12-29-11 Zoning Board of Adjustment

Browse Search

Staff Report December 29, Variance 11® 1 Reguested by : Maury Rubenstein, Property Owner Re uested for Additional height of 4' /z ft. exceeding the maximiu -n 15' allowed for an Accessory Building Location 1718 Roscoe Street (Block 27; 12.5 feet of lot 13 & all of lots 14 through 24, Bay Front Addition, Town of La Porte) znn° e Low Density Residential (R -1) Bads ound The applicant is requesting additional height of four and a half feet for an accessory building exceeding the maximum fifteen feet allowed per Section 106- 741(b) of the Code of Ordinances. The purpose is to construct a building garage for accommodating a large boat on trailer which would be over the height limit for accessory buildings. The subject property is a proposed residential home site located in the Bayfront Addition to La Porte by the Galveston Bay. Several years ago, an old house /structure was demolished by the owner. Now, he is developing a new residence with an attached and a detached garage on one acre of land . located at 1718 Roscoe Street. Proposed house plan shows a circular drive with a detached garage along Roscoe Street. An existing slab along Roscoe Street has been kept intact for proposed detached garage. In addition to new house and detached garage, the owner is proposing to build an accessory structure to keep a larger boat on the property. Proposed structure is approximately 27'x 37' and will be located in the rear at the southwest corner of Roscoe Street and South Lobit Avenue. Furthermore, it is more than 30' behind the main structure and has 10' setbacks at the rear and side property lines. An access to the accessory building will be from South Lobit Avenue. Proposed building neither exceeds 1,000 sq. ft. of floor area nor occupies more than 25% of rear yard in compliance with the Code of Ordinances. In addition, accessory building is designed to aesthetically blend with the primary structure and will incorporate same building materials, Furthermore, the height of an accessory building will be the same as of primary structure. This property is among the waterfront properties. La Porte's waterfront properties are unique in the sense that most of the rear yards face the street. The old town of La Porte was platted as 25'x125' lots in the 19 century. The property in question consists of twelve of the same sized lots. The house will sit on six lots with a detached garage being located in the rear yard along Roscoe Street. Typically, the garages were built close to the street to maximize green spaces. In addition, the streets are narrow and few blocks long due to the numerous bayous out falling into the Galveston Bay.