07-12-2004 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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F MEMORANDUM To: From: Date: Subject: Ron Moorse Mike Gaffron, Planning Director July 7, 2004 W04-3024B Large Vehicle Storage Zoning Ameiulinent On June 28 Council tabled tlic Large Vehicle Storage amendment to allow staff additional time to investigate alternatives. Under the City ordinances existing prior to December 2003, staffinterpreted the code to mean that one large vehicle was allowed to be stored outside on a property with few restrictions. Under the cun cut code adopted in December 2003, the ability to have a large vehicle stored on a property is not a guaranteed right, nor is it an ‘existing use’ that can be "grandfathered” or recognized as a legal non-conforming use. The new ordinance established performance standards for storage of large vehicles, and to date that ordinance docs not contain any language that allows pre-ex isi ing storage situations to continue in a manner that is not conforming. While ‘grandfathering’ provisions could be added to the code, staff is generally against such an action because it requires inventoiying ;uid recordkeeping, and does not solve pre-existing problem situations which the new perfomiance standards were attempting to resolve. There may be a small variety of options for allowing large vehicles to be stt>red under coiulitions that tlo not meet the cunently established |ki fonnance standaids. Each option has pro's and con ’s. These opti^ins may include 1) revising the performance standards, or 2) granting of a variance to a performance standard where the Council finds that an “undue hardship” is present; or 3) establishing large \ chicle storage .is a conditional use with required perfomiance standards; it could be written such that the performance standards might be relaxed if the negative impacts of such relaxation can be mitigated or are found to be minimal or inconsequential. O To dale. Council has not revised the performance staiulards, as there has not been a majority of Councihnembers who believe the code should he changed. n With regards to variances, the Council may allow a property to be used in a manner otherwise prohibited by the ordinance by varying one or more of the perfomiance stand:uds of the ordinance, iftheCouiicildetenmiiestlut the test of ‘‘undiie hardship” has been met. The stauitorv definition of Undue Hardship is: "Undue hardship"... means the property in question eannot be put to a reasonable use if used under the eonditions alloteed by the official controls, the plight of the \