06-07-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Mounds View Planning Commission June 7, 2000 Regular Meeting Page 32 house. He indicated the Commission felt very strongly that the appearance of the wider garages that are currently being built, which dominate the street front, do not lend well to an aesthetic curb appeal. He inquired if this was an issue the Commission would wish to consider if the garage were oriented away from the street so that only the house was visible. Commissioner Hegland stated that in many of these planning designs, the house is not even visible. Chairperson Peterson stated that many upscale neighborhoods have the larger lots, and most of those have garages that angle in such a way that as you drive by you see the home, and possibly part of the garage door off to the side. He pointed out that this could not be accomplished with the smaller 75-foot lots within the City. Commissioner Hegland advised that flexibility was very important in this consideration, because they were dealing with redevelopment, rather than new development. Commissioner Johnson stated that the Commission has been seeing variance requests for garages that are larger than the square-footage of the house. Planning Associate Ericson stated that the last time the Commission examined the Code, in terms of Ordinance 620, a provision was included which required a conditional use permit any time the garage is larger than the house. He suggested this could be removed. He explained that from staff’s perspective, this is an administrative nightmare. He explained that if there is a 600 square-foot house, and the applicant has a 600 square-foot garage that he would like to expand to a 650 square-foot two-car garage, he would be required to obtain a conditional use permit. He pointed out that this provision appeared to be a very good idea at the time, however, after it was implemented, it became apparent that all of the ramifications were not necessarily taken into consideration, and the Commission may wish to examine this further. Commissioner Johnson stated that he agreed with this. He pointed out that you may have two or three individuals living in a small house, with a boat, a motorcycle, two cars, and may have other items to store in their garage. He advised that if they were limited to a small garage based upon the size of the house, these items would end up in the backyard. Commissioner Hegland stated that the size should be based upon whether or not the proposal represents an improvement to the property as well, in that people do not generally tend to spend money on projects that do not make much sense. Commissioner Laube suggested that rather than basing the size upon the total square-footage of the foundation, perhaps this should be based upon the total square footage of the house. He explained that he would not desire to leave this provision in the Code, however, he would not wish to see garages excessively larger than the house simply because they have taken it out. Commissioner Johnson stated that the requirement that accessory structures be complementary to the house would prevent many such problems.