Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

That's a little bad, right?

We're all eager to vote today. Bam. I don't know. I'm pass,

but I can't ask. I'll pass right quick. Anyway,

what is today? Monday the 17th, right? You already got them rolling.

All right, we're going to call to order the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on November 17th at 2:30 p.m. Begin by reading our statement of powers. The Augusta Board of Zoning Appeals hears and makes decisions on applications for variances in accordance with the powers granted under section 1-4-88 of the Augusta Georgia Code. The applicant must provide any scale drawings or plot plans, including all dimensions, pictures, or any other supporting information at this meeting. Only information presented at this meeting may be used in any future hearings regarding this petition. Any person affected by the board's decision may file an appeal with the Superior Court of Richmond County, Georgia, within 30 days of the decision of this board. The meeting will be conducted in accordance with the board's bylaws and rules of procedure and the latest edition of Robert's rules of order unless otherwise directed by the majority of the board in session at the time. A minimum of 10 minutes shall be afforded for the presentation of data, evidence, and opinions on each side of a petition. If more than 10 minutes is afforded to one side, then an equal amount time shall be afforded to the other side. The board encourages participation in this hearing and there is no restriction on whom may address the board within the allotted time. But the board does ask that all public comments be brief on subject and directed to the board, not any one individual or group. All right. I'm going to ask the uh board here to uh take a minute and having reviewed the minutes, I'll entertain a proposal to approve them.

Make a motion to approve the minutes. All right, we have a motion. Second

and a second. All in favor of approval of the minutes by show of hands. Seeing none opposed, that motion was for Mr. Turner and it was seconded by Mr. Ross Trullock. All right staff, we can go ahead and move into item number two on the agenda. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. BZA-25-41, a petition by Dante Davis requesting a varian from section 15-4B to reduce the sideyard setback from 7 ft to 6t on a property located at 1622 and 1624 Lucky Street. staff represent.

Good afternoon. Ashley Caterton, development services administrator. This request involves uh 622 and 624 Lucky Street. Both of these properties were recently reszoned to R2, which is two family residential and are to be combined into one lot. The property is situated in the Turpin Hill neighborhood and the applicant is proposing to build a duplex and seeks variances to reduce the north and south sideyard setbacks from 7 ft to 6 ft. For findings, both parcels are currently vacant as the homes that were previously located there became inhabitable and have been demolished. With the two lots combined, the lot width will then become 60 ft. Section 154B of the comprehensive zoning ordinance requires side setbacks to meet the same requirements for single family R1 zoning and that would move us to section 88B2 which requires side setbacks of lots having a width of 56 ft to 70 ft um for having a two sideyard width of not less than 7 feet and again the two lots combined would be 60 ft. The requested sideyard set back of six feet would be approximately a 15% reduction and one foot reduction. Approval of this request would not exceed the maximum 40% allowable lot coverage of the property in the R2 family residential zoning. And at the time of completion of this report, there were no inquiries received by staff concerning this variance application. And that concludes staff's presentation.

Thank you very much. Miss Catterton, is Dante Davis present? Thank you, sir. If you wouldn't mind, you're welcome to address the podium over here. If you would please state your name and address for the record and then you have 10 minutes to add anything that you'd like.

Um, my name is Dante Davis and my address 421 Woka Drive, Evans, Georgia 3089. Um, I really don't have nothing to say. I already established two duplexes right beside it. So they basically just doing the same thing over again the third lot. So on each one of them I been through the same process. Did it um on the first one doing again on the second one. And this will be the third the third lot. I combined two lots every time and it's pretty much it. Just trying to revitalize the neighborhood. Bring it back.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Is anyone in opposition present today? Seeing none, would do we receive any uh through email or letters? Seeing none, that's great. I'll open it up for any questions from the board. Mr. Chair, may I ask staff recommendations? Mr. Turner. Yes. We'll have staff recommendation, please. All right. The plan development staff recommends denial of the variance request as it does not meet all criteria for granting variance established in section 33 of comprehensive zoning ordinance as amended. Should the board move to approve the applicant request staff recommend the final condition allow for a six foot north and south sideyard setback on the combined lots to allow for the construction of a duplex. That concludes staff recommendation.

