The Excelsior Springs Zoning and Adjustment Board recently approved a request for a variance exemption to a city ordinance regarding an above-ground pool, despite a city staff report stating drainage would be an issue. Ordinance 545.040 states if a pool is placed in the side yard of a homeowner’s property, it must be 60 feet from the front property building line and 15 feet or more from the property sideline. Jamon and Katie Andreason, owners of the property at the intersection of East Golf Hill Drive and Belt Drive, applied for the variance. The Andreasons requested the variance be changed to 30 feet due to their property’s layout, which would not allow the pool to be 60 feet from the property build line. Excelsior Springs Planning Consultant Doug Hermes presented city staff opposition to the exemption request, explaining that Andreason’s property is not unique from others in the area. “The property’s unique physical surroundings, shape or topographical conditions do not impose…