got the setbacks. We would take off the front porch and start building out,” Oglesbee offered. “I asked what I want but I will do what I need to do.”

The house is in a flood zone, so if Oglesbee opts to attach the garage to the house, he would responsible for being compliant to flood zone requirements and flood development permitting.

Oglesbee mentioned his previous meeting with Sandy, where he asked to put two 24-foot garages on the property. However, in Syracuse it is not allowed to have two buildings on the property.

Multiple people came out to contest the petition for an exception and multiple emails were sent to the board contesting the petition.

Jason and Stacey Miller, 122 N. Front St., Syracuse, came before the board to speak against the petition.

“We have spent the last three years working on our house, updating it and raising the property value of the house and the neighborhood. I feel, personally, putting a garage this size is not going to help the process a lot of us have done through the neighborhood,” Jason Miller explained.

“I agree. They mentioned having to spend money on storage, but we all do the same. And maybe more so. They have various toys, trucks, things sitting cluttered currently on the property that is also devaluing our area. I don’t think they have good intentions of bringing property value to our neighborhood,” Stacey Miller pleaded.

Marilyn and Nicole Freiburger, 115 N. Front St., Syracuse, also spoke to the board against the petition, also citing the cluttered lawn as a problem.

“There’s a truck. There’s a trailer. It’s a front yard in a beautiful neighborhood. There’s no one else with random stuff in the yard. Every other yard is very kept up with,” Nicole Freiburger explained. “Like our neighbors, the Millers, said if you live on the lake, you either have stuff for your belongings or you go and rent a space. It’s just common sense: don’t buy the toys if you don’t have the space and if you don’t have the space, rent a place.”

Ultimately, the board based the decision on the information presented before them, the original measurements, and did deny the exception. However, the denial of the exception does not prohibit Oglesbee from building an attached garage to his house.

Eugene Fife came before the board asking for an exception in order to construct a third story onto their home at 1106 S. Lake Drive, Syracuse.

“My wife and I have eight grandchildren that keep growing and getting bigger. It’s getting pretty tight in the house. We would like the addition so they can go upstairs and not bother us or us bother them,” Fife explained.

Matthew Sandy explained to the board there is a provision in the ordinance that does allow setback reduction. These setback reductions are applied to older areas. The property is eligible for a setback reduction.

Scott Abbs drew the board’s attention to the shed in the backyard, citing the shed’s closeness to the property line. Fife explained to the board that the unattached shed is necessary because it holds the grandchildren’s pool noodles and other lake toys.

Since the shed predates the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeal’s existence, it is considered “legally nonconforming.” However, if it is ever updated or improved in any way it would need to be addressed and would need to be moved to an ordinance compliant location.

The board approved the exception, with the condition if the shed is ever improved it must be ordinance compliant.

The next regular Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals meeting will be held 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Syracuse Town Hall, 310 N. Huntington St., Syracuse.