[quote=jpinpb]Ideally a studio apartment/granny flat for mom/in-laws w/a kitchen. I checked into it and it wouldn’t be a problem if we had an improved alley. But it’s a dirt alley and we were told that because it is unfinished, parking, etc, that we could not do the studio apartment.

I spoke w/CAR about it and she mentioned obtaining a variance perhaps. But I have no idea. So I’m seeking advice from the experts. :)[/quote]

I built a second house in a back yard in Normal Heights. The alley was unimproved. The owner had to get an engineer designed section of concrete road put in between his property lines. This was a unit allowed by zoning not a variance. One parking space per bedroom was required.

Notice how when you hit alleys in some areas it’s dirt then pavement then dirt. This is where it comes from.