04-24-2013 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Many communities have considered their regulations relating to accessory building and garage sizes as house sizes have increased, along with the accumulation of private recreational vehicles including boats, campers, ATVs, snowmobiles, and similar items, as well as residential gardening equipment and other storage needs. The threshold discussion always relates to attempting to ensure that garage size on a parcel is reasonably proportional to the size of the principal use and structure, but at the same time helps minimize unsightly outdoor storage of materials and equipment. As noted above, Little Canada's code relies on three primary restrictions to limit garage size. First is the straight numerical caps of 1,000 and 1,500 square feet. Second is a limitation on the amount of rear yard area to be covered by a detached building. Third is a prohibition on detached buildings when garage size hits the CUP size threshold. These limitations are the most common used by various communities. For comparison, we often find garage size limitations as low as 750 square feet, 900 square feet, 1,000 square feet, and 1,200 square feet, with 1,500 a maximum where numerical sizes are used. There are some communities that have lifted the numerical cap, and resorted to a limitation that reflects the size of the principal building. The most common of these provides attached and detached garage size limited to the foundation main -floor area of the principal home. Many of these codes will also have a separate limiting factor for detached accessory building size, such as "no greater than the foundation square footage of the principal building, or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less ". The purpose of this latter clause is to ensure that the principal home is always larger in size and mass than the detached accessory building. There are some communities that will permit much larger accessory buildings, but those almost all tend to be more rural settings where larger detached accessory buildings are common on larger rural parcels. Summary and Recommendation In summary, Little Canada's regulations are not inconsistent with the mainstream code allowances for garage and accessory building size for suburban communities. If anything, Little Canada's regulations would tend to the higher end of the scale. As noted, there are some communities that have moved away from a fixed numerical size to a proportionate regulation, basing the garage /accessory building square footage on the size of the home. pc: Kathy Glanzer Steve Westerhaus Lee Elfering 21