Avenues pushing height limits

A few Avenues residents told the Salt Lake City Council on Thursday night that a community council-approved ordinance for limits on garages and storage sheds makes more sense for the area than the planning department's proposed higher roof and wall heights for those buildings.

The City Council has a little more than a month to adopt an ordinance that would tighten the so-called monster home restrictions in the Avenues and Capital Hill neighborhoods.

Most of the proposed limits have been in place since the City Council passed the ordinance in mid-December. As part of that ordinance, the council gave certain neighborhoods — notably the Avenues and Wasatch Hollow — six months to craft permanent versions of tighter limits.

Now, when residents apply for building permits at the city for revisions or to build a new, unattached garage, they have to meet certain height and setback requirements for the department to approve the permit without a review process. For that over-the-counter permit, Avenues residents want 14-foot pitched roofs for garages versus the 15 feet the planning department and commission recommended and 9-foot walls versus a 10-foot planning recommendation.

"We saw there was a problem," said Jill Van Langeveld, who was chairwoman of the Avenues community council last year during the brunt of the monster home ordinance discussion. "We looked for solutions — so basically what we have done and what we have presented is community driven."

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the Avenues restrictions June 6. The six-month temporary ordi- nance for the neighborhood runs out June 13.

Earlier Thursday, the council toured District Three's Capital Hill and Avenues neighborhoods with Councilman Eric Jergensen pointing out a notorious 8th Avenue house that reaches three stories amid a block of one-story homes. That house has been a rallying point for Avenues neighbors as an example of what they don't want to have happen again.

At the same time, some residents want a smooth process for renovating their houses without additional review from planners and boards of adjustment. Jergensen said that he wants a workable, easy permit process for home owners who may want to renovate houses in ways that's less egregious to neighbors.

"What we keep hearing (is that) the process is so cumbersome and difficult that we can't get anything through. It's an unfortunate situation."

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com