The planning commission made an official recommendation to the city council for an amendment to accessory structure regulations during its regular meeting Monday.
Chris Suneson, director of the Community Development Services Department, gave a quick overview of the changed regulations, which are focused on the buildings' size, height and location.
"In February we really got into the meat of this," he said.
Buildings on the same lot as a primary structure, he explained, are limited to 720 square feet in size, while those built on an adjacent lot under the same ownership are limited to 1,200 square feet.
Under the proposed adjustments, buildings would need to be placed behind the front plane of the house using a definition in the city's fencing ordinance, which is based on the distance from the building's corners to the road to determine the setbacks for either side of the property.
Height, Suneson said, is limited to 25 feet overall in this proposal, and sidewalls are limited to 15 feet in height.
And, after some discussion at the work session, he said, the commission agreed to change size limits on lots of four acres or larger to 1,200 square feet or the size of the principal building, whichever is greater.
Vice chair Doug Farner said that with a large lot like this, the location limitation should be more generous. In many cases, he said, someone may choose to build their home further back on the street but, because the front plane rules still apply, this would render the resident unable to build something on a very large portion of his property.
"That seems like it's too much burden on somebody who has a large piece of land," Farner said.
He suggested adding a 200-foot maximum setback from the roadway, meaning accessory buildings can be built a minimum of 200 feet from the road or behind the front plane of the primary structure, whichever distance is smaller.
The commission voted 6-1 to add this amendment to the suggestion, with commissioner Shawki Al-Madhoun as the only "no" vote.
Al-Madhoun said he would prefer to see a smaller maximum setback.
After adding the amendment, the commission voted unanimously in favor of the set of recommendations, which will go to the city council for approval. The first reading will be at the March 26 regular meeting.
General News on 03/14/2018