Board grants variance to merge 58 and 62 into single-family home amid structural concerns

Troy’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved a use variance Wednesday that allows owners Michael and Vicky Gardner to merge two adjoining structures at 58 and 62 into a single-family residence.

Attorney/representative Neil Plone said the buildings were constructed as a pair and that demolition and structural repairs revealed interconnections and failing party walls. He told the board that completing the work necessary to separate and convert the property into multiple rental units — including fire-rated separations, sprinklers and asbestos abatement — would raise costs so high that developers could not achieve a reasonable return on investment.

"To do this kind of thing, it was coming up to being about 30% or more before we even got specific per unit to build," Plone said, summarizing the project math and the extraordinary remediation costs.

Board members reviewed the legal factors for a use variance — uniqueness of the property, hardship, effect on neighborhood character and whether the hardship was self-created — and found that the combination of structural defects and remediation costs justified relief. One member moved, and the board voted to find the proposal to be an unlisted environmental action and then to approve the variance to merge the parcels for single-family use.

The board recorded its approval and encouraged orderly documentation of property and tax-parcel consolidation as the owners proceed with permitting and building-department approvals.