Staff backs taller Memorial Drive wall after finding debris spilling onto sidewalk

Atlanta planning staff recommends allowing a five-foot front-yard retaining wall at 1422 Memorial Drive SE in Kirkwood, citing a problem that reaches beyond the property: dirt and debris spilling onto the public sidewalk. The Oct. 8 report says staff identified the spill during a site inspection along Memorial Drive, a state route.

The zoning rules normally allow up to two retaining walls, each no taller than three feet, with landscaped space separating the tiers. That arrangement takes room. Here, staff describes a five-foot grade change within one foot of the front property boundary and says the slope and an existing front-yard encroachment limit the space available for a tiered system.

A taller wall requires a special exception from the Board of Zoning Adjustment. The standard ties extra height to security or privacy needs and requires protection of neighboring properties’ light, air and neighborhood character. Staff says this request satisfies those standards and is not expected to cause undue impacts.

Case V-26-090 was previously deferred Aug. 13 and Sept. 10, according to the memorandum. The new development is staff’s recommendation to approve the five-foot wall; the report does not record a board decision granting the exception.