Smyrna board approves gravel parking variance for antiques shop with landscaping stipulation

The Smyrna License and Variance Board on Oct. 9 approved Variance V24-082, permitting a gravel parking surface at 2986 King Street for the Lavender and Cotton Antiques store, with a board-added condition requiring 5-gallon evergreen shrubs along the Concord Road frontage.

Planner Caitlin Crowe said the subject parcel is a 0.38-acre lot near Love Street, Concord Road and King Street and was rezoned in February 2023. The property received a land disturbance permit in March 2024. Crowe described civil plans that use a True Grid paver system infilled with gravel to manage stormwater and told the board that, while "the city's parking design standards do not allow for any type of surface such as gravel to be used for parking. It must be a paved surface," the city engineer had reviewed the installed grid system and staff had received an as-built certification from the project's engineer, and therefore staff recommended approval to retain the gravel parking.

Patricia Ferguson, the applicant, told the board she had no additional comments and said Crowe's presentation covered the background and work completed on the site. Board members raised concerns about the lot's visibility from Concord Road and pressed the applicant about additional landscaping. One board member proposed, and the board approved by motion, a stipulation requiring the applicant to install 5-gallon evergreen shrubs (board examples included ligustrum and tea olive) along the Concord Road edge to screen the gravel from passing traffic.

Following the stipulation vote, a board member moved to approve Variance V24-082 as amended to include the landscaping requirement; another board member seconded the motion. The chair corrected the typed address to 2986 King Street, and the board approved the variance by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded; the chair then moved on to approve minutes from the Sept. 25, 2024 meeting and adjourned the session.

The board's approval allows the existing gravel surface to remain on the site subject to the newly adopted landscaping condition and the recordation of the engineering certifications that staff reported. The city planning staff memorandum and the city engineer's review were cited in the board packet as the basis for staff's recommendation.