Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/05/2002

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Greensboro, Notch Carolina, unified development ordinance states chat buildings accesaor'/to single- and cwo-family dwellings shall hoc exceed 50 percent o£ ~e gross floor ar= o£ dae principal building or 600 square feet, whichever is greater. Some use rite standard chat an accessory structure cannot cover more doan a specified percentage of the rear yard. in Evanston, Illinois, accessor'/structures can cover no more doan 40 percent o£a rear yard provided chat the maximum cove=ge got all structures on the loc. must also be adhered to. Woodbury, Minnesota, draws From three o£ due above approaches. No residential omrage can be larger than i,000 square feet or 30 percent of the main floor area of the principal' building, whichever is greater. However, garages cannot occupy more chun 25 percent of the rear yard. Woodbury and or&er developing suburban commumdes with remaining farms distinguish between garage and agricultural buildings, which, are allowed to be muck larger than private garages. Setbacks Detached accessory structures tend co have setback requirements chat are less cb. an dae requirements £or principal structures or, alternadvel5 daey are considered permitted encroachments into required side and rear yards. At~ached garages typically must meet the same scdaacks required for principal structures. Few ordinances allow ~rages co encroach into the normal front yard setback. Many rake the additional step of prohibiting garages between a dwelling and a front lot llne where due dwelling may be set back Far enough to place a garage in fi.onr without violating due required front yard setback. Some codes make specific excepdon~ to fi.ont yard setbacks for accessory structures where a hilly or sloping parcel would prove problematic ot require substantial excavation. Appropriate front setbacks For garages have become a major topic of discussion in many parrs of the country' (See "Setbacks and Garages in Residential Zoning," February 2001 Zoning News). Pordand, Oregon's, ordinance, which restricts street- Facing garages, received a good deal of media atxencion, especially for a zoning issue. The ordinance states chat the lengda of due garage wall facing the street may be up to 50 percent of the [eng~ of r_he entire building facade. A street- facing garage may be no closer to the srxeet chun O.e longest street-facing wall of the dwelling. As an exception, the garage may be up to six feet in front of due dwelling wall i5' due o~arage wall is [ess daan 40 percent o£ cfc lengda of the entire building facade and there is a front porch at the dwelling entrance. The =~arage wall cannot exmnd closer to the street than due porch. Olympia, Washington, hat design requirements and design guidelines for garages. A requirement states chat garages and caxporrs must be designed so as hOC to dominate the dwellLqg's street fac, adc. Guidelines inciude suggestions dsar o=arages should be located along alleys, behind the residence, stepped back from the main building facade, or r. hey should have an entry, chat is perpendicular co due street. The dwelling's main entry should be prominent and should not be subordinate to the gm'age. Drive- ways should be as narrow as possible. Garage sidewalls chat ~h. ce a street should appear as habitable space through the use ob' windows or other design elements. Determining due appropriate side yard setback fbr garages is oiken re!amd to tot sizes in the community. Such regulation is often a balancing act between allowing fle:dbiliry and recognizing the potential impact on neighboring properties and commumty character. For example, where 100-ebot-wide lots predominate, slighdy greater side and rear yard serbaclcs may be required. Lq communities where lots are relatively narrow ' garages may be allowed very close to side and rear lot lines. In Canton, garages must be a minimum o£four r%er ~rom the side lot line and five feet ~rom the rear [or line. Where garage doors face an alley, the garage must be 20 fee: fi.om 'due centerline of the alley. Garages may not encroach into the £ront yard. in Minneapolis, ash acc=ssor'y sm.tcmre located enrirdy in cfc rear 40 feet or 20 percent of r. he lot, whichever is greater, may be located one fooc fi.om the interior side and rear loc lines. Where the bm=ge doors gtce due alley at the rear lot line, the om_rage must be five or six fear from due rear lot line, depending on the distr/cz.. Lq Olympia, residential' accessory atrucrm'es (or&er chun accessory dwelling units) may' be located in a required rear yard and Jot in the tes. r 20 fee= ora required interior side yard.. Where a garage enm.nce faces a side or rear lot line, ir mast be set back at lea~t 10 r%ez from that lot line. ~]~5.~;7'--.... 1 ~5~:'~.. : ';'t This ~rached garage incl~¢ second-stoW ¢¢ce and w~ cons~ed with mar~ak that march ehe dwelling, Note that .... Some communities base side and rear garage setbacks on the height -md floor area of the structure, recognizing that smaller structures will have less of an impact on neighboring properues. Reductions in side yard ~etbacks for garages generally do nor apply co corner side yards. * Reversed corner [ors o~en have unique rules~ Communi6es with alleys often have spec/al rules Br aerbacks along alleys to ~llow for vehicular maneuvering. it is common for communities to require ~ separation of between six and 10 feet bet'ween a principal and accessory structure. A number of communiues will require accessory structures co meet the more restrictive principal structure serbadcs if the accessory.. structure is separated from the principal structure by a distance of less than six co 10 feet. 3 93