Staff backs 45.8-foot townhomes at North Highland and Amsterdam

Atlanta planning staff recommends allowing five proposed townhomes at North Highland and Amsterdam to rise to 45.8 feet rather than the stated 35-foot limit. The Oct. 8 report argues that the steep, flag-shaped parking lot at 1199 North Highland Avenue NE calls for building upward on a smaller footprint.

The application, V-26-128, also seeks to reduce the side yard adjoining single-family zoning from 20 feet to nine feet and the rear yard from 20 feet to 10 feet. These are not simply empty margins: the report describes the required transition yards as landscaped buffers, except where permitted private alleys or drives occupy them.

Staff’s case for the exceptions turns on the shape and slope of the roughly 0.45-acre parcel. The ground rises 32 feet from its northwest corner to its southeast corner. The front is relatively flat, while the narrow “flagpole” portion has a 13-foot elevation change and is constrained by the required yards beside residential properties.

That leaves the front as the most developable section, staff says. A smaller building footprint requires more height to accommodate the proposal. Planners also argue that the 45.8-foot townhomes would remain consistent in character with surrounding single-family properties because those parcels sit at a higher elevation.

The report recommends approval of the variances. It establishes staff support—not a Board of Zoning Adjustment decision granting the additional height or reduced yards.