Smyrna zoning board denies Portico Place sign variance, citing utility proximity and alternative locations

At the March 2025 meeting of the Smyrna Board of Zoning Appeals, the board considered a sign-variance application submitted in connection with Portico Place subdivision (applicant listed as Gavin Schultz) to place a subdivision entrance sign at the northern entrance at Blair Road.

Mitch, planning staff, told the board that sign permits are reviewed separately from plats and that the sign ordinance requires a minimum setback of 75 feet from the center point of the intersection. He said the proposed sign location measured 60 feet from the intersection center and that the applicant requested a 15-foot variance. Staff noted a 20-foot utility easement along Blair Road and an underground gas line located where the northern sign was proposed. Mitch said the applicant met with the utilities department and the parties agreed that the sign footings could be located no closer than 2 feet from the gas main; “Utilities…felt like if they need to get to do the work in that area they could remove the center portion of that sign,” Mitch said, and the 2-foot buffer was an agreed figure.

Staff told the board that the subdivision’s common area (HOA-owned) is typically where entrance signs are placed and that a smaller or reconfigured sign could be sited to meet the 75-foot setback. Staff also found no unique topographic hardship created by the property that would justify the variance. The staff presentation cited Chapter 9 of the sign ordinance and the ordinance’s variance criteria.

Board members questioned whether approving a sign within a utility easement would set a precedent and whether placing the sign so close to the gas line was safe. One member said, “I still don't necessarily feel super comfortable with it being even that close to the gas line.” The board discussed that findings should be particular to the property to avoid setting precedent for future cases.

Following discussion, a board member moved to deny the variance on grounds of lack of hardship, concern about locating the sign in proximity to utilities, and available space in common areas to place a compliant sign; another member seconded. The chair put the motion to a voice vote and the transcript records the chair saying the motion to deny “has been approved.”

Votes at a glance

- Motion to deny sign variance (Portico Place / Gavin Schultz): mover – Board member (unnamed); second – Board member (unnamed); outcome – approved by the board (voice vote). No individual vote tallies were recorded in the public transcript.

Next steps

Staff will administer permitting and any required coordination with utilities if the applicant pursues a relocated or resized sign, per standard permitting procedures.