License and Variance Board Meeting - Council Chambers — Minutes
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July 22, 2026 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 3 of 5 Community Development Department staff were so helpful and guided him through the process. Mr. Bollineni stated he 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 response to this item. The public hearing was closed. Board Member Mary Moore made a motion to approve item V26-070; seconded by Board Member Carson Haynie. The motion to approve carried with the following vote: Aye: 3 – Chairperson Jones, Board Member Moore, Board Member Haynie Nay: 0 – None Recuse: 0 – None B. V26-071 Public Hearing - Variance Request - V26-071 - Allow 6-foot wooden fence in front yard on a corner lot - Land Lot 739 - 3071 Old Cabin Lane - Vincent Price Ward 2 Councilmember - Latonia P. Hines Caitlin Crowe, Land Development Services Coordinator, provided the following background: The subject parcel is a 0.24-acre corner lot located on the southern inside corner of a bend in Old Cabin Trace. The subject parcel and all adjoining parcels are zoned RDA and are occupied by single-family detached homes within the Old Cabin Trace subdivision. The subject property has an existing 6-foot wooden privacy fence roughly 25 feet from the streetside property line. The applicant is proposing to remove the existing wooden fence and erect a 6-foot wooden fence closer to the streetside property line along Old Cabin Lane to provide a larger, private backyard space. The fence will be consistent with the existing fence at the subdivision entrance and painted an off-white to match the trim of the home. 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 set back 15 feet from the property line on the streetside. Thus, the applicant is requesting a variance to allow the 6-foot wooden privacy fence within the front yard to provide privacy from the road. Additionally, the City Engineer has determined that there is no potential site distance issue caused by the fence. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow a 6-foot wooden privacy fence closer than 15 feet to Old Cabin Lane to provide privacy for his family. Community Development believes the variance requested is the minimum variance needed and that, at times, a 4- foot fence may not provide adequate privacy on a corner lot. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the development standards established by Section 503-A, which requires a 4-foot fence in the front yard. 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