The battle over monster homes originated in the Yalecrest neighborhood on Salt Lake City's east bench more than a year ago. The community council crafted restrictions on garage placement, height and house setbacks from property lines. The council took the ordinance to the Planning Commission and then the City Council, which approved the ordinance for the Yalecrest neighborhood July 12 and asked city planners to start working on something for the entire city.

On Dec. 13, the City Council adopted a citywide monster-home ordinance that kept renovations and new homes to 28 feet tall and no more than 40 percent of the total lot size. Under that ordinance, attached garages could be no more than 50 percent of the house's facade and detached garages could be 50 percent of the building's footprint, or up to 720 square feet.

The council gave the Avenues, Capitol Hill and Wasatch Hollow neighborhoods six months under a tighter restriction of 23-foot roofs before those neighborhoods reverted to the citywide 28-foot limit. That six-month time period expires Tuesday, June 13.

The Avenues and Capitol Hill squeaked in with Tuesday night's vote, but Wasatch Hollow is probably still another two or three months away from a firm ordinance, said Love, the council member for that area.

Additionally, the Foothill/Sunnyside community council was to consider a monster-home ordinance at its Tuesday meeting, potentially bringing the number of communities considering or implementing tighter restrictions to five — Yalecrest, Avenues, Capitol Hill, Wasatch Hollow and Foothill/Sunnyside.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com