License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
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July 09, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 2 of 8 canopy over the ordering area to span both lanes. Parking will be available at the front of the property and adjacent to the new building, while a cul-de-sac adjacent to the drive-thru lane entrances will be available to those wishing to bypass the drive-thru lanes and turn around. The drive-thru canopy and the enclosed dumpster and trash compactor in the rear of the building are both separated from the main restaurant structure. This means that there are two accessory structures on the parcel, which is not permissible under Section 501.11 of the Zoning Ordinance. However, both the canopy and dumpster are essential for Raising Cane’s business operation and have little to no effect on the surrounding parcels. Community Development believes the variance requested is the minimum variance needed. Community Development does not foresee any negative impacts to adjacent properties should the variances be approved since a restaurant business has been in operation on the subject property since 1995. At the time of this report, Community Development has not received any calls in opposition to this request. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the City’s required accessory structure maximum. 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 believes that the requested variance will not adversely affect surrounding properties. Therefore, Community Development 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. 2. Parcels 17087900020 and 17087900290 shall be combined into one parcel via combination plat prior to issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. Harrison Aiken, engineer/applicant, came forward and stated he understands and agrees to the two stipulations read into record. A public hearing was called. Steve Mastrangelo, owner of adjoining property at 2569 Cobb Parkway, came forward and stated that parking is a problem. They had cross easements with the Red Lobster property. Red Lobster has since cut off a section for parking which causes problems for his tenant. He wants to know how much parking is going to be added to the property. Chairperson Worthy explained that the License and Variance Board is only addressing the variance in question. She suggested that Mr. Mastrangelo speak with Community Development Director Russell Martin. Joseph DeBose works in the State Farm business next to this property, and they share an entrance. He expressed concern about how this change will affect the shared entrance. Harrison Aiken, engineer/applicant, stated that the driveway will be used as-is with the current easements.