Mentor Board of Zoning Appeals Approves New Home for Secretariat Relative

Thanks to Mentor’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), Beaver, the horse who is related to the legendary racehorse Secretariat, will be getting a new home.

During its August meeting Tuesday at , the BZA unanimously approved a variance that will allow Barbara Parr, a Woodland Place resident, to construct a 720-square-foot barn, which will be Beaver’s new home. City code permits 250-square-feet of maximum floor area for accessory buildings.

The animal is a retired Metroparks Ranger horse and the great-great-grandson of Bold Ruler, an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse that was the father of Secretariat.

Last month, the BZA granted permission 

“I don’t really want it to look like a storage barn,” Parr said while describing the barn’s design to the BZA. “I want it to look more like a house … with white siding and green shutters. (There) will be a shuttered window for the horse so he can stick his head out like Mr. Ed.”

In other business, the BZA approved a variances for:

• The construction of a patio enclosure at 8811 Doral Drive.

• Rebuilding an existing detached garage similar to its original 19th century carriage house design at 7340 Maple Street.