Zoning Board of Appeals
The Zoning Board of Appeals is a panel of appointed residents that decides when a property owner can get an exception to the city’s zoning rules. That usually means a variance or a special use permit. The board also hears appeals from people who disagree with a ruling by the city's code enforcement office. It meets on the first Wednesday of each month at City Hall when there's an application to consider, and it can vote to approve or deny each request.
The Stories We Are Following:
Short on time? These are the three Zoning Board of Appeals threads that you need to know about in Rome Right Now.
The Board Denied A Gravel Driveway In July, Then Approved One In August.
On July 1, the board voted 3-2 to deny a contractor's request to leave a new driveway on South Doxtator Avenue as gravel. Several members said they had held other applicants to the city's paving rule and did not want to set a precedent. On August 5, the board voted 3-1 to allow gravel for a driveway and parking area at R. Jones Nursery & Landscape on Rome-Westernville Road. The two requests were not identical. The nursery's project is far larger, sits about 600 feet back from the road, and includes a paved apron at the entrance. The two properties are in different zoning districts. All five members were present in July; four were present in August.
City code requires parking areas to have a durable all-weather surface, but it also allows the code officer or the Planning Board to approve alternatives, so the rule carries built-in discretion. That means outcomes can turn on the details of a particular site. The chairman cast the lone no vote in August and noted that the board had required paving the month before. Watch for how this question gets answered the next time a gravel request comes before the board.
The Board Has Approved A Wave Of New Projects. Most Have Not Been Built Yet.
Since spring, the board has cleared a steady run of development. In May, it approved the former Rome Catholic School on Cypress Street to reopen as a public pre-K, leased to the Rome City School District. In June, it approved converting the former Rome Cable office building on South Jay Street into roughly 40 apartments with ground-floor commercial space. In July, it granted height variances for two four-story hotels at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park. And in August, it approved a sign for a cannabis dispensary opening on Rome Taberg Road, and a 7,250-square-foot storage building for R. Jones Nursery & Landscape.
An approval is a start, not a finish. The hotels' developer expects to break ground on the first building in late 2026 or early 2027 and the second in 2028, with the full project taking three to five years. The nursery's building still needs site plan review from the Planning Board, and the dispensary needs a building permit before its sign goes up. The pre-K and the apartment conversion are the furthest along. If you want to see how Rome changes over the next several years, the board's monthly agenda is usually where it shows up first.
A Shed On William Street Turns Into A Question About Property Lines.
On August 5, a William Street homeowner asked the board to let him keep a shed he built after his old one collapsed. The replacement is slightly bigger and taller. A neighbor who co-owns the property behind his told the board that no shed stood there when she bought in 2019, and that the previous owner put one up in 2022. No permit was found. Now the bigger shed could dump snow and water onto her property. The owner said he had never had the property surveyed, including when he bought it, leading the board to require a professional survey showing the new shed sits entirely on its owner's land.
Setback rules only work if everyone knows where the property line actually is. Without a survey, a shed, fence, or driveway can end up over the line, and years later it becomes a dispute the board has to untangle. In tightly built neighborhoods, small structures put up without permits can quietly turn into claimed rights. This case is expected back before the board in September or October. It’s worth knowing if this type of dispute is a one-off or something the board sees often.
