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City of Mounds View Staff Report Planning Case No. 473-97, Oversized Garage CUP March 21, 1997 Page 2 a Applicable Regulations Section 1106.04 of the Zoning Code states that no garage shall exceed 864 square feet except by conditional use permit. With a CUP, the maximum area for a garage is 1,264 square feet. The garage proposed by the applicant, at 1,260 square feet, is 4 square feet shy of the maximum size allowed by the Code. Section 1125.01 gives a list of criteria that must be satisfied in order for conditional use permits to be approved. This development appears to satisfy the criteria with the possible exception of numbers two and three as follows: (2) "The use will be sufficiently compatible or separated by a distance or screening from adjacent residentially zoned land so that existing homes will not be depreciated in value..." (3) "The structure and site shall have an appearance that will not have an adverse effect upon the adjacent residential properties." The issue of compatibility is strong between these criteria. The question that needs to be addressed is whether or not this garage would be keeping with the character of the neighborhood, or in other words, would it be a"good fit." A related factor worth considering is how the proposed garage would compare to the existing principal structure on the site. Staff Analysis: Most of the homes in this neighborhood are smaller, one-and-a-half story expansions with small detached garages. While large, multi-stall garages may be common among newer or larger homes, a garage of this proportion would be inconsistent with the garages present in this area. The City Code does not have any provision that restricts or limits the size of a garage to a certain percentage of the principal structure. Staff considers that this garage would be incompatible with the surrounding area and incompatible with the house. In the staff report that went to the Planning Commission for its March 5th meeting, Staff was favorable toward recommending approval of this project because the garage met all of the dimensional requirements and the thought that the bulk of the garage would be adequately shielded from view. In addition, Staff thought that by having the car hauler and race car stored inside the garage as opposed to outside, it would decrease if not eliminate the clutter present on the site. Since that meeting, however, Staff has received more phone calls and met with persons stopping in at City Hall who voiced objections to the proposal. Staff decided to measure the car hauler to determine whether a smaller garage could be built that would still be of a size sufficient to store the car hauler. Its length is approximately 28 feet without • a car, probably 32 feet with a car. Adjusting upwards, a garage 36 feet long would appear to be