07-23-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 APRIL 10, 2025, AND JULY 10, 2025 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS City Staff held discussion with the Planning Commission at their April 10, 2025, meeting. Staff introduced problems found in the current code and the Commission provided feedback on how to approach the ordinance update. The Planning Commission expressed specific preferences on certain standards but generally supported revising the code to provide reasonable flexibility for Little Canada property owners. Staff presented a completed draft ordinance for the Commission’s review at their July 10, 2025, meeting. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended adoption to the City Council, with one amendment: to allow recreational vehicles (RVs, trailers, boats, campers, etc.) to be parked on unpaved surfaces, consistent with the pre-2021 Code. The Commission held a thorough discussion on the matter and ultimately concluded that requiring pavement for these vehicles offered no clear benefit, unnecessarily increased impervious surface coverage, and was not warranted given the screening requirements already in place to buffer such items from neighboring properties and the street. SUMMARY OF MAJOR CHANGES 1. Chapters 904-907 (Ordinance 916) These chapters contain setback requirements for driveway by district. The proposed ordinances make minor tweaks to driveway setback requirements, specifically side setbacks. Across all districts, the proposed ordinance provide property owners the flexibility to have shared driveways, corner side access, or rear access without needing a variance, however, they would continue to be reviewed for appropriateness by city building, engineering, and zoning. Residential Districts (R-1, R-2, R-C) • Side setback reduced from 5 feet to 3 feet. Looking through old versions of the Zoning Code, the City did not historically have a setback standard for pavement until the 2010s where. It appears that the driveway side setback was 3 feet before being changed to 5 feet in the 2021 code update. However, that code update left in a contradictory table still stating a 3-foot setback. The proposed ordinance unambiguously establishes it at 3 feet, in line with the Planning Commission’s preference. • The proposed ordinance establishes a rear setback at 5 feet. It is currently at 0 feet regardless of where access to the street is. This is contradictory with the City’s current parking standards. • The proposed ordinance creates consistent driveway setback standards between the R-1 and R-2 districts. Multi-Family (R-3) and Commercial (C-1, C-2) Unlike standard residential districts, where residents simply park on their driveway or in a garage, in multi-family, commercial and industrial districts, a parking setback is still needed as it refers to the location of delineated parking spaces. Parking setbacks in this context aid in the City’s ability to steer where developments place parking lots, how visible they are from the street, etc. Driveways in this context refer to the access into the site, the drive aisles in a parking lot, and the other undefined areas meant for vehicular movement that could be used for storage, future parking, or loading/unloading. • In the R-3 and C-1 districts, the side setback for driveways was reduced from 10 feet to 5 feet which matches the existing provisions of the C-2 Corridor Mixed district.