Board of Zoning Appeals

Charleston Board of Zoning Appeals AGENDA 8:30 a.m., Thursday, April 9, 2026 City Service Center Conference Room · 915 Quarrier Street I. Items for Review CUP-26-0256 & VAR-26-3062 Application of Aric Margolis requesting a conditional use permit in order to adaptively reuse a non- residential property and receive a variance of the front setback spacing and paving requirements on the property located at 700 Chappell Road. II. Approval of minutes for previous BZA hearings.  Board of Zoning Appeals Application for Variance BZA # Hearing Date: Applicant Information Property Information Name: Address: Aric Margolis 700 Chappell Rd. Charleston WV 25304 Address: Tax Map and Parcel: 602 Virginia St. E Ste 102 Charleston WV 25301 Tax Map 24 Parcel 1 Kanawha Corporate District Phone: Zoning District: 304-343-9080 R-2 Agent Name, Address and Phone Number: Property Owner and Mailing Address: (if other than applicant) (if other than applicant) Aric Margolis Architecture INSTRUCTIONS: This application must be typed or legibly printed and filed with the Development Services Department in person or by mail to 915 Quarrier Street, Suite 1 Charleston, WV 25301. The following items must accompany this application: 1. a site plan drawn to scale; and a 2. $125.00 filing fee in the form of cash, personal check or money order made payable to the City of Charleston. You are also encouraged to submit any additional information, including photographs, elevations, testimonials or other documentation which may support your application. You or your representative must be present at the scheduled public hearing in order to present your request and answer questions. THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT WILL NOT ACCEPT INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS. A variance is a method by which a property owner receives permission to vary from the development standards established in the Zoning Ordinance governing such matters as building location, building dimensions, setback requirements, placement and quantity of parking, landscaping, signage, and other features included in site design. Please describe your variance request. We are asking for two variances. 1. Variance to park in the front setback. 2. Pave more than 50% of front setback. Applicable Section(s) of the Zoning Ordinance 23-020-07 Please describe the proposed work to be done on the property. Owner requests variances so they can enlarge the parking lot to accommodate the current business needs. The property received a conditional use permit when it was converted from a church to a business but the current parking lot does not provide adequate parking for the use. IMPORTANT: According to Section 8A of the Code of the State of West Virginia and Section 29-040 of the City of Charleston’s Zoning Ordinance, the Board of Zoning Appeals may grant a variance if and only if ALL of the following four criteria can be satisfied: 1.) The variance, if granted, will not adversely affect the public health, safety and welfare or the rights of adjacent property owners or residents; and, 2.) The variance arises from special conditions or attributes which pertain to the property for which a variance is being sought and which were not created by the person or entity seeking the variance; and, 3.) The variance, if granted, would eliminate an unnecessary hardship and permit a reasonable use of the land; and, 4.) The variance, if granted, will allow the intent of the Zoning Ordinance to be observed and substantial justice done. 1.) If granted, your variance must not adversely affect the public health, safety and welfare or the rights of adjacent property owners or residents. For example, public safety cannot be compromised by limiting access for emergency vehicles, and neighboring property owners must not be hindered in the use their properties in any manner permitted in the Zoning Ordinance. If your variance request is granted, how will others in the area be affected? This variance will not adversely affect the public. In fact it will relieve the need for business occupants to try and find parking off site when the parking lot is expanded to accommodate the needs of the business. 2.) Your request must arise from special conditions or attributes which pertain to the subject property and which you did not create. The size, shape and topography of your lot are examples of the physical conditions which may satisfy this criterion. In comparison with other properties in the vicinity and under the same zoning regulations, what is unusual or different about the subject property? This property is an adaptive reuse of an existing church. It has been used as a business occupancy for some time. The property is located on a corner which makes it very difficult to satisfy the current zoning ordinance (multiple fronts as opposed to one front setback). 3.) An unnecessary hardship is neither personal nor financial in nature. In this application, an unnecessary hardship is a problem created by some feature of the land which prevents the owner from making reasonable use of the property as permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. The following three questions help to determine if there is an unnecessary hardship with regard to your property. Without a variance, are you deprived of all beneficial use of your land? The building is approximately 20,000 square feet. The current parking lot is 44 cars. Far below the required 72 car parking per the zoning regulations of 1 car per 300 square feet Is your situation due to unique circumstances that are not shared by other land in the district? Yes, the property was an adaptive reuse and remainder of the district is single family homes. Because this property is on a corner, the property has significant front setback restrictions making it difficult to provide the amount of parking needed for the granted use. Would approval of your variance request alter the essential character of the surrounding neighborhood or community? No, this property is already being used as a business so the character of the neighborhood will not change. 