08-11-1986 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Zoning File 41044 July 17, 1986 Page 2 of 3 28. "Guest House" - An accessory separate dwelling constructed on an existing undivided lot for the sole use of the occupants, including their domestic employees or their non-paying guests, of the primary dwelling. All regular lot requirements shall be met by the quest house. Subd. 3. Conditional Uses. Within any "R-IA" One Family Residential District, no structure or land shallbe used for the following uses except by conditional use permit: G. Guest Houses. A separate dwelling constructed on an existing undivided lot for the sole use of the occupants of the principal buildings, including their domestic employees or their non-paying guests. All regular lot rer-,irements shall be met by the guest house. Discussion The applicants are requesting permission to allow a mother-in-law apartment within their home, which is under construction on Luce Line Ridge (the former Ski-Tonka property). In the past, the City has considered these situations in terms of the guest house use, requiring double the lot area and width to allow ",a second dwelling unit. The guest house lot size standards, based on the definition of guest house and the performance standards set up in 10.20 Subd. 3(G), were clearly not intended to deal with a mother-in-law apartment within a principal residence. With mother-in-law apartments, we are really granting a "use variance' (one of the few use variances allowed by statute) on a "temporary" basis per section 10.08 Subd. 3(A) (7). Staff feels this use variance should be reviewed in terms of its potential to become a totally separate dwelling unit based on the floor plan. This has been the Council's concern on previous applications such as Scherven on Casco Point Road, Beck on North Arm Drive, and Pula on Webber Hills Road. The CUP process also allows the City to place a time limit on the mother-in-law apartment use. Specific Floor Plan Review In this case, note that the main entryway to the house is open, hence the occupant of the mother-in-law apartment would have to go through the main house to enter the apartment. Note that the garage stairway leading to the basement leads to a landing with a door going directly into the apartment. To be consistent with Council's past action on the Scherven and Pula applications, the doorway directly to the guest apartment at the bottom of the stairs would be eliminated so that the apartment occupant would have to travel through the utility room and basement to enter the apartment. Allowing the outside walkout door to remain would be consistent with the Scherven application. Finally, in terms of the "temporary" use variance, the City could limit this use to the current owners (requring a new CUP for any future