Variance

The West Caln Zoning Board approved two variances and a special exception to zoning specifications at a public hearing on Tuesday. A variance granted to Donald Hershey of Honey Brook will allow him to build two additions to a 150-year-old stone farmhouse located on a 61-acre farm near the intersection of Route 10 and Compass Road. Hershey needed a variance for a 10-by-26 foot addition that conflicted with a requirement that side yards be at least 30 feet. Hershey also needed the board's OK for a 20-by-30 foot addition to the rear of the farmhouse, which conflicted with a requirement that back yards be 60 feet.

The East Fallowfield Zoning Hearing Board has unanimously granted William Elkins a variance to build a garage. Elkins, who owns an 80-acre farm on Doe Run Church Road, told the board Tuesday night that he planned to raze his cinderblock garage and replace it with a larger stone one. Because the new garage would be 20 feet from the road, Elkins needed a variance from a township regulation that requires a 100- foot setback in a residential-agricultural zone....

A Marshalton couple have requested a variance to build an addition onto their house. Ed and Ann Marie Lutz, of 1402 Clayton Rd., asked the West Bradford Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday night to allow a 13-foot setback from Clayton Road, instead of the 65-foot setback required by the 1987 township zoning ordinance. Lutz told the board that the addition would provide kitchen space and a dining area on the first floor and a bedroom on the second floor. Richard Armstrong Jr., a Planning Commission member, told the board that the commission recommended that the variance be denied because the house already has a 40-foot setback from the street.

The West Whiteland Zoning Hearing Board held a hearing on a variance request from an Oak Lane resident who wants to construct a garage that would not comply with the township's rear- and side-yard setback ordinances. Brian M. Berlin is seeking permission to build a 24-by-24-foot garage 13 feet from the side-yard line and 25 feet from the rear line. It would be on the southeastern portion of the lot, which is five-eighths of an acre. Setbacks must be 20 feet on the side and 40 feet in the rear.

The Warminster Township Planning Commission has recommended that Cucci's Ristorante obtain a variance from the township parking-space requirements before it begins construction to double its seating space. In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors reject a plan to build an 80-seat, 15-by-55-foot addition to the restaurant at 41 N. York Rd. John Shihadeh, a Warrington contractor retained by Cucci's to build the addition, said the restaurant now has 80 seats.

It was a formality, but Frank and Eleanor Tarbox did the polite and correct thing by asking for permission before building their garage. The Tarboxes' home at 520 Jarden Rd. in Wyndmoore does not conform to zoning requirements for front-yard widths, so, by law, the Springfield Zoning Hearing Board has to approve any encroachment into the front yard, said zoning officer Chris Gehlhaus. On Monday, the board approved the Tarboxes' request with a 3-0 vote, Gehlhaus said. In other business, the board approved a variance for John Schultz at 129 Integrity Ave. in Oreland.

The Warrington Zoning Hearing Board has unanimously denied a request for a variance to allow seven single-family homes at 830 Valley Rd. and has urged the applicants to resubmit their plans to the township's planning commission. After a 40-minute hearing Monday night, property owners Timothy and Susan Krisher were denied a variance from setback and driveway-width requirements on their six-acre property. The owners said they intended to divide their property into nine parcels, all fronting on Valley Road.

The Ambler Zoning Hearing Board has turned down unanimously special exception and variance requests from the Zion Baptist Church that would have enabled the church to build a 7,200-square-foot addition on adjacent property. "I just don't see the real hardship to permit the variance," said board member David Barndt. Board chairman Mike Williams and board member Vince Bevivino concurred with Barndt's opinion. Zion Baptist was seeking to build the addition for what officials described as a "fellowship hall.

The Upper Moreland Zoning Hearing Board has granted a variance that will allow a tutoring business to continue operating in an area that has been zoned industrial. The panel voted 2-1 Thursday night to approve the variance for The Sylvan Learning Center, which has an office in the Executive Mews office complex at 2300 Computer Ave. just off Blair Mill Road in Willow Grove. A variance was needed because schools are not allowed in areas zoned for industrial or office use. Board member Guy Cooper voted against the variance, saying that a school of any type should not be allowed in an area zoned for industry.