Variance Process

What is a variance?

Variances are modifications of zoning regulations, granted by the City of Atlanta’s Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) or Zoning Review Board (ZRB). The process is designed to allow citizens and neighbors to weigh in on the application for the variance in the form of supporting or not supporting a request, but the decision is ultimately made by the BZA or ZRB. For further details, click here for the BZA website and the ZRB website.


I applied for a permit and I was told I need a variance. What is the process?

Potential applicants may request a meeting with the KNO Planning Committee prior to applying with the City of Atlanta Department of City Planning.  We will be glad to discuss variance perspectives and concerns that have arisen in the past, but every case is unique and recommendations can only be made on the basis of an actual application filed with the city.

The Office of Buildings, where you apply for you building permit, should give you a variance application which you will fill out and submit to the permit office. This initiates the variance approval process. When a variance is filed, applicants are given a calendar schedule listing the steps described below.  The paperwork trail leads from the city to the NPU to KNO and that can take some time -- so much so that deferrals are sometimes required in spite of everyone’s best efforts.  We urge applicants to independently provide NPU-O and KNO with electronic copies of all their variances materials and plans as soon as possible.  One’s chances of being heard as originally scheduled are greatly improved by such action, though no guarantees are possible.  Sometimes revisions are both desirable and inevitable, and that can lead to a deferral.

 

1. The City of Atlanta Planning Department sends your variance application to the NPU-O board. The NPU-O Chair will forward the application to the KNO Zoning Chair.

2. The NPU-O Chair should contact you, or you may contact them, to confirm the applicant’s ability to attend the appropriate meetings. 

3. In brief, the meeting schedule is: KNO Zoning Committee > KNO Monthly Meeting > NPU-O > BZA or ZRB.

4. KNO Zoning Committee: Once the application is in hand, the Zoning Committee will review the plan and its potential impacts and ask the applicants to notify their most adjacent neighbors of what is being proposed.  Applicants then meet with the Zoning Committee on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm - please check in with the Zoning Committee to ensure your application is on the agenda. The Committee reviews the requests and may ask detailed questions, suggest modifications or other steps if needed.  It then makes a recommendation for action – usually approval or denial, though deferral is possible – to the KNO Board to include at the next monthly KNO membership meeting. 

5. KNO Monthly Meeting: Applicants then meet with the KNO Membership at their next scheduled monthly meeting, held on the 10th of the month at 7:00pm. The membership will hear a report from the Zoning Committee, the Committee’s recommendation, and comments from members in attendance. Applicants should be available for questions from the membership, but will likely not have the opportunity to present their full application themselves. After the membership hears the application details, the Zoning Committee makes a recommendation for action – usually approval or denial, though deferral is possible – to NPU-O at the next monthly meeting. Please check the KNO Calendar or sign up for email reminders. (You do not need to request to be added to the monthly meeting agenda if you have already met with the Zoning Committee.)

6. Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU-O, fourth Tuesday): The outcome of KNO membership vote is presented at the NPU-O meeting, see the NPU-O website to confirm schedule and agenda. The NPU considers your application and votes to support or not support your application.

7. Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) or Zoning Review Board (ZRB): The NPU’s recommendation is sent to the BZA or ZRB, which votes whether or not to grant your variance request.

At each step of the process an application may be deferred. Usually a deferral happens when not all documents are submitted or compromises need to be worked out. 

How long will the process for a variance application take?

Consider these steps and dates: 

• KNO Zoning Committee meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm. Applications need to be submitted (usually handled by the NPU-O Zoning Chair) to the Zoning Committee chair a week before the meeting. Please check the KNO Calendar for the latest information as the Zoning Committee meeting may move to accommodate holidays or other deadlines.

• KNO Monthly Meeting is on the 10th of the month, every month. The meeting may be in person or via zoom. Please check the KNO Calendar or sign up for email reminders. (You do not need to request to be added to the monthly meeting agenda as you should have already met with the Zoning Committee.)

• Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU-O, fourth Tuesday). Check the NPU-O website to confirm schedule date and agenda. December usually has non-standard meeting dates or in cancelled entirely.

• BZA/ZRB. Check the BZA or ZRB website to view the schedule. Usually the scheduling leaves several weeks for the applicant to contact the Zoning Committee, but sometimes the dates work out to no more than a week and the documents will need to be submitted immediately for the application to make it on the agenda or be deferred. It is the applicant’s duty to verify that this process can be completed before the scheduled hearing date.

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Should I bring presentation materials?

If they are not already included in the application to the city, the Zoning Committee asks all applicants to send PDFs of their supporting documents such as surveys, site plans, floor plans and elevations as applicable. Please also consider that you may be asked questions at the KNO Monthly Meeting, the NPU-O meeting, and the BZA meeting. Many applicants choose to create supplemental materials outlining their plans for clarity. The KNO Zoning Committee can advise.

How do I know which zoning code an address/property is in?

There are two methods: 

1. Use the City of Atlanta overview map to find the relevant detail map.

2. Search the City of Atlanta’s Property Information website. Search by address or parcel ID.