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 3 of 8 the existing home, allow for an approximately 12-foot driveway, and enable vehicles to exit the roadway while waiting for garage access. It would also preserve a majority of the rear yard for the applicant’s use. As proposed, the garage is located 15.5 feet from the sanitary sewer easement, indicating that sufficient space exists to shift the structure further north into the property. Although the existing driveway presents constraints of its own due to its material type and location, replicating a nonconforming and substandard condition does not justify support of the request. Thus, staff are not supportive of the request to reduce the streetside setback. The applicant has the ability to erect the garage further into the property to remove vehicular obstructions. Community Development believes the hardship is self-created and can be avoided. Staff is not supportive of reducing the streetside setback from 23.3 feet to 0.5 feet when adjustments could be made to accommodate City code. Community Development believes there are no unique and special extraordinary circumstances applying to the property to justify the setback variance scope requested, as the lot is a standard flat lot of record. Strict application of the ordinance does not deprive the subject property owner of reasonable use, as a 5-foot streetside setback would be supported. Since there is ample room between the streetside property line and the private sanitary sewer easement, Community Development believes this is not the minimum variance needed to accommodate a standard garage. Additionally, if the amount of backyard space is of concern, the applicant has the ability to reduce the building size by 5 feet in the front to keep the garage out of the rear yard as much as possible while still being able to park a vehicle within the garage. The applicant is requesting to deviate from the City’s setbacks and accessory structure requirements. 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 has reviewed the requests against the variance review standards and recommends approval of the accessory structure height and second accessory structure requests (V26-027 and V26-059) with the below condition. However, Community Development finds there to be no unique or extraordinary circumstances applying to the streetside setback requirements and recommends denial of that request (V26-028). 1. Approval of the requested variances shall be conditioned upon the development of the property in substantial compliance with the elevations submitted with the variance application. 2. The existing gravel driveway entrance along Hunter Street shall be removed and replaced with curb and gutter prior to issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. 3. The proposed concrete driveway must follow the Cobb County driveway detail upon installation. Chairperson Jones asked: • Is Hunter Street considered and primary or secondary entrance into Brinkley Park? Ms. Crowe stated it is secondary. The primary entrance is on Legion Drive. • Is parking allowed on Hunter Street, specifically when there are baseball games? Ms. Crowe stated that it is a public street with allowable parking. There are no “No Parking” signs. Albert Maryland, applicant, stated there is a lot of traffic on the road right now, especially during ball games. Their personal cars are on the road, so the plan would move their cars