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MEMORANDUM DATE: 04/14/04 MEETING DATE: 04/20/04 TO: Chair Stromgren & Planning Commission Members FROM: Susan M.H. Hall, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT: 3201 32"d Ave NE Demolition/New Construction - Concept Review Requested Action: At the April 20, 2004, Planning Commission meeting, John and Joan Lovelette are requesting a concept review of three variance requests, which are required for the construction of a new home at 3201 32"d Avenue NE. The petitioners will return to the May 18 Planning Commission meeting for a public hearing on the variance requests. The City Council will review the requests at their May 25 meeting. Background: The petitioners plan to demolish an 80-year-old home currently on the property and build a new, two-story 2,783 square foot home. The subject property measures 50 X 175.The variances necessary to complete the project include a square footage variance as the subject property's lot size is under the minimum lot size of 9,000 square feet, at 8,750 square feet. Therefore, the petitioner is requesting a 250 square foot variance for this requirement. Also, minimum lot width is 75 feet and the subject property's lot width is 50 feet. Therefore, the petitioner is requesting a 25-foot variance for this requirement. A third variance being requested by the petitioners is for floor area ratio (FAR). The floor area maximum is 30 percent of the lot, or 2625 square feet in this case. The proposed home would exceed the floor area ratio requirement by 99 square feet with the lot measuring 8750 square feet and the proposed floor area calculated by the City's Building Official is 2724 square feet. The plan shows 2752 square feet on the first and second floors. The variance to meet the City's FAR requirement would be in the amount of 99 square feet. Please note there is a discrepancy in the square footage from what the Building Official figures and the petitioner's plan. The basement level and garage square footages are excluded from the FAR calculation. The petitioners are not in agreement with the City's calculation of FAR, as you will note from their application attached. Staff has not yet received a site plan/survey depicting the home's footprint on the lot. However, this has been requested of the petitioner for the May public hearing. This site plan will be necessary to verify setbacks, lot coverage, etc. The petitioner has submitted a hand drawing. As far as the square footage and lot width requirements, precedence for cases like this has been the City Council has approved such requests because of the unique circumstances and limitations surrounding the smaller lot size. The FAR requirement is another issue. The reason for the requirement is to limit the mass of a structure. Last