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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes September 20, 2005 Page 6 1 2 Chair Stromgren closed the public hearing at 7:29 P.M. 3 4 Motion by Chair Stromgren, second by Commissioner Young, to recommend denial of the 5 proposed request to rezone the property located at 3645 Chelmsford Road from an R-1 Single- 6 Family Zoning District to an R-2, Two-Family Zoning District because the applicant failed to 7 attend the Planning Commission meeting and public hearing and because the requested changes 8 have not been made to the proposal since the concept review. 9 10 Motion carried unanimously 11 12 7.4 Proposed Text Amendment to the City Code to Allow Egress Window Wells Encroach 13 into Side Yard Setback 14 15 Chair Stromgren opened the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. 16 17 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that this is a request to consider a proposed text amendment to the City's 18 Zoning Code to allow egress window wells as encroachment no more than 3 feet into the side 19 yard or front yard setback. She provided the Commission with a brief overview stating that by 20 omission from the St. Anthony Zoning Code, egress window wells are not a permitted use or 21 allowed as an encroachment into the side yard setback of the R-1 Zoning District. She stated that 22 Section 1600.03,Uses Not Specified, states that if a use is not specifically permitted,permitted 23 by conditional use permit or prohibited, the use will be considered prohibited and Section 24 1650.03, Encroachments in Yards, does not include egress window wells as an allowed 25 encroachment. She stated that staff received several requests this summer from residents asking 26 to be allowed to install egress window wells in the setbacks and in many situations the yard was 27 generally sufficient to allow for the installation without going into the setback, side yard or front 28 yard areas. She noted that in these situations the Building Inspector and Fire Marshall would 29 oversee the installation to ensure proper placement and dimensions, as required by the building 30 code. 31 32 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that Staff did some research to determine how other Cities address this 33 issue noting that all the Cities that responded to Staff's requests for information indicated that 34 they do not have anything in their zoning ordinances that specifically address egress windows in 35 the setback because it's more of a safety issue. She stated that as such, egress window wells are 36 basically allowed by their City's policy and usually without the zoning department's 37 consideration. She noted that all stated that building permits are required for egr4ess window 38 wells construction so that the Building Inspector and Fire Marshall can review the building plans. 39 She noted that the Cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul,Blaine, Hopkins,New Brighton and 40 Lexington have adopted policies that are based on the Minnesota Building Codes for 41 encroachments into the side or front yard for egress window wells. She stated that in speaking 42 with the Planning and Zoning Departments for the Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul,they both 43 indicated that egress window wells are allowed no matter what because it's an issue of safety for 44 both the resident and emergency response personnel. She indicated that Michelle Howard of the 45 Minneapolis Planning and Zoning Department said that they viewed the installation of egress