Lake County approves long-driveway carport variance in Scottish Highlands after neighborhood debate

Neighbors from Scottish Highlands urged the board to deny a zoning variance that would allow a roughly 22-foot extension from a one-car garage and argued the alteration would change neighborhood character and could create safety issues for cars and golf carts backing into the street. A resident said the development was inconsistent with the neighborhood's 40-year pattern and that granting the variance would invite similar requests.

Applicant Rob Lyleth, who said he and his wife purchased the home about six months earlier, told commissioners he had sought HOA approval and obtained unanimous HOA and architectural approvals and that his truck requires more vertical clearance than existing garages allow. "We did get an approval. We had to speak to our neighbors to the left and right, and both of those were okay with it," Lyleth said. After a short discussion weighing HOA approval against neighbors' concerns and heat-related hardship arguments, the board approved the variance by voice vote.