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Mounds View Planning Commission October 6, 1999 <br /> Regular Meeting Page 7 <br /> Commissioner Hegland advised that all the lots within the City are not the same. He stated that <br /> the City Code should not be restrictive, but should cover the goals of the Code, which is more <br /> important than attempting to indicate a specific criteria, which would require judging each <br /> situation on a case by case basis. He reiterated that the goals of the Code are impervious surface <br /> and curb cuts. He added most of the lots that are wide, are also deep, and would require extra <br /> impervious surface simply to reach the garage. <br /> Chair Peterson stated the City has a large variety of lots, and it would be difficult to set a standard <br /> that would fit all of them. He stated he had concerns regarding a 40 percent impervious surface <br /> lot coverage requirement, in terms of the larger lots. Commissioner Johnson noted some of these <br /> larger lots could potentially have a half-acre of asphalt. <br /> Commissioner Hegland reiterated that a maximum limit could be set, related to the standard lot <br /> size. He explained he would like to find a means that would prevent each request from having to <br /> be judged on an individual basis. <br /> Commissioner Miller stated this matter had come forward primarily because parking is prohibited <br /> on City streets, and people require additional parking space. She inquired if staffs proposal was <br /> to extend the additional 10 or 12-foot width at the garage to the curb cut, and then reduce the <br /> entire width to 22 feet. Ericson explained this has always been the case, in that a resident could <br /> have a 35-foot driveway to the property line, however, at some point between the property line <br /> and the curb, the width of the driveway must be reduced to 22 feet. He added that a resident <br /> could potentially install a 35-foot wide driveway to the property line, however, it was unlikely that <br /> a resident would wish to do so, in light of the additional expense. <br /> Commissioner Miller inquired regarding the normal width of a driveway for a three-stall garage. <br /> Ericson stated this would be 34, 35 or 36 feet, adding that most driveways taper toward the <br /> street. <br /> Commissioner Kaden asked how often the Planning Commission had considered variances for <br /> driveways within the past few years. Ericson stated this did not occur very often. Chair Peterson <br /> added that it was more often a case of driveways being too close to the property line, rather than <br /> the a variance for the actual width of the driveway. <br /> Commissioner Miller commented that a specific width, with additional width available, would be <br /> easier to administrate than a requirement based upon the percentage of impervious surface upon a <br /> lot. <br /> Chair Peterson noted in some long established neighborhoods, the residents are not aware of the <br /> exact location of their property lines. He stated that calculating a requirement based upon the <br /> percentage of impervious surface of a lot would place quite a burden upon staff. He explained <br /> that the impervious surface includes the structures on the site, and there are other measurements <br /> that would be required in order to determine the size allowed for the driveway. He stated the <br /> • reason for the current maximum 35-foot width requirement was to keep the impervious surface <br />