The Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday will consider two sets of concurrent variance requests, one relating to a 23-acre property roughly across the street from Milton High.

The March 17 meeting will start at 6 p.m. in City Hall’s Council Chambers. People can attend in-person or watch on the Internet at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8QeScIIAhw.

Commonly referred to as BZA, the Board of Zoning Appeals consists of seven appointed members whose decisions are guided by City Code, including Milton’s zoning standards, and can be appealed to Fulton County Superior Court. This quasi-judicial body hears appeals to City decisions tied to the Unified Development Code, stream buffers, and sign permits. They also vote about requests for variances from City Code, like those up for consideration Tuesday (which Milton’s Design Review Board recommended approvals for).

The first such primary variance requests are for 12780 New Providence Road, a 1-acre parcel not far from State Route 140/Arnold Mill Road. The applicant is asking to reduce the 25-minimum side yard requirement to 21.8 feet and reduce the 50-year rear yard requirement to 44.2 feet for an existing garage addition. There’s also a request for a variance to reduce the 25-foot minimum side yard to just over 22 feet for an existing deck. Neighbors on both sides of this property have submitted letters in support of all these requests.

The next set of primary variance requests relate to a 23.1-acre lot at 13250 Birmingham Highway, which is just north of the Six Hills neighborhood. This owner of this lot does not plan to remove any of the numerous structures of various sizes already on their parcel. They hope to build a new single-family house to become their primary residence, which would mean the home currently there would be classified as their guest house.

The variance requests all are connected to the construction of that new single-family residence, specifically to:  

• Increase the maximum heated floor area for a guest house (which is what the current primary home would become) from 1,500 to 2,550 square feet
• Allow a guest house to be to the side and in front of the new proposed single-family home
• Allow six existing accessory structures to remain in front of the same new home

Tuesday’s BZA agenda also references a variance request for 580 Hopewell Downs Drive in relation to a proposed garage addition, though this request is expected to be withdrawn.

After this meeting, the Board of Zoning Appeals is next scheduled to convene on April 21.