Cherokee County denies variance to build inside county stream buffer at 265 Traditions Drive

A Cherokee County zoning board denied a request to remove 25 feet of the county stream buffer for a new house at 265 Traditions Drive, citing conflicting plats and a split board vote.

The board heard the case of application 2508044B on a 1.1-acre lot in the Echelon Conservation Subdivision. Planning staff told members the county requires a 50-foot undisturbed vegetative stream buffer measured from the top of bank; the inner 25 feet reflect a state buffer defined by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (EPD). Staff said the applicant asked to remove the county buffer and advertised authorization for encroachment as part of the variance application.

Planning staff said the applicant estimated roughly 2,700 square feet of proposed encroachment into the county buffer and showed a FEMA/"future conditions" floodplain covering about 30% of the lot. Staff also reported that the recorded plat, drainage easements and the stream buffer lines did not match current mapped stream locations, which the applicant said reduced the buildable area.

The applicant, John Hannah, who identified himself as the lot owner and builder, said the recorded plat and prior neighborhood lots showed only a 25-foot buffer and that the stream position had "shifted" onto his property since the plat was recorded. "When we bought the lot, according to the plat and the survey...the whole creek or the water shifted into the property more," Hannah told the board.

County engineering staff recommended denying a full exemption but said if the board approved any encroachment it should require structural stormwater controls meeting the Cherokee County Development Ordinance Section 6.05 and the 2016 Georgia Stormwater Management Manual to address quantity and quality impacts.

Board members debated whether the lot was uniquely constrained by relocated buffers. After discussion, a motion to approve the variance for the structures shown on the submitted grading plan (C 0.3) with the engineering department recommended condition failed on a split vote. The clerk recorded Tressler and Doss voting in favor and Ragsdale and Hunt opposed; the variance was denied.

The denial means the county retains the full 50-foot undisturbed buffer; engineering recommended that any future request include the structural stormwater mitigation details.

Votes at a glance: motion to approve variance (motion text: "approve a variance to encroach within the 50 foot undisturbed stream buffer for the structures shown on the grading plan C 0.3 with the recommended engineering condition"); mover: not recorded; second: recorded; vote 2-2; outcome: denied.

Clarifying details from the record: the lot is 1.1 acres; applicant-provided encroachment ~2,700 sq ft; staff cited Cherokee County Stream Protection Ordinance (adopted 07/19/2005) Section 5 (land development requirements and buffers); engineering recommended post-development stormwater controls per Cherokee County Development Ordinance Section 6.05 and the 2016 Georgia Stormwater Management Manual.

Next steps noted by staff: applicants may ask to postpone to a future meeting if they prefer to rework plans or provide the engineering mitigation details the county requested.

Speakers (selected): Dana (planning staff), John Hannah (owner/builder), Board members: Ms. Stoss, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Ragsdale, Ms. Tressler, Ms. Doss.

Proper names: Cherokee County; Echelon Conservation Subdivision; Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (EPD); FEMA; Cherokee County Development Ordinance; Georgia Stormwater Management Manual (2016).