08-28-2003 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment

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Staff Report DecembeM, 2003 Variance Request #V03-004 Requested by: ' James W. Liles, Sr., Property Owner Requested for: Enlargement of a Residential Garage That Would Occupy More Than 25 Percent of the Rear Yard Location: 402 South 5P Street (Block 7; Lots 31,32 & N. 8' of Lot 30; La Porte) Zo_ _ nine: Low Density Residential (R 1) Background: The applicant is requesting additional storage area by enlarging his existing garage. The property. is an existing residential home site located in the old part of town: (See Exhibit A). When reviewing his request, Staff noted two zoning regulations that were applicable and need to be addressed. The property in question is 58' X 125' in size and as shown -on the January 2003 survey a home and garage currently exist on the property. (See Exhibit B) Since the property is a corner lot, the first issue deals with pre-existing, nonconforming structures. The survey identifies that both the home and garage are located five-foot (5) off the public right-of- way in lieu of the required ten -foot (10') side yard setback As a result, both structures are considered pre-existing, nonconforming structures. Although. both structures are pre-existing, nonconforming, based. on the applicant's proposal, only the garage structure is being addressed. Zoning Section 106-262(g) states "an enlargement to a structure can occur if the Board determines that such enlargement will not result in an increase in the degree of nonconformity with the regulations and development standards of the district in which it is located". (See Exhibit Q. The applicant's proposes to add a 6' X 17' storage addition to the southwest corner of the detached garage. As proposed, the addition would be located 4.9' off the rear property line (minimum setback is 3') and 12' off the West C Street right-of-way (minimum setback is 10'). Staff recognizes that the enlargement of the structure would result in a decrease in the degree of nonconformity.. Therefore, this issue does not appear to present a stumbling block in the development. The second and more critical issue addresses lot coverage. Zoning Section 106-741(eXl) states "no accessory building or carport, garage for single-family dwellings shall occupy more than 25 percent of a rear yard nor exceed 1,000 square feet of floor area". (See Exhibit. D). Based on the location of the existing home, the rear yard is 37' X 58' or 2,146 square feet in size. Utilizing 25% factor, the maximum size garage allowed would be 536.5 square feet of floor area. The applicant's proposal results in 602 square feet of garage floor area or an overage of 65.5 square feet. This means the garage would occupy approximately 28% of the rear yard in lieu of the maximum 25%.