Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/03/1998

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CAS . # AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 9.11.02 SUBDIVISION 12 CITY OF RAMSEY CITY CODE; By: Community Development Assistant Sean Walther Background: On January 13, 1998, City Council asked staffand 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. 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. The latest discussion by the Planning Commission and City Council discussed the inconsistent requirements when calculating minimum lbt size requirements for developers of subdivisions versus code enforcement. For the former, the road right-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. Please find the enclosed copy of the proposed ordinance which shows the revisions from the former o~dinance. The vertical lines at the sides of the pages show that revisions have been made to that section. Underlined text notes additions, and sh'ike-through text notes deletions. Notification: In accordance with State Statute, the City of Ramsey advertised the public hearing for the proposed amendment to this ordinance. Observations: Staff has drafted an ordinance to reduce the minimum lot size requirement from 2.5 to 2 acres to build metal accessory structures. However, the draft ordinance adds design restrictions for metal accessory structures on properties from tw6 acres to five acres in size. The design restrictions would include soffit, facia, cave overhang, and exterior facing finish which is, at a minimum, color compatible with the principal structure, as determined by the Building Inspector. Galvanized finishes will still be prohibited.