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MEMORANDUM DATE: TO: 8 April 1992 Roseville Planning Commission FROM: Philip Carlson, AICP King of Kings Lutheran Church/Code Interpretation for Height Variance RE: ~~\ Every week there are projects submitted for review by the City Staff that require our interpretation of the Code and whether variances, Special Use Pennits, or some other review by the Plamring Commission and City Council is required. Most of these are clear cut, and easily interpreted. Occasionally the issues are not so straightfolWard. One such project is the proposed addition to King of Kings Lutheran Church on Dale Street, adjacent to Concordia Academy and the new Rottlund housing project The question involved in the King of Kings project is whether the the addition requires a height variance or not. Our interpretation is that it does not require a variance, but we wanted to share with you our analysis and reasoning, so that you would be aware of this project as it proceeds, and also how a similar case might be handled in the future. The Code sets a 30-foot height limit in the R-t district, but the addition includes a new worship space that will be 38 feet high at the tallest point. This highest point is not a "church spire", "belfry", "cupola", or "dome", and cannot be exempted from the height limitation. According to Code definition: "Building height is to be measured from the average established curb level or from the average ground level at the building line, whichever is higher, to the top of the cornice of a flat roof, the deck line of a mansard roof, and to the mean distance of the highest gable on a pitched or hipped roof'. In other words, a pitched roof would meet the height limit if the eave line of the highest gable started 20 feet off the ground and its peak were 40 feet off the ground. The average, or "mean distance", is 30 feet and the roof would meet the intent of the Code. The sketches at the right illustrate this. 30,5 ~ 20' -- .--- Code. Flat Roof Pitched Roof King of Kings. The Kings of Kings addition has a roof that consists of several steeply-pitched gables on three sides, but which together support an area of flat roof 'perched' above these gables. The site plan and elevations are attached, with my illustration above of how the addition might look in three dimensions. Our interpretation is that the intent of the Code relative to height is to limit the perceived height of structures, not their absolute height A pitched roof slopes down to eye level, mitigating the effect of the highest peak, in a way that a flat roof on top of a vertical wall cannot For King of Kings, we believe the elevations clearly show that the perception of the new addition will be as a gabled or hip roof. Even though the highest part of the roof is flat, this would not be apparent to an average viewer. The mean distance from eave line to peak is 25 feet (average of 12' + 38'). The project meets the Code and does not need a variance.