License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
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December 10, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 9 of 20 Aye: 3 – Chairperson Garland, Board Member Worthy, Board Member Randall Nay: 0 – None Recuse: 0 – None I. V25-112 Public Hearing - Variance Request - V25-112 - Reduce the eastern side setback from 10 feet to 8.7 feet - Land Lot 486 - 1181 Medlin Street - Harold Shoemaker Ward 3 Councilmember - Travis Lindley Caitlin Crowe, Land Development Services Coordinator, provided the following background: The subject parcel is a 0.31-acre lot located on the northern side of Medlin Street, near the intersection of Medlin Street and Nichols Street. The subject parcel and all adjacent parcels to the north, east, and west are zoned R-15 whereas the adjacent parcels to the south are zoned RDA. All parcels are occupied by detached single-family homes with the exception of one parcel to the south, which is occupied by the stormwater facility for the Medlin Park subdivision. A building permit for a new home on the subject property was issued in May 2025 for a 4,165 square foot two-story single-family home which will consist of 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. After the structure was already under construction, a buyer requested a 631 square foot addition to the eastern side of the property which consists of storage space, a home gym, and a golf simulator in the rear. Due to the recommended size of the golf simulator, the addition will encroach into the side setback by 1.3 feet. The subject property is relatively flat with a standard rectangular shape. The property is currently nonconforming at 13,109 square feet which merited the variance earlier in 2025 to allow for new construction on a lot of record below minimum requirements (V25-040). However, the minimum lot width at the front setback is 89.8 feet, which is larger than the minimum of 85 feet for R-15 lots; thus, the side setbacks of 10 feet on either side do not create an undo hardship on the property. Additionally, the new house is 1.7 feet from the western side setback; if the house had been slid over to the western side setback, the encroachment of 1.3 feet for the addition would have been avoided. Community Development has reviewed the request and found there to be no significant hardship. Strict application of the ordinance does not deprive the applicant of reasonable use of the property, as the new home including the proposed addition, could have fit on the property without the need for a variance. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the City’s requirement for a 10-foot side setback in the R-15 zoning district. 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. Community Development has reviewed the request against the variance review standards and found it to not be in compliance. Community Development recommends denial of the requested variance. Harold Shoemaker – applicant/licensed general contractor/owner – Bought this property two years ago. They have built similar homes behind the fire station, so they opted to do similar on this property. A family placed this property under contract in October, then