Office staff may rule on some zoning appeals

At Seneca, the board of zoning appeals last night granted three requests to vary from the city zoning law.  Two of those involved setbacks.  In the future, however, office staff may decide some variance applications if a recommendation by Ed Halbig, director of Planning and Community Development, is approved by the city council.  According to Halbig, handling in-house appeals, such as the three heard last night, would save time and red tape.  One of last night’s appeals involved the construction of a garage 10 feet from the city code requirement of 12 feet.  Chairman Marvin Gray of the board of zoning appeals reacted this way to Halbig’s pitch:  “I suggest we accept it as information, digest it and give our input at our next meeting.”