Friday, June 21, 2002
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Friday, June 21, 2002 |
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Variance denied for Senoia property By MONROE
ROARK
Coweta County commissioners Tuesday upheld a Planning Department decision to recommend denial of a variance request that would have allowed residential construction on a lot smaller than the minimum allowed by zoning. In moving to deny the request, Commission Vernon Hunter said that the property owners, whose land in question is in his district, created the problem themselves when they subdivided a larger tract into three smaller tracts while knowing what the lot minimums were. "This didn't have to be," he said. "This problem is of their own making." The original 5.2-acre tract was split into three sections: a 1.86-acre tract with an existing home, a 1.6-acre tract on which a home was recently constructed, and a 1.42-acre tract that is the subject of the variance request. The minimum lot size in this zoning district is 1.6 acres. County staff recommended denial because a variance ruling in this case could set a precedent and because of the applicant's prior knowledge of the regulations when the larger tract was subdivided. The Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3-2 to allow the variance, saying that the current situation could be a hardship for the property owner, but Hunter countered that opinion by saying the whatever hardship might be there is of the property owner's making. The commission voted 5-0 to approve Hunter's motion and deny the variance. In other business, the commission approved an agreement under which the county will designate certain public recreation buildings and authorize the Red Cross to use them as emergency shelters when necessary. Also approved was the purchase of an ambulance chassis for the county's emergency medical services and design contracts on bid documents for the new court complex. Faith Evangelistic Lutheran Church requested a conditional use permit for its property on Fischer Road in Newnan, to build a 3,000 sq. ft. sanctuary with a seating capacity of 250, as well as a 4000 sq. ft. social hall and a 6,000 sq. ft. building for Sunday School classrooms. The Planning Department recommended approval subject to several conditions, and the commission approved that recommendation.
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