4.) The general purpose and intent of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Charleston is to protect and promote the public health, safety, convenience, morals and general welfare. For more specific information in regard to the scope and intent of the Zoning Ordinance, please see Section 1-020 as well as the section from which you are requesting this variance. Will approval of the variance allow the intent of the Zoning Ordinance to be observed? Yes, since this property was already granted a conditional use for adaptive reuse, this variance will allow the property to meet the required parking per the zoning ordinance. Substantial justice is the idea that a standard of fairness has been satisfied according to the substance of the law. Does your variance request represent the least deviation from the Zoning Ordinance necessary to achieve an outcome that is fair to both you and to your community? Yes, because there is no other area on the property where additional parking could be added and not have to apply for variance. I hereby affirm that all of the statements and information contained in or filed with this application are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. 10/31/25 Signature Date Planning Department Use Only The following is a list of related cases: The following is a list of zoning ordinance violations, building code violations and enforcement actions relating to the subject property: Application reviewed by: Action:  Approved  Rejected If approved, were there any specific conditions or limitations imposed by the BZA? Planning Official Signature and Title Date  Board of Zoning Appeals Application for Conditional Use Permit CU # Hearing Date: Applicant Information Property Information Name: Address: Aric Margolis 700 Chappell Rd. Charleston WV 25304 Address: Tax Map and Parcel: 602 Virginia St. E. Ste 102 Charleston WV 25301 Tax Map 24 Parcel 1 Kanawha Corporate District Phone: Zoning District: 304.343.9080 R-2 Agent Name, Address and Phone Number: Property Owner and Mailing Address: (if other than applicant) (if other than applicant) Aric Margolis Architecture IMPORTANT: This application must be typed or legibly printed and filed with the Planning Department in person or by mail to 915 Quarrier Street, Suite 1 Charleston, WV 25301. The following items must accompany this application: 1) a site plan drawn to scale; 2) a list of the owners, with their mailing addresses, of the properties within a 250 foot radius of the property for which the variance is being sought; 3) $125.00 filing fee in the form of a check or money order made payable to the City of Charleston. You are also encouraged to submit any additional information, including photographs, elevations, testimonials or other documentation, which may support your application. You or your representative must be present at the scheduled public hearing in order to present your request and answer questions. THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS. Please describe the proposed use. Include information such as the activities to be conducted on the site, hours these activities will be conducted, and any other data pertinent to the proposed use. If the proposed use is a business, please attach a list of the officers and their contact information. This property is used as the home office for a Nursing Home business. The business was formerly Stonerise and now is owned by Communicare. Communicare runs 43 nursing homes throughout West Virginia and this site serves as the home office. The property was formerly a Church that was converted into offices. Primarily, the building is used 8-5 on weekdays. This business is also across the street from one of Communicare's nursing homes. Applicable Section(s) of the Zoning Ordinance 3-050-C, Adaptive reuse of a non residential structure Does the proposed use comply with the conditions set forth in the Zoning Ordinance? This property had previously obtained a conditional use permit for an adaptive reuse of a non residential structure. Please describe any proposed work to be done on the property. Owners have a need to expand the parking lot so they can fully use the structure for the amount of employees they have at this office. If your request for a conditional use permit is granted, how will others in the area be affected? Increasing this parking lot will relieve congestion from the street as they currently have to park wherever they can find parking when the property is being used to fullest extent. Will your request devalue the property of others in the vicinity by altering land use characteristics or diminishing the marketable value of adjacent land and structures or increasing congestion on public streets? No, this property is already being used as office space so no change in use that will diminish the value of the neighborhood. Is your request consistent with the purposes and intent of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Charleston? Yes, the property is already being used as an adaptive re-use. I hereby affirm that all of the statements and information contained in or filed with this application are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. 10/31/25 Signature Date Planning Department Use Only The following is a list of related cases: The following is a list of zoning ordinance violations, building code violations and enforcement actions relating to the subject property: Application reviewed by: Action: Approved Rejected If approved, were there any specific conditions or limitations imposed by the BZA? 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