By. Brett Greenberg
The Tuscaloosa City Council Chamber room was in full use last Monday when Brandon Kasteler, construction director of Habitat for Humanity, filed for a variance to make the house that is being built more closely align with surrounding homes, but the variance petition failed.
A variance is a request to use owned land in a way that is not permitted normally by the zoning board.
The house Kasteler filed a variance for is located on 3410 7th St. in a neighborhood with single-family dwelling homes surrounding the home. The house needs to be moved forward to be 15 feet back from the curb like the others, Kasteler said.
After Robert W. Ennis went through the normal operations of how the meeting will go and lay out the rules for the public, Kasteler gave his reason for the appeal.
“We would like to move the house forward so it will be closer to matching home on either side,” Kasteler said. “It would also allow us to keep the tree in the backyard.”
After the variance was filed, the board was able to make any comments or ask questions to the petitioner.
Each board member had the floor and the overarching reason the variance failed was because there were no unique circumstances.
“With no unique circumstances, I just do not see a way we can approve this petition for a variance,” said Linda Ford, one of the members of the Zoning Board.
Kasteler is considered a regular at city hall for the monthly zoning meetings because of the amount of homes Habitat for Humanity builds.
“The board has its own way of doing things and it is ultimately their call,” Kasteler said.
Kasteler is just one of many cases the board listened to last Monday night and there will be more cases listened to next October.
The meetings are open to the public and are held on the fourth Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at city hall located at 2201 University Blvd.
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