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Item No: 5C Meeting Date: May 21, 2014 Type of Business: Public Hearing City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Consideration of a Variance to allow a Second Curb Cut and Driveway at 7800 Groveland Road; Planning Case VR14-004 Introduction: The applicant, Frands Jensen, property owner of 7800 Groveland Road, is requesting a variance to allow a second curb cut and driveway on his property. The City Code allows one curb cut on each R-1, Single Family Residential zoned property without a variance. Discussion: The house at 7800 Groveland Road is on the corner of Groveland Road and Oakwood Drive. The applicant purchased the house in 2013 and built a detached garage that faces Oakwood Drive. The applicant and contractor were informed by City Staff at the time of the building permit application that a second curb cut was not allowed for single-family homes. The applicant parks a trailer in the detached garage and wants the driveway so that he does not need to drive over the curb to access the garage. The applicant could install a partial driveway from the garage up to five feet from the property line, which would be considered a parking area. The Code just does not allow the second curb cut opening at the street. For the Planning Commission to act favorably toward this application, there must be a demonstrated hardship or practical difficulty associated with the property that makes a literal interpretation of the Code overly burdensome or restrictive to a property owner. This is true for all variance requests. State statutes require that the governing body review a set of specified criteria for each application and make its decision in accordance with these criteria. These criteria are set forth in Section 1125.02, Subdivision 2, of the City Code. The Code clearly states that a hardship exists when all of the criteria are met. The individual criteria, with responses, are as follows: a. The variance is in harmony with the general purposes and intent of these regulations. While it is true that some lots do have two curb cuts, there are not many of them. While there are a few properties with two curb cuts on a corner lot, it is even less common to see properties with two completely separate driveways. Staff feels that limiting the applicant to one curb cut would not be depriving him of something commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same district. b. The variance is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan does not address this specific of an issue, but traffic safety and management is an important function for the City. By limiting access points onto the streets, there are less traffic movements and the streets are safer.