Agenda - Council - 02/22/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 ' the needs and wants ot the future occupants. The building code provides this flexibility. The Uniform Building Code requires that each dwelling unit have at least one room with at least 150 square feet of floor area. Other habitable rooms except kitchens shall have an area of not less than 70 square feet, and no habitable room other than a kitchen shall be less than 7 feet in any dimension. The two attached sketches illustrate floor plans that could result when minimum code 9uidelines are followed. It should be noted that when layipg out room sizes in a given plan, it is normally impossible to keep the room sizes exactly to the minimum. In the examples, the two-bedroom home contains 624 square feet, and the three-bedroom home contains 708 square feet. We should keep in mind that builders will construct homes that are demanded by the market place. T~at is what will ultimately decide the size of new homes. It 'is likely that very few, if any, homes ~ould be built to the very minimum sizes as sho~.~n in the two examples. We have already seen that since the City dropped the requirement of garages, that very few homes have been built without them. In fact, this has been the experience of other communities that bare reduced or eliminated house size requirements, including Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, and Eagan. ~ATION: The Planning Department reconmends that the ordinance be amended to eliminate house size requirements, and that the building code be relied upon to protect the health, safety and welfare. This amendment is consistent with the policies and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan. It should also be nOted that elimination of the house size requirement will also result in a gain of 2 POints in the City's Housing Performance score which is used in evaluating grant applications by the Metropolitan Council.