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Board approves homeowner variance to replace deck that encroaches on Johns Creek stream buffer
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals approved variance V‑25‑0007 for 5745 Lake Heights Circle to allow a 12.3‑foot encroachment into the city's 75‑foot stream buffer to remove and replace an existing deck; staff limited the approval with two mitigation conditions and a planting plan.
The Johns Creek Board of Zoning Appeals voted to approve variance V‑25‑0007 on the agenda allowing a homeowner to rebuild an existing deck that sits partially inside the city's 75‑foot stream buffer.
City planner Kyung Soon Wang told the board that the lot was originally platted under older Fulton County rules with a 25‑foot buffer and, after the city's incorporation, the buffer was expanded so that the stream protection zone now covers roughly 65% of the property, including the rear yard and the existing deck. "The variance request tonight is to allow a 12.3‑foot encroachment into the city's 75‑foot stream buffer to remove and replace an existing deck and stairs," Wang said, noting staff's analysis and the hardship created by the enlarged buffer. Wang told the board that the existing impervious area within the buffer is about 273 square feet and the proposed plan would result in approximately 316 square feet—a net increase of about 43 square feet; staff recommended approval with two conditions, including submission of a vegetative planting plan as part of the building permit.
The applicant's representative described the work as a minor encroachment, said the team will hand‑dig the planting areas, install erosion controls and plant five shrubs (more than the three the applicant said were required). "We're planting 5 bushes, and we're only required by the math to do 3," the presenter said, adding that no heavy equipment would be used. Board members asked whether construction had already started and whether the new deck would tie into an existing walkway; the applicant said no work had begun and the walkway connects to the deck.
A board member moved to approve V‑25‑0007 as presented; a second was recorded and the chair announced the motion carried with the staff‑recommended conditions.
The approval allows the specific encroachment and requires the planting and mitigation measures described in staff's presentation. The building permit review will verify the planting plan and the encroachment limits before work can begin.
