The Henry County Zoning Advisory Board heard four variance requests at its May 14 regular meeting. Two were denied, one was approved the other was tabled for further consideration at a later date.

  The first denial was for a seven-acre site on the east side of Chambers Road, north of Hwy. 81 and south of Mt. Carmel Road. The applicant expressed a desire to transition the property from a single residence to a campground, and the variance request was to allow the driveway width to be reduced from 28 feet to 20 feet.

  The standard for the width of the driveway, as noted in the unified land development code’s section on recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds, is intended to allow ample passing space for two RVs, according to county staff. The requested reduction would prevent two-way RV traffic and cause a stacking of vehicles that would hinder neighborhood traffic, and a portion of the proposed driveway would also encroach into the 50-foot buffer around a nearby creek. For these reasons, staff recommended denial and the ZAB agreed.

  The other request that was denied involved a three-acre site zoned C-1 (neighborhood commercial). The applicant wanted to transition a lot at 28 Crumbley Road from single-family residential to commercial, and the proposed development would stretch into the property at 2228 Hwy. 155, which has an existing commercial development, and there are other commercial developments in the vicinity along the highway.

  The variance request was to allow relief from the building materials requirements for the overlay district, as the applicant wanted to use some materials which are only permitted for residential structures, county staff noted in its recommendation to deny.

  The ZAB approved a variance request for a 21-acre portion of a 28-acre tract at the northeast corner of Hwy. 81 and Upchurch Road. The smaller portion of the site, fronting the highway, was not included in the request and would likely be developed for commercial uses at a later time.

  The applicant proposed for the portion in question, fronting Upchurch Road, a total of seven RA-zoned residential its ranging in size from 2.3 to 6.5 acres. An alternate plan was mentioned with 21 lots in an R-2 configuration, which would require rezoning. The county’s future land use map calls for low-density residential development on the site, for which either plan would be appropriate.

  The seven-lot plan meets countywide standards, but the entire property is in the overlay district, which has several standards the site does not meet – internal streets, sidewalks, pedestrian lights, street trees and curb/gutter, among others.

  The ZAB tabled a variance request for a site on the north end of the county to obtain more information for future consideration. The 76-acre site on Clark Drive, north of Fairview Road, is home of a local installation of Copart, a company the provides online vehicle auction and related services. It houses salvaged automobiles and is not open to the public.

  The company wants to replace an aging office trailer with a new structure, whose construction would aromatically trigger overlay district standards such as the installation of a sidewalk along the property. After some discussion, a motion was made to deny the request but it failed to get a second. A subsequent motion was made and seconded for approval, but that brought about more discussion and it was ultimately withdrawn to that the item could be tabled.