Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. September 14, 2017. George
Peart, Garden City Residential Building Inspector, noted that there are
currently 32 building permits that have been given for residential
homes—probably short-term rentals. There
are five more outstanding home permits pending and 12 permits that will be used
for town houses in the Legacy Beach location.
This will make a total of 49 structures to be built in 2017.
Shundahi
and Buttercup are the areas with the most building currently taking place. All of the buildings in these two areas are for short-term rentals. Snow Meadows also
has some short-term rentals being built.
There may be a problem there concerning parking. Most of the homes are 5,000 square feet or
more in size. The parking issue is
becoming a real problem. The Council
should look at the possibility of estimating three people per car as compared
to the current five individuals per car to determine the number of parking
stalls required at the short-term rental buildings.
The
Planning Commission did not want to follow the state law that requires an RV to
be 20 feet or more in length. Peart noted that he would advise the City Council to follow the rule of at least a
12-foot width for any building being moved to a new location. With this size, a travel permit must be
obtained, which would insure that the buildings being moved have some prior
inspections before being moved. Peart would like to see that no walls be less than 12-feet in length in the building
and moving process.
Planning
and Zoning set the square footage for building a dwelling be at least 350 feet
in size to be called a home. Peart noted that State of Utah requires that a home must be at least 600 square feet. This is also the requirements for any
manufactured home allowed in a trailer court.
All homes must be placed on permanent foundations. A park model is actually a tiny home and is
allowed in RV lots. Peart asked that
the City Council create an ordinance to control tiny homes and feels it needs
to be done quickly.
1 comment:
I am not sure if it was a misquote, but I can't see in the Utah Code where 600 sq. ft. is the minimum size of a home.
I can see in section 15a-1-302 where it says a "manufactured home" "in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 400 or more square feet;"
Another section of Utah Code 15a-3-105 (8) quotes IBC and says "The unit shall have a living room of not less than 165 square feet (15.3 m2) of floor area. An additional 100 square feet (9.3 m2) of floor area shall be provided for each occupant of such unit in excess of two."
So as far as I can see the state requirement is 320-400 sq ft for a manufactured home. The state requirement for a home built on site could be as small as 265 sq.ft.
I just wanted to point this out and say that I am against the town council's vote to further regulate private property. I do not feel there is a safety concern with a tiny home and therefore the town should not regulate it. I do understand their could be a negative externality in that it could affect home values around it, but I feel that if you have this concern then you have the right to form an HOA with other home owners to make a minimum sq. ft. size.
I ask the town council members to re-evaluate the principles upon which they make decisions to further regulate Garden City. If the town council does not agree with me, it is fine. I can agree to disagree and move on.
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