Had our second presentation before the Architectural Review Board last night. I got
up to the table thinking that it would be a slam dunk to present the changes we had
made that addressed the issues that were brought up before. The previous planner,
Isidro Figueroa, quit recently, and so our project has a new planner. The new planner
has a different interpretation of the city code that deals with space between buildings.

We had been working with the interpretation that the minimum distance between our
garage and our house was 10 feet. The project planner interpreted the code to read
that the minimum distance between buildings was one half the sum of the heights of
both buildings. Our garage is 14 feet tall, the house will be 27 feet tall. (14 +
27)/2 = ~21 feet! The project planner is interpreting the city code to read that we
have to have 21 feet of separation between the garage and the house. There is only
15 feet there now! But Bill quickly rose to the occasion and in discussion with the
planner came up with a plan that by adding a trellis between the house and the garage
the two buildings became one building and thus there is no need for a minimum separation.

That brought up another unexpected issue. On the site plan, the garage was incorrectly
placed within the 5′ side yard setback. This caused the garage to become a ‘legal,
existing, non-conforming building’. Apparently, you cannot attach a non conforming
building to another building. This seemed to kill any plans for the minimum space
issue. With all the unfamiliar jargon, I was not grasping what was being discussed.
At a break in the conversation, I asked Bill what going on. He laid it out in plainer
language. I immediately stated that the garage was, in fact, at least 6 and half feet
from the fence / property line. This brought looks of confusion from everyone. They
returned to the site plan and I re-asserted that the garage was not within
the side yard setback. So, the project planner suggested we delay our Planning Commission
meeting until the ARB could review the new site plan. Another ARB meeting? Before
the Planning Commission? The Planning Commission only meets once a month. What a huge
delay!

But again, Bill saved the day. He suggested that if the garage was not in the setback
the project planner could approve the modified site plan and ARB didn’t need to be
involved. This was acceptable to the ARB, and so we don’t have to go back until we
need final approval. Whew!

I went home and confirmed the measurements of the garage with reference to the side
yard, and yes, there is 6 feet 10 inches from the property line / fence to the wall
of the garage.