Staff backs Dania Drive addition, citing five-acre zoning on one-acre lots

A ranch-home expansion at 275 Dania Drive has Alpharetta staff's support partly because the neighborhood does not fit its agricultural zoning: Dania Hills lots average about one acre, while the zoning district requires five. Staff found that approximately 71% of the subdivision's lots already have lawful side clearances smaller than today's 25-foot minimum.

Owners Mark and Annalee Medici say they chose the existing ranch as a retirement home and want to remodel rather than tear it down. Their application proposes adding about 1,299 square feet of heated space, bringing the home to roughly 3,232 square feet while keeping it single-story.

The requested exception concerns how close the addition can sit to the southern property line. The agenda and staff recommendation specify 12.5 feet instead of the required 25 feet. The owners' written application describes a different clearance: 15.08 feet from the proposed bedroom wall to that line.

Staff says enforcing the full 25-foot clearance would require a significant redesign of the interior without resolving the existing home's smaller setback. Its recommendation supports retaining the ranch's one-story character and using the existing floor plan as much as possible.

In his neighbor-notification report, Mark Medici records one positive response and no feedback from the other two neighbors he contacted.

The Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to hear the request Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers, 2 Park Plaza. Staff recommends approval with conditions; the requested permission remains before the board.