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<br />, <br /> ~ <br />. ~HILLS <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> DATE: March 16, 2006 PC Agenda Item 3.D <br /> TO: Planning Commission <br /> FROM: James Lehnhoff, City Planner <br /> SUBJECT: PC #06-012 <br /> Front Porch Encroachment <br /> Back2round <br /> In May 2005, the City adopted an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance that allowed front porches to <br /> encroach into the front setback under certain conditions without a variance (Section 6.C.2.d of the <br /> Zoning Ordinance). One of the conditions was that the front porch could not be any closer than 30 feet <br /> to the front lot line. However, in certain parts of the City (e.g, Chatham neighborhood), many ofthe <br /> homes were built 30 feet or less from the lot line, which preeludes them from constructing a front porch <br /> per the current front porch ordinance amendment. Although the amendment did increase flexibility for <br />. many ofthc dwellings in the City, entire neighborhoods are still unable to construct a front porch. <br /> In September 2005, the Planning Commission reviewed an ordinance amendment proposal to allow the <br /> construction of a front porch for homes that are closer than 40 feet to the front lot line in the Chatham <br /> Subdivision. Based on a review of the minutes from that meeting, the Planning Commission was <br /> concerned with the proposal because it singled out a specific neighborhood and may not have resolved <br /> the issue for most of the dwellings in Arden Hills. Staff was requested to revise the ordinancc <br /> amendment with the intent of resolving the issue for virtually all dwellings in the City instead of an <br /> ordinance for a specific neighborhood. <br /> Ordinance Proposal <br /> Staff has prepared an ordinance amendment that addresses the front porch encroachment issue for <br /> virtually all dwellings in the City in a consistent manner. The basic idea of the amendment is to change <br /> from an ordinance that states porches cannot be closer than 30 feet to the front lot line to a more flexible <br /> but consistent standard, The new language determines the extent of the front porch encroachment on the <br /> current distance between the dwelling and the front lot line. Essentially, the closer a dwelling is to the <br /> front lot line, the smaller the allowed encroachment is for the porch. <br /> City of Arden Hills <br /> Planning Cammission Meetingfor April 5, 2006 <br />. \\Metro-inet.us\ardenhills\Planning\Planning Cascs\2006\06-012 Front Porch Ordinance Amendment (PENDlNG)\031606 - PC repol1- Front Porch <br /> Encroachment.doc Page 1 of2 <br />