Agenda - Council - 02/24/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I Il I I I I I ! I I I I I I I I i I CASE # AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 9.11.02 SUBDIVISION 12 CITY OF RAMSEY CITY CODE; By: Community Development Assistant Scan Walther Background: On January 13, 1998, City Council asked staff and the Planning Commission to look at the code regarding metal accessory buildings. The current threshold for a metal building is 2.5 acres. The City Council suggested lowering the threshold for metal buildings to 2.0 acres and establishing some additional design standards on metal buildings developed on parcels from 2.0 - 5.0 in size. The design standards consist of soffit, facia and cave overhang of the same dimension as the principal structure, the color compatible exterior facing finish with the principal structure, and galvanized finishes shall not be permitted. Notification: In accordance with State Statute, the City of Ramsey advertised the Planning Commission public hearing for the proposed amendment to this ordinance. Observations: This amendment was initiated because the most common request, during construction season is residents wanting to build metal accessory buildings on parcels less than 2.5 acres in size. There have been three applications for conditional use permits since 1992 that the City. Council has granted, and numerous other residents that have opted not to attempt to get a special permit for a metal building on less than 2.5 acres. The latest discussion of this issue by the Planning Commission and City Council involved the inconsistent requirements when calculating minimum lot size requirements for developers of subdivisions versus code enforcement. For the former, the road fight- of-way is included when calculating minimum area lot size, but after the subdivision is platted the lot size is calculated from property line to property line (excluding right-of- way). Therefore, residents purchased property under the impression they had 2.5 acres and would be permitted to build a metal accessory structure (pole building), when in actuality they had less than 2.5 acres when the right-of-way was not included. Lowering the threshold to 2 acres will requite those resident in the situation described above. Additionally, in the reworking of Chapter 9 (Zoning and Subdivision) the Planning Comission is intending to amend the City Code to be more fair and consistent in this aspect. Also, the current code allows residents whose private garage is less than 864 square feet the option of applying to the maximum accessory structure size the difference of the private garage square footage from 864 square feet. The draft ordinance addresses two of