License and Variance Board Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Minutes
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July 23, 2025 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 2 of 6 The property is currently occupied by a one-story 2,130 square foot single-family home with a 216 square foot shed in the rear. A 20-foot sanitary sewer easement intersects the rear yard roughly 120 feet from the rear of the home. Due to a nearby stream, a portion of the rear yard is also encumbered by the State’s 25-foot stream buffer, the City’s 50-foot undisturbed stream buffer, and the City’s 75-foot impervious surface setback. The applicant is proposing to install a one-car 430 square foot metal carport on the side of the home. The carport will house the applicant’s Airstream RV and provide protection to the vehicle during inclement weather. Per the applicant, the carport is not to be used for storage nor be fully enclosed; the northern side of the carport will be closed off for both privacy and aesthetics, as this side faces the existing church. The accessory structure ordinance allows one accessory structure or use per lot and since a shed is already on the property, a variance is required for the carport. Since the shed and carport offer different uses for the property, the hardship is not self-created. The carport will be accessed off the existing driveway, which will be partially expanded to reach the new carport. The existing driveway is currently 3.1 feet off the northern side property line, which will continue with the expansion. This condition has existed on the property since at least 2009 per Cobb County GIS aerials with no detriment to surrounding neighbors. Due to the existing concrete driveway, the most logical area to construct the detached carport is within the northern side setback to decrease disturbance to the subject property and surrounding neighbors. Thus, the applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the northern side setback from 10 feet to 3.8 feet. The existing home, originally built in 1955 (prior to the current Zoning Code of 1974), currently sits in the middle of the lot, slightly catty-corner to the property lines, causing a portion of the home to encroach into the 10- foot southern side setback line by roughly 3 feet. Since the existing home is near both side setbacks already, there is no additional room to add any type of covered parking space within the side setbacks without moving the structure to the middle of the lot and drastically increasing the amount of driveway required. Thus, the hardship is not self- created. Additionally, although the structure will be within 5 feet of the side property line, since the structure will be metal, no additional stipulations are required to meet fire retardation requirements per the Residential Building Code. Community Development believes the variances are the minimum variances needed to provide additional covered parking on the subject property, as any addition in line with the existing home would require a variance. At the time of this report, Community Development has not received any opposition to the requests. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the development standards established by the City for the side setback, driveway setbacks, and maximum number of accessory structures. 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 variances will not adversely affect surrounding residents; therefore, staff recommends approval of the requested variances with the following condition: