A Hembree Grove homeowner wants to build a house addition that would push 311 square feet into a protected stream buffer zone. Roswell's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) will hear the request at a public hearing Thursday, Oct. 15.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 38 Hill St. The variance is the only item on the agenda.
Ali Dag, the property owner at 660 Windwalk Drive, is asking for a variance to encroach into the city's 75-foot impervious surface setback along an intermittent stream that runs behind the lot. The project includes a house addition and a roof covering over an existing deck. Of the 311 square feet of encroachment, only 103 square feet would add new impervious surface. The deck covering adds none.
The 0.298-acre lot sits in a tight spot. An intermittent stream along the rear property line carries three overlapping protections: a 25-foot state buffer, a 50-foot city buffer and a 75-foot impervious surface setback. A 20-foot sanitary sewer easement also cuts through the back yard. Combined, those restrictions reduce the buildable area, according to city staff.
Plans Reviewer Samuel Wood wrote in a staff memo that a strict reading of the stream buffer code would leave the applicant unable to use the property. Wood's memo, dated Oct. 15, recommends approval. All seven city departments that reviewed the application signed off: Engineering, Stormwater, Tree, Planning & Zoning, Transportation, Fire and Building.
Dag wrote in a letter of intent included in the agenda packet that "every effort has been made to minimize impacts to the stream buffer and to limit the request to only the minimum relief necessary."
The project would not touch the state's 25-foot undisturbed buffer, would not remove any trees and would not disturb the floodplain.
As a voluntary stormwater measure, Dag plans to install a 5-by-5-by-4-foot underground infiltration well to capture the first inch of rainfall from the new surfaces.
No public comments had been submitted as of Oct. 8, when the agenda packet was prepared. The public hearing precedes the board's vote on the request.
The five-member BZA is chaired by Jahanzeb Jabbar. Other members are Vice Chair Mark Schumacher, John Hannah, Dan Seger and Rob Huey. The board unanimously approved a similar stream buffer variance for a Mission Hills Court property on Oct. 16, 2025.
Residents who want to speak can go to City Hall at 38 Hill St. starting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