Thank you. I motioned with staff recommendation to approve this. Second, all right, I believe I heard from Mr. Row that there's a motion to approve this with the conditions as stated by staff, seconded by Miss, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. Mr. Bring them. Can we see if the applicant's agreeable to our recommendation? Are you agreeable to the conditions stated by staff allowing for the variance? There ain't no condition. Yes. Seeing that he is, we have a motion and a second. I think we can do this by show of hands. All in favor of approval with the conditions as stated by staff. It's unanimous. Thank you very much, Mr. Davis, for your time today. Thank y'all.

All right, we can move on to the next item. I'm sorry, who's who's phoned in? Pascal. All right. Thank you. All right. We can go ahead and move to the next item on the agenda, please.

Okay. BZA- 25-42. A petition by Mark Roier requesting a variance from section 28-B-9A to increase the allowed sign area square footage from 156 square ft to 447.3 ft for a building mounted sign on property located at 1762 Lovers Lane. Staff represent Amanda Cruz planner 1. This variance request involves a 36.08 08 property located along an industrial corridor in East Augusta. The property is bounded by Columbia Nitrogen Drive to the north, Levy Road to the east, Interstate 520 and Lovers Land to the west, and Fizzy Swamp to the south. Manis, a bioalternative scaleup platform, has acquired and repurposed the former Neutri Suite manufacturing site in Augusta and is now ready to install signage. Manis is requesting to increase the allowed signed area square footage from 156 square feet to 447.3 square feet for proposed building mounted sign at 1762 Lovers Lane on the Manis fermentation building. The site plan submitted with the application shows the proposed building mounted sign is approximately 447.3 square ft which is an increase of 286% above the permitted 156 square ft. Section 28-B9A of the comprehensive zoning ordinance states that the max sign surface area of a sign in a heavy industrial zone is two square feet of sign surface area per linear foot. The proposed location of the sign on the fermentation building of the site is not within the line of sight triangle and will not inhibit or inhibit visibility at that intersection. At the time of completion of the report, staff

did not receive any inquiries uh regarding this variance application. That concludes staff presentation. Thank you very much, Mrs. Cruz. Is Mr. Mark Rosier here? If you wouldn't mind, actually, I'll have you over on this one. And if you will please just state your name, your address, and that you have authority to speak on behalf of the application. Sure. My name is Mark Roger. I'm with the Manis Bio. I am uh uh appointed designate to speak for the company on this uh topic. All right. Thank you so much. You've already heard staff's presentation. You are welcome to add anything you'd like.

Okay. Thank you. I don't have much to uh to add to that. I do want to uh specify the size of the sign or uh this is a hand painted sign not a physically uh hung sign. Um we will be uh using the services of a local artist to uh paint this sign on the wall and uh it is 7 and 1/4 ft by 45 ft. So it's roughly 326 uh and a/4 square ft. Um so that's more closer to around the 209% instead of the 260 something. Um but uh no that's that's about it. We're um we're very proud uh of uh turning the Neutri Suite the old Neutrieet facility into a new biio manufacturing facility and uh uh would like to uh we've already hired previous employee uh employees and and new employers and acquiring other sites and and proud to represent uh this new facility in Augusta and would like to have a proud bold sign on the the side of our facility. to state who we are.

Thank you, Mr. Rosie, for your commitment to the economy here in Augusta. We appreciate it. Is anybody else in the audience here in opposition to the application today? And at the time of completion, there was no other no complaints. All right. Go ahead and get staff's recommendation on this one, please. The planning development staff recommends denial of the variance request as it does not meet all the criteria established in section 33 of the comprehension zone ordinance of Augustus Georgia as amended. Should the board move to approve the applicant's request, staff recommend the following condition. The area for the building mounted sign located at manus fermentation building shall be no more than 447.3 square ft. That concludes staff recommendation.

