Zoning Board of Appeals

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS AGENDA FEBRUARY 20, 2019 7:00 PM CITY HALL A. Roll Call B. Approval of Minutes: January 16, 2019 C. Approval of Agenda D. Old Business: (None) E. New Business: V2019-001 Norcross Realty Holding, LLC. V2019-001 Norcross Realty Holding, LLC. Request to reduce the required buffer between dissimilar zoning districts from 75’ to 10’ and to reduce the minimum parking from 14 spaces to 9 spaces to allow for construction of a new gas station and retail center at 5211 Buford Hwy. in Dist. 6, Land Lot 256, Peachtree Corners, GA F. City Business Items: (None) G. Comments by Board Members. H. Adjournment.  DRAFT COPY CITY OF PEACHTREE CORNERS ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES January 16, 2019 7:00PM The City of Peachtree Corners held a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. The meeting was held at City Hall, 310 Technology Parkway, Peachtree Corners, GA, 30092. The following were in attendance: Zoning Board of Appeals: Wayne Knox, Post B Marcia Brandes, Post A Amreeta Regmi, Post C Matthew Gries, Post D James Blum, Post E Staff: Diana Wheeler, Com. Dev. Director Jeff Conkle, Planning & Zoning Admin. Rocio Monterrosa, Deputy City Clerk MINUTES: Approval of December 18, 2018 Minutes. MOTION TO APPROVE THE DECEMBER 18, 2018 MINUTES. By: Marcia Brandes Seconded: James Blum Vote: (5-0) (Brandes, Blum, Knox, Regmi, Gries) AGENDA: Approval of the January Agenda MOTION TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 16, 2019 AGENDA. By: James Blum Seconded: Marcia Brandes Vote: (5-0) (Blum, Brandes, Knox, Regmi, Gries) NEW BUSINESS: V2018-007 Noah Huffman. Request to encroach into the required 25’ impervious setback area landward of the required 50’ stream buffer to allow a rear addition to an existing single-family home located at 5150 Thamesgate Close in Dist. 6, Land Lot 331, Peachtree Corners, GA Page | 1  DRAFT COPY Diana Wheeler, Community Development Director, provided background information regarding the applicant’s request. The applicant would like to construct an addition to the rear of an existing single-family home. The proposed addition consists of a new living room and deck with roof, both of which would partially extend into the impervious setback area that extends 75’ from the creek the forms this parcel’s rear property line. The property in question is a single-family parcel on the west side of Thamesgate Close, a dead-end street that is accessed via neighborhood streets branching off East Jones Bridge Road. The property abuts a creek at the rear which eventually empties into the Chattahoochee River on the former FiServ property. The house was constructed in 1998. During the time of construction, the stream buffer regulations were not in place. The requirements for this and other buffers were enacted by Gwinnett County in 2005. Today’s regulations require a 50’ undisturbed natural vegetative buffer plus an additional 25’ impervious setback (totaling 75’ from the creek). The addition is proposed to extend variously from 3’ to 7’ into the impervious setback. Recently, the property owner became interested in constructing the addition that was planned years ago but never built. After discussion with staff, the owner and contractor were not able to find an alternative location for the addition that would fit structurally with the home while avoiding the stream buffer area. The average size of the homes in this immediate area is 2,897 square feet, which is significantly larger than the owner’s 2,040 square feet. An addition of this size would not be out of character for the neighborhood. After reviewing the applicant’s proposal and the variance criteria, staff finds that the buffer encroachment may be justified, as there are conditions unique to the property that are not the result of any action of the current property owner. The property owner’s actions did not create the stream buffer requirements that were enacted after platting of the lot and construction of the house. If approval of the stream buffer variance is considered, the following condition is recommended: • The applicant shall not create any additional impervious area within the impervious setback beyond that which is shown on the attached plan prepared by James H. Carter and dated 11/20/2018. The applicant, Noah Huffman, gave a brief explination on why the variance was needed and that he has no problem with the staff recommendation. Chairman Knox opened the floor to anyone wanting to speak in favor or opposition to the application. There were no public comments. A motion was made after discussion BASED ON A THOROUGH REVIEW OF THE ENTIRE RECORD AND THE HEARING BEFORE THIS BODY, I MOVE THAT THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MAKE THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Page | 2  DRAFT COPY AND APPROVE THE VARIANCE ON THE BASES THAT (1) THERE ARE EXTRAORDINARY AND EXCEPTIONAL CONDITIONS PERTAINING TO THIS PARTICULAR PROPERTY IN QUESTION BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE, SHAPE AND TOPOGRAPHY; AND, (2) THE REQUIREMENTS ON THIS PARTICULAR PIECE OF PROPERTY WOULD CREATE UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP; AND, (3) SUCH CONDITIONS ARE PARTICULAR PIECE OF PROPERTY INVOLVED; AND, (4) SUCH CONDITIONS ARE NOT THE RESULT OF ANY ACTIONS OF THE PROPERTY OWNER; AND, (5) RELIEF, WOULD NOT CAUSE SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD AND IMPAIR THE PURPOSES OR INTENT OF THE RESOLUTION. I ALSO MOVE THAT THE FOLLOWING CONDITION BE ADDED: • THE APPLICANT SHALL NOT CREATE ANY ADDITIONAL IMPERVIOUS AREA WITHIN THE IMPERVIOUS SETBACK BEYOND THAT WHICH IS SHOWN ON THE ATTACHED PLAN PREPARED BY JAMES H. CARTER AND DATED 11/20/2018. By: Marcia Brandes Seconded: James Blum Vote: (5-0) (Brandes, Blum, Knox, Regmi, Gries) CITY BUSINESS ITEMS: Jeff Conkle, Planning and Zoning Administrator stated that there will be a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on February 20, 2019. COMMENTS BY BOARD MEMBERS: None. AJDOURNMENT: MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:25 PM. By: James Blum Seconded: Marcia Brandes Vote: (5-0) (Blum, Brandes, Knox, Regmi, Gries) Approved, Attest: _________________________ ___________________________________ Wayne Knox, Chairman Rocio Monterrosa, Deputy City Clerk Page | 3  V2019-001 5211 Buford Highway  City of Peachtree Corners Zoning Board of Appeals February 20, 2018 CASE NUMBER: V2019-001 PROPERTY LOCATION: 5211 Buford Highway 6th District, Land Lot 256, Parcel 028 CURRENT ZONING: C-2 PARCEL SIZE: 1.112 acres PROPERTY OWNER: Norcross Realty Holding, LLC APPLICANT: Norcross Realty Holding, LLC REQUEST The applicant is requesting a reduction in the buffer required between dissimilar zoning districts. In this case, the applicant’s C-2 property adjoins an R-75 property to the northeast at 5195 Buford Highway. If approved, the applicant would reduce the 75’ buffer to a 10’ buffer to allow for construction of a gas station and two, small retail tenant spaces on the property. The applicant is also requesting reduction in minimum parking from 14 spaces to 9 spaces because of the small size of the lot. LOCATION AND BACKGROUND The property in question is a commercial parcel on the west side of Buford Highway at the corner of Herrington Drive. The front of the property has approximately 150’ of frontage on Buford and approximately 315’ of frontage on Herrington. The property contains an existing commercial building constructed in 1974 which would be torn down to construct the proposed use. Because of the substantial buffer requirement of 75’, the property would be developable only on its southern half, thus significantly constraining the site. VARIANCE REQUIREMENTS Sec. 1605.3 identifies specific findings that must be made in order for a variance to be granted. These findings are as follows: A. There are extraordinary and exceptional conditions pertaining to the particular property in question because of its size, shape or topography, and  B. the requirements on this particular piece of property would create an unnecessary hardship, and C. such conditions are peculiar to the particular piece of property involved, and D. such conditions are not the result of any actions of the property owner, and E. relief, if granted, would not cause substantial detriment to the public good nor impair the purposes or intent of this Resolution. ANALYSIS The zoning ordinance requires a 75’ buffer between commercial and residential zoning districts to mitigate any negative impact of the adjoining uses. Because of the subject property’s small size, the 75’ buffer impacts approximately half of the lot, thus limiting its redevelopment potential. If the buffer requirement were applied, the buildable portion of the site would be reduced from 150 ft. to 75 ft. It would be difficult to develop the property commercially with only 75 ft. of property width. Additionally, the small site restricts the amount of parking that can be provided, thus resulting in the applicant’s request to reduce the number of spaces from 14 to 9. However, it should be noted that the two small retail tenant spaces add to the need for the buffer reduction and the parking variance. Without these tenant spaces, the buffer could be reduced to 50% instead of 85% and there would be no need for a parking variance. It is possible, however, that the two retail spaces are required to make the project financially viable and removing them may make the project unbuildable in that regard. In the letter of intent, the applicants state that the area covered by the 75’ buffer requirement was previously used as parking, albeit unpaved. The buffer area is also not currently vegetated beyond some grass/groundcover. The letter also states that the residential property adjoining this site is approximately 10’ higher in elevation and the applicant proposes to install new privacy fencing and landscaping in the remaining 10’ buffer area to provide screening for the residential property. Also, in the letter of intent, the applicant believes the fuel pump islands should count toward the parking requirement because gas customers are using those spaces to park during fuel purchases. If counted, the fuel parking would increase their parking count to 17. The buffer requirement affects the north and west side of the applicant’s property. However, the variance request for a buffer reduction only applies to the north side of the property because the west side buffer has been met. A statement of opposition (attached) was submitted by the property owner to the west, but no comments were received from the property owner to the north. CONCLUSION After reviewing the applicant’s request and the variance criteria, Staff finds that given the small size of the property, the amount of buffer required for this site could be considered a hardship. Although reducing the scope of the project would decrease the buffer variance and eliminate the parking variance, it might also undermine the viability of the development. Therefore, if the Board considers approval of the variance requests, Staff recommends the following conditions: 1. The property shall be constructed in substantial conformance with the submitted plan dated 1/8/19 by Civil Consulting Engineers, Inc. 2. The 10 ft. buffer adjacent to the residential property to the north shall include a 6 ft. high privacy fence and a landscape buffer consisting of a double staggered row of evergreen plantings at least 6’ in height at the time of planting spaced 15’ apart. 3. The 75 ft. buffer adjacent to the residential property to the west shall include a 6 ft. high privacy fence and a landscape buffer consisting of a double staggered row of evergreen plantings at least 6’ in height at the time of planting spaced 15’ apart. Jeff Conkle From: Rocio Monterrosa Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2019 4:10 PM To: Jeff Conkle Subject: V2019-001 Jeff, I received a call from Mr. James H. Spruill who is the owner of 2792 Herrington Dr. He stated that he can not make it to the ZBA meeting on the 20th and wanted to let whoever is handling the case that he is opposing this request. Thank you, Rocio Monterrosa Assistant to the City Manager/Deputy Clerk 310 Technology Parkway Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 770‐609‐8819 Direct 678‐691‐1200 City Hall peachtreecornersga.gov 1 View of front along Buford Highway. Neighboring residential property on the right. View of property at the corner of Buford Highway and Herrington Drive