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Busch Variance & CUP Report December 6, 2006 Page 4 CUP Considerations: Chapter 1125 of the Zoning Code requires that the Planning Commission review and address any potential adverse effects which include, but are not limited to, relationship with the Comprehensive Plan, geographical area involved, potential depreciation, the character of the surrounding area and the demonstrated need for such a use. Each of these potential adverse effects is addressed below. Relationship with the Comprehensive Plan. As previously stated, the Comprehensive Plan encourages the development and maintenance of residential areas so as to improve the quality, appearance and attractiveness of housing units and residential property in general. By having a larger garage the applicants would be able to have more indoor storage, which would be a benefit to the neighborhood. The Geographical Area Involved. The home is located on Knollwood Drive, near the northern end of the city. Since most of the additional space for the garage would be in the back, the building would still look like normal two or three car size garage from the street. In this case, the proposed oversized garage would not be out of place in this neighborhood that has large, deep backyards. Although, it would somewhat block the view across the backyards from the adjoining neighbor’s property. Depreciation. The proposed garage would benefit the subject property both in a practical sense by providing additional on site, indoor parking and storage, as well as in an economic sense, as the construction would increase the “value” of the property. Increased property values are of course a benefit to everyone. The Character of the Surrounding Area. Knollwood Drive is strictly a residential neighborhood. All of the homes on this street were constructed in the mid-1970’s. The proposed garage would not be out of character in this area since the addition would not be easily visible from the street, and there are other homes on this street that have expanded their garages. The front appearance of the garage would only change slightly with this addition. The Demonstrated Need for Such a Use. The applicants are proposing an 8 foot addition to the side of the garage and a 16’x22’ addition to the rear which would allow for more indoor parking and storage space. Summary: All zoning and code issues are satisfied with this request if the variance is also approved. If the variance is not approved, the applicant would remove the large tree and expand the garage only to the rear. A public hearing notice was published and mailed to all property owners within 350 feet of 8410 Knollwood Drive. Staff has not received any comments in regards to this request.