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Item No: 5 Meeting Date: September 1, 2004 Type of Business: Public Hearing City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Kristin Prososki, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing and Consideration of a Variance to Allow a Driveway to Exceed the Maximum Curb Cut Width at 7566/7568 Silver Lake Road; Planning Case VR2004-008 Introduction: The applicant, Phyllis Melsaether, is requesting a variance to allow an already constructed driveway to remain as built at her property located at 7566/7568 Silver Lake Road. The driveway was constructed without a permit and exceeds the maximum curb cut width allowed in an R-2 district. The property has a two-family dwelling with separated garages. Mounds View Zoning Code requires that two-family dwellings with separated garage each have their own driveway with a curb cut not to exceed twenty (20) feet or the width of the garage, whichever is greater, at the right-of-way. The driveway, as constructed, has two, sixteen (16) foot driveways, with a turn around constructed at the curb cut, which connects the two driveways (See attached sketch). The curb cut is currently sixty-five (65) feet wide. The variance is for twenty-five (25) feet (the total curb cut of 65 feet minus the two, twenty-foot wide curb cuts). Discussion: Driveway and curb cut requirements are addressed in Section 1121.09 of the Zoning Code. The property is zoned R-2, Single and Two Family Residential. In an R-2 district, for a two-family attached dwelling with separated garages, the code allows one driveway per unit with a maximum curb cut of twenty (20) feet or the width of the garage, whichever is greater. As built, the driveway has a combined curb cut of sixty-five (65) feet. Code would permit this property to have two separate driveways with a maximum curb cut of twenty (20) feet wide each, therefore, the middle twenty-five (25) feet of the combined curb cut is in excess of the permitted amount. Section 1104.01 states that driveways must be setback five (5) feet. The driveway meets the setback requirements, however, it exceeds the curb cut width limits. The same contractor who built the twinhome constructed the driveway. The contractor failed to obtain a permit for the work. Had a permit been obtained beforehand, the contractor would have had to construct two separate curb cuts, which would not have been permitted to be wider than twenty (20) feet each. The contractor was informed that the curb cut was too wide and that it must be brought into compliance, either by removing a portion of the curb cut or through a variance. The contractor paid the variance fee and left the rest of the application process up to Ms. Melsaether, the homeowner. Staff spoke with the applicant regarding this variance request. She is requesting to be allowed to leave the driveway as built for safety reasons. The applicant specifically states that the wide curb cut allows the homeowners and visitors to drive forward onto Silver Lake Road, as opposed to having to reverse onto the busy street (See attached letter).