The Norwalk City Council on Thursday approved a first reading rezoning for two parcels on Fifth Lane and initiated two rezoning studies aimed at aligning older neighborhoods with Founders District rules and addressing restrictions on detached garage sizes.

Planning staff said the rezoning request for 1.6 acres behind a house on Fifth Lane would reclassify two parcels from AR (Agricultural Reserve) to RE1 (single-family rural estate) so a new house could be built on a split parcel. "The property owner owns both pieces of it, and they would like to rezone that piece of land ... to RE1 so that a house could be built on it via setbacks," Luke, a planning staff member, said. The council approved the first reading of the ordinance to amend the official zoning map for the parcels listed in the agenda packet.

Separately, the council approved a resolution initiating a referral to the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission to study changes to zoning in parts of Norwalk Knowles, David Gordon Heights and Westwood Estates — an area staff said contains older lots where garage setbacks and orientations more closely match the Founders District. The initiation was framed as a response to a recent public comment from a resident who had difficulty expanding a garage under current zoning.

A second resolution directed staff to examine amending the zoning ordinance to allow detached garages to exceed the square-footage of the primary home in certain circumstances; that item was also referred to planning and zoning for study and a public hearing. Planning staff cautioned that changing setbacks does not alter building-code fire-separation requirements. Luke said a 10-foot separation in existing code reduces additional building-code requirements and that a garage rebuilt at a three-foot setback would likely trigger higher building standards for fire and structural separation.

All three council actions (the First Reading rezoning for the Fifth Lane parcels and the two initiation resolutions to send matters to Planning and Zoning) passed on roll-call votes; staff said planning will hold outreach and informational meetings for affected homeowners before formal rezoning notices are mailed.

Planning staff said outreach and public hearings will follow, and that if residents rebuild after a disaster, some existing lot layouts could make compliance with current code difficult without a rezoning or special approvals.