Cobb County denies applicant's attempt to avoid stormwater mitigation; amends earlier variance to limit pool permanence

The Cobb County Board of Zoning Appeals on April 9, 2025, denied a variance request from homeowner Vicky Beham that sought to allow existing impervious coverage above the county standard without completing the stormwater mitigation previously required by the board.

Beham sought to retain an existing impervious surface percentage she described as about 51'52% to accommodate an in-ground pool the household wants for medically advised aquatic therapy. Her attorney, Adam Rosen of Rosen, Rosen & Riley, said the property was built before the applicant owned it and that reducing impervious coverage to the county's 35% standard would impose extensive cost and land disturbance. Rosen said an earlier mitigation plan was prepared and a permit pursued but that practical obstacles made full mitigation to 35% costly and difficult.

Andrew Heath of Cobb County Stormwater Management told the board staff had reviewed the site and performed rough calculations indicating the mitigation system installed at the site appears to provide comparable volume to what the county would otherwise require. Heath said staff could work with the applicant to finalize a mitigation plan.

Board members expressed frustration over the timeline and the limited number of contractor bids for the mitigation work. One commissioner noted a previously approved mitigation plan called for multiple infiltration wells that carried an estimated cost the applicant reported as roughly $2,530,000; board members and staff discussed the possibility of consolidating to a single dry well. At one point staff described a conceptual dry-well dimension of about 4 feet deep and 8 feet square as a mitigation option, subject to technical review.

After discussion the board took formal action on two related items. First, it denied the applicant's new variance request that would have avoided the mitigation requirements; the chair stated: "Variance is denied." Second, the board amended a prior variance approval from March 12 (case v35 of 2025) to revise that earlier stipulation. The board added language that stormwater-management comments "not to apply to this pool, but anything else that requires a permit in the future" would still be required. The board also approved a separate, related motion that (1) any permanent structure (sidewalks, deck, pad for pool equipment) must come back to the board for variance review and must mitigate impervious to 35% before such structure is built, and (2) the pool must be removed five years from the April 9, 2025, decision date unless otherwise addressed by the board.

The motions leave the original mitigation requirement in place as a settled condition for other work on the lot, while allowing a narrow, time-limited accommodation for the existing pool subject to new conditions and the requirement that any additional permanent improvements be accompanied by mitigation to 35%.

Ending: The board recorded deadlines and follow-up tasks for Stormwater Management to finalize and inspect mitigation if pursued and moved on to the next agenda item.