License and Variance Board Meeting - Council Chambers — Minutes
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June 24, 2026 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 12 of 18 1. Approval of the variance is conditioned upon substantial compliance with the site plan and elevations submitted with the variance application. 2. Gutters and downspouts shall be installed to divert stormwater away from adjacent properties. 3. Any portion of the eastern wall that encroaches closer than 5 feet to the eastern side property line must have a 1-hour rated wall or painted with fire-retardant paint, or as deemed necessary by the Chief Building Official. Amy Trim, applicant, understands and agrees to the three stipulations read into record. A public hearing was called, and no one came forward in favor of or in opposition to this item. The public hearing was closed. Board Member Dustin Davey made a motion to approve item V26-063; seconded by Board Member Andrea Worthy. The motion to approve carried with the following vote: Aye: 3 – Chairperson Garland, Board Member Worthy, Board Member Davey Nay: 0 – None Recuse: 0 – None O. V26-064 Public Hearing - Variance Request - V26-064 - Reduce the driveway setback from 5 feet to 1 foot - Land Lot 452 - 1032 Manor Drive - Dana Johnson Ward 3 Councilmember - Travis Lindley Caitlin Crowe, Land Development Services Coordinator, provided the following background: The subject parcel is a 0.28-acre lot on the south side of Manor Drive in the Smyrna Heights subdivision. The subject parcel and all adjoining parcels are zoned R-15 and are all occupied by single-family detached residences. The home, originally built in 1953, has an existing narrow two-car nonconforming driveway. The existing driveway currently runs the length of the side property line, terminating just past the new addition (constructed in 2019). The applicant is proposing to replace and expand the existing concrete driveway closer to the side property line to provide a more typical two-car driveway width. As part of the expansion, the applicant will also extend the driveway back an additional 4 feet on the eastern side of the home to help divert water away from the foundation of the home (see Figure 4). Near the street, the driveway extension will only be a couple of inches but will increase to roughly a foot as the driveway slopes down towards the home; the driveway will maintain 1 foot separation the length of the eastern side property line. Although there appears to be ample room to expand the driveway towards the middle of the front yard, the property has a significant slope on the western side of the property, which would require more land disturbance to level out the driveway. Thus, the most logical location for the driveway is within the eastern driveway setback. Since the location of the driveway and the main house is preexisting, the hardship is not self-created. Many of the driveways in the area are up to the side property line due to the age of the properties, thus the location of the driveway would not be out of character in the neighborhood. In fact, a driveway setback variance was approved up the road at 1019