Board approves Food City expansion setback waiver after developer cites long-standing center layout

Tim Graham of Graham Corporation presented a variance request to reduce the minimum interior site setback in a CH2 zone from 10 feet to zero to accommodate an addition to an existing Food City anchor.

Graham explained the parcel’s zoning history — previously CA and C3 before recode — and said the shopping-center layout was historically built with zero lot lines. He gave the board a packet including a 2009 variance that reduced a drainage easement and noted the planned new property line would place the addition at the same alignment as the existing building edge. "We were granted a variance before," Graham said, describing why keeping a zero lot line is standard for this center and why resubdividing or rescaling would create practical financing and design hurdles.

Board members discussed alternatives (resubmitting with different zoning or moving property lines) and asked whether the requested relief would become a precedent across the site. Several members concluded that recode created a condition that made this property’s current configuration impractical without relief. The board approved the variance, finding the requested change to be the minimum adjustment necessary to permit reasonable use in the existing commercial center.