Planning board backs larger garages on big lots
SALEM
The city Planning Commission voted Monday to support a proposed ordinance allowing for a bigger detached garage on a property based on lot size.
City council already had first reading on the measure, then sent the proposal to the Planning Commission for its approval. Now the ordinance will come back to city council for second and third readings required for passage.
Planning & Zoning Officer Chip Hank requested the change to increase the maximum square footage for accessory buildings from 1,500 square feet to 2,500 square feet, dependent on the size of the lot. He had received requests from residents with larger lots who wanted to build bigger garages.
Hank explained that the square footage for accessory buildings is the amount permitted for all the accessory buildings on a property combined, not individually. For example, if someone had a property large enough for the maximum allowable square footage of the proposed 2,500 square feet, they could have more than one accessory building, but the total square footage allowed for those two buildings combined would be 2,500 square feet. Also, he said the accessory building must be at least 10 feet from the main house.
Commission member Barb Loudon questioned if people would understand how big of a lot they have to have to reach that maximum amount, with Hanks referring to a table he attached showing the size of building allowed for a certain lot size. To qualify for the maximum of 2,500 square feet, the property would have to measure 1.85 acres.
Mayor John Berlin commented that with 1,500 square feet, that was enough for a detached two-car garage, with an extra 1,000 square feet, they could have a detached three-car garage.
Chairman John Panezott said families are no longer just having one or two vehicles. Both parents have cars, the kids have cars and the current ordinance limits them, even if they have a large lot.
Commission member Bob Merry asked if the square footage was just looking at the ground floor or two stories. Hank said it depended on the ground floor, prompting Loudon to ask if there was a limit on how many stories. Hank said there was a maximum number of feet for the height.
Hank had written an email to city council’s Rules & Ordinances Committee chair, Councilwoman Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey, regarding his proposal. He wrote out a progressive increase in accessory building size based on lot size by giving an additional 200 square feet of building for every 12,000 square feet of lot above the current maximum 21,000 square foot lot size. For example, someone with a 33,000 square foot lot could have a building that’s 1,700 square feet or someone with an 81,000 square foot lot (about 1.85 acres) could have a building that’s the maximum 2,500 square feet.
“This would accommodate residents with much larger lots while also bringing in tax money on the larger buildings,” Hank wrote in the email.
The Rules & Ordinances Committee recommended the change he proposed. Last July, council approved increasing the maximum accessory building size from 1,000 square feet to 1,500 square feet based on the size of the lot, also utilizing a progressive scale.
mgreier@salemnews.net