License and Variance Board Meeting - Council Chambers — Minutes
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April 22, 2026 10:00 AM City of Smyrna License and Variance Board Meeting 2800 King Street SE Council Chambers Page 2 of 8 The subject parcel is a 0.31-acre corner lot located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Hunter Street and Dunn Street (see Figure 1). The existing house faces Dunn Street but has road frontage on both Dunn Street and Hunter Street. The subject parcel and the adjacent parcels to the north, east, and south are all zoned R-15 and are occupied by single-family homes. A private 10-foot sanitary sewer easement bisects the rear yard to allow the northern property (3048 Dunn Street) access to the sanitary sewer on Hunter Street. The adjacent property to the west is zoned LC (Limited Commercial) and is occupied by a variety of commercial office spaces. A public access point to the City’s Brinkley Park is located diagonally southwest of the property along Hunter Street. The property is currently occupied by a one-story 2,172 square foot home with a basement with a 128 square foot shed in the far northwest corner of the property. A 384 square foot gravel driveway (which has existed on the property since at least January 2008 per Google Street View) serves as the property’s only parking area, as there is no other driveway nor covered parking on the property. The home was originally constructed in 1924, prior to the adoption of the City’s Zoning Ordinance in 1974 and currently encroaches 17.7 feet into the streetside setback, resulting in an existing nonconforming setback of 5.6 feet. The property has undergone multiple renovations, including a small rear addition in 1997 and a substantial renovation in 2016 consisting of a full interior remodel and a large addition to the north. The applicant is proposing to replace the gravel driveway with a 1 ½-story 750 square foot detached garage, which will continue the access off Hunter Street. The first floor will be used as a two-car garage with a loft space on the second floor; the façade material will be hardiplank to match the existing home. The accessory structure ordinance allows one accessory structure or use per lot and since the shed is already on the property, a variance is required for the detached garage. Since the shed and garage offer different uses, Community Development is supportive of the request for a second accessory structure. Additionally, due to the proposed loft area, the applicant has proposed to increase the accessory structure height of the detached garage from 15 feet to 16 feet (as measured to the midpoint of the sloped roof between the ridge and eaves) to provide the required clearance on the second floor for the loft. Due to the roof pitch of the existing house, the height would be consistent with the existing property and keep it in line with the existing architecture of the neighborhood; thus, Community Development is supportive of the request to increase the accessory structure building height. In order to construct the garage in a similar footprint to the existing gravel driveway, the applicant has also requested to reduce the streetside setback from 23.3 feet to 0.5 feet. The proposed garage is shifted a little more than 9 feet west of the existing gravel drive (further to the rear of the property) and 15.5 feet from the 10-foot sanitary sewer easement. The existing driveway is nonconforming and would not meet current standards if constructed today. Under the proposed 0.5-foot setback, vehicles accessing the garage would be required to wait within the roadway while the garage door opens, creating a safety concern on an already narrow street. (Note that the City’s current minimum standard for a roadway is a 50-foot right-of-way with a 26-foot road width measured from back of curb to back of curb; Hunter Street is a 40-foot right-of-way with a 20-foot road width. By putting the structure on the property line, this limits the City from any future opportunities to bring the road into compliance in the future.) Staff initially requested that the garage be shifted back 10 feet from the streetside property line to provide adequate driveway depth. However, after conducting a site visit with the applicant, staff determined that a reduced setback of 5 feet would be reasonable. This would align the garage with