Thank you very much. Do we have any questions or comments from the uh board? Mr. Chair. Yeah, Mr. Chair, uh just in reference to the size of the sign, do we need to make a acknowledgement that the applicant presented a lower number than what's in the variance? Sure, we can make that acknowledgement. All right. Entertain any motions. I make a motion to approve subject to staff recommendation. Second. I have a motion for Mr. Turner and a second from Mr. Row. Mr. All in favor? I'm sorry. Let's do do the standard question if he's agreeable to the recommendation before we go for much further. The conditions asked for

I know but I'd like to hear say he's agreeable to it. Mr. Roger, if you wouldn't mind addressing the podium, please. Are you agreeable to the conditions as stated by staff granting you your variance? Yes, I am. Thank you, sir. All right. All in favor for the motion to approve subject to conditions stated by staff. Show of hands. I'm seeing all and I'm hearing Mr. Pascal. Miss Shivers, were you in approval or deny? Definitely in approval. Thank you very much. No worries. I thought I saw a hand, but it was not over there. That's a unanimous approval for you, sir. Thank you very much. And again, we appreciate your impact on the economy. All right, we can move to the next item on the agenda, please.

All right. BZA-25-4 tip 3 a petition by Lee Katherine Booker requesting a varant from section 8-1B to increase the allowable height of a of a front yard wall from 4T to 5'8 in on the property located at 822 Fleming Avenue staff will present

okay thank you so much Mr. Chair, members of the commission, Todd Kennedy, senior planner, planning and development services. This variance request involves a proposed uh fence/masonry wall. The applicant requests a variance to increase its height from 4T to 5'8 in for a fence/masonry wall within the um required 30ft front setback on William Street to replace the existing wooden fence, one that was destroyed by Hurricane Helen. The findings are as follows. findings one through nine. First one, number one, the property is a corner lot at Fleming Avenue and William Street. Number two, uh, currently on the East property line is a 6ft high wooden fence that was damaged by Hurricane Helen. Number three, the applicant is wanting to remove this fence and replace it with a brick masonry wall that is more in character with the surrounding existing fences in the historical neighborhood. Number four, the property is located within the R1 or one family residential zoning district. Number five, section 8-1B of the comprehensive zoning ordinance states that a fence, lattice work, screen, or uh or a wall in the required front yard shall not exceed 4t in height. Number six, the proposed 5'8 in masonry wall would be an approximate increase of 30%. Number seven, the adjacent uh property owners where this fence/mason wall would be installed are agreeable to have a mason uh lined up to complete the work. Number uh number eight, the property is in the historic Somerville Historic District. Uh, the Historic Preservation Commission conditionally approved the new masonry wall subject to the um Board of Zoning Appeals approval of the of the height and location within the required front yard setback on September 25th of 2025. Number nine, staff has not received any inquiries concerning this variance

application at the time of the completion of this staff report. That concludes staff's presentation at this time. Mr. Chair, thank you very much, Mr. Kennedy. Is the applicant Lee Katherine Booker present if you wouldn't mind? And when you approach this podium, if you wouldn't mind just stating your name and address for the record. Yes. Lee Katherine Booker, 822 Fleming Avenue. Thank you, Miss Booker. You have 10 minutes to add anything that you'd like to this application.

