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1 <br /> <br />Item No: ___5B <br />Meeting Date: March 7, 2018 <br />Type of Business: Planning Case SP-212-18 <br /> <br /> <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Mounds View Planning Commission <br />From: Jon Sevald, Planner <br />Item Title/Subject: Resolution 1083-18, Amending the City Code, Section <br />1104.01, Subd 5, regarding the Encroachment of Front <br />Porches (Special Planning Case SP-212-18) <br /> <br />Introduction <br />Within residential zoning districts, the minimum front yard setback is 30’ from the property line. <br />On occasion (1-2 times per year), homeowners have inquired if a front porch can be added onto <br />a home. If the home is at the minimum setback, a front porch would not be permitted, unless a <br />variance is granted by the Planning Commission. In order for the Planning Commission to grant <br />a variance, a “Practical Difficulty” or “Hardship” must be proven. In Staff’s opinion, this is <br />difficult to provide because a front porch is an amenity, and not an essential part of the home. <br />An ordinance amendment would be more appropriate than a variance. <br /> <br /> <br />Discussion <br />Within residential districts, the minimum front yard setback is 30’.1 Staff recommends that the <br />ordinance be amended, allowing non-enclosed porches (no walls, windows, or screens) to <br />encroach up to 6’ into the front yard setback (e.g. 24’ set back from the front property line). A <br />maximum 6’ encroachment is recommended to accommodate a 36” door swing, plus a 36” clear <br />zone beyond the door swing. This 6’ encroachment is for the porch structure, and excludes any <br />roof eve or stairs. <br /> <br />For comparison the following is the minimum setback for a front porch on an existing home, <br />assuming the minimum setback for the home is 30’: <br /> <br /> <br />Arden Hills: 22.5’ <br />Blaine: 22.5’ <br />Mounds View (existing): 30’ <br />Mounds View (proposed): 24’ <br />New Brighton: 24 <br />Shoreview: 25’ <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 Mounds View Municipal Code, Section 1104.01, Subd 3(a): Where principal buildings in existence on lots within <br />the same block on the same side of the street have front yard setbacks different from those required, the <br />minimum front yard setback for any new principal buildings shall be the minimum front yard setback in existence <br />for any one lot. In no case shall the front yard setback be less than thirty feet (30’). For purposes of this <br />subsection a, a block shall be defined as that group of lots lying along a street between the two closest <br />intersecting streets, except that where the length of the street frontage between the two intersecting streets is <br />greater than fourteen hundred feet (1,400’), the block shall be the lots within six hundred and fifty feet (650’) on <br />either side of the lot in question, or to an intersecting street whichever is less.