Cherokee County commissioners work through conditions for veterinary memorial garden variance appeal

Cherokee County commissioners on March 4 discussed detailed conditions for an appeal of Zoning Board of Appeals variances requested for a veterinary property proposed for memorial gardens and an animal crematory.

Planning staff summarized the case: the applicant sought seven variances related to buffer widths, streetscape and tree requirements along Highway 92 and setbacks adjacent to residentially zoned property. "This case was an appeal of variances by the Zoning Board of Appeals," staff member Thomas Trawick told the board, summarizing the board's December 12 decision. He said the Zoning Board denied some requests and approved others with conditions, and the applicant appealed the denials.

Under current ordinance, a 50-foot buffer is required where light-industrial zoning abuts residential zoning. The applicant proposed to retain a 50-foot rear buffer in the area adjoining a neighbor but requested the side buffers be reduced to 10 feet to allow parking and landscaping. The applicant also asked for a break in the Highway 92 overlay fence to allow a sign, and for adjustments to the required number of overstory street trees.

Commissioners and staff explored a compromise approach: allow 10-foot buffers on the east and west sides where existing conditions or buildings make the reduction necessary, while protecting the 50-foot rear buffer that abuts residential property. Several commissioners said they would accept a 10-foot buffer on the city-facing side because an existing nonconforming building already sits close to that property line.

The principal neighbor concern, commissioners said, was activity directly adjacent to homes and use of an existing block storage structure that sits within the rear 50-foot buffer. Commissioners discussed two alternatives: allow the existing shed to remain but restrict its use, or require the shed be left in place only if it is removed and the area replanted. The applicant's representative told the board that moving the existing block shed would likely damage it and be costly; the representative proposed leaving the structure in place but limiting access by the public.

As a compromise, staff and a majority of commissioners proposed allowing a "landscape-only" area (described in the draft as a southwestern portion of the lot behind the parking area) where a modest storage building could be permitted outside the strict 50-foot rear buffer. The parties discussed limiting any new storage structure to no greater than 200 square feet (the county threshold cited for residential permit requirements) and limiting access to non-vehicular, staff-only use for garden maintenance. Commissioners also discussed prohibiting expansion of the gravel parking area to protect the buffer.

Staff drafted a list of conditions (labeled A through G in the stipulation draft) that would govern approval if the board adopted the requested variances. Items discussed in the work session that staff said could be incorporated into the stipulations included: no animal burials on the property and no scattering of ash remains; rear parking to be staff-only; maintaining a 50-foot undisturbed rear buffer except for limited, defined access to a block accessory structure if the board permits it; a requirement to install frontage fencing and landscaping substantially similar to the submitted elevation; a minimum number of overstory trees along Highway 92 per the landscaping plan; and replanting obligations if structures in the buffer are removed.

Applicant's representative told the commission the preferred outcome would be to keep the current block structure and have staff-only access, or alternatively to permit a similarly sized storage structure in the landscape-only area. "Moving [the structure] would, I think, in the contractor's mind, damage the integrity of it," the applicant said, adding that the contractor had found the building constructed of block. The applicant said a slightly larger, improved storage area in the designated landscape-only zone would be workable.

The transcript records no final decision or roll-call vote on the variances. Staff told the board they would prepare revised stipulations for the board's consideration and formal vote at a later point. The transcript shows commissioners and the applicant negotiating specific language (for example, a staff-only access restriction and a 200-square-foot size limit for any permitted storage structure) intended to carry forward with the variances if the board approves them.

Why it matters: The dispute centers on how industrial or quasi-industrial uses abutting residential neighborhoods should be buffered and managed. Commissioners sought to balance the applicant's operational needs with neighbors' concerns about proximity and future nonresidential uses. No final vote appears in the provided transcript; staff said they would return with refined condition language for a formal vote.