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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 15 Discussion of Miscellaneous Residential Front Yard Issues center of Good AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET Meeting Date: August 16, 2005 Item # <S Reviewed By: Contact Name: Catherine Armstrong Department Director: Contact Number: 905-3100 X1020 City Manager: /j Subject: Discussion of miscellaneous residential front yard issues Background Summary: Several members of the City Commission have brought to staff's attention their concern regarding fences and front yard parking problems in residential areas. Staff felt that it was appropriate to include several other issues affecting residential areas that periodically cause concerns. These include garage conversions; canopy parking structures; boats, RVs and campers parked in the front yard; and the placement of mechanical equipment on corner lots. Staff has researched these issues and conducted an inventory of the Land Development Code and City Code of Ordinances to determine if future language amendments are necessary to alleviate these problems. Included in this report are staff's findings and recommended actions. Issue: Should the City Commission direct staff to prepare amendments to the Land Development Code and City Code of Ordinances in response to miscellaneous residential front yard issues? Recommendations: Various recommendations—see staff report Attachments: Staff report Financial Impact: None Type of Item: ❑ Public Hearing For Clerk's Dept Use: ❑ Ordinance First Reading ❑ Consent Agenda ❑ Ordinance First Reading ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Resolution ® Regular Agenda ❑ Commission Approval ❑ Discussion&Direction ❑ Original Document/Contract Attached for Execution by City Clerk 0 Original Document/Contract Held by Department for Execution Reviewed by City Attorney ❑ N/A Reviewed by Finance Dept. ® N/A N/A Reviewed by ( ) ❑ Mayor �becenter of GoodL,,J Commissioners S. Scott Vandergrift - ,r.e s_ ''- Danny Howell,District 1 Scott Anderson, District 2 City Manager _ '�`'_& Rusty Johnson, District 3 Robert Frank Nancy J.Parker. District 4 STAFF REPORT TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners FROM: Catherine Armstrong, Planning Manager i h THROUGH: Russ Wagner, AICP, Community Development Director DATE: August 5, 2005 RE: Discussion of miscellaneous residential front yard issues ISSUE: Should the City Commission direct staff to prepare amendments to the Land Development Code and City Code of Ordinances in response to miscellaneous residential front yard issues the City has faced relative to front yard parking; garage conversions; canopy parking structures; front and side yard fences; boats, recreational vehicles (RV), campers parked in front yard; and placement of mechanical equipment on corner lots? BACKGROUND: Several members of the City Commission have brought to staffs attention concerns regarding fences and front yard parking problems in residential areas. Staff felt that it was appropriate to include several other issues affecting residential areas which periodically cause concerns. This includes garage conversions; canopy parking structures; boats, RVs and campers parked in the front yard; and the placement of mechanical equipment on corner lots. Staff has researched these issues and conducted an inventory of the Land Development Code and City Code of Ordinances to determine if future language amendments are necessary to alleviate these problems. Included in this report are a summary of staff's findings and recommended actions. A visual presentation of these issues will be made at the City Commission meeting to better describe each of these situations. DISCUSSION: 1. Canopy covered parking structures The Land Development Code currently has a provision in Section 5-4 F, Open Space Requirements of Zoning Districts, as follows: "Accessory buildings which are not a part of the main building may be built in the rear yard, but shall not cover more than thirty percent (30%) of the rear yard." If the canopy were attached to the principle structure, it would have to comply with the front yard setback requirements of the residential zoning district. If detached, the canopy must comply with Section 5-6 B, Location of Accessory Uses and Structures, in the Land Development Code as follows: "In residential districts, accessory uses and structures shall not be located in front or side yards but may be located in rear yards; provided, however, that accessory structures for the housing of persons, such as guest houses and garage apartments, shall not be located in any required yard. On double frontage, through or corner lots in residential districts, accessory uses and structures shall not be located in either of the required front yards but may be located in one but not both side yards. No separate accessory building shall be located within five (5) feet to the rear lot line and five (5) feet to the side lot line; provided, however, a shed no larger than 120 square feet and not located within a utility or drainage easement may be located no closer than three (3) feet to the rear lot line and three (3) feet to the side lot line." In any case the canopy would require a building permit. Staff believes that the current Land Development Code prohibits accessory structures in the front and side yards and that the Building Code dictates structural requirements for wind loading. Therefore staff does not recommend any changes to the Land Development Code. 2. Boats, Recreational Vehicles (RV) and Campers parked in front yard: The Land Development Code currently has a provision for these vehicles located in Section 6-4 H (5)(b), Off-street Parking Standards, as follows: "Not more than one camping or travel trailer or hauling trailer per family living on the premises shall be permitted, and said trailer shall not exceed twenty-four (24) feet in length or eight (8) feet in width; and further provided that said trailer shall not be