Board of adjustment
June 28th, 2009 by 
Alica
Do you think it’s a good idea to have the Brandon Planning & Zoning Commission be the board of adjustment for variance and conditional use requests? The Brandon City Council thought so and made it so.
The P&Z made its first binding decision last week, and the decision was “no” to a request to add onto a concrete pad on the side of someone’s driveway. The pad would have come out to the curb and would have come to within one foot of the property line.
Some might say the request should have been granted. What would it have hurt, they might argue, if a resident extends an existing pad? It would have made the driveway look better, not worse, they might have said.
On the other hand, city ordinance says that kind of concrete isn’t allowed. The P&Z commission said they had to follow the law.
What are your thoughts?
Posted in Uncategorized, City business | 
June 29th, 2009 at 7:30 am
No problem with the board being both so long as the menbers are qualified to be making those decisions. Most of the decosions are no brainers as they have to follow the ordinances, they do not have the athority to change them, only the council.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
This was a good move by the city council to empower the P&Z board with binding authority. Too often, the citizens would have to go through both P&Z and city council meetings to get their request heard. The board is made up of a diverse group of people who take their responsibilities very seriously. You tend to gain experience and wisdom in the subject the longer you are on these types of boards. Hats off to the council for implementing this change and to the board for sticking to the ordinances in their very first decision.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I think they need to follow the laws unless there is a strong reason to override it. My issue with the final vote being with the P&Z is half the time you only hear about a zoning issue after it’s been to the P&Z and before it goes to council. Not everyone can read (or even drives past) those little signs that have to be put up. The agendas show up on the web pretty late in the game also.
Why aren’t all residents within a set distance of a zoning request notified by mail that something may change? Surely the city knows who owns the adjoining properties.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
It seems strange that the first time that an issue came from P&Z to the council, they overruled their decision. If the council has all of the faith in the world in their board, why overrule on their first opportunity. This took place before the change took place, but it still happened. If the board is going to be the final say, make sure they are experienced in proper planning and common sense zoning. Don’t appoint just friends or political cronies.