Adams County Board of Adjustment approves shed permit with stormwater condition and deed restriction

The Adams County Board of Adjustment voted to approve a special-exception for the Mary Johnson Payne Trust to place a larger accessory building across the road from the owner's house at 164 Golden Drive in Lake Mason Wonderland, with conditions intended to limit runoff from the new structure.

Chair (speaker 3) opened the public hearing and Staff member (speaker 2) described the request and summarized a Land and Water referral. The Land and Water reviewer recommended a mix of repairs and stormwater measures, noting concerns about a pipe that runs from the properties to the lake and may be undersized or clogged. Staff read the parcel as Parcel 22-793 and said the application was tabled at the board's April 1 meeting for that referral.

Neighbors pressed the board on drainage history and maintenance. A resident (speaker 1) recalled a 2018 plan that had not been implemented and said water has entered homes after heavy storms. The applicant (Property owner, speaker 6) told the board he had video of heavy rainfall on April 2 and that neighbors have worked to clear debris; he said he did not believe adding the shed would materially change the larger upstream problem.

Board members debated technical fixes. Staff noted the existing on-property pipe is eight inches and that Land and Water recommended options including an infiltration basin or grass waterway and, for longer-term solutions, replacing or upsizing the pipe. Several board members said holding back and slowing runoff on the applicant's lot could mitigate increased flow from the proposed roof area even if it would not solve upstream issues.

An earlier motion from Board member Bruce (speaker 4) to deny the application failed for lack of a second. The board then voted 3' 2 to attach the condition that a Land and Water'approved stormwater infiltration basin be installed on the lot that would hold the shed. The board also adopted a deed restriction tying the lot with the house to the lot with the proposed garage so the lots cannot be sold separately, and then approved the application with those attached conditions (the final approval carried with one recorded opponent). Staff instructed the applicant to obtain a certified survey map (CSM) to complete the lot combination and to work with Tyler (Land and Water staff) to size the infiltration basin using standard design storm calculations (10-year event was discussed).

The board's actions were procedural: the denial motion failed for lack of a second; a subsequent motion to require mitigation carried by recorded tally; and the final approval was contingent on (1) a Land and Water'approved infiltration basin and (2) a deed restriction combining the house and garage lots. Staff said it will process the zoning permit only after the required lot-combination paperwork and the Land and Water-approved basin plan are complete.

The board's discussion highlighted two recurring themes: neighbors and some members emphasized that upstream maintenance and pipe replacement (outside the applicant's parcel) are central to the flooding problem, while others focused on measures the applicant can reasonably be required to install on his own property. The board attached conditions aimed at limiting the new structure's contribution to runoff without ordering systemwide repairs beyond the applicant's authority.

Next steps: the applicant must obtain the survey work to combine the lots and submit a Land and Water-approved infiltration-basin plan to staff; staff (speaker 2) said applicants should contact Tyler at the county to begin the technical design and that zoning permit processing will follow after required items are submitted.