A Steinbach homeowner will be forced to remove an addition that was already built after his application for a variance was denied.
Council reviewed Michael Roeckenwagner’s variance request for his property on Coral Crescent on Tuesday, which asked to reduce the 4 foot required side yard requirement to only 1.9 feet.
Complicating matters was that the addition to the home had already been built.
A report drafted by city manager Troy Warkentin described it as a construction error by the applicant, who initially applied for and received a building permit for a detached accessory building in September. Upon inspection two months later the city learned an addition to the house had been built, rather than a detached building, a deviation Warkentin described as "significant".
"There is potential that drainage problems may result from the addition being built too close to the property line. There may also be an elevated fire risk due to the structure being built closer to the property line than what is permitted," the report stated.
Warkentin recommended that council deny the variance, pointing out that because it was built on a foundation of patio blocks and compacted fill, moving it would be less onerous.
In the event that council chose to approve it, Warkentin recommended a fine which is four times the variance application fee, in this case $1,900.
In the end council voted to deny the variance, and Coun. Michael Zwaagstra said he made that motion for two reasons.
"What was constructed did not match what was in the permit," he said. "It’s too close to the property line. I think it’s obvious that if this had been applied for in advance we would have denied it. There’s no way we would have approved a variance like this."