Agenda Packets - 2005/02/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 10 Director Ericson stated that this ordinance would amend various sections of the City Code 1 relating to driveways and curb cuts. He stated that last year the City Council had adopted an 2 ordinance which eliminated the one-foot setback provision for driveways, and as the Planning 3 Commission and staff were reviewing that Code and the proposed ordinance, it became 4 apparent that there is some confusion with regarding to the existing codes relating to driveways 5 and curb cuts that warranted additional review. He stated that driveways that do not conform to 6 the provisions of the Code may be allowed to remain, subject to provisions of a different section, 7 and that section relates to as long as it doesn’t cause a public safety hazard. He stated that the 8 issue with that is that driveways that were constructed after that date have no such protection, and 9 the issue is that every time a building permit is pulled on a driveway, they have to do some 10 research as to when the original driveway was installed, and sometimes they don’t have that 11 information, or it’s unclear or confusing. 12 13 Director Ericson stated that what the Planning Commission and staff are recommending is 14 eliminating the protection for a nonconforming driveway, and that if property owners 15 are doing a driveway reconstruction and they could make the driveway code-compliant, why not 16 do it. He stated that the ordinance as drafted would allow a property owner to keep the driveway 17 in the nonconforming location if it’s shown that there’s really no other way to do the driveway. 18 He stated there is a provision that says if the property owner disagrees with staff’s position on 19 that, they could bring that to the Council on an appeal of an administrative decision. He stated 20 they could go through a variance process if they feel a hardship exists. He stated the Ordinance 21 really forces the issue to correct the driveway or curb cut if possible. He stated that the curb 22 cuts would be looked at during the street improvement project, and that they wouldn’t be 23 driving through the community looking for nonconformities. He stated if a property owner 24 wants to make a small improvement to their driveway, they are not going to require or mandate 25 that the whole driveway be approved consistent with the City Code. He stated that the 26 Planning Commission felt strongly that they shouldn’t be penalizing property owners who want 27 to make some improvements to their property. 28 29 Director Ericson stated that no changes had been made in this Ordinance since the first reading. 30 31 Mayor Marty closed the public hearing. 32 33 Council Member Gunn asked about a property that had recently been before them. 34 35 Director Ericson stated that in that case, the property did exceed their allowance, and the property 36 owner did request a variance. He stated that the property owner had appealed the decision to the 37 City Council, and the City Council had denied the appeal because it was a case where there was 38 no hardship. He stated that in that particular case a court citation had been issued, and they were 39 in the court process now seeking resolution. 40 41 MOTION/SECOND. Flaherty/Gunn. To approve the Second Reading and Adoption of 42 Ordinance 756, an Ordinance Amending the Mounds View Municipal Code Relating to 43 Nonconforming Driveways and Curb-cuts 44 45