05-26-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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permit the applicant to place the garage alongside the house, eliminating the "garage - forward" design common in many suburban neighborhoods. Essentially, the PUD would be used to increase the buildable area on a 90 foot lot from 70 feet to 75 feet in width. If the City accepts this proposal, planning staff would recommend that a part of the PUD would require that the garage face is no closer to the street than the front wall of the living area of the house. It should be noted that this standard (5 feet on the garage side) raises questions in other communities. For instance, can the building line of the garage, once established at 5 feet setback, be extended to create an addition of living space behind the garage at the same setback? This becomes an enforcement issue for the building department. A second related issue relates to upper level additions. We have seen applicants request second story additions over the garage space that would create a two story wall along the five foot setback established by the garage. These questions should be considered as a part of any PUD approval, and should be built into both a PUD development agreement and private restrictive covenants for the project. Summary and Recommendation Of the three options submitted for the Hidden Acres project, Option 1 provides the best connection to Condit due to the ability to create a full intersection at Nadeau Road. This option would be the preferred design if feasible. If the City decides not to require a direct Condit connection, planning staff believes that the original design meets the zoning and subdivision requirements of the City, and would add only marginal amounts of traffic to the adjoining street system. This design (called Option 3 in this report) is acceptable. With regard to the PUD, there is a distinct advantage to avoiding garage front housing design. With larger houses and three car garages, the 10 foot setbacks can create some design issues. While the "5 and 10" setback arrangement would help resolve those issues, enforcement and administration of this standard can also be problematic for future homeowners and City officials. If approved, the applicant should agree to avoid garage -front design, and include restrictive covenants that spell out what types of building can or cannot be done in the space between 5 and 10 feet. pc: Kathy Glanzer Steve Westerhaus Lee Elfering Greg Schroeder Gordie Howe, Masterpiece Homes, 127 County Rd. C. Little Canada, MN 55117