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Item No: 5A Meeting Date: July 20, 2005 Type of Business: Commission Action City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Jim Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing and Consideration of a Variance to Allow (1) a Shed in a Front Yard and (2) Increased Fence Height in the Front Yard of 5260 Jeffery Drive; Planning Case VR2005-008 Introduction: The applicants, Richard and Alison Bagwill, are proposing to relocate an existing shed from the rear yard of their property to what would technically be considered the front yard due to multiple street frontages. In addition, the Bagwills are seeking approval to construct a six- foot tall fence along the rear property line of the home, extending south toward O’Connell Drive into what again would technically be considered the front setback. Discussion: Setback requirements are addressed in Section 1104.01 of the Zoning Code. Each zoning district is listed with the corresponding front, side and rear setbacks. In an R-1, Single Family Residential district, the typical building setbacks are as follows: Front, thirty (30) feet; Side, ten (10) feet; and Rear, thirty (30) feet. It is noted that sheds and garages, attached or detached, can have side and rear setbacks of five (5) feet. Corner lots, while not unique in and of themselves, do pose some inherent limitations and difficulties by virtue of the multiple street frontages. Corner lots may be further constrained depending upon building location and the lot geometrics. The property at 5260 Jeffrey Drive is a non-rectangular corner lot with more lot perimeter fronting street than non-street frontage. In instances where this occurs, the result is more of the property is technically considered front yard and less available for more private rear yard enjoyment. The applicants currently have a shed in their rear yard as shown on the existing site plan. As the Bagwills state in their letter, the shed was placed in the backyard by previous owners in such a way that very little backyard was left over for the owners’ use. Relocating the shed to the end of the existing driveway would allow the Bagwills to capture more backyard space, of which there is already little due to the odd lot configuration and the fact that the home is situated closer to the rear of the lot than the front. In addition to the request to relocate the shed, the Bagwills seek a variance to construct a six-foot tall fence which would extend beyond the front line of the home toward O’Connell Drive and tie in with the relocated shed, as shown on the proposed site plan. According to the City Code, fences which extend beyond the front line of the house may be no taller than four feet. Were this property not a corner lot, neither the fence nor the shed would necessitate variance approval.