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noted he has lived there since 2011 and has never met the owner. The home has always been 1 <br />rented out. If an owner was living there it could be said that it was not solely economic because 2 <br />it will be used by the owner but if the intention is to sell it then how is it not solely economic. 3 <br /> 4 <br />Councilmember Randle explained the applicant has indicated he plans to buy the home and if his 5 <br />intent is to buy the home then his belief is that the Council follow the Planning Commission’s 6 <br />recommendation. Even if it is solely on economics it is his right to do so. 7 <br /> 8 <br />Councilmember Jenson stated knowing todays world, two car garages are almost a requirement 9 <br />for most families. Even if this was built in the fifties or sixties, one car garages were normal, and 10 <br />he thought there has been an evolution on how we use transportation. This is a neighborhood 11 <br />that depends on automobiles more so then mass transit. He thought as long as the City can get 12 <br />emergency vehicles in between the two homes safely it is practical to have a two-car garage. 13 <br /> 14 <br />Councilmember Randle wondered why an emergency vehicle would be needed to fit in between 15 <br />the two homes and he did not see an alley. Councilmember Jenson explained if a fire truck had 16 <br />to drive through the two houses for a fire at the back of the house or maybe the hoses would be 17 <br />drug to the back, he was not sure. 18 <br /> 19 <br />Mayor Stille did not think it mattered regarding the emergency vehicles because he has seen 20 <br />houses that are closer together and there are ways out there to combat fires rather than bringing a 21 <br />truck onto the property. What he is getting at is this for him is a reasonable use. He 22 <br />acknowledges what Mr. Roth says and he may have some of the same feelings if he lived in Mr. 23 <br />Roth’s house, especially it being that way for a long time but a reasonable use would be having a 24 <br />two car garage in todays day and age and he respected that and the improvement in the City’s 25 <br />housing stock to make sure the City has amenities in as many houses as possible that go along 26 <br />those lines. He did not see that to be a problem and he did drive by the neighborhood a couple 27 <br />times and walked it a couple of times too and he did not see any houses that were ten feet apart 28 <br />but he saw many that were about twelve feet apart and still very close. The theme in the 29 <br />architecture was the same as what the applicant is trying to accomplish with this. 30 <br /> 31 <br />Mayor Stille thought it was kind of ironic and what kind of swayed him at the Planning 32 <br />Commission is does the City want to force a tandem garage. He thought that is not in character 33 <br />even though a variance is not needed to do it. That is important to him. Thus, the idea of putting 34 <br />a free-standing garage in the back as an accessory building then it would be within the five-foot 35 <br />setback and if he was there, he would have a problem living to the south of that and taking away 36 <br />the view in the back yard. He goes back to reasonableness of having a second stall in the garage 37 <br />and makes sense to him. 38 <br /> 39 <br />Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Randle, to approve Resolution 40 <br />20-023; a Resolution Approving Variance to the side yard setback for construction of a single car 41 <br />garage addition, of a single story in height, with the proposed 5-foot setback at 3404 Roosevelt 42 <br />Street NE with the following conditions: 43 <br /> 44 <br />A. The applicant is able to verify the setback distance as a part of the building permitting 45 <br />process, based on the existing survey and established lot lines. 46 <br />5