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City of Mounds View Planning Commission Report Meeting Date: February 5, 2003 Title: PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A VARIANCE IN THE PARKING REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO A PROPOSED EXPANSION OF A FOUR-UNIT MULTI-FAMILY STRUCTURE TO A SIX-UNIT MULTI-FAMILY STRUCTURE Introduction: The property owner of 2075 Hillview Road has requested a permit to expand her four-plex by constructing two additional units in the basement of the four-unit building. The property is zoned R-3, Medium Density Residential. In terms of density, both a four-plex and a six-unit building would be appropriate for this district. However, there is not enough parking on-site to satisfy the zoning requirements for a six-unit building which has prompted the property owner to request a variance. Discussion: Chapter 1121 of the Zoning Code requires that multi-family housing developments provide a minimum of 1 and ½ outdoor parking stalls per unit and 1 garage stall per unit for a total of 2 ½ parking stalls per unit. Currently there are twelve stalls on the site, of which only two are garage stalls. While the total number of stalls satisfies the total number presently required, there should be two more garage stalls for the property to be completely conforming to the City Code. To expand the number of dwelling units in the building, there would need to be a total of 15 stalls, six of which garage spaces. The variance being requested then is to maintain the present parking capacity at 12 with only the two garages. While the property may have more parking capacity than many of the other surrounding four-plex units by virtue of the garage stalls, if the property were to expand to six units, the number of additional vehicles could potentially exceed the lot capacity on a daily basis. Where would the overflow parking be satisfied? One could suggest that as a condition of the variance, the property owner could, through a lease provision, limit the number of resident vehicles to no more than two per unit, which would be consistent with the parking capacity of the site, but then there would be no parking for visitors. Upon closer inspection of the property, it does appear as though there is a possibility that additional parking and/or garages could be constructed on the site, however a survey would need to be completed to verify setbacks and spacing requirements. Variance Considerations: For a variance to be approved, there needs to be demonstrated hardship or practical difficulties associated with the property that makes a literal interpretation of the Code overly burdensome or restrictive to a property owner. State statutes require that the governing body (the Planning Item # 6