Commission Meeting Agenda Item

At the April 4, 2022, regular meeting of the Town Commission, Commissioner Holden stated that the Town Commission recently approved a development where the houses will only have 10-foot setbacks. As per the conceptual plan that Commissioner Holden was referencing, the Applebee PUD Plan, there is a graphic which indicates a 10-foot rear setback and text which indicates the same on the plan.

In the Applebee PUD development, the lot depth is typically 112 feet. The front setback on the plan is 25 feet from the right-of-way. In speaking with a representative of the project, he did confirm that the homes would be oriented toward the front minimum setback. For example, if a home is built at the 25-foot front setback it would still leave 77 feet in which to build the home to adhere to the ten-foot rear setback. That being said, it is more likely that the homes will be built 30 feet or more from the rear property line.

Nonetheless, the issue of setbacks has been brought up, so it may be appropriate at this time to look at the Land Development Regulations to determine if any changes to our requirements should be made. Fire safety requirement spacing between the exterior walls of houses is ten feet, and some of our zoning districts do have a side setback minimum of five feet to meet this code, all others are greater than five feet. Staff has provided examples of the setback requirements of other jurisdictions in the area for purposes of comparison. The Town Commission may wish to create a separate setback requirement for accessory structures and the primary structure. The City of Wildwood for example has a rear setback of 15 feet in some of their zoning classifications for single-family detached homes but do allow the accessory structure to be as close as five feet from the rear or side property line.

Town staff is seeking any feedback the Town Commission may have regarding the current setback requirements and will proceed with drafting an ordinance if it is the preference of the Commission to do so at this time.