On October 4, the Village of Ellenville Zoning Board of Appeals denied a variance request by Ulster County Habitat for Humanity to build a house at 46 Clinton Avenue.

The village's zoning laws for a single-family dwelling requires a front yard setback of twenty-five feet in the R-2 Residence District. The proposed build site has a front yard setback adjacent to Enderly Lane of fifteen feet.

In June of 2007 the Village of Ellenville sold this parcel to Habitat for Humanity. The group's intent is to build a 48x28 foot house that would be constructed by students from the area's BOCES program.

Ellenville's Building Code Enforcement Officer Brian Schug said Habitat for Humanity was, "looking for only a two-foot area variance on the corner of Clinton Avenue and Enderly. The zoning code requires setback distances for a house from the property line. In the cases of a corner lot, those setbacks are a little bit greater than if it were in the middle of the street."

According to Schug, the building line is supposed to be twenty-five feet back, but the building requested by Habitat is twenty-three feet from the property line, with no room for flexibility.

"One of the snags in this particular case is that Habitat for Humanity goes into contract with a modular home company called Chelsea Homes. Instead of finding a lot and then building a house on that lot, to suit that lot, it is almost the opposite process. They have the house already, and then they go out in search of lots to put them on," explained Schug.

According to Village Manager Elliott Auerbach, "No formal vote was made. The Board was polled. ZBA Chairman Paul Tennenbaum was in favor of the variance while T.J. Briggs, Thelma Cramer, Ken Beck and Gary Horowitz were against it. The board has 62 days to make a final decision."

Tennenbaum said, "I didn't think the variance wasn't going to make a big difference. The variance was denied but the board wasn't against Habitat doing the project. They just felt that the building was too large for the lot. And that fact — that they [Habitat] bought the house and then went looking a lot — that's what upset the other board members."

Zoning Board member T.J. Briggs, a former Ellenville mayor and a current candidate for Ulster County Legislator, explained his reason for denying the variance as based purely on local regulations, saying, "I think it is a bad precedent to set. The board should not be making exceptions."

Briggs and others pointed to a "slippery slope" already happening with giving too many variances. He points to a similar variance being granted on the property next to the one sought by Habitat. One year ago, a similar variance was granted to a Habitat house now located and currently in use on Mine Lane.

But Schug said he believes, "If anything, it is a slippery slope they take not granting similar variances. In essence, what's fair for the residents next door, should be fair for the residents on the corner. Instead, they decided to deny a variance to a good project."

Schug added that the variance granted for the lot next door was several feet more than the one turned down for Habitat.

Tennenbaum said that Habitat could get another building or find a new lot, but Schug hinted that there still may be a way to legally place the building there without seeking another variance.

Calls to David Allen of the Ulster County Habitat for Humanity in Kingston were not returned at press time. Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, seeking to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat has built more than 225,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

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