(a) The Chief Building Official shall not approve any application for a permit to erect, construct, alter or enlarge any building or structure in a residential district which shall be like or substantially like any neighboring structure, as hereinafter defined, then in existence or for which a building permit has been issued, or which is included in the same building permit application, in more than three of the following seven respects:
(1) Height of the main roof ridge or, in the case of a building or structure with a flat roof, the highest point of the roof beams above the elevation of the first floor;
(2) Height of the main roof ridge above the tip of the plate (all flat roofs shall be deemed identical in this dimension);
(3) Length of the main roof ridge or, in the case of a building or structure with a flat roof, length of the main roof;
(4) Width between outside walls at the ends of the building or structure measured under the main roof at right angles to the length thereof;
(5) Relative location of windows in the front elevation and in each of both side elevations with respect to each other and with respect to any door, chimney, porch or attached garage in the same elevation;
(6) Relative location of any attached garage, porch or gable, if any, in the front elevation with respect to each other and the remainder of the building or structure; and
(7) Building materials to be used in the exterior surface of the house.
(b) Buildings or structures shall be deemed to be like each other in any dimension with respect to which the difference between them is not more than two feet. Buildings or structures between which the only difference in the relative location of elements is and end-to-end or side-to-side reversal of such elements, shall be deemed to be like each other in the relative location of such elements.
(c) In relation to premises on which a building or structure is sought to be erected, constructed, placed, altered or enlarged, a building or structure shall be deemed to be a neighboring building or structure if the lot upon which it or any part of it has been or will be located is any one of the following lots:
(1) Any lot on the street upon which the building or structure to be located on the premises would front, which lot is within seven lots along the street in either direction from the premises, without regard to intervening street lines;
(2) Any lot, any part of the street line frontage of which is across the street from the premises or from the lot referred to in division (c)(l) hereof;
(3) Any lot, any part of the street line frontage of which faces the end of, and is within the width of, the street, if there are less than two lots between the premises and the end of the street;
(4) Any lot on another street which adjoins the premises on such other street; or
(5) Any lot, any part of the street line frontage of which is across such other street from the premises or from a lot referred to in division (c)(4) hereof.
(Ord. 1963-15, passed 2-4-1963; Ord. 1968-64, passed 3-18-1968)
(d) (1) The Planning Commission may relax the requirements of this section for the R-3-A and R-3-B (Multi-Family Residential - Senior Housing) Zoning District or R-1-F (Single-Family Residential-Golf Course Community) developments at the specific request of the developer either as part of the original development review process or as a subsequent amendment to an approved plan.
(2) The Planning Commission shall only approve deviations from the requirements of this section upon the consideration of proposed deed restrictions and/or a specific development plan strictly governing the frequency of building facade recurrence within the development, and only upon determination that the proposed deviations are consistent with standards of high quality construction and design, are esthetically appealing, and will not negatively impact property values within the area. Under no circumstances, however, shall the Planning Commission approve a development proposal where any two adjacent homes are identical in appearance.
(3) Any decision of the Planning Commission to relax the look-alike home standards of this Code shall be final, except that the Council may make a request within ten days of the Planning Commission’s final determination on the issue that the proposed look-alike home modification be submitted for its further review beginning at its next available meeting, in which case, the ultimate determination of the Council shall be final.
(4) Any question as to whether an individual residence is in compliance with a city-approved development plan and/or deed restriction modifying the look-alike home provisions of this section shall be referred to the Planning Commission for final determination.
(Ord. 1996-145, passed 8-5-1996; Ord. 2004-112, passed 6-7-2004; Ord. 2008-66, passed 5-5-2008)