Van Buren BZA OKs reduced rear setback for medical reasons

The Van Buren Township Board of Zoning Appeals, at its Nov. 12. regular meeting, unanimously approved a reduction of the township’s required rear setback so the homeowner can build a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor of his home to accommodate a resident who has an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease.
Sukhreet Sandhu said they live at 9060 W. Walden Wood Dr. in a four-bedroom house with no bedrooms or full bathroom on the first floor.
“My father was diagnosed two years ago with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, which is an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease,” Sandhu wrote in the request to the BZA.
“In the past two years he has gone from walking miles daily as a United States Postal Office Mail Carrier to walking with assistant [sic] of a walker to his current state of being wheelchair bound and unable to walk up steps,” Sandhu explained.
“During the same time he has also sustained numerous falls and experienced fractures in numerous ribs and hand. Due to my father’s deteriorating health, we would like to convert one of the first-floor rooms into an ADA compliant bedroom and full bathroom,” Sandhu said.
The plan is to build an addition to the current house of about 17’x14′. The request to the BZA was for a variance of 12.24′ in the required 35′ rear-yard setback to 22.76′
The request for the variance was signed by Satinder Kaur, property owner.
In the request packet, the BZA received a letter from Ranjit Sandhu’s doctor, Peter Lewitt, M.D., at Henry Ford Hospital explaining the disease in his 69-year-old patient, stating, “It is in my professional opinion as his Neurologist that he is in great need of a bedroom on his first floor with shower for health, safety, and security.”
The family also presented a letter from neighbors Ryan and Carolyn Owens, who also supported the project.