I need help from someone who has experience dealing with the City Zoning
and the ARC Historical District. I need to build a retaining wall for my front
yard. Normally this would not be a problem as both the city and the ARC allow
retaining walls. In my case, the house is on a corner lot and the yard runs up
to both streets with no sidewalk or other buffer. The yard has badly eroded into
the street.
I have no experience dealing with the city and do not want to go about this the wrong way and get a no from the get go. If necessary, I’ll hire an architect or whoever. I hope that is not necessary.
If anyone has experience with the city zoning or the ARC please email me at tctc100
AT gmail DOT com
Change the AT to @ and the DOT to .
Your first step would be to contact ARC staff at 274-8418 to ask them to review the guidelines set for the Seminole Heights historic district. See if the guidelines specifically prohibit retaining walls. Drive your immediate area and see if there are historic examples of the wall you are considering - if so then the guidelines may specifically address the issue. I know there are historic retaining walls along the northern part of Central Aveune so there should be guidelines regarding them. Staff will be more than happy to assit you in your application request if you/they find that the guidelines will allow them.
ReplyDeleteYou will probably need to get a survey to determine you right of way set back for the location of the wall.
RE: Code - there are several houses on east Powhatan that are fighting with code to keep the walls that are there and have been there in some cases for over 20 years. A construction worker turned them in to code because they could not get their truck door opened when they were parked in the driveway of a job site - so instead of addressing the singular property - code hit all of the walls on the street in the right of way. Many of them are less than 3' feet high but code does not allow for a retaining wall in the right of way - which in this case they are all. It is still up in the air but the association is trying to resolve the issue so that all parties - code and home owners can live with it. Go to the OSHNA website and e-mail the code contact and see where that issue is and for more clarification on it.
Good Luck
Greg
"but code does not allow for a retaining wall in the right of way - which in this case they are all"
ReplyDeleteMy wall would be right up on the street. In fact, I have remnants of a wall that was built 30 or 40 years ago.
I will contact the OSHNA code person to see what I can find out.
Thanks,
TC
TC - If you put the retaining wall inside the right-of-way there is not problem with code - Maybe the ARC but not code. If you put it in the right-of-way, I believe you have to get a variance.
ReplyDeleteCurrently there are about 4 or more homes on Powhatan that are being cited by code because their retaining walls are in the right-of-way. We (OSHNA and the neighbors) are fighting it. We have not had a code hearing yet, but I will know as soon as the notice is delivered. I recommend you keep your eye out on this case. I am head of Code Enforcement for OSHNA and, right now, without a variance, you cannot put a retaining wall in the right-of-way. The Powhatan people may win because their walls have been there so long. I would argue that the grading of the lots makes the walls imperative. Also, the walls have been there forever. Whether Code will buy that, is anyone's guess.