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City staff proposes relaxed placement rules for residential generators; council flags flood‑elevation and view concerns
Summary
Planning staff recommended removing a five‑foot maximum distance requirement that forces generators and pool equipment to sit next to the house, allowing equipment elsewhere in rear yards (outside easements). Council members stressed that FEMA BFE elevation and protections for neighbors’ views must still apply and asked staff to craft screening language.
Planning staff told council on April 8 that code changes could allow homeowners greater flexibility in placing residential generators and pool equipment in rear yards. The recommendation would remove a Land Development Code table requirement that restricted such equipment to within five feet of the building envelope.
"We are recommending revising that table to remove the restriction requiring generators to be located no farther than five feet from the building envelope," said Mike, the planning team coordinator. He said the change would permit equipment anywhere in the rear yard outside of utility easements.
Council members asked whether other requirements would still apply, including flood‑elevation rules. Planning staff confirmed that mechanical equipment must meet FEMA BFE elevation (the finished‑floor plus‑one standard) and that they will continue enforcing easement protections. Council members also raised the prospect that elevating equipment to meet flood elevation could put a generator into a neighbor's sightline; staff proposed permitting screening options that would be treated like an enclosure and exempted from standard fence/view rules so the city could allow opaque screening without violating waterfront sightline language, if the council wanted that option.
The staff presentation also acknowledged that pool equipment is treated differently in some flood and screening respects but recommended relaxing the five‑foot placement restriction for pool equipment as well. Staff said they will prepare draft code language that codifies the proposed flexibility while being explicit about existing flood, easement and other permit requirements.
Council members asked staff to ensure any proposed screening does not unfairly obstruct neighbors’ water views and asked for language that makes the interplay of elevation, permitted screening and waterfront view protections clear in the code amendment.
