The applicant would like to build a shop in his back yard with access along the side of his house and front yard driveway access.  A platted alley does not exist behind his lot.  His property is zoned R-S, Suburban Residential District.  The existing rear yard building set-back within the R-S District is 40 feet, and does not distinguish between permitted residential uses and accessory uses.  Due to the excessive building set-back requirement of 40 feet, the applicant cannot fit his proposed accessory structure on his existing lot.

This situation has arisen several times in the City's R-S zoning district.  When reviewing plot plans for accessory structures for detached garages, shops and sheds, City staff often rejects the proposed plot plan due to the excessive size requirement of the 40-foot rear yard set-back in the R-S district.

The R-S district is the only residential zoning district that does not provide a separate building rear yard set-back requirement for accessory structures.  City Staff believes this is an oversight, since separate rear yard building set-backs for accessory structures are defined within the City's R-R, Rural Residential Zoning District, which is a less dense zoning district.  (Minimum lot size in the City's R-S district is 22,000 sf vs. 43,560 sf in the City's R-R district.)

City staff supports a zoning text amendment to to replace Section 6.c.(6)(c) of the City's Zoning Ordinance which currently reads:

(c)  Rear Yard.  Forty feet (40'); provided however, that a garage entered from an alley may be located not closer than ten feet (10') from the alley line.

with the following, amended text:

(c)  Rear Yard.

(1) Structures Containing Permitted Uses.  Forty feet (40').

(2) Structures Containing Accessory Uses Only.  Ten Feet (10').