Cumming council postpones Patterson Street variance hearings after contested public hearing

The Cumming Mayor and Council on Wednesday postponed three variance requests for properties on Patterson Street to the council's next work session after a public hearing in which city staff recommended denial and the applicant argued the lots are grandfathered.

City planning staff recommended denying the variances, saying the requested reductions—ranging from about 34% to as much as 70% for dimensional requirements—would not be in harmony with the R1A single‑family zoning district and could be detrimental to the neighborhood. Scott, a planning staff member who presented the staff report, told the council the variances are “not de minimis” and that granting them could allow construction of attached townhome or multifamily product in a single‑family neighborhood.

The applicant’s attorney, Ethan Underwood of Underwood Scoggins, told the council the parcels were platted in 1955 and that title records describe the property as Lots 80, 81 and 82. Underwood said his client has “vested rights” and that the lots should be treated as grandfathered. “We do absolutely have a hardship,” Underwood said, adding that the applicant was seeking to “exhaust administrative remedies” and reserved legal claims if relief was denied.

Underwood urged the council to view the request as limited to a unique circumstance and not precedent‑setting, noting other lots of similar size exist in the same 1955 subdivision. Planning staff disagreed in their recommendation, arguing there are no extraordinary or exceptional conditions that would justify the variances under section 113‑50 of the city’s zoning ordinance.

Following the public hearing and a brief council discussion, a council member moved to postpone each of the three separate variance agenda items to the next work session; the motions carried 4‑0 in each case.

The postponements mean the council will take up the three identified variance applications again at the work session for additional review and possible action.

Votes at a glance • Variance request 2024292 (302 Patterson Street): Motion to postpone to work session carried 4‑0. • Variance request 2024293: Motion to postpone to work session carried 4‑0. • Variance request 2024291 (302 Patterson Street): Motion to postpone to work session carried 4‑0.

Context: The requests sought multiple dimensional variances that staff said would increase allowed density to levels more analogous to an R3 multifamily lot. The applicant says historical plats and chain‑of‑title descriptions support three separate lots as originally platted in 1955.