Board of Adjustments

Rome-Floyd Board of Adjustments Minutes Location: City Hall Sam King Room and Zoom Date: Thursday, DECEMBER 16, 2021 Time: 2:30 PM CALL TO ORDER Meeting convened: 2:30p.m. by Chair Williamson. Determination of Quorum (4 of 7 needed) P – Present MEMBER Notes STAFF Z – Zoom P Cameron Abney V. Chair P Frank Beacham - City Atty P Phil Burkhalter P Brittany Griffin – HP Planning Dept P Will Byington Bruce Ivey – County Mgr P David Clonts P Chris Jackson – County Atty P Jarrod Johnson P James Martin – Bldg Official P Von Lambert P Art Newell – Dir Planning Dept P Terry Williamson Chair P Meredith Ulmer – Asst City Mgr P Brice Wood – Sr Planner – Planning Dept Public (from sign-in sheet): Howard Gray, Mary & Darron L., Anthony & Elizabyth Isbell, Pam Peters, Lew Peters, Will Peters, Cynthia Smith, Nathan Roberts, Gregory Shore, Angel Armos, Liliana Cano. Welcome and Introduction of Visitors Chair Williamson welcomed the public to the meeting and requested that all visitors sign in. Approval/Modification of Agenda Staff requested that the agenda be modified to remove application BOA21-11-03 at the request of the applicant. Johnson made a motion to approve amended agenda, which was seconded by Byington. The motion passed by common consent. Approval of Minutes from NOVEMBER 2021 Meeting Burkhalter made a motion to approve the November 2021 minutes, which was seconded by Clonts. The motion passed by common consent. ROME/FLOYD ZONING VARIANCE APPLICATIONS: 1 BOA21-11-07, For property at 1053, 1055, & 1059 Burnett Ferry Road, Floyd County Tax Parcel G14W153, zoned Suburban- Residential, Applicant/Owner Mary Ann Lance requests variance(s) to Either subdivide the parcel and create a parcel with zero frontage or subdivide the parcel, reducing the 60-foot road frontage of the existing parcel to 30 feet and creating an additional parcel with 30 feet of road frontage. Chair Williamson opened the public hearing. Brice Wood presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public, including the staff recommendation of denial. Staff explained that the previous request to allow for either two 30 foot road frontages or a 60 & 0 foot road frontages is not feasible, that they actually need to apply for 60 and 0 foot road frontages. Billy Floyd and Mary Lance were present to speak in favor of the application. Pam Peters was present to speak in opposition. Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened the floor for commissioners comments and questions. This was tabled from last month. Pursuing 60 feet of road frontage for existing parcel. Zero feet for new parcel. Suburban-Residential requires 150 feet width on parcels. New letter submitted. JMartin - spoke regarding 150 feet lot width & parcel size. Lot width, Septic-drain field. Byington – addressed County Attorney Jackson regarding 2013 zoning verification, variances, & Building Dept & Planning Dept processes. Jackson explained that the parcels were combined in 2000 for tax purposes and that the ULDC was adopted in 2001. Attorney Jackson also explained the significance of the Zoning Verification Form. Martin also explained that even if you have a ZVF that you are still required to submit a site plan, which also determines whether or not a permit gets approved. Attorney Jackson also spoke to the ability to potentially redraw parcels based on deeds, which would require a retracement survey. Billy Floyd, surveyor, confirmed Jackson’s answer. Lambert questioned whether or not the changes would be grandfathered (legal nonconforming)? Attorney Jackson confirmed that they would not. Chair Williamson – So Staff recommends denial on both options? Attorney Jackson affirmed. Chair Williamson asked for motion. Will Byington made a motion to deny, which was seconded by Cameron Abney. The motion carried by a 7-0 vote. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained S Cameron Abney M Will Byington F Von Lambert F Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts F Terry Williamson F Jarrod Johnson 2 BOA21-11-05, For property at 2654 Kingston Highway, Floyd County Tax Parcel L14W083, zoned Suburban-Residential, Applicant/Owner Anthony Isbell requests variance(s) to reduce the rear setback from 25 to 15 feet. Chair Williamson opened the public hearing. Brice Wood presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public, including the staff recommendation to approve. Anthony & Elizabyth Isbell (owners) were present to speak in favor of the application. Anthony presented an updated site plan, which was accepted into the record by a motion from Johnson, a second from Byington and common consent. There was no one present to speak in opposition. Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened the floor for questions or comments from the commissioners. Clonts – Is your parcel surrounded by family? Isbell – On the western side. Byington made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Abney. The motion carried by a vote of 7-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained S Cameron Abney M Will Byington F Von Lambert F Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts F Terry Williamson F Jarrod Johnson BOA21-11-06, For property at 2115 Shorter Ave, Floyd County Tax Parcel H13W379, zoned Community-Commercial, Applicant/Owner Larry Martin requests variance(s) to reduce the eastern side setback from 15 feet to 6 feet. Chair Williamson opened the public hearing. Brice Wood presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public and the staff recommendation of approval with conditions (see the staff report). Wood – Had a birthday party at Pizza Hut when he was 8. Howard Gray, applicant, was present to speak on behalf of the owner. There was no one present to speak in opposition. Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened the floor to questions and comments from commissioners. Burkhalter made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Johnson. The motion carried by a vote of 7-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained F Cameron Abney F Will Byington F Von Lambert M Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts F Terry Williamson S Jarrod Johnson BOA21-12-01, For property at Riverside Industrial Park E, Building #15, Floyd County Tax Parcel J13X076, zoned Light-Industrial, Owner Nathan Roberts & Applicant Mark Cochran request variance(s) to reduce the minimum lot width from 300 feet to 74 feet. Chair Williamson opened the public hearing. Brice Wood presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public, including the staff recommendation of approval with conditions. Mark Cochran, applicant, was present to speak in favor, discussed the redevelopment potential and challenges. There was no one present to speak in opposition. Cochran also made a plea for approval without the staff recommended conditions, explaining that they would further decrease the likelihood of success of the project because he might wind up chasing an alleyway owner that might not even exist. 3 Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened the floor to questions and comments from the commissioners. Wood announced that an email had been received earlier that day from a neighbor concerning the abatement that would be necessary. Byinton asked for clarification regarding the alleyway being abandoned. Cochran explained that he is volunteering to take the risk of litigation if someone claims the alley in future. Clonts commented that the conditions should add protection for Mark, if possible. Chair Williamson commented that this is first variance to approve on Community-Commercial property for reducing the lot width. Wood confirmed that Chair Williamson was right but also commented that it is a redevelopment area. Byington made a motion to approve without staff’s conditions if M. Cochran understands his liability based on the representation by the applicant. Clonts seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 7-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained F Cameron Abney M Will Byington F Von Lambert F Phil Burkhalter S David Clonts F Terry Williamson F Jarrod Johnson BOA21-12-03, For property at 1595 Old Summerville Road, Floyd County Tax Parcel J10Y121B, zoned Multifamily-Residential, Applicant/Owner F R Fountain Investments LLC/F Rene Fountain requests variance(s) to reduce front building setbacks to 10 feet & reduce rear building setbacks to 20 feet for all proposed lots. Chair Williamson opened the public hearing. Brice Wood presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public, including the staff recommendation of approval. Walt Busby, Jim Busby, Chuck Hardin (engineer) were present to speak in favor of the application. Greg Shore was present to speak in opposition, citing a lack of hardship. Shore explained that his mother is the adjacent property owner on southern side of parcel. Short also commented that Berry College Land Resources was present to speak in opposition at a previous meeting regarding a different request. Shore commented that anyone who has lived in this area for 50 years would hate to see this. Shore finished by commenting that variances are for hardships, but that these builders just want to fit more houses. No rebuttal was offered. Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened the floor to questions and comments from the commissioners. Clonts questioned the setback from front of road. Busby answered 25 feet. Clonts asked whether there will there be a fence around the property. Busby confirmed that there would be a fence. Chair Williamson questioned the type of housing that would be including. Busby confirmed that the homes would be single family homes. Chair Williamson questioned the type of hardship. Busby explained that without the variance the development wouldn’t get enough density make the project feasible. Clonts commented that he did the Stonegable neighborhood nearby, which was a similar model. Busby commented that the houses will be 1,200-1,300 square feet, 3-bed/2 bath/single car garages. Busby also commented that the homes would be rentals. Lambert made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Burkhalter. The motion carried by a vote of 7-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained F Cameron Abney F Will Byington M Von Lambert S Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts F Terry Williamson F Jarrod Johnson 4 STAFF REPORTS & UPDATES: Director Newell announced that the Board need to elect a new Chair and Vice Chair for calendar year 2022. For Chair - Johnson nominated Clonts and Clonts declined citing his schedule. Clonts nominated Abney for Chair, which was seconded by Johnson. No other nominations were made. The motion passed by common consent. For Vice Chair – Abney nominated Clonts, which was seconded by Byington. No other nominations were made. The motion passed by common consent. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Williamson adjourned the meeting. The next meeting is Thursday, JANUARY 20, 2022, in the Sam King Room. 5