A New Castle City Board of Adjustment Hearing took place
on April 6, 2006 at 7 p.m. in the City of New Castle’s
Town Hall.
Present: Mayor John F. Klingmeyer
David Athey, City Engineer
Absent: Gerard Kavanaugh, City Solicitor
Mayor Klingmeyer called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
He introduced City Engineer David Athey and noted that Mr.
Kavanaugh would not be present due to illness.
The Mayor read the Notice of Public Hearing that states,
“An application has been filed by Steven A. Handy for
property located at 125 Stuyvesant Avenue, Van Dyke Village,
New Castle, Delaware, Parcel Number 21-007.00-150, seeking
variances from the required minimum front setback and maximum
building bulk, to permit the construction of a one-story,
24 by 33 foot addition to the rear of the existing residence.
For the purpose of considering this application, the Board
of Adjustment will hold a public hearing on Thursday, April
6, 2006, at 7 p.m. in Old Town Hall, 2nd floor, located at
201 Delaware Street, New Castle, Delaware.”
We have an affidavit of publication from the New Castle Weekly
that the notice was posted on March 22, 2006 and an affidavit
from the NewsJournal that notice was published on March 22,
2006. We also have the Board of Adjustment application for
the hearing; Mr. Handy confirmed he had submitted his payment
on 3/16/06 and the mortgage inspection plan from East Coast
Survey.
Mr. Handy approached the Board and gave a brief presentation
detailing his application. An attachment to the application
was read. “Applicant is requesting a variance from the
required front yard setbacks of 30 feet to the existing conditions
as shown on the attached survey to 26.6 feet (3.4’ variance)
along Stuyvesant Street and to 24.5 feet (5.5’ variance)
along Fourteenth Street; a variance to the maximum building
bulk from the required 25% to 29.52% to permit construction
if the proposed addition as shown on the attached survey is
approved.”
The Mayor also referenced a letter provided by a neighbor
on Baldt Avenue, Kenneth Henratty, stating he has no objection.
Mr. Handy added that another neighbor,
Dave Jones, has no objection but did not provide any documentation
to this effect.
Jeff Bergstrom, Building Inspector, was asked to give some
background on the application. The survey is showing a 25
foot setback line; the mortgage survey is technically incorrect
and should read 30 feet. It has been Mr. Bergstrom’s
observation that the entire subdivision was built with 25
foot front yard setbacks and from the time the subdivision
was built until the time the modern zoning code was adopted
there was a change upgrading the required front yard setback
bringing almost every home in the subdivision to non-conforming.
The National Building Code in the R1 district is 25%, which
is nearly exactly what the home is.
Mr. Athey asked what the dimensions of the addition are. Mr.
Handy responded they are 28 X 33 or about 3%. The existing
house is just under 25%; with the addition it would be 29-1/2%.
Board of Adjustment Hearing—Steven A. Handy
April 6, 2007
Page 2
Mr. Athey asked if there are any other additions of this
nature in the general area. Mr. Handy said there have been
other additions with no variances to his knowledge.
Mr. Athey feels there are two distinct variances in one; if
the house was built before the modern zoning code that is
no fault of the applicant. The other is the addition and weigh
what the impact would be to the neighborhood.
Mr. Leon DiAscanis commented this is a corner lot and has
a distinctive feature compared to interior lots. There is
one house on one side with the other side open. The nearest
house is 110 feet. This variance should be waived. In Van
Dyke there are many lots that are over the usual size; it
is a very attractive development.
The Mayor read a checklist that the Board of Adjustment must
go through before reaching a decision.
Mr. Athey said the granting of the variance would not grant
the applicant any special privilege and has no problems with
it.
Mr. Athey made a motion to grant the applicant the variances
as stated in the attachment to the application to the Board
of Adjustment. The Mayor agrees with Mr. Athey’s reasons
for granting the variances. The motion passed unanimously.
The Mayor is on record stating that this applies only to
this specific case and is not a general interpretation throughout
the district.
The hearing was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Turner
Stenographer
