Nov. 23 -- GRAND FORKS -- Two changes to Grand Forks' land development code are aimed at limiting the number of variances granted by the city.

The proposed changes to the amount of accessory building area and sideyard setbacks in residential zones are currently in the middle of the process of becoming an ordinance, having

had their first approvals by the Grand Forks City Council

and Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Commission. Over the last decade, the city granted 130 variances for accessory building areas and 43 variances for sideyard setbacks, the second- and third-most granted variances. The most granted variance in the last decade is for impervious surface area, with 165 variances.

"The theory behind changing code is once you grant a certain number of variances, you've set a precedent and you really have no basis to deny a future variance because you've approved so many others before it," Grand Forks Planning Manager Andrea Edwardson told the Planning and Zoning Commission Nov. 6. "Then you really should change code to avoid that variance process."

The two separate code changes would predominately affect residential zones across the city.

The city is proposing to eliminate the "20% rule" for minimum sideyard dimensions by standardizing the minimum dimensions of setbacks of sideyards regardless of lot width. Under current code, residential properties need to have sideyard on both sides of the principal building that equals at least 20% of the average width of the property. This means that for lots over 65 feet, they have additional setback requirements on top of their minimum.

"Once you get above that 65 (foot width) and the larger you get the more dramatic it is," Community Development and Planning Director Ryan Brooks said. "It just didn't make any sense."

For example, on a residential property with an 80-foot width, the total minimum sideyard setback needed is 16 feet total. With a minimum width of seven feet, if a building was built to maximize its size, one sideyard could be the minimum width but the rest would have to be made up on the other sideyard -- one seven-foot sideyard and one nine-foot sideyard. The change eliminates the ratio math of having different sideyard widths to meet the 20% requirement.

The changes wouldn't necessarily mean that houses are getting bigger since they still need to meet the city's impervious surface codes, but rather, it gives the option for a wider home. Many developments in the city are granted a variance negating the 20% rule and fall back to the minimum sideyard setback of six to 10 feet depending on lot width.

"There's a baseline requirement of seven feet in almost every case and the only part that we're modifying or striking is this 20% on top of that," Planning and Zoning Commissioner Andrew Budke said during the Nov. 6 meeting. "Frankly I think we're just eliminating some confusing language."

The other code change would increase the allowable square footage of accessory building areas, like garages or sheds, in residential zones. The change would increase the allowable size of a garage from 1,000 square feet to 1,200 square feet in properties under 10,000 square feet and would allow garages in properties over 10,000 square feet to a maximum of 1,400 square feet up from 1,200 square feet. The changes better match what the cities of Bismarck and Fargo allow in their city code.

"We're handing out so many variances, even other cities have already expanded there," Brooks said. "We're just trying to keep up with the times and where things are going in the marketplace as well."

The code changes still need their second approvals by the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council and a public hearing on Dec. 16 before becoming code.