Southern Hospitality Services LLC asked the Decatur City planning commission for an 18-foot front-yard setback variance from section 25-21.12 to allow a detached canopy as part of a proposed hotel at the northwest corner of Beltline Place and Central Avenue Southwest.

The applicant's representative said the development lies south of Central Avenue, west of Central and across from the Morgan County District 1 shop. He said the developer will dedicate 23 feet on the south side for the realignment and standardization of BeltLine Place, which reduces the lot's developable area and creates a hardship warranting the variance. "We're here today to ask you to grant, this setback variance for a canopy that is a part of a proposed hotel," the representative said.

The representative described additional physical constraints: the adjacent BeltLine roadway rises toward a CSX railroad overpass and the property is located at a lower elevation that produces an irregular lot shape. To support the request he compared set‑backs of existing M-1 zoned commercial uses along the BeltLine — a Hyundai dealership, Jack's restaurant, Aldi, Whataburger, Slim Chickens, Chipotle and a Shell station — and said those are roughly 130 feet from the pavement, while the proposed canopy would be about 159 feet from the pavement and the hotel building about 210 feet from the pavement. He noted the canopy would sit 18 feet into the front setback but still be 42 feet inside the property's boundary.

The representative also said the canopy is detached from the building and noted that the city's ordinance allows canopies for fuel stations in the setback, though this is not a fuel station. He invited questions from the commission and the public; no public comments were recorded in the transcript provided. The record in the transcript contains applicant statements and planning staff comments, but no motion or roll‑call vote on the variance appears in the excerpt provided.

The request raises practical questions about how the planned road dedication will change the lot geometry and how the detached canopy would be sited relative to future public right of way. The commission's eventual decision (and any conditions) was not included in the transcript excerpt.