Aug. 13. By Dave Vieser. A request to permit a front-yard handicap space for a medical office on North Main Street was unanimously approved yesterday by the Cornelius Planning/Board of Adjustment.

The applicant, Coda Wellness, is currently in the process of converting the existing home at 20320 N. Main St. into medical offices.

Property map, N. Main St. proposal from Coda

Background

Coda requested a variance to permit the installation of a handicapped parking space within the front yard, according to Aaron Tucker, senior town planner. The town’s Land Development Code requires all parking areas, except for single-family homes, to be located in the side or rear yard.

In their variance application, Coda Wellness said without front yard parking, disabled patients would not be able to access the office, because the grades around the sides of the building are too steep to provide an accessible route.

Quotable

“Due to site topography, only able-bodied patrons can use the rear parking lot to access the public/front entrance of the proposed medical office,” according to Coda co-founder Xhenis L Smith.

Coda Wellness had originally asked for two spaces in the front yard, but at the hearing, they indicated that one handicapped space would be sufficient.

Within the framework of the “one-space” approval, town officials reminded the applicant that no parking can ever be located within the future NC 115 right-of-way, which is scheduled for a future widening project.