Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Date: October 15, 2026
To: Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals
From: Mathias Hughey, AICP, Interim City Planner
Title
Consideration of a Variance to decrease the required lot size for the creation of two panhandle lots at 908 5th Street East.
Body
Action Requested:
The Zoning Board of Appeals will consider the variance request to decrease required lot size for the creation of two panhandle lots at 908 and 910 5th Street East.
Summary Report:
The applicant and property owner, TK Properties of Northfield has requested a variance, along with a minor subdivision, to subdivide a preexisting lot at 908/910/912 5th Street East (PID: 2206125011) with three houses into three lots.
The proposed minor subdivision of the existing lot would create three lots, one for each preexisting house. The two lots further from 5th Street East will become panhandle lots with a shared driveway. The other lot will not become a panhandle lot and does not require a variance. City Code allows for panhandle lots under certain conditions, however the minimum lot size required is 20,000 square feet. The variance requested is for the lot size requirement to be less than 20,000 square feet.
The Land Development Code outlines the parameters for panhandle lots in Chapter 34 – Land Development Code; Article 5 – Subdivision of Land; Section 5.2 – Subdivision Design Standards; subsection 5.2.2 – Lot and Block Design; (H) Panhandle Lots. Panhandle lots are “prohibited except as may be necessary due to topography, configuration of land, existing road layouts or other special circumstances.” The preexisting lot has been operating like three different lots, with each house having its own addresses and utilities. The three homes on the property were all built between 1945 and 1950. Due to the prolonged nonconforming nature of this lot, this subdivision request is considered a special circumstance.
However, the LDC also requires that “where panhandle lots ar...
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