CEDAR LAKE | There were wins and losses on both sides of an issue before the Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday that pit neighbor against neighbor.
Last month, 55 people raised the roof over Mike and Marilyn Dolder's variance request to build a house at 13900 Huseman Place with the roof reaching 32 feet at its peak, 2 feet above town ordinance. Some people said their lake view would be obstructed.
That went into the loss column for the Dolders, of Schererville, and their attorney James Wieser on Thursday as the BZA unanimously denied the request.
However, the board did grant the request for a 20-foot, front yard setback and a requirement that 139th Avenue be improved to the lake with a lakeside barrier to protect the beach area. Board member Diane Cusack was opposed.
"This isn't what we wanted, but it's doable," resident Becky Davis said.
The Dolders had responded to neighborhood safety concerns expressed last month by providing a revised plan Thursday that provided for improving the roadway only part way to discourage traffic.
Davis said that would amount to a private driveway on a public right-of-way, and board member Tim Kubiak voiced the same concern.
A third variance request was granted with board member Jeff Bunge opposed. It allowed for an existing 4-foot-tall front yard fence to remain.
A miscommunication between the Dolders and their attorney, the town and the public left everyone believing a 6-foot-high fence would be installed around the entire Dolder property.
After the BZA's findings were made, a tearful Lynn Conroy, who lives at 13908 — adjacent to the lot on which the Dolders plan to build — thanked BZA Chairman Jeremy Kuiper and the board.
"Thanks for looking at this and seeing the flaws," she said.
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