The Planning & Zoning Commission and Board of Adjustment approved a linked variance and two conditional-use permits affecting 304 South Country Club, allowing vehicle access to an existing detached accessory structure and permitting a new driveway and limited rear-yard parking.

The action came after applicant Jack Hansen (304 South Country Club) told the board the second structure was built under an earlier permit and was intended to be a garage. Hansen said the city previously approved the building permit and that the house and garage were built and landscaped to match the primary residence. He said replatting the two lots into one had already been completed and that, without relief, "the garage becomes an incredibly expensive tool shed," because there is presently no route from the street into the garage without crossing a rear-yard setback.

Board members and staff discussed how codes have changed since the structure was built, the distinction between accessory structures and primary structures, and whether an existing unpaved pad could be treated as legal nonconformance. Staff advised the commission that conditional-use permits would allow construction of a driveway outside of the setback (20 feet from the property line), but that a variance was still needed for the short segment immediately in front of the existing garage door that crosses into the rear-yard setback.

Motion and conditions
A commissioner moved to grant a variance limited to the existing concrete section immediately south of the garage (described at the hearing as approximately a 30-foot-long by 13-foot-wide portion of existing concrete) to permit vehicles to move into the garage. The motion included conditions limiting parking in the setback area: no parking in the setback for longer than 24 hours. The board carried the motion by voice vote.

The commission then approved two related conditional-use permits. The first allowed an additional driveway on the lot’s secondary frontage (the corner lot’s secondary street), with the driveway built outside the 20-foot setback and a maximum curb-cut/driveway width consistent with code (24 feet). The second allowed parking in the rear yard (outside the setback) but included a condition limiting long-term parking there to no more than two vehicles and forbidding parking in the setback for longer than 24 hours. Commissioners emphasized these conditions were intended to prevent conversion of the rear yard into a de facto long-term parking lot and noted that enforcement would be complaint-driven.

What the approvals mean
Taken together, the approvals permit a future buyer to construct a hard-surface driveway outside the 20-foot setback to align with the existing concrete pad and allow vehicles to reach the garage, while the variance authorizes limited vehicle movement over the short concrete segment that is inside the setback. The variance and conditions were recorded by staff as part of the property file and will be enforced under the city's normal complaint-and-inspection process.

Next steps and recordkeeping
Staff said the variance and conditions will be documented in the file, and that building permits or construction would still need to be applied for and would expire if not acted on within the permitting timeframes. Commissioners noted that code changes in future could affect unused approvals if a variance or permit expires through inactivity.

— Quote highlights —
"This structure was permitted and approved," Hansen said, describing the original permit and the building’s finishes and landscaping as evidence the building was built to function as a garage.
"We can define the variance as only for that 30 feet south of the garage door," a commissioner said, urging the board to limit the relief to the minimum necessary to relieve the hardship.

The commission adjourned the Board of Adjustment portion and reconvened as the Planning & Zoning Commission to process the conditional-use permits; all three linked approvals were carried during the same meeting.