parked or stored for more than forty-eight (48) hours unless it is located behind the front yard building line. A camping or travel trailer, or camper vehicle, shall not be occupied either temporarily or permanently while it is parked or stored in any residential district, except when it is located in an authorized mobile home park." Staff believes the Land Development Code partly addresses this issue, however it is suggested to amend the language to further clarify the types and sizes of vehicles. Therefore, staff recommends amending the Land Development Code to amend Section 6-4 H (5)(b) as follows: "Not more than one camping or travel trailer OF; hauling trailer; recreational vehicle (RV); boat or camping vehicle per family living on the premises shall be permitted, and said trailer vehicle shall not exceed twenty-four-(-241 thirty-six (36) feet in length or eight (8) feet in width; and further provided that said trailer vehicle shall not be parked or stored for more than forty-eight (48) hours unless it is located behind the front yard building line and screened with a six (6) foot high opaque fence with gate. A _. . _ - _ - • _ , _ -. _ _ _ :, Any such vehicle shall not be occupied either temporarily or permanently when it is parked or stored in any residential district, except when it is located in an authorized mobile home park. Additionally, construction and lawn equipment trailers and vehicles shall not be parked in the front yard or the road right-of-way. These must be parked behind the front building setback and screened with a six (6) foot opaque fence with gate." Further, the City Code of Ordinances, Section 168-6 C states the following: "The parking of commercial vehicles on privately owned streets and road rights-of-way or any private property which is zoned residential, including planned unit developments, as established by the Land Development Code for the city, shall be prohibited except for loading and unloading purposes or as otherwise permitted by the Land Development Code. For purposes of this section, a `commercial vehicle' is any truck and other vehicle having a rated capacity of over 1 ' tons." Staff believes that the City Code of Ordinances adequately address this issue, however it is suggested to amend this language to further clarify the amendments proposed to the Land Development Code. Therefore, staff recommends amending Section 168-6 C of the City Code of Ordinances as follows: "The parking of commercial vehicles; camping/travel trailers; hauling trailers; recreational vehicles (RV); boats or camping vehicles on privately owned streets and public road rights-of-way or any private property which is zoned residential, including planned unit developments, as established by the Land Development Code for the city, shall be prohibited except for loading and unloading purposes or as otherwise permitted by the Land Development Code. Additionally, construction and lawn equipment trailers and vehicles shall not be parked in the front yard or the road right-of-way. These must be parked behind the front building setback and screened with a six (6) foot opaque fence with gate. For purposes of this section, a `commercial vehicle'is any truck and other vehicle having a rated capacity of over 1 %tons. 3. Vehicles overhanging on sidewalks in residential neighborhoods The City Code of Ordinances currently has a provision for this located in Section 168-4 A (1), Parking, Stopping and Standing Prohibited, as follows: "No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic control device, in any of the following places: (1) On a sidewalk." Section 168-4 B further states the following: "Whenever a police officer finds a vehicle to be stopped, standing or parking in violation of any of the foregoing provisions of this section, the officer is authorized to require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move the vehicle so as not to be in violation of any of the foregoing provisions of this section." Finally, Section 168-4 C states the following: "Whenever a police officer finds an abandoned or unattended vehicle to be stopped, standing or parked for more than 48 hours in violation of any of the foregoing provisions of this section and a warning sticker has been conspicuously placed on the vehicle for at least 48 hours pursuant to Section 165-6 of the Code, then the officer is hereby authorized to provide for the removal of any such vehicle to the nearest garage or to the storage area of any person, firm or corporation who has contracted with the City as provided in Section 165-9 of the Code." Staff believes the City Code of Ordinances adequately addresses cars overhanging sidewalks, therefore staff does not recommend any changes to the City Code of Ordinances. 4. Parallel Street Parking in grassed easement between the sidewalk and street The Code of Ordinances currently has no provision for enforcing parking in the grassed easement located between the sidewalk and street. Therefore, it is recommended to amend the City Code of Ordinances to add the following to the list of places where parking is prohibited: "The grassed area between the sidewalk and street (boulevard)." 5. Placement of mechanical equipment on corner lots The Land Development Code does not currently have any provisions dictating the placement of mechanical equipment for single-family dwellings located on corner lots. This equipment results in screening issues on the side of single family dwellings exposed on corner lots. Therefore, it is recommended to amend the Land Development Code to add a provision: "The placement of mechanical, air conditioning, emergency generators, propane tanks or pool filtering equipment for single family dwellings located on corner lots shall be prohibited within both front yard areas adjoining the street." 