A Senoia schoolbus driver was denied a variance to park her bus in the backyard of her Barnes Street home.

Instead, Mary Jane Story can meet the city’s ordinance by putting down a hard surface such as gravel and installing a carport to cover the bus, city officials said.

Story said she preferred to have the bus parked in her backyard because she has to crank it up well before she begins her route. That way if the bus doesn’t crank there is time for a repair crew to get it working, Story said.

Story said previously she has parked the bus at Crook’s supermarket and she also had parked in another lot. A code enforcement officer noted that she didn’t start parking the bus at her home until she got sick with cancer.

Story said she is in remission from cancer, but some days it is difficult for her to prepare to drive her route.

Story also noted that her backyard is fenced in, but a photo taken of her home shows the bus partially

Councilman Jeffrey Fisher said he was disturbed that the issue “has been brought this far,” noting that while Senoia has ordinances it also has a history of people helping each other.

Councilman Bobby Graham said he couldn’t support making an exception to the ordinance because he didn’t see a hardship in Story’s situation. Graham said he understood that Story had been through with chemotherapy because his sister went through it last year.

“I understand what it does to you and how it wears on you, but that’s over,” Graham said.

Another school bus driver who lives in Senoia said he would like to be able to park his bus at his home also should Story be granted a variance for her home. That driver said several drivers park their buses at a nearby school and one driver comes out each morning to do the early crankup of all the buses there.

Story said she worried about having car trouble preventing her from getting to her bus if it were parked elsewhere.

City Administrator Richard Ferry noted that the ordinance goes as far back as 1986 at least, though he couldn’t find the date it was adopted.

The variance was denied on a 3-2 vote, with Maurice Grover, Larry Owens and Graham voting in favor. Mayor Robert Belisle and Fisher voted against the variance denial.

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