Staff recommends relaxed accessory-structure limits for schools, churches in residential zones

City planning staff recommended that institutional uses located in residential zones — such as schools and churches — be allowed more than the standard two accessory structures (sheds, modular classrooms, workshops) currently permitted for residential parcels, provided those structures meet larger setback and height standards. The proposal was presented during a Planning Commission work session on the draft code maintenance package.
Staff said research of local institutional properties found accessory structures ranging from one to nine on a site and that total lot coverage from those smaller buildings was typically less than 1 percent. The draft approach would preserve the two-structure limit for typical residential parcels but allow institutional properties to exceed that limit if they meet a 25-foot setback and other existing standards including height limits (16 feet, with exceptions up to 24 feet for covered square footage under 800 sq ft). Staff also noted that modular classroom units located within five feet of a main building are treated as part of the primary building footprint under current code definitions.
Commissioners asked whether a lot-coverage metric would scale more easily; staff replied the numbers were so small the metric did not perform well for regulation. Staff offered the conditional-use permit as an alternative pathway for site-specific exceptions but said they had not proposed that change without commissioner direction. The commission did not take a final vote; staff will include the recommended language in the public hearing draft.