Explanation
Council Variance Application: CV25-017
APPLICANT: Nathan Sampson; 990 West Third Avenue; Columbus, OH 43212.
PROPOSED USE: Habitable space within a detached garage.
GERMAN VILLAGE COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Approval.
CITY DEPARTMENTS' RECOMMENDATION: Approval. The site consists of one parcel developed with a single-unit dwelling in the R-2F, Residential District. A small portion of the property is zoned in the C-4, Commercial District as a result of an alley vacation in 2021. The requested Council variance will allow habitable space within a new detached garage. A Council variance is required because the R-2F, Residential District does not allow habitable space within a detached garage. Variances for lot width, lot area, side yards, maneuvering, and garage height are also included in the request. Staff supports the proposed variances as the request is consistent with similar proposals in the neighborhood, and will require a Certificate of Appropriateness for final building design from the German Village Commission.
Title
To grant a Variance from the provisions of Sections 3332.38(H), Private garage; 3312.25, Maneuvering; 3332.05(A)(2), Area district lot width requirements; 3332.14, R-2F, area district requirements; 3332.26(C)(2);(E), Minimum side yard permitted; and 3332.38(G), Private garage, of the Columbus City Codes; for the property located at 554 S. GRANT AVE. (43206), to allow habitable space within a detached garage with reduced development standards in the R-2F, Residential District (Council Variance #CV25-017).
Body
WHEREAS, by application #CV25-017, the owner of the property at 554 S. GRANT AVE. (43206), is requesting a Council variance to allow habitable space within a detached garage with reduced development standards in the R-2F, Residential District; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.38(H), Private garage, requires habitable space in a garage to connect directly with habitable space in a dwelling, while the applicant proposes habitable space within a detached garage that is not connected to habitable space within the single-unit dwelling; and
WHEREAS, Section 3312.25, Maneuvering, requires every parking space to have sufficient access and maneuvering area, while the applicant proposes to reduce the maneuvering for two 90-degree parking spaces from 20 feet to 12 feet and 10 inches, with maneuvering occurring over a parcel line as part of a shared access easement, as shown on the site plan; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.05(A)(4), Area district lot width requirements, requires a minimum lot width of 50 feet, while the applicant proposes to maintain the existing lot width of 45.55 feet; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.14, R-2F area district requirements, requires a 6,000 square foot lot for a single-family dwelling, while the applicant proposes to maintain the existing lot of 3,314 square feet; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.26(C)(2), Minimum side yard permitted, requires that the minimum side yard be no less than five feet, while the applicant proposes reduced side yards of 0.5± feet along the southern property line for the existing single-unit dwelling; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.26(E), Minimum side yard permitted, requires a minimum distance for a garage of three feet from a side lot line, while the applicant proposes a distance of two feet from the northern property line; and
WHEREAS, Section 3332.38(G), Private garage, limits garage height to 15 feet, while the applicant proposes an increased garage height of 19 feet and eight inches; and
WHEREAS, the German Village Commission recommends approval; and
WHEREAS, the City Departments recommend approval because the requested variances will allow habitable space within a detached garage, consistent with similar requests in historic residential neighborhoods throughout the city; and
WHEREAS, said ordinance requires separate submission for all applicable permits and a Certificate of Occupancy for the proposed use; and
WHEREAS, said variance will not adversely affect the surrounding property or surrounding neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, the granting of said variance will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent properties or unreasonably increase the congestion of public streets, or unreasonably diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area, or otherwise impair the public health, safety, comfort, morals, or welfare of the inhabitants of the City of Columbus; and
WHEREAS, the granting of said variance will alleviate the difficulties encountered by the owners of the property located at 554 S. GRANT AVE. (43206), in using said property as desired; and
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That a variance from the provisions of Sections 3332.38(H), Private garage; 3312.25, Maneuvering; 3332.05(A)(2), Area district lot width requirements; 3332.14, R-2F, area district requirements; 3332.26(C)(2);(E), Minimum side yard permitted; and 3332.38(G), Private garage, of the Columbus City Codes; is hereby granted for the property located at 554 S. GRANT AVE. (43206), insofar as said sections prohibit habitable space within a detached garage that does not connect directly with habitable space in a dwelling in the R-2F, Residential District, with reduced maneuvering from 20 feet to 12 feet and 10 inches, across a parcel line; reduced lot width from 50 feet to 45.55 feet; reduced lot size from 6,00 square feet to 3,314 square feet; reduced minimum side yard from five feet to 0.5 feet on the southern property line for the existing single-unit dwelling; reduced minimum side yard from three feet to two feet on the northern property line for the detached garage; and an increased garage height from 15 feet to 19 feet and eight inches; said property being more particularly described as follows:
554 S. GRANT AVE. (43206), being 0.08± acres on the east side of South Grant Avenue, 160± feet south of East Livingston Avenue, and being more particularly described as follows:
Situated in the City of Columbus, County of Franklin and State of Ohio and being bounded and described as follows:
TRACT ONE: In Half Section 27, Township 5, Range 22, Refugee Lands, and being part of the tract of land described in DB 95, pages 458, 459 and 460, Franklin County Records;
Beginning at a stake in the east line of Seventh Street, located 158.50 feet south of the south line of Livingston Avenue;
Thence in an easterly direction and parallel to the south line of Livingston Avenue, 34 feet to a stake; Thence in a southerly direction and parallel to the east line of Seventh Street, 46.50 feet to a stake;
Thence in a westerly direction and parallel to the south line of Livingston Avenue, 34 feet to an iron pin in the east line of Seventh Street;
Thence in a northerly direction with said east line of Seventh Street 46.50 feet to the place of beginning.
