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City of Falcon Heights Planning Commission September 26, 1994 ITEM: Request for variance in chapter 9 §4.01 subd.4(c,l of the zoning code for 1437 W. California Avenue SUBMITTED BY: James LeJeune and Donna Tretheway, Property Owners REVIEWED BY: Carla Asleson, Administrative Assistant/Planner Susan Hoyt, City Administrator REQUEST A variance of 26.2 feet from the required 30 foot rear yard setback to construct a new attached double car garage BACKGROUND The applicants propose to convert the existing attached one car garage into a family room and add an attached double car garage and a bathroom (see attachment 1). If approved, the new garage would have the access door on the alley 3.8' from the rear property line. The applicants have pulled building permits to begin work on the family room and bathroom portion of the remodeling. If the variance is denied, the applicants have less desirable, alternative plans to construct a detached garage at • proper setback (see attachment 2). The 30' setback requirement was written with the assumption that all attached garages would be accessed off of a public street. This particular request shows a rear setback of 3.8' feet from the alley. If the garage were detached and accessed from the alley, the minimum setback would be 5'. This particular garage is about as narrow as a double car garage can be (20'). The 1.2' encroachment is the minimum needed to attach the garage to the existing structure. COMMENTS FROM NEIGHBORS Letters were sent to the neighbors to the immediate east and west of the subject property, informing them of the variance request. Mr. LeJeune submitted a letter, signed by both property owners, indicating that they have no objections to the variance request (see attachment 3). ANALYSIS There are three hardship statements associated with this request: • Without a variance, the homeowner will have to build a detached double garage in the northeast corner of the lot with a garage door off of the alley. This alternative plan is less desirable in that several trees on the east side of the property would need to be removed. • The alternative plan would also involve building the garage in the largest contiguous landscaped area of the lot, breaking up the greenspace of the yard.