A landlocked property owner on Cleveland Highway created his own problem, the Hall County Planning Commission decided Monday.
In the only denial of the night, the planning board voted against Fred Frady’s request to vary the requirements for property road frontage from 150 feet to 50 feet for a driveway after neighbors complained the driveway may interrupt the tranquility of their homes.
Frady, who sold the front 2.96 acre-portion of his 10-acre tract of land to his son, wanted to cut a driveway to the remaining seven acres so that he could sell it.
The remaining seven acres only has 50 feet of road frontage, 100 less than the county requires for a driveway on a main highway, and Frady needed the Planning Commission’s backing to sidestep the rules in order to create the driveway.
In all variance requests, the applicant must state an "extraordinary hardship" that would result from strict compliance with county regulations.
Without the driveway, the property is useless, Frady told the commission Monday.
"I can’t sell it the way it is," Frady said. "... If I can’t use my land, why do I have to pay the high taxes on it?"
Frady’s neighbors stood against the request, however, stating that the driveway could bring more traffic and interrupt their solitude.
Stephanie Wells spoke on behalf of herself and her ex-father-in-law.
"We don’t want any more houses built back there in the woods that surround his pond," Wells said.
Dave and Haydee Anderson, who said they have lived next door to the property for the last 18 years, said an additional driveway would interrupt their way of life.
"We prize the quiet and the solitude and the beauty of the area," Dave Anderson said. "... We’re not anxious to have the area built up back there; we’re not anxious to have the traffic; we’re not anxious to give up the solitude and tranquility that we have there."
The Andersons submitted a letter to the commission from their landlord, who also opposed the request.
Frady’s request was denied unanimously after planning commission member Frank Sosebee said he created his own problem by selling the property in pieces.
"Now he’s got caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Sosebee said.
The planning commission’s action on the variance is final, but Frady can appeal the decision in the next five days.