Big garages face more scrutiny from county
Published 9:00 pm Friday, August 4, 2006
Snohomish County has tightened rules for property owners who want to build a big garage on their land.
Depending on the size, builders now might need a special permit and additional public review before construction can begin.
“This should stop the great big ones,” said Rick Rice, a Lake Stevens man who raised a ruckus after the county allowed a 10,000-square foot garage to be built next door to his home.
On Wednesday, the County Council voted 5-0 to approve the stricter rules. The vote made permanent emergency rules adopted in February.
Officials said the rules close a loophole that allowed large garages to be built without sufficient scrutiny.
The rules answer complaints from neighbors such as Rice. The garage built near his home on Getchell Road had 20 bays. The builder intends for each bay to sold individually under state condominium laws to store RVs, boats or other personal items.
By comparison, a typical garage is 268 square feet.
The corrugated steel look of the building matches the design of many rural shops and storage buildings.
However, county officials and neighbors said they wanted to bring review to garages that many would consider too large or operating more like a business than a residential use.
For most properties in the county, the new rules bring greater design scrutiny to garages larger than 2,400 square feet. That’s big enough for about nine cars. The idea is to make sure the building matches the neighborhood.
Properties larger than three acres can receive a permit to build a 4,000-square-foot garage without jumping through additional hoops.
County Councilman Dave Somers said he considered restricting smaller six-car garages, but was persuaded otherwise by county staff. Many garages on rural properties tend to be around 2,400 square feet, permit officials said.
Somers said he would want to revisit the rules if a glut of garages of that size emerges.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
