MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - At the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on May 9, 2018, three cases were presented to the Board.

The first case was brought by Mr. Ditty, who wanted his case to be heard by the board for the third time. Mr. Ditty was seeking to build a two car garage on the front of his house, but did not meet the twenty yard set back required by the board.

The Board agreed to hear his case for the third time, but unanimously denied his request for the garage. They said that he did not meet one of their criteria to only do the minimum to the property, such as building a one car garage. Commissioner Carol Ohlrogge said to the applicant, "I really appreciate the work that you're putting into this Mr. Ditty, and I want you to have a garage."

Unless Mr. Ditty makes significant changes to his garage plans and the board agrees to hear his case again, it cannot be brought before the Board for a year.

The second case was brought before the Board by the Shoemakers requesting to allow them to keep an accessory building in their front yard. The accessory building was a hold over from when the lot was a larger piece of land and was built in the 1960s.

When the lot was split in 2016 and the building permits granted for a new structure on the property in 2017, the variance should have been taken care of before the new structure was built. The variance was unanimously granted.

The final case of the evening was brought by the Poletes family to build a 400 square foot addition to their property, the easement they were seeking was for 3.5 feet. The Board voted 4-0 in favor of the variance.