6. Front Yard Parking The Land Development Code currently has a provision in Section 6-4 H (2), Off-street Parking Standards, as follows: "Residential driveways, parking spaces, motor courts, sidewalks, etc: Any residential sidewalk, driveway, parking spaces or other vehicle circulation area whether of a paved surface such as asphalt, concrete or brick, or of an unpaved surface such as gravel, mulch or dirt shall be set back at least two (2) feet from the side or rear property lines." In addition, the Land Development Code provides that residential zoning districts (R-1, R-1A, R-1AA, R-1AAA and R-2) contain a maximum impervious area of fifty percent (50%). In an attempt to alleviate the existing problem of parking in front yards with virtually no restriction, it is suggested to amend the Land Development Code to include provisions similar to the following: "No parking of vehicles shall be allowed in the front yard other than on designated hard surfaced parking areas. In no case shall this designated hard surfaced parking area increase the maximum impervious area of the entire lot to greater than fifty percent(50%), and all parking areas shall be limited to no more than 50% of the front yard area. On corner lots, front yard parking shall not extend into the required twenty-five (25) foot visibility triangle." 7. Garage conversions to living space The Land Development Code currently has a provision in Section 6-4 G (1)(a), Off-street Parking Standards, as follows: "Dwelling, single-family or duplex: Two (2) parking spaces for each separate dwelling unit within the structure." Garage conversions do not appear to be a concern in the newer subdivision developments because this is prohibited by most governing neighborhood covenants and deed restrictions. Most of the conversions that occur appear to be illegal conversions that do not allow the Building Division an opportunity to inspect. If there is a need for additional living space, it is recommended that the expansion occur in the rear of the property, if applicable setbacks can be met. Allowing these conversions could also exacerbate the front yard parking issue. To clarify the current Land Development Code provision, staff recommends an amendment as follows to Section 6-4 G (1)(a): "Two (2) parking spaces for each separate dwelling unit enclosed under roof within the structure." Additionally, staff is not proposing to amend the Land Development Code regarding the prohibition of garage conversions to living space, but is asking the City Commission for direction on this issue. If the City Commission wishes, language could be added to the Land Development Code that would allow homes with multiple garages (over the standard two-car garage) to be converted to living space and would apply to constructing additional garage space to provide for the two enclose spaces, either attached or detached to the principle structure in the front or rear of the building, provided that all applicable setbacks are met. If the Commission wishes, the new language could be as follows: "The City of Ocoee permits the conversion of garage structures to living space so long as two parking spaces are provided within a garage." 8. Fences in front and side yards The Land Development Code is already rather liberal on front yard fences; many jurisdictions do not permit fences in front yards. In Section 5-4 B, Open Space Requirements of Zoning Districts, it states the following: "Fences, walls and hedges in residential districts may be erected in any required yard, or along the edge of any yard, provided that street corner visibility requirements of this Code shall be met, and provided further that no wall, fence or hedge located in front of the front building line shall exceed four (4) feet in height, and no other wall or fence shall exceed six (6) feet in height." Further it states in Section 5-4 H, the following: "On any corner lot on which a front and side yard is required, no wall, fence, sign, structure or any plant growth which obstructs sight lines at elevations between two (2) feet, six (6) inches and ten (10) feet above any portion of the crown of the adjacent roadway shall be maintained in a triangle formed by measuring from the point of intersection of the front and exterior side lots lines a distance of twenty-five (25) feet along the front and side lot lines. And connecting the points so established to form a safe sight triangle on the area of the lot adjacent to the street intersections of minor and collector streets. The same distance for the intersection of any street with an arterial street as defined in the Comprehensive Plan shall be forty (40) feet." Historically staff has interpreted the Land Development Code to prohibit brick and/or masonry walls from being constructed within any easements, because they are considered a permanent vertical structure. Staff does not recommend any changes to the required front yard setback for fences on corner lots. The existing code works well in the majority of new installations, however if the City Commission does desire to make a change on corner lots, the following provision will probably take care of most citizen concerns. "On corner lots, when single family dwelling units are designed back to back and where visibility is not affected, fences may be allowed within the side front yard as long as a minimum setback of fifteen (15) feet is maintained from property line and in no case shall they extend along more than %the depth of the house." Additionally, the Commission may wish to add the following language to address existing fences: "Fences erected within the City of Ocoee prior to January 1, 2000, shall be considered to be grandfathered. It is the burden of the property owner to provide documentation to the City that the existing fence meets this standard. Grandfathered fences shall be allowed to be repaired and/or replaced in the location they were constructed in, except that safe sight triangles on corner lots must be maintained for all replacement fences." STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Mayor and City Commission provide direction to staff on the eight issues cited so that appropriate amendments to the City Code can be formulated for enactment.