City of Thibodaux Zoning Review - South Central Planning ...

2010 Thibodaux Zoning Reviewrecommending if you turn to page 75 we do recommend that you change or add to your definitionand I’ll read it as verbatim and then the recommendation, it says, “the maximum lot coverage willbe determined by the summation of all covered buildings that are habitable to a maximum of 50%of the subject lot and those structures that are considered accessory and detached, i.e., boathouses, pool houses, garages, etc. shall be allowed to cover a maximum of 30% of the subject lotrear yard. In no case will accessory structures be allowed within the front yard of any district.”What this provides is a landscape inside of cities, historical or not historical district as a means ofkeeping things consistent and we as planners with South Central Planning are recommending tokeep the uniqueness of your city intact that you would enable this to be added as a definition. Mr.Kearns stated I have a quick question for you, this would not also include driveways, patios, openspaces that are… Mr. Belanger replied no, anything habitable and anything that is covered such asa pool house, etc. now when you talk about coverage of impervious concrete or any othersubstances that goes back and falls back to your drainage issues within your respective city orparish that would not technically be covered in this but you or may not have provisions that drivethat. Mr. Breaud stated Kevin there have been I guess questions on you know we have side lotline offsets and rear lot line offsets and front line offsets that that was adequate enough that wecould eliminate this minimum coverage what is your feelings on that, you know on smaller lots thatmay be true, on larger lots that maybe not true. Mr. Belanger replied well as I’ve said you’re notgoing to approve a subdivision with quote, unquote varying lot sizes, you’re going to try to keepsome continuity in the integrity of the subdivision, fortunately the City of Thibodaux has alreadybeen built and many of those particular lots have already been carved out and created. In the useof and I’ll give you a comparison right here in Terrebonne, they do have a maximum lot coveragedefinition that is similar to this but not as specific and they do not allow anything to be built in thefront yard, everything has to be to the rear. They do list accessory structures and their ratio I thinkis 33% or 35%, so we’re minimizing it a little bit more so that you are not overbearing to the size lotthat you have. You know you want to keep greener, you want to make sure that you have someopen spaces and shrubbery, vegetation within the yard. Mr. Breaud stated so it is your opinion orSouth Central’s opinion that it is not in the best interest to eliminate this 50% rule. Mr. Belangerreplied we would recommend against it and that is just because of the aesthetics quality that youhave within your City because if you take it away that means that they would be able to build out tothe edge of the setback requirements and if you have a large lot and let’s say you have a 100 x200 lot in the middle of 75 x 50 lots and that individual elects to build out accordingly it is going toreally stand out as a large complex and it won’t be viewed as a residential structure, it is going tobe obviously I don’t want to use the word sore thumb because it could be something very palatialbut it in my opinion it would be detrimental to the overall aesthetics of the neighborhood. Mr.Kearns stated what happens to the lots that are 50’ and less, what you have in the older parts ofThibodaux, North Thibodaux, in older sections of Thibodaux some are 40 to 50 feet wide, what doyou do with those; what do you tell those people. Mr. Belanger replied well if they’ve already built,they’re grandfathered in, one and if anything were to happen to bring them into non-conformity theywould have to build according to his, they would be limited if they built out the existing lot lines, Ithink the planning commission and the City has to make a decision, how they want to see their Citygrow, do you want to have build out according across the whole entire lot or not, aesthetically Ithink anyone would venture to say that we want to regulate the amount of building on a particularlot. So I mean that is a decision that you all as a planning commission have to make and it is kindof like a theory or practice that you’re going to carry forward throughout the implementation of thezoning regulations so you’re not going to appease every particular situation but you’re making astatement as to how you want to see your City grow from this point forward. Mr. Breaud thenasked if there were any further questions for Mr. Belanger, thank you for your explanation Mr.Belanger, Mr. Badeaux you put this on the agenda, anything more you would want to say.Councilman Chip Badeaux came forward and the City of Thibodaux is basically establishedalready, any new subdivisions that come in you as the Planning & Zoning Commission and theCouncil will approve certain size lots, you’re not going to approve a subdivision that selling 200 footfrontage on one side and 50 foot frontage on the other, so I was simply trying to get this done tomake the process simpler and to also simply say we’re going to use setbacks that are alreadyestablished and the other thing is we were going to try to make more value of the property that webuy today. It is very expensive for a resident to pay for property today, some of these lots are 60and 70 thousand dollars today, commercial is the same thing. So I was just trying to simplify thesituation and trying to make better use of the value of the land that is going to continually climb andyou know as the gentleman said there are some lots in North Thibodaux that we just tore down,some people are going to buy there, they are 50 by 100 you know or 75 by 100 but they’re verysmall so I thought setbacks might fit in place with everybody and everybody would be pleased withthat. Mr. Breaud stated on those small lots though and you go back and you calculate the lotcoverage and you use the offsets you’d have to give up on offsets not to get the lot coverage so onthe smaller lots you’re going to end up with that coverage based upon the offsets. CouncilmanBadeaux stated I think I might have talked about it last time on a 100 by 100 we were only talkingabout a 10% difference you know. So they can go to the setbacks now and that is the other point,no matter what size lot you have know, if that person decides instead of building deep he wants togo five feet to each end, they can; so it is not a complicated issue, it is simply giving the personthat has the property a little bit more value and making this a little simpler for everybody tounderstand that when you build you’re simply using the setbacks, I’d appreciate a yeah vote but dowhat you wish. Mr. Breaud stated are there any other questions for Mr. Badeaux. Mr. Kearnsstated not Mr. Badeaux, I wish we would get someone else to… Mr. Breaud stated yes, we’re279