Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/24/2024

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Regular Planning Commission Meeting Date: 10/24/2024 Primary Strategic Plan Initiative: 6. 2. Create a positive image for residential neighborhoods, business districts and key corridors. Information Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Adopt Resolution #24-284 Granting a Variance to Height Limitations for a Detached Accessory Building Located at 17646 St. Francis Boulevard NW (Project No. 24-121); Case of Chuck and Angie Lattery Purpose/Background: The City has received a Land Use Application from Charles and Angela Lattery (the "Applicant") seeking a variance to the height restriction for a detached accessory building to be located in the side yard on the property generally known as 17646 St. Francis Boulevard NW (the "Subject Property"). Notification: Notification was provided in the October 11, 2024, Anoka Union Herald Newspaper. Property owners within 350 feet of the parcels were mailed a public hearing notice. A public notice sign was placed on the property. Time Frame/Observations/Alternatives: The Applicant previously had a detached garage located north of the home. That garage was dilapidated, with the roof collapsing in on itself, and the Applicant removed it in the summer of 2022, with the intention of constructing a new, detached accessory building in its place. However, construction was delayed until such time that the Applicant was able to secure financing to construct the new building. Since the time of the removal of the old accessory building, the City has rewritten its Zoning Code, which now prohibits an accessory building from being taller than the principal building, unless it is located in the rear yard. The Subject Property is zoned Rural Residential, is guided as Rural Developing, and is approximately 2.51 acres in size. The surrounding properties are also zoned Rural Residential, guided as Rural Developing, and range in size from about 2.26 acres to about 7.20 acres in size. Based on the size of the Subject Property, the Applicant is eligible for 2,700 square feet of detached accessory building space. There are no permanent accessory buildings currently on the Subject Property (there are a couple of membrane hoop structures presently, but, should the variance be approved, the resolution includes a condition that both of these would need to be removed from the property as they are violations of City Code). Based on the standards for the Rural Residential District, the height of a detached accessory building in the front or side yard shall not exceed the height of the home or twenty-four (24) feet, whichever is less (if the structure were located in the rear yard, the height would be limited to no more than thirty (30) feet. The Applicant is proposing a 2,688 square foot pole building (42' x 64'), that would be twenty-four feet (24') in height, measured to the peak of the new building. The existing home is a rambler style home that is approximately fifteen (15) feet in height. The exterior finish of the building would consist of ribbed metal paneling that is beige, to match the color of the home, with an emerald green wainscot around the base of the building and emerald green fascia and eaves also to match the home. The Applicant has stated that the extra height is needed to get a sixteen (16) foot tall ceiling, which will allow multiple, 4-post hoists inside. The hoists will provide additional storage space for the Applicant's various muddling trucks, vehicles, trailer(s) and 5th wheel camper. The Applicant did explore the potential of placing the detached accessory building in the rear of the property. However, there is a significant grade change from the