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Commissioners reverse Board of Appeals denial, allow small setback for Sea Island pool spa
Summary
The Glynn County Board of Commissioners on July 17 reversed a Board of Appeals denial and approved a variance reducing a rear-yard setback by 3.5 feet for a new pool spa at 106 Dunkey Lane, Sea Island, after the homeowners said the pool was demolished before they learned a variance was required.
Glynn County commissioners on July 17 reversed a June denial by the county Board of Appeals and granted a variance that reduces the rear-yard setback to 3.5 feet for a spa attached to a new pool at 106 Dunkey Lane on Sea Island.
Planning and zoning director Stephanie Leaf told commissioners the property’s planned pool meets standard setbacks except for the spa: “the resulting setback would be 3 and a half feet if they were granted the variance.” She said the Ocean Forest Property Owners’ Association had approved the design and that county staff discovered the setback issue after the previous pool had already been removed during new construction.
The owners, Walter B. McClellan Jr. and Christina K. McClellan, appealed after a 2–2 vote by the Board of Appeals — a vote that, under county code, counts as a denial. At the public hearing, homeowner Walter McClellan said the contractor demolished the old pool before the family learned a variance would be required: “we set out with some goals, number 1, to increase the swimming space for our children…we were sort of made aware that there was an issue…only after the pool had been demolished.”
Blake Hightower of Salt Design Group, the landscape architect for the project, described the design tradeoffs that drove the layout and said the new pool increases swim area and adds a spa the family wanted for year-round use: “There’s about a 25 increase in pool area. It also includes the addition of a spa, where it did not have one before.” Commissioners discussed prior nonconforming pools in the neighborhood and the applicant’s limited options to shift the pool without moving it dangerously close to the house.
After discussion, a commissioner moved to reverse the Board of Appeals’ denial; the motion was seconded and approved. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally in the minutes presented.
The reversal permits the applicants to complete the pool with the 3.5-foot setback for the spa; staff and the applicants noted the spa is the only element encroaching and that other pools in the neighborhood were older nonconforming features. The county’s Planning and Zoning office will issue any required permit revisions consistent with the approved variance.
Details that remain in the administrative record include the Board of Appeals decision, the applicants’ design review documents with the Ocean Forest POA, and the final permit documentation to be filed with county staff.
