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20 | Community
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Garden Hills house dispute could head to court
BY KEVIN C. MADIGAN
An empty corner lot in the leafy Garden Hills
neighborhood continues to agitate nearby resi
dents who fear a redevelopment plan will change
the neighborhood’s character. Now the dispute may
head to an appeal in court.
Plans for a 5,000-square-foot house at the inter
section of Pine Tree Drive and North Hills Drive have
been the subject of complaints since builders ap
plied for a variance from the City of Atlanta’s Board
of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) last year.
At issue is a request for a 17.5-foot front-yard set
back instead of the traditional 35 feet. Additionally,
the BZA had determined that a variance is not even
needed because it is a “regular” lot.
A second appeal by a group of residents Jan. 9 in
front of the BZA found in favor of the applicant, a
contractor working on behalf of owners identified
in city documents as David and Amanda Parrilli. The BZA again determined that a
building permit for the site can be issued.
“My clients are considering appealing this decision to Fulton Superior Court,”
said attorney Lawton Jordan in an email. Lawton represents a number of Garden
Hills residents who are fiercely opposed to the construction. On Jan. 7, Lawton ap
peared before the Neighborhood Planning Unit B to update the group on the situ
ation, calling the applicant’s request to the BZA “a very cynical misuse of the pro
cess.”
Blake Builders, contracted for construction of the project, is owned by Russell
Blake. He said in a phone interview that the owners
of the property are not asking for anything out of
the ordinary and he expects a building permit to be
issued in due course.
The dispute revolves around how setbacks are
calculated on a corner lot.
George Heery represents Garden Hills in the
NPU-B and is on the board of the neighborhood’s
civic association. “The BZA is basically saying that
the applicant has his rights under zoning to build
whatever he wants to build,” he said in a phone
interview. “We don’t agree with that, and it really
comes down to whether the lot is a regular lot or an
irregular lot.”
Heery is among those who think it is irregular
and should adhere to the setbacks of adjacent prop
erties. The house, if it’s constructed, would be 20 to
25 feet closer to the street than any of the surround
ing houses, all of which are 40-plus feet away, according to Heery, “and that really
would hurt the historic character of our neighborhood.”
“I know there has been some pushback against the plan,” said Sally Silver, an
aide to City Councilmember Howard Shook of District 7, which includes Garden
Hills. “This house will be set back 17-and-a-half feet instead of what the other hous
es are and it will obviously stick out like a sore thumb.”
Last year, NPU-B voted to recommend denial of the application, with NPU chair
Nancy Bliwise saying the plan could “radically change the character of the neigh
borhood.”
KEVIN C. MADIGAN
The lot at Pine Tree Drive and North Hills Drive.
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