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Home My WebLink About2002 03 11 Regular F Amending Regulations Affecting Accessory Buildings COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM F Consent Informational Public Hearing Regular X March 11, 2002 Meeting ~ Mgr. I Attor I Authorizatio REQUEST: The Community Development Department requests the City Commission consider amending regulations affecting accessory buildings. PURPOSE: The purpose of this Agenda Item is to request the Commission instruct staff to review the Code of Ordinances to allow for the establishment of detached garages in the R-U (Rural Urban Dwelling), R-1AAA (Single-Family Dwelling), and R-C1 (Single-Family Dwelling) Districts. APPLICABLE LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY: Chapter 6, Article Ill, Section 6-84 of the Winter Springs Code of Ordinances states, "Accessory building means a detached, subordinate structure, the use of which is clearly incidental to, customarily associated with, and related to the principal structure or use of the land, and which is located on the same lot as the principal structure or use. Accessory buildings shall include storage buildings, tool houses, party houses, bathhouses (used in conjunction with swimming pool) and similar uses...." Chapter 20, Article Ill, Section 20-101 (Division of the City) states, "In order to classify, regulate and restrict the uses ofland, water, buildings and structures, and to regulate and to restrict the height and bulk of buildings and to regulate the area of yards and other open spaces about buildings, the corporate areas ofthe city is divided into districts...." CDDlMarch 6, 2002/4:09 PM March 11, 2002 REGULAR AGENDA ITEM F Page 2 CONSIDERATIONS: · The City Code defines accessory buildings as incidental and subordinate to principal structures, establishes a maximum size of two hundred forty (240) square feet for accessory buildings, and permits no more than two (2) accessory buildings on any given lot in the City. . The City Code considers garages to be incidental and subordinate but does not define them as accessory buildings, since they typically exceed the maximum size allowed. · Garages are only permitted as components of principal structures, when they are attached by a breezeway, passage or otherwise and meet the setbacks established for the principal building by district location. . To allow vehicular access and meet the required setbacks for detached accessory buildings, one-acre minimum lots sizes as established in the R-U, R-1AAA, and R-C1 districts would be required for detached garages. FINDINGS: 1. The City Code defines garages as accessory buildings or a portion of that principal building for the storage of automobiles. 2. The R-U, R-lAAA, and R-C1 districts establish a one-acre minimum lot size which would allow for the construction of detached garages within required setbacks, unlike other residential districts in the City which allows relatively compact lots. FISCAL IMPACT: None. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE: Following initial consideration by the City Commission, this request would be considered at the April 3, 2002 regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Board, and subsequently scheduled for first reading by the City Commission on May 13, 2002. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: A. Staff recommends that the City Commission consider instructing staff to amend the Code of Ordinances to allow detached garages as accessory buildings in the R-U (Rural Urban Dwelling), R-lAAA (Single-Family Dwelling), and R-Cl (Single-Family Dwelling) Districts. COMMISSION ACTION: CDDlMarch 6, 2002/4:09 PM ',,"' MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Commission FROM: Charl~:ngton, AICP, Com n' Development Director March 8, 2002 DA TE: RE: Regular Agenda Item "F" Attached is additional information provided for your review of Regular Agenda Item "F", ~ \' Recently there have been several requests for building permits to construct detached garages. The Existing code stipulates that detached structures larger than 240 square feet shall be attached to the primary structure by a breezeway, passage or otherwise and shall meet the required setbacks. Section 20-1 Definitions Accessory. The term applied to a building or use which is clearly incidental or subordinat~ to and customary in connec~ion with the principal building or use and which is located on the same lot with such principal building or use. Garage, private. An accessory building or a portion of the principle building used for the storage of automobiles of the occupants of the building. A carport is a private garage. Considerations: The defmition section states that a garage is an accessory building or a portion of the principal building used to store automobiles. Accessory structures are incidental and subordinate to the principle building when on the sanle lot. Section 6-84. Accessory buildings. (a) General. Accessory building means a detached, subordinate structure, the use of which is clearly incidental to, customarily associated with, and related to the principal structure or use of the land, and which is located on the same. lot as, the principal structure or use.. Accessory buildings- shall include storage buildings, toolhouses, party houses, bathhouses (used in conjunction with swimnling pool) and similar uses. No more than two (2) accessory buildings shall be allowed on any single lot. Accessory buildings shall not be used as living quarters. (b) Height and size restrictions. The maximum height shall be twelve (12) feet measured from ground level. The maximum size of any structure shall be two hundred forty (240) square feet. (c) Location. All accessory buildings shall be located to the rear of the existing buildings line. ~ r 2 (e) Setback requirements. When an accessory building is attached to a principal structure by a breezeway, passage or otherwise, it shall become a part of the principal structure, and shall be subj ect to the required setbacks of the principal structure. (l) Corner setback - On all corner lots the minimum open sideyard setback shall be that of the principal building. . ... (2) Rear yard setback - Shall be a minimum of six (6) feet. (3) Side yard setback - Shall be that of the lot on which the building is to be located. (4) Easements - If an easement on the lot where the building is to be located is greater than that addressed above, then the easement size shall prevail. No building shall be constructed or placed on an easement. Considerations. Detached subordinate structures such as storage buildings, toolhouses, party houses, bathhouses and similar uses are allowed provided they do not exceed 240 square feet and a height of 12 feet. Accessory structures may be a minimum of 6 feet from the rear property line provided the side yard setback is met. If an accessory building is attached to a principal structure by a breezeway, passage or otherwise it shall be considered to be part of the principal structure and must meet the required yard setbacks. Based on the previous discussion staff recommends the following: o Section 6-84( e) should be amended to either define or eliminate the word otherwise. · Section 20-1 should be amended to state "Garage, private - An accessory building or portion of the building used principally for the storage of automobiles of the occupants of the building. "' ...., 3 Staff further recommends the following options: (1) Leave the code unchanged, Not recommended. The prohibition of detached buildings is a good standard for smaller lot sizes. However, detached buildings are not a problem on large lots where setbacks can be easily maintained and where the sacle of building mass ill'relationship to the property 'is not offensive. A conditional use permit would insure surrounding residents are protected from negative impacts. Additionally the an1biguity in the term "otherwise" in the current code langusage would remain in effect. (2) Amend the code to include garage/carport as a pem1itted use tmder Section 6-84(a). Exempt garages and carports from the maximum size requirements of 240 square feet for accessory buildings. Not recommended since this 'would allow detached buildings on small lots which would become offensive to neighbors and create extreme building mass. (3) Amend the code to allow detached garages and other buildings in the RC-I, RU, and Rl-AAA districts as a conditional use and delete the term otherwis,e from code section 6-84( e). This is recommended for the following reasons: (a) Detached garages and other buildings would be allowed only on lots of one acre or more. (b) Conditional use permits would ensure that surrounding residents are not negatively impacted by the detached building. (c) The term "otherwise" would be eliminated from code section 684(e).