Staff backs Hardendorf porch: 62.77% coverage on a lot already at 62.3%

Atlanta planning staff backs a screened porch with a fireplace at 608 Hardendorf Avenue NE, where its report says lot coverage already exceeds the 50% limit. The proposal would bring coverage from 62.3% to 62.77%—an increase of 0.47 percentage points.⁠[1]

The staff report, dated Nov. 5, supplies another important baseline: coverage was 68.49% before pavers and a gazebo were removed. That work brought it down to the current 62.3%. So the porch would increase coverage from current conditions, but the broader project would leave less of the lot covered than before those removals.⁠[1]

Staff's rationale centers on the lot's dimensions and slope. It says the property falls about 20 feet short of the required frontage and about 1,508 square feet short of the required area. The front yard rises roughly 10 feet, which staff says prevents a porch there. The report calls the proposed rear addition appropriately scaled and sited.⁠[1]

The recommendation moves beyond staff's October position, which supported a delay so the applicant could amend the site plan. The Board of Zoning Adjustment deferred the case at its Oct. 1 hearing to Nov. 5.⁠[1][2][3]

Our earlier account highlighted conflicting coverage figures: the November agenda listed 62.77%, while an Oct. 12 deferral letter described the request as 61.8%. The Nov. 5 staff report also uses 62.77%, but does not explain the older 61.8% figure.⁠[1][3][4]

Staff's recommendation is not board approval. Case V-26-126 is scheduled for the board's Nov. 5 meeting at noon in the second-floor Council Chambers.⁠[1][3][4]