CASE NUMBER: PZ 22-023
APPLICANT: Malamav Community and Human Services, Inc. Owner: Kerline Piard. Attorney: Adam Rozen, Esq.
VARIANCE REQUEST: To vary Section 4-110 of the UDC related to distance separation requirements for group day care facilities.
LOCATION: 4045 Lindley Circle within Land Lot 905 of the 19th District, 2nd Section, Cobb County, Georgia.
ZONING: CRC ACRES: 0.63 PIN: 19090500380.
Staff Recommendation: Approval. Planning and Zoning Recommendation: Approval
BACKGROUND: Ms. Kerline Piard, owner of Malamav Community and Human Services, Inc., proposed to operate an adult day training center at the referenced location. She purchased the property in January 2022 and is currently in the permitting process to renovate the building with the intention to relocate the business to this new location.
Sec. 4-110 (e) of the Unified Development Code, related to distance separation of group care facilities, provides that:
A day care center operated as a principal use shall comply with all of the property development and performance standards for the zoning district in which it is located and shall not be located within 300 feet of any other day care center or group day care facility.
Malamav’s facility is within 300 feet of South Cobb Children’s Enrichment Center, located at 3984 Austell Powder Springs Rd SW.
SURROUNDING AREA:
4045 Lindley Circle is located at the intersection of Lindley Circle and Austell Powder Springs Road. Commercial uses within the CRC zoning district predominate in that area of Austell Powder Springs Road. Malamav is separated from South Cobb Children’s Enrichment Center by 230-feet, as shown in figure 1. The other adult group care facility in the region, Serenity Adult Day Care at 4279 Austell Powder Springs Road, is located 0.6-miles (3168-feet) away from Malamav, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 1. Distance property lines of Malamav and closest group care facilities: 230.8-feet.
Figure 2. Separation between Malamav Adult Day Training Center and Serenity Adult Day Care.
ANALYSIS:
The application was reviewed against the following criteria:
Any applicant requesting consideration of a variance to any provision of this development code shall provide a written justification that one or more of the following condition(s) exist. The governing body shall not approve a variance application unless it shall have adopted findings that one or more of the following conditions exist:
1. There are extraordinary and exceptional conditions or practical difficulties pertaining to the particular piece of property in question because of its size, shape or topography that are not applicable to other lands or structures in the same district.
There are no unique difficulties related to this property.
2. A literal interpretation of the provisions of this development code would effectively deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties of the district in which the property is located.
The applicant states that a literal interpretation and enforcement of the UDC distance separation provision for group care facilities would create a hardship.
3. Granting the variance requested will not confer upon the property of the applicant any special privileges that are denied to other properties of the district in which the applicant’s property is located.
Granting the variance would not confer any special privileges. The use is allowed by right within the CRC zoning district but is subject to the Specific Use Provisions outlined in Section 4-110 (e).
The applicant states that the enforcement of this provision creates an unnecessary and unreasonable hardship with no resulting substantial benefit to the public good. The purpose of the ordinance is to minimize the number of day care facilities in close proximity to one another, but in this instance doesn’t account for the fact that the applicant’s facility is for adults and not for children as the nearby day care facility provides.
4. The requested variance will be in harmony with the purpose and intent of this development code and will not be injurious to the neighborhood or to the general welfare.
The requested variance does not violate the purpose and intent of the Unified Development Code, as provided in Section 1-3.
The applicant states that the variance will not impair the purpose spirit and intent of the UDC and stands to provide an improvement to the subject property while causing no substantial detriment to the public good.
5. The special circumstances are not the result of the actions of the applicant.
The special circumstances are due to the proximity to another group care facility, which serves children. That facility predates Malamav Adult Day Training Center relocating to 4045 Lindley Circle.
6. The variance requested is the minimum variance that will make possible the proposed use of the land, building, or structure in the use district proposed.
The requested Variance is the minimum that would allow the proposed use.
7. The variance shall not permit a use of land, buildings or structures, which is not permitted by right in the zoning district or overlay district involved.
The proposed use is allowed by right within the CRC zoning district but is subject to the Specific Use Provisions outlined in Section 4-110 (e).
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval
Staff recommends approval of the request to vary the distance separation requirement for group care facilities. The minimum requirement is 300-feet and the distance to the closest group care facility, measured as the crows fly from property line to property line, is 230-feet.