The City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission will meet 5:30-p.m. Tuesday, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. On their agenda is the review of a site plan for a new commercial vehicle repair garage at 308 E. Elm Street. Brant Bonnesen will be on-hand to answer any questions or concerns with regard to the site plan. City Administrator John Lund says Bonnesen wants to purchase an empty lot on the site and build a commercial garage. Bonnesen has applied for and received a conditional use permit, and most of the requirements for the site plan have been satisfied. The next step is for the Commission to approve the site plans.

The Commission will also receive a request from Tommy Gaines, to review a portion of the Zoning Ordinance (Section 17.030), with regard to the maximum height of any accessory building, and with regard to a property abutting his, that he wishes to purchase from the City, for a post-frame garage. The current Ordinance has a typo, that states an accessory building shall not exceed 12-feet in height, yet shows 15 in parenthesis. Once a clarification is made on that matter, the P & Z will need to transit a recommendation to the City Council, to decide on an proposed amendments.

The final order of business, Tuesday evening, is a request to include R-2 Districts under Section 23.020 of the Zoning Ordinance. The issue arose when Patty Vavricek, at 1601 Linn Street, made it known she wants to replace her existing carport with a new garage. The carport, however, abuts the property line, which would not be a problem in an R-3 Zone, but her property is in an R-2 Zone, a low-density, single-family district. Lund says a review of her neighborhood shows a considerable number of properties where the house, carport or garage were built immediately abutting the property line. And, while Vavricek initially wanted to apply for a variance, Lund suggests that’s not advisable, at least where the law is concerned. A more appropriate path, he said, would be for the Commission to review the ordinance, and consider changes that would allow her to build the garage legally. That includes a compromise allowing dispensation from the neighbor, with a minimum distance between two structures, as opposed to distance from the property line.