Garage Update

The garage is not on hold, but due to the circle driveway becoming a "hot" item on our list we've pushed it back to late summer/early fall. Our appearance before the zoning commission was unsuccessful resulting in us not getting any of our requested variances approved.  This was mainly due in part to an unhappy neighbor, but nonetheless we will still build the garage, it will just be located in a different position on our lot.

Originally we were very disappointed by the outcome of the hearing, but after rearranging the garage on our lot we found a layout that we like better because it will take up less of the yard. The reason we originally wanted to put in the far corner of the lot was to make it the least obtrusive for all of the neighbors. In particular we wanted to keep it as far away from our neighbor who's backyard faces the side of our lot. However, this neighbor happened to be the one who fought our request for variances and now we are forced to locate the garage within the predetermined city setbacks, which ironically forced us to locate it closer to her property. Nonetheless we plan to start design and construction this summer.

Here is the original layout in which we requested the city to allow us to located it as far west (left) on the lot as possible:

Here is the new layout.  The difference in requirements is that the side setbacks (distance from the property lines) is larger in this drawing.

Major Design Item No. 1: Dan’s Garage

Our first major design task is building a garage/workshop on the back of our lot. We’re doing this first so that we have a room to work and store building materials while we are working on the house expansion. Not to mention the current garage is way too small and is already over-stuffed with appliances and materials for the expansion. Once the whole house remodeling is over, the new garage will be a nice workshop for Dan and a place to store his truck. And I’m completely okay calling it Dan’s Garage, it just means that the house will be then be referred to as Wendy’s House.





Before building the garage we have to get approval from the city. We are asking for a number of exceptions to the code and therefore must go through a large submittal process to be approved. The process involved us submitting our plans and request for variances to the city along with a certified letter to all neighbors within a 200 foot radius of the lot, explaining what we were requesting. We have walked around the neighborhood and introduced ourselves to as many neighbors as possible and asked if they had any questions about the future garage. Monday night we will go before the city council and hopefully receive approval. We’ve received a lot of positive encouragement from our neighbors and only a little negative feedback, so we’re crossing our fingers it gets approved.




Here is a rendering of our proposed garage: