Anchorage zoning board approves setback variance for Chandalar Drive home

The Anchorage Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals voted unanimously Thursday to grant a dimensional variance allowing the single-family residence at 2301 Chandalar Drive to encroach 1.3 feet into the required 5-foot side setback, subject to two conditions in the staff report. The addition has crossed the setback line since 1998.

An earlier Alaska News article on the case noted the board was scheduled to hold a public hearing Sept. 10 and that planning staff recommended approval.

The addition was built under building permit 98-0558. Planning staff told the board the side setback was never addressed during construction or inspections, and the permit was never closed out. In 2020, the owner was required to close it. The required as-built survey, completed that August, showed the addition on the south side crossing the line by 1.3 feet.

Petitioner Patrick Waringuez told the board he learned of the problem only after the survey. "We did not do this one on purpose," he said. "It was maybe accident, or maybe the general contractor didn't see that."

Staff found seven of the eight required standards met. The eighth, covering accessibility accommodations, did not apply to single-family homes. Municipal mapping data puts the parcel's slope at about 24 percent, rising uphill from the street. Staff called that an extraordinary physical circumstance limiting where the house could expand. Staff reported no documented adverse effects and no complaints from surrounding properties since 1998.

The Planning Department mailed 213 hearing notices on Aug. 17 and received one comment in opposition, from an anonymous writer on the same street who objected to the home's size. The Northeast Community Council did not comment.

"I just wanted to quickly ask about the public comment you did receive. Is there any merit to what was received there other than we just don't like the way it looks?" board member Jason Norris asked staff. Staff answered no.

A neighbor, Nyle Williams, testified by phone in support, saying he can see the house from his front window. Requiring changes after more than a quarter century "would create a hardship for him and for the neighborhood and a bad precedent," Williams said.

"Even though it is a very unique property, it's clear that all of the standards have been met for approval," Christopher Constant said in moving approval.

Parties have 30 days from distribution of the decision to appeal to Superior Court.