Board approves variance at 4825 Franklin Pond Road, citing hardship from stream buffers

The Sandy Springs Board of Appeals on Feb. 4 unanimously approved variance B2560 for 4825 Franklin Pond Road, finding that stream buffers and screening create an extraordinary hardship that justifies limited expansions and alterations to a legal nonconforming home.

Planner Laquita Williams told the board the trapezoidal lot lies in the Nancy Creek sensitive area and the parcel is encumbered by screening and buffers that make approximately 12,560 square feet of the 18,000-square-foot lot effectively unbuildable. Staff recommended approval with the condition that construction be substantially similar to the site plan submitted with the application.

Applicant representative Den Webb said the proposed work largely remains within the existing building footprint and reduces impervious surface: the plan would enclose roughly 100 square feet at the front for a mudroom (about 1.5 feet closer to the road) and replace a larger rear deck with a smaller 600-square-foot sunroom and deck while adding about 478 square feet of green, permeable area. Webb said the proposal shifts activity away from the stream buffer and that several neighbors provided letters of support.

A board member moved to approve the variance with the staff condition; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The board's approval allows modest expansion and alteration of the existing nonconforming structure while requiring adherence to the submitted site plan.