08-28-2024 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of the City Council FROM: Heidi Heller, City Clerk/HR Manager DATE: August 28, 2024 RE: Ordinance 898, Amendments to the Zoning Code Pertaining to Garages and Driveways ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED Adopt Ordinance 898, amending Zoning Code Chapters 904, 914 and 915 pertaining to garage size and driveway curb cut width. BACKGROUND Garage size: In January 2024, the zoning code was amended with the intention of reducing the number of conditional use permit (CUP) applications needed for larger garages. The code previously allowed up to 768 square feet for one building, or a total of 1,000 square feet of garage and/or accessory building space, and anything from 1,001 to 1,500 square feet required a CUP. The code was amended to now simply allow up to a total 1,500 square feet of total garage and accessory building space, but a limit on the size of each garage building was added without the option to request larger by a CUP: 1. Attached & detached garages are limited in size to 1,000 square feet or 100 percent of the first floor area of the principal structure, whichever is more restrictive. There are many house footprints in the city less than 1,000 square feet. The only option to exceed this amount is to apply for a variance, and it is very unlikely that any properties would have a hardship that qualifies for a variance approval in this situation. During this code amendment discussion, the Planning Commission was concerned about a garage being much larger than the house and looking out of place. This is understandable, but the main concern is typically what the house and garage look like from the street. Most, if not all, larger garages look like a typical 2-car or 3-car wide garage from the street view, but are 30-50 feet deep, therefore being over 1,000 square feet. All of the CUP’s approved in Little Canada for over 1,000 square foot garages over at least the last 10 years were for a two or three car wide garage that did not look out of place from the street view. The city recently received an application for one detached 1,500 square foot garage. The owner wants to remove the old 2-car detached garage and replace it with one 30’x50’ garage in the same location (rear yard) in order to store all of their vehicles and boat indoors in one building. The garage would be the width of a 3-car garage (30 feet) but would be 50 feet deep. The home footprint on this property is approximately 800 square feet, so that is the size of garage that they are currently limited to. The only way for them to get more indoor garage space is to build a second garage. An email comment from this resident is attached.