Zoning board denies developer request to shrink side setbacks in Lyles Ruby Lane subdivision

A request to shrink side yard setbacks on multiple lots in the Lyles Ruby Lane subdivision was denied by the City of South Fulton Zoning Board of Appeals on June 26, 2025.

The applicant, Colin Steinberger, asked the board to reduce required side setbacks from 25 feet to 17 feet on 100-foot-wide lots so certain single-level home plans and a third-car, side-mounted garage could fit on parcels the developer is marketing. "Our request is modest, a reduction to 17 foot side setbacks which still results in a 34 foot total separation between homes," Steinberger said during public comment. He said a buyer currently under contract on one lot made approval time-sensitive because the buyer's preferred plan required the additional width.

Board staff introduced the case (V25-004) and recommended denial, citing the zoning ordinance's variance standards. Staff told the board the ordinance requires evidence of a hardship under section 808.09 and that a developer's desire to build larger homes does not meet the listed criteria. "The applicant's request for a larger home is not a criteria that we use in order to determine if the application is worthy of a variance," staff said.

Commissioners questioned the applicant about neighborhood notice, the history of the lots and whether any adjacent homes would be affected. Steinberger said the affected lots are largely vacant and that only one lot (3272 Lyles Ruby Lane, lot 20) sits next to an existing home; he offered to remove that lot from the request to reduce potential impacts. Commissioners and staff explained that the variance process evaluates hardship against fixed criteria such as lot shape or conditions not created by the applicant.

Several motions were considered: an attempt to approve the reduction while excluding lot 3272 failed; a motion to deny the application for lack of demonstrated hardship initially failed for lack of a second but was later made and seconded and carried after a hand count. The board recorded a final tally that upheld denial. The staff recommendation of denial was therefore adopted.

The board distinguished discussion from formal action throughout its deliberations: commissioners debated neighborhood notice and precedent for future variances, discussed the applicant's arguments about market demand for larger ranch-style homes, and then took the formal vote to deny. No permit or setback change was authorized, and no direction to staff to prepare an alternative approval was given.

The applicant may return to the city with a revised application or pursue other code-compliant design options; the board did not set any follow-up tasks or conditions when it voted to deny.

Clarifying details mentioned during the hearing include: the current zoning side setback requirement of 25 feet per side; the applicant's requested reduction to 17 feet per side (producing 34 feet of separation between houses); lots of roughly 100 feet in width; and one identified parcel by address as 3272 Lyles Ruby Lane (lot 20). Staff repeatedly referenced the municipal variance criteria as the basis for denial.