Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2014 05 21

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The applicant is wishing to expand their covered front porch from 6 foot by 6 foot to 6 foot by 16 foot, an increase of 60 square feet. The purpose of the expansion is to allow for a more usable front deck. The new deck will be extended along the front of the house and will retain the existing front setback, which is in compliance with the 17.5 foot front yard setback requirements. The underlying RE Zone District allows a maximum lot coverage of 20%. The RE zone district, however, does not match well with the Pine Street Park neighborhood. The minimum lot size allowed in the RE zone district is 12,000 square feet, while the majority of the lots in the Pine Street Park neighborhood are approximately 5,000 to 6,000 square feet. The applicant’s lot is 5,488 square feet. The entire Pine Street Park subdivision, and indeed a sizeable portion of the City which is zoned RE, does not fit the current yard and bulk standards of the RE zone district. It appears a majority of the homes in the Pine Street Park Subdivision exceed the maximum allowed lot coverage in the RE zone district. A more appropriate zone district for this subdivision appears to be Residential Low Density (RL). The minimum lot size in RL districts is 7,000 square feet and the maximum lot coverage allowed is 30%. There are no zone districts with a minimum lot size of less than 7,000 square feet. The areas of the City that do not fit the current RE zone may need to be rezoned at some point. A rezoning of this magnitude, however, will be time-consuming and will require significant support from the public and City officials. At this point, the best option for the applicant is to seek a variance instead of a rezoning. 3