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Commission approves first reading to raise single‑family height limit to 30 feet, revises coverage rules
Summary
The commission approved first reading of an amendment to the single-family development code, moving a 25-foot height limit to 30 feet (with coverage and terrace clarifications) after rejecting a planning-board measurement change; commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt the modification.
The City Commission voted on first reading to amend the land-development code governing single‑family development, increasing the measured height envelope previously capped at 25 feet to 30 feet and consolidating coverage and floor‑area rules.
City Attorney described the change as restoring an original proposal to raise the maximum roof height to 30 feet and to retain the city's existing measurement method (grade-to-highest roof point) rather than switching to a finished‑floor reference. "Current law is grade to the highest point of the roof... Current law, and it's 25 feet," the city attorney said while summarizing the existing code and the proposed change.
Commissioners debated practical effects — notably that raising finished-floor elevations for floodproofing can reduce usable ceiling height under certain measures — and agreed to revert to the simpler approach that increases the envelope to 30 feet without adopting the planning board's alternate measurement. The ordinance also clarifies how terraces and privacy walls count toward floor area and building coverage. The Commission recorded a unanimous roll-call vote on first reading.
