Board of Adjustments

Rome-Floyd Board of Adjustments Minutes Location: City Hall Sam King Room and Zoom Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 Time: 2:30 PM CALL TO ORDER Meeting convened: Chair Abney called the meeting to order at 2:31 p.m. Determination of Quorum (4 of 7 needed) P – Present MEMBER Notes STAFF Z – Zoom P Cameron Abney Chair A Frank Beacham - City Atty A Phil Burkhalter A Brittany Griffin – Senior Planner, Planning Dept P Will Byington A Bruce Ivey – County Engineer P David Clonts P Chris Jackson – County Atty P Jerrod Johnson P James Martin – Bldg Official P Von Lambert P Art Newell – Dir Planning Dept P Terry Williamson P Meredith Ulmer – Asst City Mgr P Brice Wood – Asst Director – Planning Dept P Kayla Schaaf – Associate Planner Public (from sign-in sheet): Lee Griffith, Earline Griffith, Chuck Hufstetler, Julie Owens, Sean Higgins, Julie Higgins, Gordon Muis, Terry Brookshire, Schuyler Petty, Samuel Malone, Malcom Young via Zoom, and John Bailey via Zoom. Welcome and Introduction of Visitors Chair Abney welcomed the public to the meeting and requested that all visitors sign in. Approval of Agenda Byington made a motion to approve the agenda, which was seconded by Clonts. The motion passed by common consent. Approval of Minutes from December 2021 meeting Johnson made a motion to approve the December 2021 minutes, which was seconded by Byington. The motion passed by common consent. ROME/FLOYD ZONING VARIANCE APPLICATIONS: BOA22-01-01, For property at 1 Rivermont Drive SW, Rome, GA 30165, Floyd County Tax Parcel H15Y034A, zoned Suburban-Residential (S-R), Applicant/Owner Lee Griffith requests variance(s) to allow for an accessory structure to be located closer to an adjacent street right-of-way line than the principal building. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. Kayla Schaaf presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public. Staff Recommendation: APPROVE In Favor: Chuck Hufstetler Against: None Chair Abney closed the public hearing and opened it up for commission comments. 1 Williamson made a motion to approve as submitted. Johnson seconded the motion. Motion carried. APPROVED 6-0 MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained F Cameron Abney F Will Byington F Von Lambert - Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts M Terry Williamson S Jerrod Johnson BOA22-01-03, For property at 879 Spider Webb Dr., Floyd County Tax Parcel J13O057, zoned Community-Commercial, Applicant/Owner Cobb V Realty/John Brown / S.E.Z. Inc/Soyebali Momin requests variance(s) to reduce the required landscape strips from 20 feet to 4.5 feet, as well as remove the tree requirement. The applicant also requests a variance to reduce the drive aisle from 18 feet to 13 feet of the existing one-way drive aisle to allow for the possibility of 11-foot drive-thru queuing and a traffic aisle of 13 feet for a total of 24 feet wide. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. Kayla Schaaf presented the facts and the application to the commission and the public. Staff Recommendation: APPROVE w/CONDITIONS In Favor: Skylar Petty – Engineer on the project Brookshire – Engineer on the project. Citizen Higgins had a question about the entrance question on Spider Webb Dr. Brookshire addressed traffic issue/traffic flow with ingress & egress. Petty rebutted- same entrance & exit will remain but they intend to have longer queuing lanes to prevent traffic congestion. Chair Williamson closed the public hearing and opened it up for commission comments. Clonts commented there should still be trees in the reduced landscape buffer. Newell addressed the traffic concern from citizens by checking with GDOT to see if any intersection improvements can be made at the five points intersection. Johnson made a motion to approve with staff recommendations, except the retaining wall on the property, as requested by the applicant. Byington seconded the motion. Motion carried. Approved 6-0, MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second F – For A - Against AB – Abstained F Cameron Abney S Will Byington F Von Lambert - Phil Burkhalter F David Clonts F Terry Williamson M Jerrod Johnson STAFF REPORTS & UPDATES: Newell gave ULDC update; staff is still reviewing & commenting on the first draft. Lambert mentioned the new code should consider a different landscape buffer for the City versus County. ADJOURNMENT: 2 Clonts motioned to adjourn & Johnson seconded the motion. The next meeting is Thursday, February 17, 2022, in the Sam King Room. Chair Abney adjourned the meeting at 3:07p.m. 3