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Paines Avenue house plan exceeds zoning’s size limit. Staff backs a change.

Planners recommend a detached-house-only restriction and a 35-foot height cap. The proposal also needs a comprehensive-plan amendment.

Current coverage updates this story. Zoning board backs rezoning for Paines Avenue house above current size limit →

Atlanta planning staff backs rezoning a vacant lot at 361 Paines Avenue NW for a single-family house that exceeds the site’s current floor-area limit—but recommends restricting development to a detached house no taller than 35 feet.⁠[1]

The November 5 staff report explains the obstacle: the proposed house exceeds the existing maximum floor-area ratio of 0.50. That does not mean the lot is unusable under its current zoning. Staff says it has potential economic use as zoned; the requested change would accommodate this particular house.⁠[1]

The ordinance would move the property from Subarea 1 to Subarea 2 of the English Avenue Special Public Interest District while retaining the Westside Affordable Workforce Housing Overlay.⁠[2]

Rezoning is not the only planning change staff says is needed. The report calls for changing the site’s development-pattern designation in the 2025 Comprehensive Development Plan from Medium Lot Single Family to Low Density Residential.⁠[1]

We previously reported that the ordinance and housing impact statement name different destination subareas. The new staff report follows the ordinance’s Subarea 2 description; the housing statement says Subarea 3. The staff report does not explain that discrepancy.⁠[1][2]

The Zoning Review Board is scheduled to consider case Z-26-53 at 6 p.m. November 5 in City Council Chambers on the second floor. Staff’s support and its proposed conditions are a recommendation, not a completed rezoning approval.⁠[1][3]

Sources

3 official sources cited in this report. The bracketed numbers in the text link here.

Reporting history

Newest first. Articles reflect what was known at publication.

  1. Zoning board backs rezoning for Paines Avenue house above current size limit

    Published after this article
  2. Paines Avenue plan calls for one market-rate home, but zoning documents disagree

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