04-10-2013 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL APRIL 10, 2013 RECESS At this point in the meeting, 9:05 p.m., the Council took a short recess. The meeting reconvened at 9:15 p.m. GARAGE The City Administrator reviewed the City Planner's April 5, 2013 SIZE report related to accessory building and garage sizes in the R -1 Zoning REPORT District, noting that it does not provide a lot of detailed information. This report was requested as a result of the Variance request submitted by Chris Jaede for garage space exceeding the City's 1,500 square foot maximum on property located at 790 LaBore Road. The Administrator reported that the City Planner indicates in his report that Little Canada's regulations are not inconsistent with the mainstream code allowances for garage and accessory building size for suburban communities. He states that Little Canada's regulations tend to the higher end of the scale. The Planner also indicates, however, that some communities have moved away from a fixed numerical size to a proportional regulation, basing garage /accessory building square footage on the size of the home. The Administrator suggested that rather than grant the Variance requested, if the Council is inclined to approve garage space in excess of 1,500 square feet as requested by Mr. Jaede, that it may want to consider a Text Amendment. Blesener asked about the condition of the existing garage and whether or not modifications could be made to decrease its size. Chris Jaede reported that the garage is sagging, and it would be his intention to correct that condition. Jaede stated that the garage was built in the early 1900's, and he would like to keep it and add a similar carriage -style garage to the house. Jaede reported that he has reviewed New Brighton's and Arden Hills' codes and they base allowable garage space on a percentage of lot size. McGraw asked if there was a maximum in these codes. Jaede stated that he did not find a maximum square footage number. He pointed out that the garage space he is requesting is 1.8% of his lot size. Montour questioned whether or not other cities would allow a garage to be bigger than the house. Blesener felt that would not be allowed. Jaede indicated that the foundation size of his house was approximately 1,600 square feet and total finished space with the proposed addition would be about 4,000 square feet. Blesener asked if the garage space would be used for the storage of construction equipment. Jaede replied that it would not, indicating that the existing garage is small and could not accommodate a truck or SUV. The existing garage would be used for car storage, possibly a boat and lawn equipment. With regard to the 34 square foot Variance requested, Jaede indicated that he is in the construction business and a foot difference here and there 15