Board of Zoning Adjustments approves height variance for Overton Village Condos

In both Mountain Brook and Vestavia, local governments are working with Overton Village Condos, LLC to potentially create a 40-unit condominium project along Fairhaven Drive and Overton Road. Approximately two-thirds of the project is positioned in the city of Mountain Brook, while the remaining third sits in the city of Vestavia.

Although the potential condos still have steps left to be approved before the project can begin, the Board of Zoning Adjustment discussed two items on Aug. 21: an extension to previous variance regarding distance from the property line and a variance regarding the height of a section of the stacked flats.

Under the extension, the board granted the proposed stacked flats to be 53 and 19 feet from the front property line on Fairhaven Drive in lieu of the requirement to be between 22 and 29 feet from the property line. 

“This is just for an extension of what we approved in March,” said board chairman Patrick Higginbotham.

The board later spoke about granting a height variance for the same condos, which is proposed to be at most 41 feet in height to the eave of the roof in lieu of the allowable 36 feet with an overall height of up to 51 feet above the proposed sidewalk grade to the ridge line of the roof in lieu of the allowable 46 feet.

“This case tonight is to request a variance to the height and the height only,” Higginbotham said. 

Director of Planning, Building and Sustainability Dana Hazen noted that this portion of the project was approved nine years ago in 2008, which was before the Village Overlay was put in place, changing how measurements must be taken. 

Because the height must take into account the placement of the future sidewalk, the proposed height to both the eave and the ridge line of the roof now rises five feet above the city’s ordinance. 

Ron Durham, managing member of Overton Partners, stated that their current hardship with the height revolves are the topography of the area. 

“There’s one long building that runs along Fairhaven,” Durham said, and the topography of the ground changes approximately 10 feet. “Unlike retail … as residential property, obviously you can’t step it down … This is a topography driven issue.”

With a variance of five feet, Durham said they will not be adding new floors or additional units to the building and the building will still be three floors in height.

“I just don’t buy the hardship,” said Griffin Edwards, who owns adjacent property. “If we have these zoning rules and ordinances and codes, to some degree we should keep them.” He also stated that because his property sits on the higher side of the building, any landscape buffer would not create a barrier between the two properties.

Another property owner, Maggie McDaniel, said that although she likes what representatives want to do with the property, she is concerned that the height of the building will “tower over” her adjacent two-story home. Rachel Holt, a former Poe Drive resident who now lives in Mountain Brook, submitted an email to the board as well stating that the proposed height is a “major problem,” and to have “this monstrosity towering in [resident’s] backyard is just absolutely ridiculous.”

Durham said that the variance to the proposed height is not to the entirety of the building, only about one-third of it that sits on the northern end of the property due to the topography.

The board voted to approve the variance, and additional progress will be handled by the Planning Commissions and the City Councils of both Mountain Brook and Vestavia.