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Mounds View Planning Commission July 21, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 5 ________________________________________________________________________ Commissioner Hegland asked how would this affect existing properties. Planner Prososki replied that the driveways that already exist closer than 5 feet to the property line would be considered legal, non-conforming and that Staff was unsure if the driveways would be subject to the same rules that apply to all legal, nonconforming situations, being that the neighbors had granted permission. She said that they were addressing the issue with the City Attorney as to how they should handle this legally. Commissioner Miller stated this started because residents had to park on improved surfaces so they needed more space and this was one way to get more space. Chair Stevenson noted some of this came about because residents wanted to park along side of their garage and needed to get the neighbor’s permission. He noted he did not agree with the neighbor approval part. He stated he believed they should remove the neighbor approval section. Commissioner Hegland asked how many driveways were non-conforming. Planner Prososki replied there were numerous driveways. Chair Stevenson fully supported taking out the sentence that allows neighbors to grant permission for a reduced driveway setback. The remainder of the Commission agreed to that deletion. Chair Stevenson asked how they should handle the five-foot setback issue. He asked if they should they deal with variance requests administratively or should it come before the Commission. Commissioner Hegland stated he had a concern with someone replacing their driveway being required to change their driveway for nonconformance without having the option of coming before the Commission. He stated some of the rules needed to be flexible because this was a community that was going to be doing redevelopment and not new development. He indicated if they were just replacing the driveway, they might want to consider an option that they were allowed to do that without getting permission. Planner Prososki noted the City Attorney was looking at this issue. She stated right now if something was torn down, they were required to comply with the Code, but in this case there is the issue that the resident had originally been granted permission. Chair Stevenson stated they had seen a lot of situations like this and asked for more ideas and thoughts regarding this from staff and the City Attorney for the next meeting. He noted some of this could be dealt with administratively. ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Next Planning Commission Meeting: August 4, 2004 ______________________________________________________________________________