Below is the Bryker Wood’s Neighborhood Association (BWNA) policy on variance requests. Important to note that the BWNA does not make the official decision variance requests – the city makes the final and ultimate call.
“Property owners desiring to present variance requests to the BWNA Board may do so at the BWNA monthly meetings. Variances should be extraordinary events with compelling hardship. The BWNA’s position on variance requests is as follows: If the majority of the BWNA Board opposes the variance request, the City is notified of BWNA’s opposition. However if the majority of the BWNA board does not oppose the request, the BWNA board takes no official action, except in rare instances. The BWNA board does not affirmatively support variance requests because the purpose of a variance is to benefit an individual property owner, not the neighborhood, by excusing compliance with laws that apply to the rest of the neighborhood. Where there is no opposition from other neighbors and the variance is minor or not calculated to adversely affect the nearby neighbors or the neighborhood, the BWNA board will take no official action, leaving it to the applicant to present his case to the Board of Adjustment. In rare instances, a variance may be necessary to accomplish a result that will actively benefit the neighborhood or provide an alternative to a legal but more damaging development proposal. In those instances the BWNA Board may support the variance.”