License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
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November 12, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 4 of 10 Board Member Andrea Worthy made a motion to approve item V25-096; seconded by Board Member Richard Garland. The motion to approve carried with the following vote: Aye: 3 – Chairperson Jones, Board Member Garland, Board Member Worthy Nay: 0 – None Recuse: 0 – None C. V25-097 Public Hearing - Variance Request - V25-097 - Allow encroachment into the City's 50- foot undisturbed stream buffer - Land Lot 556 - 3393 Lee Street - Ashleigh Stover Ward 6 Mayor Pro Tem / Councilmember - Tim Gould Caitlin Crowe, Land Development Services Coordinator, provided the following background: The subject parcel is currently a 0.64-acre lot located on the east side of Lee Street. Over the years, the applicant has acquired property from the neighbors to the north and east through metes and bounds. As a stipulation of the variance application, the applicant will be submitting for a combination plat to formally combine the parcels into one lot of record. Once recorded, the subject parcel will be 0.67 acres. The subject parcel and adjacent parcels to the north, south, and west are zoned R-15 whereas the adjacent parcels to the east are zoned R20; all are occupied by single-family detached homes. The subject parcel was originally platted in 1962, prior to the Smyrna Stream Buffer Ordinance, which was implemented in 2005. Due to the creek that runs diagonally through the middle of the lot, the subject property is greatly impacted by the State’s 25-foot stream buffer, City’s 50-foot undisturbed buffer, and the City’s 75-foot impervious surface setback. The applicant is proposing an 820 square foot addition on the southern portion of the home for a new master suite on the main floor and a new bedroom and bathroom in the basement. Since the existing house was built in 1964, the majority of the existing house is within the City’s stream buffers. To keep the addition roughly in line with the existing home, the addition will further encroach into both the City’s 50-foot undisturbed buffer and the City’s 75-foot impervious surface setback. The addition will come up to but not encroach into the State’s 25-foot state buffer. No other variances are needed for the construction, as the site is well below their maximum impervious surface square footage and the addition is outside the setbacks. The impervious surface area to be added to the stream buffer includes 440 square feet in the 50-foot undisturbed stream buffer and 35 square feet in the 75-foot impervious surface setback, totaling 475 square feet. In order to construct the addition, there will also be a disturbance to the State’s 25-foot undisturbed stream buffer of 70 square feet. Since this disturbance is less than 100 square feet, is temporary (for erosion control BMP installation only), and is to be immediately stabilized with permanent vegetation following construction, the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) does not require a stream buffer variance. However, if there is any disturbance greater than what is shown on the site plan during construction, the applicant will need to obtain EPD approval prior to continuing construction. The applicant will mitigate the 475 square feet of added impervious surface by installing a non-potable rainwater harvesting system on the rear of the house. Additionally, due to the