Owen County BZA conditionally approves lot-line variance at Great Brook Lake

At a meeting of the Owen County Board of Zoning Appeals, members approved a conditional design variance for a 60-foot lot on Great Brook Lake that will let the applicants build a small two-bedroom summer home, provided they produce written statements from surveying firms saying a formal survey is impractical.

The board opened public testimony on Variance No. 2026-01 after staff read required notice language citing IC 5 3 1 2 and IC 5 3 1 4. Applicants said they were requesting 25-foot setbacks from each lot line on a narrow, 60-foot wide parcel and described a proposed one-story home with a loft approximately 25–30 feet wide. Applicant statements to the record included that a two-bedroom septic was installed in 2012 and that tanks have been pumped.

"I would be okay with approving this variance under the condition that you guys get it surveyed and then get the corner staked out because it's so narrow," said Committee member S6, who raised the board's central concern: without a modern survey, building very near presumed property lines could create future disputes or place structures or septic systems in the wrong location. The applicants and neighbors said many lake lots lack modern monuments; one commenter said the Army Corps of Engineers last surveyed the area in 1939 and wooden stakes were never replaced.

Early in the hearing, Committee member Sandra Calvert (Sandra Calvert) moved to grant the requested setbacks as presented; that initial motion could not be finalized after the chair determined the board did not have a quorum for a binding vote. The board then discussed alternatives to demanding a full resurvey, including a targeted stake or location survey. After further discussion, S6 moved that the board approve the variance on the condition that the applicants provide two statements from surveying companies documenting attempts to survey and explaining why a survey is impractical; S3 seconded the motion. Members voted in favor and the chair recorded the motion as carried with the stated condition.

Applicants told the board they had attempted to contact at least one surveyor, who declined because the lake platting and existing map lines make on-the-ground monumenting difficult. The board and staff recommended the applicants contact multiple local survey firms and return with either a traditional survey or written statements from firms documenting why a survey cannot be completed.

The board emphasized that the condition is intended to reduce the risk of future boundary disputes or construction errors: if surveyors decline to serve the parcel, documentation of those refusals will allow the board to record an approval based on customary boundaries but with the written evidence that surveying attempts were made.

The board closed public comment, recorded the conditional approval, and asked staff to note the required documentation in the permit file. The meeting adjourned with no further BZA business.