08-08-2024 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION AUGUST 8, 2024 2 The foregoing motion was duly seconded by Haluptzok. Ayes (6). Nays (0). Motion passed. Chair Johnson invited a resident present to provide input. David Carlson, 3101 Edgerton Street, asked what will happen with the two lots, particularly whether a second home would be built. Chair Johnson acknowledged that often when there is a lot split, the intention would be to build a new home on the new lot. The City Clerk stated that the applicants intend to stay in the existing home and will sell the newly created lot. She stated that the current zoning of the property would only allow a single- family home to be built. Mr. Carlson asked if there would be kids living in the new home and whether there would be any damage to his lot. Chair Johnson stated that it is not the purview of the Planning Commission to determine who would live in a new single-family lot. She explained that the request is to split the lot into two, and the newly proposed lots meet all City standards and requirements. She stated that there should not be any impact to Mr. Carlson’s lot. It was also noted that Mr. Carlson’s lot is on the north, adjacent to the existing single-family home. ZONING CODE AMENDMENTS FOR GARAGES AND DRIVEWAY CURB CUT WIDTH The City Clerk stated that earlier this year the Commission made amendments to the zoning code related to garages in order to eliminate the need for some residents to come through the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) process. She stated that the total allowance for garages and accessory structures was changed to 1,500 square feet. She reviewed some language that remains in the Code that is more restrictive, as it restricts the size of any one accessory building to no more than the first-floor living space of the home. She provided an example of a resident who would like to construct a garage smaller than 1,500 square feet and because of the first-floor square footage of her home would not be allowed to do so, but could construct two smaller garages and still meet the City Code. She provided examples of garages that exceed that current restrictive Code limitation but do not overpower the home, as the additional square footage often comes from depth. She recommended changing the Code language to allow 1.5 times or 150 percent of the first-floor square footage of the home and to place a limit on the width of the garage. She stated that some residents will still be limited in the size of the garage because of the size of their lot as well. She stated that currently there is not a cap on the total square footage for a garage that could be requested through a CUP. She also discussed the allowed curb cut size, noting that with the Code update the allowance was changed from 24 feet to 18 feet. She explained that there are a lot of driveway replacement requests that come in and residents are then hesitant to move forward with the project because they would need to decrease the size from their existing 24 feet to 28 feet. She noted that 24 feet would be the standard two-car garage size and there are many two and three-car garages in Little Canada. She stated that staff would recommend changing that back to 24 feet.