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.