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Zoning Bulletin February 10, 2015 1 Volume 9 1 Issue 3 <br />Variance—After seawall is <br />constructed in accordance valid <br />building permit, town says it <br />violates zoning setback <br />requirements <br />Town then denies variance from setback <br />requirements finding no "practical difficulties" <br />would result from denial <br />Citation: Caddyshack Looper, LLC v. Long Beach Advisory Bd. of Zon- <br />ing Appeals, 2014 WL 6843364 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014) <br />INDIANA (12/04/14)—This case addressed the issue of whether strict <br />application of an ordinance would result in practical difficulties, support- <br />ing the grant of a variance. <br />The Background/Facts: Caddyshack Looper, LLC ("Caddyshack") <br />owned real property on Lake Shore Drive, adjacent to the Lake Michigan <br />beachfront, in the Town of Long Beach (the "Town"). After a severe storm <br />sheared a five -or six-foot cliff from the property, Caddyshack sought to <br />construct a seawall to protect its property and improvements on the <br />property. Caddyshack, through its contractor, submitted a building permit <br />application to the Town for construction of a seawall. The building permit <br />was issued in January 2011. Construction of the seawall began in early <br />February 2011 and was completed by early March 2011. During construc- <br />tion, the Town's building inspector visited the construction site multiple <br />times. <br />On March 18, 2011, the Town's Building Commissioner (the "Com- <br />missioner") notified Caddyshack and its contractor that the seawall had <br />been constructed in violation of the Town's View Protection Ordinance <br />(the "Ordinance"). The Ordinance prohibited the location of a structure <br />("i.e., a septic system and steel seawall") further than 106.6 feet from Lake <br />Shore Drive. The Commissioner ordered Caddyshack to remove its <br />seawall. <br />In July 2011, Caddyshack applied for a variance to "extend the seawall <br />beyond the 106.60 foot setback" and "extend the seawall for 36.6 feet on <br />the west side and 36.4 feet on the East side beyond the 106.60 mark." <br />The Town's Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals ("BZA") denied Cad- <br />dyshack's request for a variance. The BZA based the denial on finding <br />© 2015 Thomson Reuters 9 <br />