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Board allows second accessory structure and smaller side setback for Roswell Street home
Summary
The License and Variance Board approved two variances for 1543 Roswell Street allowing a pergola as a second accessory structure and reducing the side setback from 10 feet to 6 feet; staff cited precedent for similar variances on nearby properties and required compliance with submitted plans.
Smyrna’s License and Variance Board unanimously approved two variances April 23 for 1543 Roswell Street that permit a second accessory structure (a pergola over an existing patio) and reduce the side setback from 10 feet to 6 feet.
Planner Caitlin Crow said the 0.72-acre lot already contained a permitted 150-square-foot shed and a ground-level patio installed in 2021; patios at grade do not require setback compliance, but adding a pergola over the patio brings the structure within the side setback and thus requires a variance. Crow noted that placing the pergola elsewhere would intrude into a shared driveway and that staff found the hardship was not self-created. Crow also identified two nearby precedents: a similar variance at 1555 Roswell Street approved the prior year and another at 1539 Roswell Street in 2012.
Applicant Mitchell Scott told the board the pergola would measure about 5 feet corner to corner from the garage and confirmed compliance with the standard stipulation requiring substantial adherence to the submitted site plan and elevations. No public opposition was recorded and the board approved both variances unanimously.
Crow emphasized that because the shed and the pergola serve different uses, staff considered them separate accessory structures and supported allowing a second accessory structure on the lot. The board’s approvals regularize the pergola placement and the reduced side setback under the stated condition that the work match the submitted plans.
