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<br /> <br />Item No: 9A <br />Meeting Date: June 9, 2003 <br />Type of Business: PH & CB <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From: James Ericson, Acting City Administrator <br />Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing and Consideration of an Appeal of the <br />Planning Commission’s Denial of a Variance Request <br />for a 41-Foot Curb Cut Width <br /> <br />Introduction: <br /> <br />On September 16, 2002, Violet Woods, owner of the duplex at 7622–7624 Woodlawn Drive, <br />applied for a variance after she was notified that the driveway expansion she installed <br />(without a permit) violated the Zoning Code because it was too wide. The subject property is <br />zoned R-2, Single and Two-Family Residential. Ms. Woods applied for the variance to keep <br />the non-conforming driveway. <br /> <br />On October 16, 2002, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider the <br />variance request. Staff presented the report and recommended denial of the variance as no <br />hardship was evident and because no permit was obtained for the driveway expansion, and <br />had the owner applied for a permit, she would have been told her proposal was not <br />consistent with the Code. After some discussion and review of the criteria, the Planning <br />Commission approved Resolution 714-02, a resolution denying the variance request. <br /> <br />On October 17, 2002, the day following the denial, a letter was sent to the property owner <br />informing her that her variance request had been denied. A half-year later, Ms. Woods <br />submitted a request to appeal the variance denial to the City Council. <br /> <br /> <br />Discussion: <br /> <br />Section 1121.09 of the Mounds View Zoning Code, entitled “Stall, Aisle and Driveway <br />Design,” articulates the driveway and curb cut width regulations for each zoning district. R-2 <br />properties are allowed the following: <br /> <br /> <br />R-2 Max Driveway Width Width of garages, or 36 feet, <br />whichever is greater <br />R-2 Max Curb Cut Width 32 feet <br /> <br /> <br />The property owner expanded the driveway toward the street to match a previous driveway <br />expansion installed by the previous property owner. At 41 feet in width, the driveway <br />exceeds the maximum allowed by five feet and the curb cut exceeds the maximum allowed <br />by nine feet. Refer to the site plan on the next page.