Awesome. Yeah, we really want to make it look the same as the other uh wall that is on the other side of our properties. Um it we think it's going to be a lot prettier. It's going to be shorter than the current wall. Um, and I've got several letters from neighbors as well as the next door neighbors here to support it. Excellent. And for the record, I'm assuming Dena's family. You guys are in support. Seeing you guys nod your head. That's great. All right. Anything else you'd like to add? Not unless I need to provide you the letters, but

that's all right. We can hold on to it for just a second. Is there anyone in present today who's in opposition of this application? Seeing none and hearing from staff that there was none at the time of completion. All right. Uh I'll open it up for any board members questions. Recommendation. Miss Chibivers is asking for the staff recommendation, please. Okay. The plan of development staff recommends denial of the variance request as it does not meet all criteria for granting variances established in section 33 of the comprehensive zoning ordinance as amended. Should the board move to approve the applicant request? Staff recommend the follow condition. allow for a 8 foot 8 inch high masonary fence. Say that again.

Did I miss it? Five foot. I'm sorry. 5 foot 8 inch high masonary fence to run along the west property line and the required front yard setback of 30 ft. Miss Booker, are you agreeable to those conditions if we move to approve? I am. All right. Request that. A motion approval. Second. All right. I have a motion along with staff recommendation. Have a motion for approval with staff recommendation by Miss Chivers, second by Mr. Forest. And I'll go ahead and do this by show of hands. All in favor for the approval with staff recommendation. That is a unanimous one. You'll have your letter of approval very shortly. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you.

We'll go ahead and move on to the next one if you don't mind. Okay. Okay. And I will note as staff's working their way up that Miss Chibers has asked to recuse herself from this particular application. Okay. BCA-25-44 in petition by Peter Tuchiano for Capital Rise LLC requesting a variance from section 11-1A to reduce the front yard setbacks from 25 ft to 20 ft on the property located at 4107 Darcy Court. staff will present

Amanda Cruz, planner 1. This request involves a 0.19 acre track zoned R1C1 family residential and is situated in the Pebble Creek subdivision. The applicant seeks to reduce the front yard setback from the required 25 ft to 20 ft to allow for the construction of a single family residence. The property is 0.19 acres in size and is consistent with other lots uh on Darcy Court, ranging in size from 0.16 to 0.19 acres in size. According to the topography map layer on the city's GIS website, approximately 45 ft of the back of the lot is a steep bank which has an elevation at the rear lot line of 340 ft sloping to 315 ft at around the 45 ft mark, creating a 55% slope. The applicant states that the 25- ft front setback will create uh safety concerns for the house if it is placed that far back on the lot and that close to the hill of the slope. Section 8-8A of the comprehensive zoning ordinance requires a front yard setback of 25 ft. The requested front yard setback to 20 ft would be an approximate 20% reduction. At the uh at the time of completion of this report, no inquiries uh have been received by staff concerning this variance application. That concludes staff presentation.

Thank you very much, Miss Cruz. Is Mr. Peter Tuna or representative for the applicant present if you wouldn't mind? And as you approach just name, address, and that you have the authority to speak on behalf of the applicant. Felicia Lamar is my name and the address, my personal address or that address and address is good. Okay. 4107 Dorsy Court is what what I'm here representing for Peter. Okay. Thank you so much. You have 10 minutes if you'd like to add anything to the application. There's nothing else to add but that the buyer really wants more yardage. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Um let's go ahead and get staff's recommendation on this, please.

Okay. The plan and development staff recommends approval of the variance request. That includes staff recommendation. All right. And I apologize I jumped the gun a little bit. Is there anyone in opposition present today? Seeing none and hearing that there was none within the applicant and we have the staff's recommendation, I'll turn to board if they have any questions. Motion to approve. Second. I have a motion to approve from Mr. Turner. I mean, sorry, Mr. Telock and a second from Miss Morton. All in favor for approval of the applicant. Show of hands. All right. That is unanimous without uh with the uh with Miss Chivers recusing herself.

Thank you so much. You'll have your letter in the mail. All right. Uh before we turn to legal, I just want to remind everybody to keep our good friend and fellow uh board me or fellow planning and development personnel, Mr. Keaptainner, in your prayers as he recovers. Um, anything from the legal department? Thank you so much. We will conclude the meeting.