License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
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August 13, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 6 of 9 based off the primary structure’s gross square footage. Although the footprint of the structure is 970 square feet, the area calculations are almost doubled since the structure has a second level. Rather than expanding the existing structure’s footprint for the living area addition, the applicant added the second story to minimize land disturbance and impervious surface area. The applicant has proposed to increase the accessory structure height of the detached garage from 15 feet to 23.1 feet to provide the required clearance on the second floor as well as architectural cohesion with the existing house. The accessory structure will be accessed off the existing driveway, which will be expanded by 1,218 square feet to reach the new garage space. The existing driveway is currently 2.5 feet off the southern side property line, which will continue with the extension. This condition has existed on the property since at least 2008 per Google Street View with no detriment to surrounding neighbors. After the addition of the expanded driveway and detached garage, the impervious surface area will be above the allowable 35% by 5.4% (or 856 square feet). To minimize the impervious surface area increase, the applicant will be removing 210 square feet from the existing driveway to create a ribbon driveway and then installing 972 square feet of pervious pavers to extend the driveway to the new garage. Even with the pervious pavers and removal of concrete, the impervious surface area will still be over the maximum. To offset the additional increase in impervious surface area, the applicant is adding a 100 square foot infiltration basin 10 feet behind the accessory structure. The Engineering Department has reviewed the application and is supportive of the proposed mitigation method. Due to the existing driveway location and 20-foot drainage easement in the rear, the most logical area to construct the new structure is in the northeastern portion of the rear yard. Community Development believes the variances are the minimum variances needed to provide both covered parking and additional living space in the smallest impervious footprint. Similar variance requests have been approved nearby at 3127 Wills Street in 2015 (V15-013-018), 3393 Pretty Branch Drive in 2023 (V23-070-072), and 1453 Collier Drive in 2024 (V24-025-026). Thus, there is a precedence of these types of variances in the immediate neighborhood. At the time of this report, Community Development has not received any opposition to the requests. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the development standards established by the City for the maximum number of accessory structures, maximum accessory structure size, maximum accessory structure height, minimum driveway setback, and maximum impervious surface area. According to Section 1403 of the Zoning Ordinance, variances must be reviewed under the following standards: (1) Whether there are unique and special or extraordinary circumstances applying to the property; (2) Whether any alleged hardship is self-created by any person having an interest in the property; (3) Whether strict application of the relevant provisions of the code would deprive the applicant of reasonable use of the property; and (4) Whether the variance proposed is the minimum variance needed. After a review of the standards above, Community Development believes that the variances will not adversely affect surrounding residents; therefore, staff recommends approval of the requested variances with the following conditions: 1. Approval of the requested variances is conditioned upon substantial compliance with the site plan and elevations submitted with the variance application.