The Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday rejected an appeal by several Westhaven Lakes residents that aimed to force the zoning administrator to enforce zoning laws related to a proposed neighboring development.

“I fail to see where the board has the authority to rule in this matter,” board member Daniel Frohman said.

Christopher Dove had about 10 neighbors with him at the meeting supporting him. The homeowners in Westhaven Lakes think the proposed Foxfield Meadows development was rezoned illegally and does not comply with standards for lot width and setbacks.

A 2009 rezoning ordinance says there will be 78 single-family lots, but that number is not in the proffered conditions. The approved number of single-family homes in the development increased from 78 to 128, Dove said, without a public hearing.

The original plan was approved in 2006 as a multi-family, age-restricted development. But in 2009, the developers requested that the age-restricted designation be removed, and that was approved.

Even more changes are requested in next month’s Planning Commission meeting.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Assistant City Attorney Solomon Ashby said the city’s position is that the Board of Zoning Appeals doesn’t have authority to decide the case because there was no zoning decision being appealed. Ashby also said Dove was not an aggrieved party because the land in question doesn’t belong to him and doesn’t abut his, and because the work will not cause any damage to his land. Ashby also said Dove should have filed a request for a zoning determination.

But Dove maintained he was aggrieved because he was denied the right to speak at a public hearing. He said he did not file for a zoning determination because that goes to the Planning Department, not directly to the zoning administrator.

Dove and his neighbors discussed their next steps after the meeting, which could include someone whose property is adjacent to the proposed development filing for a zoning determination.

“I haven’t given up,” Dove said. “We have lots of options.