Mayfield Village Council Reverses Decisions of Zoning Board

Mayfield Village Council voted unanimously to reverse Board of Zoning Appeals rulings concerning a Meadowood Drive property.

Homeowners Tim Scasny and Lynne Hamill received a permit in 2001 for a garage of 292 square feet. That building was added to and is now 645 square feet. After a neighbor asked questions about laws concerning construction, village officials checked out the site and discovered that the garage and a woodshed combined came to more than the maximum square footage allowed for accessory uses.

A variance was sought with the Board of Zoning Appeals, which decided to allow the garage but denied a variance for the woodshed. On Tuesday, council reversed both decisions, meaning the woodshed is now OK, but the garage is not.

Council President William Buckholtz said that doesn't necessarily mean that the garage must be torn down and a creative solution might be found. However, as it stands, the garage is only allowed to be 292 square feet.

Councilman Joseph Saponaro said council's decision was based on looking at what the Board of Zoning Appeals did and whether proper procedure was followed.

Scasny, who had presented council with petitions from neighbors in support of the woodshed, said he didn't know what his next step would be. He said he put $125,000 of work into the garage and in 2006 the village approved permits for cable television, sewer, water and gas for the structure, which has been converted into a "man cave."

He also said that there was no way to reduce the size to meet requirements and that it would have to either remain as is or be torn down. He said a former village building commissioner had told him it was OK to increase the size of the garage.

"We changed plans before we started building. He said, 'You have a permit, you are allowed to make changes,'" Scasny said.