ITEM 4.1ITEM 4_7
TPC3601 Thurston Avenue N, Suite 100
Anoka, MN 55303
Phone: 763.231 .5840
Facsimile: 763.427.0520
TPC@ Plan ningCo.com
MEMORANDUM
TO: Otsego Planning Commission
FROM: D. Daniel Licht, AICP
DATE: 28 April 2016
RE: Otsego —Zoning Ordinance; Accessory Building Setbacks
TPC FILE: 101.01
BACKGROUND
Two issues have come to attention in review of requests from property owners pertaining to
setbacks for detached accessory buildings. City staff is presenting these issues for discussion
by the Planning Commission at their meeting on 2 May 2016 for direction as to whether to
proceed with amendments of the Zoning Ordinance.
Exhibits:
A. Example of a corner Lot abutting a collector street
B. Example of a corner lot abutting a local street
ANALYSIS
Corner Lot/Collector Street. The City received a request to build a 200 square foot detached
accessory building on a lot at the southeast corner of Martin Farms Avenue and 70th Street.
Section 20-16-3.D of the Zoning Ordinance defines any yard abutting a public street as a front
yard. Section 20-18-2.C.3.b of the Zoning Ordinance states that a detached accessory building
shall not encroach into the required setback for a yard abutting a public street of a corner lot.
This provision would require a detached accessory building on this lot to comply with the 65
foot setback abutting 70th Street. However, in the case of a through lot with the rear lot line
abutting 70th Street (or other collector/arterial street), the detached accessory building is
allowed to encroach into the 65 foot setback provided a 10 foot setback from the property line
is maintained. Within the fence regulations, the side yard abutting a collector street is allowed
to construct a privacy fence up to 6 feet tall subject to a 10 foot setback from the property line
the same as is allowed for a rear lot line of a through lot abutting the collector (or arterial)
street. City staff believes that the exception for detached accessory buildings in the rear yard
of a lot abutting a collector/arterial street should also be applied to the side yard of a corner lot
abutting a collector/arterial street:
(1) Detached accessory structures not exceeding two hundred (200) square
feet in gross floor area shall be setback at least five (5) feet from side or
rear lot lines abutting other lots or ten (10) feet from a rear lot line abutting
a public right-of-way in the case of a through lot or side yard of a corner
lot abutting a collector or arterial street.
(2) Detached accessory structures with a gross floor area larger than two
hundred (200) square feet shall be setback at least ten (10) feet from side
or rear lot lines abutting other lots or twenty (20) feet from a rear lot line
abutting a public right-of-way in the case of a through lot or side yard of a
corner lot abutting a collector or arterial street.
Corner Lot/Local Street. City staff received a request to build a 1,500 square foot detached
accessory building on the lot at the northwest corner of Padgett Avenue and 9311 Circle to the
north of the existing single family home. The existing single family home is oriented to face
Padgett Avenue, but the front lot line as defined by the Zoning Ordinance is the south lot line
abutting 93rd Circle as it has the shortest frontage to a public street. The existing house is
setback approximately 65 feet from Padgett Avenue. Section 20-18-4. Zoning Ordinance
requires that the garage be setback equal to the house for any front yard. Section 20-16-3.D of
the Zoning Ordinance defines any yard abutting a public street as a front yard.
The issue raised by this request is whether the restriction to require that a detached accessory
building not be built forward of the principal building should apply to both the front yard and
the side yard of a corner lot abutting a public street. This issue is unique because the house is
oriented to face the street abutting the side yard of the corner lot and not the front of the lot.
If the house on the subject site were oriented to face 93rd Circle, City staff does not believe that
a detached garage should have to meet the same setback within the side yard of the corner lot
abutting a public street. If the house were off -set within the lot to the minimum setback from
the interior lot line, the side yard abutting the public street would be wider than 35 feet but a
35 foot setback for the detached accessory building along the side lot line abutting the public
street would likely ensure that the detached accessory building would maintain a consistent
building line along that street with the houses to the north.
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1. No accessory use, building, structure or equipment shall be allowed
within a required front yard and, with the exception of an attached
garage, no accessory building may be placed within a front yard,
other than the side yard of a corner lot abutting a public right-of-
way, within the R -C, R-1, R-2, R-3, R -4A, R-4, R-5, R-6 and R-7
Districts.
CONCLUSION
City staff is presenting the information outlined herein for discussion by the Planning
Commission as to whether to proceed with amendments of the Zoning Ordinance.
C. Lori Johnson, City Administrator
Tami Loff, City Clerk
Andy MacArthur, City Attorney
Ron Wagner, City Engineer
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Corner Lot/Collector Street
Exhibit A
Corner Lot/Local Street
Exhibit B