Board approves landscape variances for proposed downtown parking deck with condition to add foundation plantings

The Decatur City Board of Zoning Adjustment on May 26 approved a variance allowing exemptions from certain landscaping requirements for a proposed parking deck, contingent on providing foundation landscaping on the west, north and east sides.

Staff presented case 260526-02, explaining that the applicant seeks to omit street-front and interior parking-lot landscaping because Holly Street will be vacated and converted to a private drive fronting the deck. Planning staff said the city’s landscaping rules—intended to soften large structures, improve streetscapes and provide buffering—apply differently when a public right-of-way is vacated, and recommended approval subject to alternate streetscape design conditions.

Staff also told the board the applicant revised plans to add trees and shrubs that meet foundation-landscaping standards on the west, north and east sides, while requesting exemptions for the southern edge adjacent to an alley and for off-street perimeter and interior parking-lot landscaping. Planning clarified that foundation landscaping would be provided adjacent to 4th Avenue but not along the unnamed alley.

Applicant Jackson McNell said the request reflects site constraints and reiterated that the team added more trees and shrubs to satisfy many requirements. "They were able to meet the requirements ... by adding smaller trees and more shrubs to the northern side as well as the eastern side," he said.

A motion to approve the landscaping variance with a condition requiring foundation landscaping on the west, north and east sides carried unanimously.

Planning staff will incorporate design conditions and return permit-level details through the normal review process.