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Planning Commission Meeting – Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance Revisions – Work Session #1 – February 5, 2025 9 Setbacks Requirements in Other Metro Cities City Front Yard Setback (ft) Corner Side Yard Setback (ft) Crystal 30 10 Columbia Heights 25 12 Edina 30 15 Golden Valley 35 May not reduce the remaining building envelope to less than 27 feet in width Little Canada 30 20 Minneapolis 20 8 Richfield 30 12 Robbinsdale 30 15, or 5 for 40 foot wide lots Roseville 30 10 St. Louis Park 25 15, or 9 for lots less than 60 feet wide Vadnais Heights 30 20 Mounds View 30 30 New Brighton 30 30 Shoreview 25 25 Arden Hills 40 40 The main reason to keep the corner side yard setback as large as the front yard setback is to maintain a wide viewshed from the public right-of-way. A primary reason to reduce the corner side yard setback is the argument from homeowners that this yard feels and functions as a side yard (not a front yard) and that by keeping it at 40 feet, the area on the lot in which they can build is limited compared to other lots on the block where the interior side yard setback may be as little as 5 feet. A secondary reason is that repeated variances to request a reduction of this requirement cost property owners and the City time and money. HKGi believes it in the interest of the city to reduce the corner side yard setback to 20 feet for single- unit dwellings, duplexes, and twinhomes in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 zoning districts. Looking at the past four variance requests that were made, two would have been allowed by right if this standard had been in place, while the remaining two requests were large enough they would still have needed to come to the City for consideration.