TRACT TWO: Known as being 38 feet in length from north to south by the width of the Lot from east to west off of the north end of Lot No. 4 in Charles Kemmler’s Livingston Avenue and Beck Street Subdivision, as the same is numbered and delineated upon the recorded plat thereof, of record in Plat Book 4, Page 192, Recorder’s Office, Franklin County, Ohio be the same more or less.
Situated in the State of Ohio, County of Franklin, City of Columbus, being part of a fifteen (15) foot wide alley shown on the plat of Charles Kemmler’s Subdivision, as same is delineated upon the recorded plat thereof, of record in Plat Book 4, Page 192, Recorder’s Office, Franklin County, Ohio and being more particularly described as follows:
Beginning at a set iron pipe at the northwest corner of Lot 4 of said subdivision, being the northwest corner of Tract 2 and in the east line of Tract 1 both conveyed to Krisztina Nadasdy and Brandon M. Shaw by Instrument No. 201908010096092, also being the southwest corner of said alley;
Thence, along the west line of said alley, part of the east line of said Tract 1, and part of the east line of the 2,057 square foot tract conveyed to William C. and Celeste A. Malver-Stewart by Instrument Number 201203290042996, NORTH, 15.00 feet to a set iron pipe at the southwest corner of Lot 1 of said subdivision, the southwest corner of the tract conveyed to 369 East Livingston Avenue LLC by Instrument No. 201504010040804 and the northwest corner of said alley;
Thence, along the north line of said alley, the south line of said Lot 1 and part of the south line of said 369 East Livingston Avenue LLC tract, South 89˚ 56’ 27” East, 33.30 feet to a set iron pipe at the southeast corner of said Lot 1, and the southwest corner of Lot 2 of said subdivision, the northeast corner of said alley and the northwest corner of said alley as vacated by City of Columbus Ordinance No. 60-96, passed on January 22, 1996;
Thence, across said alley, SOUTH, 15.00 feet to a set iron pipe at the northeast corner of said Lot 4, northeast corner of said Tract 2 and the northwest corner of Lot 5 of said subdivision, the southeast corner of said alley and the southwest corner of said vacated alley;
Thence, along the north line of said Lot 4 and north line of said Tract 2, North 89˚ 56’ 27” West, 33.30 feet to the place of beginning CONTAINING 0.011 ACRES (499 SQUARE FEET), subject however, to all legal highways, easements, leases and restrictions of record, and of records in the respective utility offices.
The foregoing description was prepared from an actual field survey made in April 2013. Iron pipe set are 30” x 1” O.D. with an orange plastic cap inscribed “MYERS P.S. 6579”. Bearings are based on the west line of Lot 4 assumed NORTH.
Parcel ID: 010-008649
Known as 554 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43206.
SECTION 2. That this ordinance is conditioned on and shall remain in effect only for so long as said property is used as a single-unit dwelling and a detached garage containing habitable space, or those uses allowed in the R-2F, Residential District.
SECTION 3. That this ordinance is further conditioned on the site being developed in general conformance with the site plan titled, “SITE PLAN,” dated May 30, 2025, and signed by Keith Witt, Agent for the Applicant. The plan may be slightly adjusted to reflect engineering, topographical, or other site data developed at the time of the development and when engineering and architectural drawings are completed. Any slight adjustments to the plan shall be subject to review and approval by the Director of the Department Building and Zoning Services, or a designee, upon submission of the appropriate data regarding the proposed adjustment.
SECTION 4. That this ordinance is further conditioned upon the applicant obtaining all applicable permits and a Certificate of Occupancy for the proposed use.
SECTION 5. That this ordinance is further conditioned on the following: The detached garage will not be converted to, or used as, a separate dwelling unit and will have no cooking facilities.
SECTION 6. That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.