After a summer of repeated power outages that left hundreds of Hinsdale homes dark for days at a time, one South Monroe Street homeowner is asking the village for permission to install a standby generator. The catch: it needs to sit about seven inches closer to the property line than village code allows.

Christopher and Lyubov Roseli, who own the home at 733 S. Monroe St., filed a variance application with the Village of Hinsdale's Zoning Board of Appeals to reduce the required 3-foot side yard setback to 2.39 feet for a natural gas-powered standby generator. The ZBA will hold a pre-hearing on the case Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall at 19 E. Chicago Ave.

The request, designated V-2-2026, is the first variance case to come before the ZBA since Hinsdale's summer of storm-driven outages began. The board's last meeting, on Oct. 15, 2025, lasted four minutes.

The Roselis' lot is 50 feet wide and sits in the R-4 Single Family Residential District between Seventh and Eighth streets. Building Commissioner Timothy S. Ryan noted in an Aug. 5 staff memorandum that the proposed generator placement meets all other zoning regulations and NFPA 37 fire safety requirements. The only issue is the 0.61-foot encroachment into the required setback.

Under village code, generators in side yards must stay at least 3 feet from the lot line and within 5 feet of the house wall. They cannot exceed 70 decibels at 7 meters, can only be test-run between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and must be screened by a solid fence or dense evergreens.

The Roselis filed the application without an attorney or contractor, paying the $1,100 filing fee themselves. To win approval, they must demonstrate that a unique physical condition of their property creates the hardship, that strict application of the code would deny them rights other homeowners enjoy, and that the variance would not harm the neighborhood's character.

The timing is hard to ignore. A severe storm on July 28 dumped nearly 3 inches of rain on Hinsdale with wind gusts up to 70 mph reported nearby, knocking out power to hundreds of households for days. Village President Greg Hart published a message in The Hinsdalean on Aug. 6 describing residents who "faced flooded basements, spoiled food, medical concerns and uncertainty about when the lights would come back on."

Then on Aug. 13, another outage hit parts of the village. That same week, Fire Chief Jeffrey Pindelski said in The Hinsdalean that the department had experienced incidents of residents disregarding safety barricades around downed wires, prompting a new "Downed Means Dangerous!" public safety campaign.

As we reported Aug. 13, all Hinsdale homes had power restored after that second storm. But for homeowners like the Roselis on a narrow 50-foot lot, the question now is whether village zoning rules written for normal conditions leave enough room for a backup power source.

Wednesday's session is a pre-hearing only. The ZBA will formally receive the case and schedule a full public hearing for a later date. No vote is expected Aug. 19.

Hinsdale real estate & development ahead

Wednesday, Aug. 19 — Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Memorial Hall, Memorial Building, 19 E. Chicago Ave. Pre-hearing and agenda setting for V-2-2026: 733 S. Monroe St., side yard setback variance for standby generator. Public may attend.