Board of Adjustments

Rome-Floyd Board of Adjustments Minutes Location: City Hall Sam King Room and Zoom Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023 Time: 2:30 PM PLEASE REFER TO THE VIDEO RECORDING FOR FULL DETAIL OF THE MEETING CALL TO ORDER Meeting convened: 2:30 p.m. led by Chair Abney. Determination of Quorum (4 of 7 needed) P – Present MEMBER Notes STAFF Z – Zoom P Cameron Abney Chair P Frank Beacham - City Attorney P Frank Brown P Chris Jackson – County Attorney A Phil Burkhalter A Bruce Ivey – County Manager P David Clonts Vice Chair P Meredith Ulmer – Asst City Manager A Johnathan Harris P James Martin – Building Official P Jarrod Johnson P Brice Wood – Director - Planning Department P Wendy Lignell P Michelle Kite – Planning Technician P Julia Harris – HPC/Associate Planner P Doug Walker – Public Information Public (from sign-in sheet): Olivia Wang, Juan C Morales, GF Protouch, T.K. Hamilton, Cesar Contreras (via Zoom), Felipe Hurtado (via Zoom), Viola Brown (via Zoom), Giuly Forno (via Zoom) Welcome and Introduction of Visitors Abney welcomed the public to the meeting and requested that all visitors sign in. Approval of Minutes from November 2023 Meeting Clonts made a motion to approve the November 2023 minutes, which was seconded by Abney. The motion passed by common consent. Approval/Modification of Agenda Request was made to modify the agenda to remove BOA23-11-03 and BOA23-12-03. Johnson made a motion to approve the agenda with modification, which was seconded by Brown. The motion passed by common consent. ROME/FLOYD ZONING VARIANCE APPLICATIONS: BOA23-11-05, for the property at 5 Westside Industrial Blvd. (0 Westside Industrial Blvd. as listed on the Parcel Viewer), Rome, GA 30165, Floyd County Tax Parcel H13W034A, being zoned Heavy Industrial (H-I), requests reduction of the side setback and buffer from the adjacent O-I zoned parcel from 200’ to 50’ and the side setback and buffer from parcel H13W035 from 200’ to 30’. Director Wood presented the application, staff report, and staff recommendation. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. Olivia Wang was present to speak in favor of the application and to answer any questions. The request is needed to build a modular data center on the property that will be housed in shipping containers as the parcel is currently unusable with the setback and buffer requirements. No one was present to speak in opposition. 1 Chair Abney closed the public hearing and opened the floor for discussion amongst the voting members. Johnson made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Brown. The motion passed 5-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second AB – Abstained Y Cameron Abney Y David Clonts Y Wendy Lignell S Frank Brown Johnathan Harris Phil Burkhalter M Jarrod Johnson BOA23-11-06, for the property at 119 and 117 Jackson St., Rome, GA 30161, Floyd County Tax Parcels J13J082 and J13J083, being zoned High Density Traditional Residential (H-T-R), requests to reduce the front and rear setbacks from 20’ to 10’ and to keep the road frontage and lot width at 50’. Director Wood presented the application, staff report, and staff recommendation. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. Gabriela Forno was present to speak in favor of the application and to answer any questions. The condition of the houses is very bad and they want to tear them down and rebuild. No one was present to speak in opposition. Chair Abney closed the public hearing and opened the floor for discussion amongst the voting members. Clonts made a motion to approve the request to create four parcels with fifty-feet of frontage and width and to deny the setback reduction request since the existing homes are no longer being used, which was seconded by Johnson. The motion passed 5-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second AB – Abstained Y Cameron Abney M David Clonts Y Wendy Lignell Y Frank Brown Johnathan Harris Phil Burkhalter S Jarrod Johnson BOA23-12-01, for the property at 300 Waddell St., Rome, GA 30161, Floyd County Tax Parcel J13I066, being zoned Multifamily Residential (M-R), requests to reduce the front setback from 20’ to 10’. Director Wood presented the application, staff report, and staff recommendation. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. Cesar Contreras and Felipe Hurtado were present (via Zoom) to speak in favor of the application and to answer any questions. They would like to build townhomes for rent. No one was present to oppose the application. Chair Abney closed the public hearing and opened the floor for discussion amongst the voting members. Lignell made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Clonts. The motion passed 4-1. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second AB – Abstained Y Cameron Abney S David Clonts M Wendy Lignell N Frank Brown Johnathan Harris Phil Burkhalter Y Jarrod Johnson 2 BOA23-12-02, for the property at 1709 Maple Ave., Rome, GA 30161, Floyd County Tax Parcel J14N103, being zoned Community Commercial (C-C), requests to remove the requirement for curb and gutter and eliminate the 20-foot landscaping requirement along the frontages. Director Wood presented the application, staff report, and staff recommendation. Chair Abney opened the public hearing. T.K. Hamilton was present to speak in favor of the application and to answer any questions. No one was present to oppose the application. Chair Abney closed the public hearing and opened the floor for discussion amongst the voting members. Clonts recused himself from vote. Johnson made a motion to deny without prejudice, which was seconded by Lignell. The motion passed 4-0. MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER M - Motion S – Second AB – Abstained Y Cameron Abney AB David Clonts S Wendy Lignell Y Frank Brown Johnathan Harris Phil Burkhalter M Jarrod Johnson NEW BUSINESS: Electing Chair and Vice Chair for 2024. David Clonts was nominated as 2024 Chair and Cameron Abney was nominated as 2024 Vice Chair. Johnson made a motion to approve 2024 Chair and Vice Chair nominations, which was seconded by Brown and passed by common consent. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 3:38 pm by common consent. STAFF REPORTS: https://www.romega.us/DocumentCenter/View/2840/BOA23-11-05---Westside-Industrial-Blvd https://www.romega.us/DocumentCenter/View/2841/BOA23-11-06---Jackson-St https://www.romega.us/DocumentCenter/View/2842/BOA23-12-01---Waddell-St https://www.romega.us/DocumentCenter/View/2843/BOA23-12-02---Maple-Ave 3