Planning Board forwards positive opinion to council on excluding low patios from lot-coverage calculation

The Planning Board voted to forward a positive opinion to the City Council on proposed amendments to Chapter 17.78 to exclude some raised and sunken patios from lot building-coverage calculations.

Planning staff explained the amendment would exclude patios "up to 32 inches tall or deep" in several residential zones and "up to 48 inches tall or deep" in larger‑lot zones, aligning the lot-coverage trigger with the height that typically requires a building permit, staff said. "One of the things that's traditionally counted is as you put in a retaining wall, to build a patio or to create a sunken patio... Around that, it becomes coverage," the staff member said, adding the proposal uses the building‑permit threshold to draw the line.

Board members discussed how the amendment relates to impervious-surface rules and technical review. Staff noted imperviousness remains a separate calculation and that the city will keep an 80% lot-coverage placeholder until a best-practice number is selected. "It is related to it, but it's a different calculation as part of the zoning ordinance," the staff member said.

Members also raised the amendment's potential effects on accessory dwelling units: one member said excluding decks from coverage could preserve room for future ADUs that otherwise might be precluded. The board adopted the staff report as findings of fact and then voted to forward a positive opinion of consistency with the comprehensive plan to the City Council.

The amendment will now go to City Council for consideration; the board's recommendation and the staff report will accompany the proposal.