Staff backs Virginia Circle pool less than five feet from rear lot line

Atlanta planning staff recommends allowing an inground pool at 760 Virginia Circle NE to sit 4 feet 11 inches from the rear property line, citing a drainage easement that sharply limits the usable rear yard. The Oct. 8 report supports the requested zoning relief; it does not record a Board of Zoning Adjustment decision granting it.

The 20-foot-wide easement runs diagonally through the roughly 8,250-square-foot property. Staff describes the rear yard as “almost entirely encumbered” and says strict compliance with the zoning code would leave less than half of it available for development—not enough remaining space for new structures.

The setback variance is only half the application. Atlanta also restricts residential pools in yards adjoining a street, so the applicant needs a separate special exception for the location. Staff says the proposed rear-yard pool would be almost entirely screened by the house, with fences and landscaping screening adjacent yards. Existing structures and easements eliminate other locations, planners conclude.

One important number remains inconsistent. The application description seeks to reduce the rear setback from 10 feet to 4 feet 11 inches, while the same report’s general zoning-requirements list gives a 15-foot rear setback. The report does not explain that difference. Its recommendation establishes support for the requested location, not a resolved account of the starting requirement or permission to build.