Weston planning bodies recommend ordinance loosening driveway setbacks in residential districts

The Village of Weston Plan Commission and the village's extraterritorial zoning committee voted Dec. 9 to recommend the village board adopt an ordinance amending chapters 71 and 94 of the municipal code to change residential driveway standards.

Planning staff said the 2015 code had become “extremely restrictive” in places and proposed reducing several side-yard and pavement setbacks to give homeowners more flexibility. Jennifer, planning staff, said, "This is' one that we Jennifer and I worked together with Mark on, trying to clean up, the driveway standards, as they in 2015, code became extremely" restrictive in relation to property lines.

The amendments include a revised table of hard-surface setback requirements that, in single-family small and two-family districts, reduces certain setbacks by roughly half to allow more driveway width and on-site parking. Staff identified the change as intended to address older lots where a six-foot setback made meaningful driveway widening impossible and where residents currently park on lawns.

The ordinance also retains maximum commercial/industrial driveway widths but clarifies an administrative exception. Michael, identified in the discussion as the public-works director, told the commission there are published maximums (for example, 42 feet at the property line/48 feet at the pavement edge for many commercial uses and up to 52/60 feet for industrial warehousing) and that he may approve wider access "based off of those factors" such as vehicle type and street classification. He said a case-by-case rationale would be required for any approval beyond the maximum.

Commissioners debated whether to make setbacks uniform across zoning districts or to allow smaller setbacks on compact residential lots while keeping larger setbacks in rural and agricultural districts. One commissioner said smaller lots often lack the separation needed for a six-foot setback, while another raised snow-storage and runoff concerns if driveways sit close to property lines. Staff said outdoor-storage rules in the draft code (94.12.072(d) as cited in the packet) would reference the same setback table and that change could allow recreational-vehicle and other storage closer to the property line in small-lot areas than in rural districts.

During public comment, Lynn Klein of 6304 Longdale Street described a specific case where the village previously denied an 11-foot driveway expansion; she said she and staff examined her property and that the proposed ordinance changes should allow her to apply for a building/driveway permit in the spring. "We had requested to add 11 feet onto our existing driveway and then take it out to the road," Klein said. "Based off of what you were showing us when we talked to Mark' it should work, but we'll still need to have you apply for it." The planning staff confirmed residents must submit permits after the ordinance is adopted.

The Plan Commission voted to recommend the ordinance to the village board (motion by Zagami; second by Mumper; ayes recorded, motion carried). The ETZ made the same recommendation and carried the motion. The village board will consider the ordinance at a subsequent board meeting.