Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting – August 19, 2025: Variance Approval for Deck Encroachment
Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting – August 19, 2025
The Johns Creek Board of Zoning Appeals met on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order with a quorum present. The sole agenda item was a variance request (V-25-0005) for a property at 9470 Dominion Way. The board approved the minutes from the July 15, 2025 meeting and later approved the variance as recommended by staff. Departmental updates included a vacant board position and a future variance case.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of July 15, 2025 Minutes: Motion by a board member, seconded, and unanimously approved (all ayes).
Discussion Items
- Variance Case V-25-0005 – 9470 Dominion Way: The property, zoned R-4A and platted in 1985, has a 75-foot stream buffer covering 55% of the lot. The applicant, Joseph and Kathryn Gazzillo, requested a 25-foot encroachment into the buffer to construct a deck and stairs, adding 213 square feet of net new impervious surface (total 1,053 sq ft including existing structures). No disturbance was proposed within the 50- or 25-foot buffers. Mitigation included 244 square feet of planted area (tree, shrubs, ground cover). Staff analysis noted that the city's expanded buffer ordinance created a hardship, as the existing home is already within the buffer. Staff recommended approval subject to conditions: the encroachment not exceed 25 feet linear and 1,053 sq ft impervious, and a vegetative mitigation plan consistent with the July 1, 2025 submission, passing city inspection. The applicant's representative, Mandy Garner, and homeowner Joe Gazzillo spoke in favor, emphasizing safety and enjoyment of the backyard. No opposition was present. The board closed the public hearing and moved to a vote.
Key Outcomes
- V-25-0005 – Variance Approved: Motion by Mr. Steiner to approve the variance as submitted by staff, seconded, and approved unanimously (all ayes). The approval is subject to the conditions outlined in staff's recommendation.
- Board Vacancy: Chairman noted Tyler Chenault resigned (running for city council). The process to fill the vacancy was outlined: mayor places on agenda, considers names, council nominates and confirms. Timing estimated at a couple of months.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for September 16, 2025; packets will be distributed by end of August. A new variance case for a front yard encroachment for an accessory structure will be heard.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to the City of Joan Johns Creek Board of Zoning Appeals meeting for August. Um the meeting will now come to order. Uh let the uh record show that uh we have a quorum. Um Mr. Yi is um is here. Um we have one position making Tyler Chenault has a resigned as he's running for um the city council. Um but we still have a quorum and we are ready to go. Um we have our agenda and the uh meeting minutes uh from our meeting in July. If all the members have had a chance to review, um are there any changes or a motion on the agenda and minutes. Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion that we accept the minutes as presented. Sustainers made a motion to accept or second. I second. Please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Minutes are approved as present. For the uh public hearing tonight, we have uh one case. Um the staff will present the case first after the staff presents. The applicant will have 10 minutes to present their case. Any opposition will have 10 minutes in total. Uh if the applicant does not use their full ten minutes, the reminder can be resolved for rebuttal. Anyone that wishes to speak um should step up to the podium, uh, state name and address for the record. All the questions for staff, applicant, and opposition will be after the public hearing is closed. So we have V-25-0005, and we'll have um staff presentation. Good evening, board. I'm Tyler Barron, Planner 3 with planning and zoning. I'll be presenting variance case V-25-0005 at 9470 Dominion Way. Here you'll see the existing conditions of the property. It's located in Heart Ridge neighborhood and sits at about.34 acres. It's zoned R4A and was originally planted in 1985 by Fulton County. The plant features a hundred-year floodplain and shows a Chattahoochee River tributary, Hico Creek, along the rear property line. Currently, the 75-foot stream buffer encompasses about 55% of the subject property. These are photos for you to review showing the rear yard, uh, looking both away and from the deck. These are the stream buffer requirements for which the variance is being reviewed. Uh you can see this is Article 5, section 109 to 118 of our code. The variance request is as follows to encroach 25 feet into the 75-foot stream buffer to construct a new deck and the stairs. 1,053 square feet of impervious surface located in the buffer. This includes the existing home, which is in the stream buffer today. 840 square feet of the existing home and deck, so the current deck and home consists 840 of those square feet. So there's a net increase of 213 square feet of impervious surface within the buffer. The applicant has not proposed any disturbance within the 50 or 25 foot stream buffers. So this is entirely within the 75-foot buffer. To mitigate this, the applicant has proposed 244 square feet of planted area, including a tree, five small shrubs, and 64 square feet of ground cover, all utilizing the recommendations from our stream mitigation book. These are the uh review criteria from which the variance is reviewed, including uh those code sections 109 to 118 that I mentioned. The following is staff analysis of the property. Again, the property was platted in 1985 by Fulton County, featuring that tributary and hundred-year floodplain. The incorporation of the city expanded the stream buffer to 50 feet with an additional 25-foot impervious setback on both sides of that stream. And as such, a hardship has been created for the homeowner. The stream buffer encompasses 55% of the existing property.
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