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Peachtree City Council adopts administrative-variance text changes to tighten setback relief and expand notice
Summary
Council adopted amendments to the administrative-variance ordinance that narrow certain permissible setback reductions (rear setbacks and reductions adjacent to public property), remove written-adjacent-owner consent in favor of mailed notice, and add a 30-day notification requirement referenced to OCGA; council discussion affirmed planning commission work and the vote carried.
Peachtree City Council unanimously adopted a council-initiated text amendment to the city’s administrative-variance ordinance during a public hearing Tuesday.
Planning staff summarized a multi-step review process by the planning commission that resulted in several recommended changes to Section 12-04 of the zoning ordinance. Key revisions include clarifying that the administrative-variance rules apply only to residential properties, reducing the allowable rear-setback reduction from 50% to 10%, and lowering the adjacencies-reduction cap (properties adjacent to publicly owned land) from 25% to 10%. The draft also struck a written-consent requirement from adjacent owners and replaced it with a city-notification procedure; staff cited a 30-day notice provision tied to OCGA 36 and related state legislation during the presentation.
Planning staff told council that the change is intended to align Peachtree City with other metro-Atlanta jurisdictions and to tighten the range of administrative relief for commonly requested setbacks. "They made a significant decrease in the reduction of the rear setback type from 50% down to 10%," a staff presenter said while outlining the planning commission’s recommendation.
Councilmembers asked about the mechanics of notification (regular mail vs. return receipt) and staff noted the ordinance currently specifies standard mailed notice and said the language could be revised if council wanted to require certified/return-receipt mail at an additional cost. Council discussion also covered HOA approvals and the city’s inability to enforce private covenants, with staff noting HOA consent remains advisory and is encouraged but not required by ordinance.
The ordinance as adopted keeps the variance-review committee configuration unchanged while codifying the notification change and the setback limits. The vote to adopt the proposed text carried at the meeting.
