05/16/1979 P&Z Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 10 Planning and Zoning Commission, May 16, 1979 entry, as Lino Lakes does, but some do not distinguish between the different house sizes. The telephone numbers of the various people he contacted are on this as well. All the information expected had arrived since the last P&Z meeting and was included here. Mr. Reinert said that based on this, Lino Lakes was somewhat less than or about the same as the average of the communities represented. Vi Schwankl gave information on lot sizes and floor areas for several communities, taken from the Residential Ordinances for Single Family Dwellings that was published by the Metro Council last May. She reviewed the 81 Communities contained in the publication for the Commission. Mr. Heath thought that in areas that don't require floor areas, they must have some other way of regulating that Lino Lakes doesn't have. Mr. Johnson said that only one figure was read for these communities, and there are several different floor size plans and density requirements rated as R-1, R-2 and R-3; different types of houses require different floor areas. Vi Schwankl felt that people no longer want big lots; and that there are a lot of communities in the area that have a lot less square footage than Lino Lakes has. Mr. Johnson presented to the Commission pictures he took in Lakeville. Mr. Glenn Rehbein, from the audience, said he felt it should be looked at from the standpoint of energy and cost of heating and so on, and that people were starting to lower their codes; he felt a big house is no longer necessary, especially in the case of a retired couple. Mr. Johnson said that Lake Elmo had a consulting firm and went to 960 and it was 10,---. The consulting firm had recommended it for the area. Mr. Shearen felt there was not much demand for a smaller house. Mr. Reinert mentioned that Mr. Rehbein was the only builder that had requested a smaller home size, but if there was a great demand, this would have been a more frequent request. Mr. Rehbein said that Lino Lakes was not the only community confronting this issue. It was also brought up that if the ordinance was changed, not everyone would build the smallest requirement; most people build as big a home as they can. Mr. Shearen felt that a lower requrement would not result in an influx of people wanting to build smaller homes. A member of the audience felt that not lowering the requirements would discriminate against retired couples and people who wanted to build a smaller home. Mr. Rehbein mentioned a survey that showed people were moving to smaller homes and smaller yards. There was some further discussion on this. Mr. Brian Dobie asked what the objective was in minimum square footage. Mr. Gourley felt there should be a smaller house available for the young person just getting started and for retired couples who wanted to scale down their housing needs. Mr. Johnson said that the ordinances were to insure that, for example, a $75,000 house is not built right next to a $40,000 house --you can't mix property values without lower- ing somebody's property value. High, medium and low density was also a factor. He added that there was a smaller property value ina lower house size. Mr. Dobie felt this was not necessarily so, as long as quality was maintained. Mr. Rehbein reminded the Commission that 34 out of 81 communities have no minimum. Mr. Johnson pointed out that when there is no house size minumum, it's usually got a lot size that's so big that you wouldn't want to put a smaller house on it. Mr. Heath said he didn't want a situation where a developer builds a lot of very small houses as a development. Mr. Shearen felt that an influx of small homes just does not seem to occur. Mr. Johnson brought up the situation where you can have a smaller floor size but you must have a finished downstairs, because they are thinking of total libing area. Mr. Heath said perhaps this should be based on total living space then. Mr. Rehbein suggested having a requirement for a percentage of small- er homes in an area, which would prevent a development of smaller homes. W. Shearen asked about the situation with an individual lot owner, and how this would work with a percentage --it would be unenforceable. Mr. Johnson moved that upon acceptance of this study by the subcommittee that we adopt the guidelines in conjunction with proposed changes to amend Ordinance No. 59A in accordance with the following: one-story homes and 12 -story, lowered to 960 from 1000; split foyer, no change; split entry from 1000 to 960; and 2 -story, no change.