11-06-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Item No: 5B Meeting Date: November 6, 2013 Type of Business: Public Hearing City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Variance Request to allow Reduced Front Yard Setback at 5420 Adams Street; Planning Case VR2013-007 Introduction: The property owner, Flint Homes, represented by Justin and Marina Flint, are requesting a variance to permit an addition to their house at 5420 Adams Street to encroach eight feet into the prevailing 40-foot front yard setback. The Flints want to build a 10’ wide x 8’ deep entry on the front of their house in order to install an interior staircase. The City Code requires houses and garages to have a minimum front yard setback of 30 feet or the prevailing setback on the block, which is 40-feet on the Adams Street block. Discussion: 5420 Adams Street was originally a 768 square foot, one-story house with no basement, built in 1949. In 2006, the previous property owners raised the house and installed a daylight basement (partially below grade), but did not build stairs inside the house. The only way to access the basement is through an exterior door on the back of the house, and access to the upstairs is from decks on the front and rear of the home that are approximately 7 feet off the ground. The remodeling was never completed and the house was eventually vacated. The house was recently purchased by Flint Homes, who will be finishing the construction started by the previous owners several years ago. The Flints want to add a small entry to the front of the home that is 10 feet wide by 8 feet deep in order to lower the front door several feet, and to make space inside the house to add a staircase (it would become a “split-entry” style house). This entry would be the about the same size as the deck that is currently on the front of the house. Variance Criteria Review: As with any variance application, for the Planning Commission to act favorably, there must be a demonstrated practical difficulty associated with the property that makes a literal interpretation of the Code overly burdensome or restrictive to a property owner. 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. The zoning code requires minimum building setbacks for aesthetics and to provide separation and some sense of privacy between neighbors. Front minimum setbacks also create symmetry along the streetscape when all the homes are setback the same. The