My good husband, who chairs the Residential Commercial Task Force of the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council, knew about the vinyl/aluminum siding changes. They aren't quite what has been discussed here.
As best as he knows, the changes came about as a result of a lot of seriously crummy houses being built here in North Mpls (does that surprise anyone???) that had no basement, no garage, few windows, and the absolute minimum number of square feet for each required room in a house. The council now requires new construction to get to 15 points in the following table (It's in MS Word and I apologize in advance if it gets scrambled in transmission. ------- Section 35. That Chapter 530 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances be amended by adding Table 530-2 to read as follows: Table 530-2 Standards for single and two-family dwellings and multiple-family dwellings having three or four dwelling units Points Design Standard 5 Not less than one (1) off-street parking space per dwelling unit is provided in an enclosed structure that is detached from the principal structure 5 The structure includes a basement as defined by the building code 4 The primary exterior building materials are masonry, brick, stone, stucco, wood, cement-based siding, and/or glass 3 Not less than twenty (20) percent of the walls on each floor that face a public street, not including walls on half stories, are windows 3 Not less than ten (10) percent of the walls on each floor that face a rear or interior side lot line, not including walls on half stories, are windows 2 The pitch of the primary roof line is 6/12 or steeper. However, the point shall be awarded for a building with a flat roof where there is at least one existing building with a flat roof within one hundred (100) feet of the site 1 The structure includes an open front porch of at least fifty (50) square feet where there is at least one existing open front porch within one hundred (100) feet of the site 1 The development includes at least one (1) deciduous tree in the front yard ------------- So if your new house has an offstreet parking space for each dwelling unit in a detached garage, has a basement, has no fewer than 10% of the walls on each floor that faces the rear, and has no fewer than 20% of the walls on each floor that faces the front, then you can put whatever kind of siding because you've already reached 15 points. There are several ways you can get to 15 points, if you look at the table. Let's see, a front porch is one, a deciduous tree in the front yard adds another, the pitch of the roofline being 6/12 or steeper gets you two more. That's four. Then you could get six for windows, for ten points. Then you need one of the three five-pointers: detached garage, siding, or basement. The easiest way to get to 15, of course, is a detached garage, one of the siding choices above, and a basement. That's the full sum of what I learned from The Tall One. linda higgins old highland REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
