Planning Commission continues review of proposed oversized garage at 3319 Skyline Drive

The Rapid City Planning Commission on April 24 continued consideration of a conditional use permit for an oversized detached garage at 3319 Skyline Drive to its May 8 meeting.

Staff presented the application as a request to build a 40-by-46-foot detached garage (about 1,840 square feet) southeast of the existing single-family home, with access extended from the existing driveway. The garage would have two double-stall doors and is intended for personal vehicle and hobby storage. Staff recommended denial, citing size, placement and the lack of architectural details and screening that would allow the structure to blend with the scenic character of Skyline Drive.

The commission’s discussion focused on viewshed and placement. Commissioners and staff noted the lot’s steep topography limits buildable area and that the proposed garage would sit higher and closer to the road than the existing house, making it visually dominant when traveling south on Skyline Drive. Staff also pointed to a plat note requiring geotechnical and slope-stability information for any building permit on those lots.

Joshua Coles, who said he is the future owner of the property, told the commission he had consulted general contractors about placement and presented revised renderings the commission had not yet received in final form. Coles said he planned exterior renovations to the house to better match the garage, window openings in the garage for natural light, rock accents on the garage face, and earth‑tone garage doors. He said an earlier plan to place a dwelling unit above the garage was removed to lower the structure’s overall elevation.

Commissioners pressed for clearer, dimensionally accurate renderings and for the applicant to show the structure set into the hill, lower roof lines or other measures to reduce visual prominence. Several commissioners also suggested darker exterior tones, rock accents and additional screening plantings (noting that newly planted trees can take several years to mature). Commissioners noted that, while conditions such as required façade materials or landscape screening can be imposed as permit stipulations, the city has limited ability to police changes (for example repainting) once the building permit is final.

Commissioner Eric Hicus moved to continue the item to the May 8 meeting; Commissioner Karen Bowman seconded. The motion passed.

The commission asked the applicant to return with the revised, scaled renderings showing the lowered elevation, proposed materials and mid-maturity screening trees and to show the site placement clearly in photographic context. The applicant said he would provide the requested materials for the May 8 meeting.

Action: The commission continued the conditional use permit (CUP 25-012) to May 8, 2025, for revised plans and renderings.

What happens next: The applicant will provide revised, dimensionally accurate elevations and a revised site placement image showing proposed screening and tones for commission review on May 8.