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 15 of 18 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 V26-065; 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 Q. V26-066 Public Hearing - Variance Request - V26-066 - Allow 6-foot wooden fence in front yard on a corner lot - Land Lot 265 - 280 Concord Road - Harold Singer Ward 4 Councilmember - Charles 'Corkey' Welch Caitlin Crowe, Land Development Services Coordinator, provided the following background: The applicant is requesting a variance to allow for a 6-foot wooden fence in the front yard on the corner lot at 280 Concord Road. Section 503-A controls the location and height of fences in the Zoning Code. The applicant received approval from the License and Variance Board in September 2025 to reduce the streetside setback from 26.7 feet to 20.1 feet and increase the accessory structure size from 25% to 48.2% of the primary dwelling (Variance Cases V25-088 and 089). The subject parcel is a 0.70-acre lot located at the northeast intersection of Concord Road and Highview Drive. The subject parcel and adjacent parcel to the north are zoned R15, the adjacent parcel to the east is zoned R-20, and the adjacent parcels to the south and west are zoned RDA; all are occupied by single-family detached homes. After receiving a variance for a streetside setback reduction, the applicant was subsequentially issued a building permit for a closet addition on the main house (RBP-25- 329). The addition was constructed in front of the existing 6-foot wooden privacy fence along Highview Drive. Per Google Streetview, the existing fence was installed within the 23.3 feet streetside setback sometime between 2012 and 2016 without the proper variance and is currently nonconforming. The applicant is proposing to extend the existing fence location an additional 16 feet to encompass the new 257 square foot addition to bring it in line with the rest of the house. Due to the property having road frontage on two sides, both sides are considered a front yard regarding fencing. Section 503-A restricts the height of fences within a front yard to four feet; strict application of the ordinance would require a fence greater than four feet in height be setback 23.3 feet from the property line on the Highview Drive side. Thus, the applicant is requesting a variance to allow the 6-foot wooden privacy fence to stay at its current distance to Highview Drive to provide safety and security from the busy road and intersection. Additionally, the City Engineer has determined that there is no site distance issue caused by the fence. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow the 6-foot wooden privacy fence to remain closer to Highview Drive to provide safety and security for his family. Community