Board grants special exception to allow small apartment conversion at 641 North Second Street

The Decatur City Board of Zoning Appeals granted a special exception to allow a detached garage at 641 North Second Street to be converted into a one-bedroom apartment despite the city’s 800-square-foot minimum ground-floor requirement.

Applicant Kirby Harkless told the board the back building is currently a garage and he proposes converting it into a one-bedroom unit "just shy by a few square feet" of the 800-square-foot minimum required by City Code 150.049. Board members reviewed required findings of fact on neighborhood impacts, utilities and ingress/egress and voted to grant the petition after staff confirmed compliance steps with the building department.

The applicant and building staff discussed plan review and that the conversion would follow residential-code upgrades; an address assignment for the new unit remains to be resolved. No members of the public spoke in opposition or in support during the hearing.

The board recorded each required affirmative finding and announced the petition was "granted." The applicant was advised to complete building-department permits and to work with staff on addressing and code compliance before occupancy.