License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
Open official source ↗ · Source page 3
September 24, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 3 of 8 Caitlin Crowe, Land Services Development Coordinator, provided the following background: The subject parcel is a 0.31-acre lot located at the northeast intersection of Wisteria Lane and Brentwood Drive. The subject parcel and all adjoining parcels are zoned R-15 and are occupied by single-family detached homes within the West Smyrna Heights subdivision. The applicant is proposing to renovate the existing 1,167 square foot one-story home by remodeling the existing structure and constructing a 681 square foot addition and 200 square foot patio on the rear of the house. The interior renovations will consist of remodeling the removing an existing bedroom to expand the kitchen area and build a new master suite and living room in the rear. Once completed, the home will have four bedrooms and three bathrooms. With the renovations, the home will be roughly 1,848 square feet, bringing the home closer into compliance with the R-15 minimum floor area requirement of 2,000 square feet. The existing house is on a corner lot that faces Wisteria Lane but has road frontage on both Wisteria Lane and Brentwood Drive. The home, originally built in 1956 (prior to the adoption of the City’s Zoning Ordinance in 1974), has an existing non-conforming streetside setback of 12.4 feet. As part of the renovations, the rear addition will follow the line of the home along Brentwood Drive, but no more than what exists today. Since the existing home is currently encroaching into the streetside setback, any expansion on the southern side of the home would require a variance. Since the existing home is currently non-conforming, the hardship is not self-created. Due to the existing footprint of the home and floor plan, the most logical area to construct the addition is within the streetside setback to decrease disturbance to the subject property and surrounding neighbors. Strict application of the ordinance would deny the applicant the ability to add any square footage to the southern side of the home without moving the foundation of the existing home. The variance proposed is the minimum variance needed to increase the home’s footprint in the rear. Community Development does not foresee any negative impacts to adjacent properties should the variance be approved. At the time of this report, Community Development has not received any calls in opposition to the request. The applicant is requesting to reduce the streetside setback to renovate the existing property at 3731 Wisteria Lane. 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 encroachment will not adversely affect surrounding residents; therefore, staff recommends approval of the requested variance with the following conditions: 1. Approval of the requested variance shall be conditioned upon substantial compliance with the site plan and elevations submitted with the variance application.