7th Street house on commercial land came up with a 2.5-foot backyard cut to spare an oak

The Planning and Zoning Board spent a long July 21 stretch on 106 7th Street — vacant commercial land where Colour Homes, for HVG Properties, wanted a single-family house and a 2.5-foot cut to the rear setback so the house can sit closer to the back line than the rules allow.

Staff walked a tree-preservation agreement from 2019 and a 36-inch live oak the builder said the extra two and a half feet would save while still fitting the house. The companion house permit was continued April 21 because the home could not be properly sited without impacting the oak. A realtor earlier this year offered to sell the same lot to the city for $400,000 to preserve a tree commissioners said was already protected.

The ask was two favors at once: a house in a commercial district and a yard cut sold as tree protection. Who would get the special OK is the builder and the holding company. Who would live with a house on a commercial street is everyone next door. The map does not have to change for that to happen.

The board's July 21 file was the latest hearing on that lot, not the first.