The Sandy Springs Board of Appeals voted unanimously to deny Variance B2549, a request to allow a new house to encroach into side setbacks at 7821 Jet Ferry Road.

Planning and zoning manager Michelle McIntosh Ross told the board staff recommended denial, saying an "extreme hardship has not been demonstrated" and that the proposal "negates the intent of the development code because it unnecessarily encroaches into the setbacks." Ross described the site as a mostly forested, nonconforming parcel in RE2 zoning (2-acre minimum) and said staff identified a 0.88-acre lot area and a buildable area of approximately 14,348 square feet. The proposed two-story home would be about 4,626 square feet with four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a garage and a pool, and staff flagged multiple encroachments: grading roughly 15 feet beyond allowed limits, a house wall about 10 feet into the east side setback, and retaining walls encroaching about 15.9 feet beyond the side setback allowances.

Owner Lila Kielant and contractor Yaniv Regev said site conditions — a narrow parcel, rocky and sloped soils, and limited locations for a septic system because there is no sanitary sewer along Jet Ferry Road — constrained where the house and utilities could be placed. Kielant said the lot was the only property she could afford and that design options were limited; Regev told the board soil conditions and septic placement drove the proposed plan. Kielant told the board she had consulted at least one neighbor who did not object.

Board members questioned whether the applicants had altered the design to avoid variances, such as relocating the pool or reducing building size, and whether soil and septic studies had been submitted. The applicants said they had included soil testing in their submittal and that a specific septic solution had been developed for the identified location, and they maintained that moving primary improvements to the lower portion of the lot was not feasible.

During discussion the board reviewed comments read into the record from city staff. The Sandy Springs city engineer advised a code-compliant house could be designed for the lot; the arborist noted boundary trees visible in aerial imagery that were not marked on the plan and warned that increased disturbance could affect those trees; and the development manager pointed to retaining-wall encroachments, water-quality discharge setbacks and garage facade rules that appeared inconsistent with the submitted drawings.

After discussion, a motion to deny the variance (per staff recommendation) was made and seconded; the chair recorded the vote as unanimous and the board denied Variance B2549. The meeting record does not include a roll-call tally of individual member votes.

The board also approved the meeting agenda and previous meeting minutes earlier in the session and the manager announced that board elections will be held at the February meeting. No date for the meeting at which this item was decided is specified in the transcript.