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Ron Moorsc July 7,2004 Page 2 < 5 landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner, and the variance if granted will not alter the essential character of the locality. The Council has broad discretion to grant variances, but may not grant a variance for any use not pennitted in the zoning district. In this case, the “Use" is a private garage or parking space, which is a listed accessory use in the R districts. Use of a private garage or parking space to store a large veliicle on residential property is allowed subject to meeting the perfonnance standards established for that use in the code. □ Witli regards to conditional uses, a conditional use is, by definition, a use that is permitted in a zoning district if certain established conditions or ‘perfonnance standards’ are met. If the performance standards established by code arc met, the Council generally must grant the CUP. Tliercfore, to ensure that the possible negative impacts of a given conditional use are addressed and accounted for, the performance standards must be carefully crafied. Also note that CUP’s arc issued for a particular use. not for a particular person. If a property owner is granted a CUP, that CUP goes with the property and the new owner can continue the use if all the original conditions are met. If Council chooses to proceed toward an amendment of the code to allow large vehicle storage as an allowed conditional use in the 2-acrc and 5-acre zones, we would be sending the message that such storage is generally acceptable in those zones, subject to meeting the perfonnance standards. But if the perfonnance standards then provide limitations so strict that few properties can qualify for the CUP, we shouldn ’t be allowing the use via CUP (or we should be ready for more vari.nice requests). For example, we probably should not allow storage of large vehicles in the 2-acre zone via CUP if one of the perfonnance standards is lO have a 5-acre lot, since a majority of 2-acre zone properties won ’t meet the 5-acrc standard. However, if the CUP would be made available to only existing uses, then >ve w ould not be opening this up any wider than necessary to deal w ith existing situations. Please let me know how you think w e should proceed, and w hclhcr this item should be placed on the council ’s July 12 agenda.