It was not much of a surprise that the Peachtree City Council on Oct. 1 unanimously denied a variance request to reduce the 50-foot buffer on four residential lots along Robinson Road.
The 3-0 vote came by way of council members Kim Learnard, Eric Imker and Terry Ernst. Councilman Mike King was out of town and Mayor Vanessa Fleisch recused herself due to professional considerations.
Zenco Development representative Gary Lawson addressed the variance request that the 50-foot greenbelt buffer requirement be removed and replaced with a 25-foot landscape buffer.
The four residential lots along Robinson Road come with a city requirement that a minimum of 50 feet be established for any residential development adjacent to a community collector road such as Robinson Road.
Interim City Manager Jon Rorie previously said the requirement was overlooked by city staff during the platting process for the four lots and the final plat was subsequently recorded in error.
A small handful of residents spoke in favor of the variance request. Among those was Scott Bradshaw who said the issue was “beyond a problem and a variance is needed. If you don’t approve it you will be participating in regulatory taking and that could be very costly.”
There were 13 residents who spoke against the variance request. They were joined by city Planning Director Mike Warrix, who in a Sept. 23 letter cited the staff error pertaining to the 50-foot buffer being overlooked.
“To complicate the situation, the recorded lots were sold to applicant Zenco Development Inc., who subsequently submitted a building permit application and site engineering plans for the development of a home on Lot 1. A land disturbance permit was issued on May 12 and the building permit was issued on Aug. 27. As soon as city staff realized the subdivision was recorded in error, the applicant was notified and a hold was placed on both permits until the issue could be resolved,” the letter said.
Nearby neighbor Kirk Wagner, a surveyor, was one of the speakers to reference issues with the plat document. He noted that the required 50-foot greenbelt was listed on the plat form.
“Some of the required information is not on the plat,” Wagner said. “It was never buildable property from the beginning.”
A few of the speakers opposed to the variance, such as Pamela Kent, assessed a portion of the problem in terms of city planning staff trying to circumvent the rules.
Another resident, Chuck Sanford, said the problem was “self-inflicted non-conformance by the person (Zenco) bought the property from.”
Resident Bill Boswell near the end of the public hearing said there were issues with the seller, the buyer, the engineer and city officials. He asked the council to table the request indefinitely or vote no.
It took no time for the matter to come to a vote after the public hearing had concluded. The 3-0 vote to deny the variance came with essentially no discussion.
