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Appeals officer grants garage addition at 8976 South Sutton Way with setback and height conditions
Summary
An appeals hearing officer approved Jeff Wade’s request to add an attached garage to a single-family home at 8976 South Sutton Way, finding the expansion maintains current nonconforming setbacks; approval is conditioned on a 20-foot southern setback, a maximum 26-foot height, and standard permitting requirements.
The appeals hearing officer for the City of Cottonwood Heights on May 13 granted a permit allowing homeowner Jeff Wade to construct a roughly 41-by-22-foot attached garage at 8976 South Sutton Way, provided the southern setback remains 20 feet and the building height does not exceed the 26-foot flag-lot limit.
City planning staff presented the application and recommended approval with conditions, describing the lot as a flag lot and the house as a legal nonconforming structure pre-dating the city’s incorporation. Planning staff said the addition would “maintain the same setback encroachment which is approximately 10 feet from the west property line” and would not extend any farther west than the current home. Staff also noted the project “will not negatively affect the health, safety, convenience, order, prosperity and welfare of the present and future inhabitants of the city.”
The record included the applicant’s narrative, site plans and photographs and one written public comment submitted by a neighbor (Mickelson) before the hearing. The city forwarded the neighbor’s letter to Wade during the meeting; Wade said the letter ‘‘contains the same things I talked to him about that we got resolved.’’
The planning presentation cited the city’s flag-lot setback rules (12.20.05, subsection f) and the land-use provision governing additions to nonconforming structures (referred to in the hearing as 19 88 0 7 0). Staff told the officer that the fire marshal recommended an offset hammerhead driveway design and requested a letter from Salt Lake Public Utilities to confirm required fire flow as part of building-permit review.
During his brief remarks, Wade described long-term residency on the lot and practical reasons for the addition, saying his family needs more space for larger vehicles and improved driveway access: "we've got larger cars... it's just difficult getting in and out of the garage." The hearing officer emphasized that his decision could not change the city’s setback or height limits and confirmed those conditions on the approval.
The officer stated on the record that "the permit to expand and to add the garage as proposed by the applicant is granted," and directed that written findings and conclusions be prepared and entered into the record as the final order. The applicant must still obtain required building permits and satisfy fire-flow and utility requirements before construction can proceed.
The hearing concluded after the administrative item to approve minutes; no formal vote tally was recorded because the officer issued a decision on the record.
