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North St. Paul Planning Commission recommends council deny variance for 2130 Cowan Place East
Summary
At its June 4 meeting the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council deny a requested variance for a 1,200 sq ft detached garage at 2130 Cowan Place East, with staff finding the application failed to show the practical difficulties required by the zoning code.
The North St. Paul Planning Commission voted unanimously June 4 to recommend that the City Council deny a variance request for 2130 Cowan Place East.
Community development director Roberts presented the application and told commissioners the applicants, owner Tom Griffith and representative Jacob Forest, seek permission to demolish existing garage space and build a 40-by-30-foot detached garage totaling 1,200 square feet on a 41,936-square-foot (0.96-acre) lot. Roberts said the city’s R1 zoning limits accessory buildings to 10% of lot area and to a maximum of 1,000 square feet, and staff concluded the application did not establish the “practical difficulties” required under city code and Minnesota statutes to merit a variance.
Roberts said staff found the proposal “unlikely to have any adverse effect on the health, safety, or general welfare of the city” but noted an alternative path: constructing a detached garage at or under 948 square feet and adding up to two 200-square-foot accessory structures would provide roughly 1,348 square feet of storage while complying with the code. “The application does not establish that there are practical difficulties in complying with the zoning ordinance,” Roberts said.
Commissioners asked whether other options—lot division or different accessory-structure configurations—had been analyzed. Roberts answered that lot division would be possible in some circumstances but that city code does not allow an accessory structure to stand alone without creating a separate primary dwelling; any division would need to meet subdivision, lot-size and utility requirements before construction.
After discussion Commissioner Weise moved and Commissioner Sardo seconded a motion directing staff to prepare a resolution finding facts consistent with denial of the variance. The motion passed on a unanimous voice vote. Chair Blee said the commission’s recommendation will go before the City Council, which is scheduled to consider the item on June 16 for a final determination.
The commission recorded no written or oral public comments on the application prior to the meeting.
