Council Establishes Grandfather Clause for Aging Decks and Expands Garage Stall Limits
- Steve Jurrens
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - Homeowners attempting to repair aging exterior decks or expand residential garages will bypass costly variance procedures after the City Council approved the second reading of Ordinance No. 26-12. The zoning text amendment modifies Chapter 21.10, clarifying standard residential configurations while rectifying an historical oversight affecting hundreds of properties developed before 2005.
Community Development Manager Brandi Hanten detailed the ordinance’s structural goals, noting that recent adjustments had caused unintended confusion in interpretation, resulting in an influx of variance requests. Hanten first focused on a new grandfather clause protecting residential decks:
“The proposed ordinance amendments clarify standards for attached and detached garage configurations. These sections of the ordinance were amended in 2025, and staff has since identified areas of confusion in interpretation... In addition, staff is proposing an amendment addressing the replacement of existing decks. Prior to 2005, decks were not required to meet the same setback requirements as the primary structure. Many decks constructed before that date no longer comply with current setbacks but are now in need of repair or replacement. The proposed language would allow legally existing decks that do not meet current primary structure setback requirements to be replaced with the same or a smaller footprint.”
The amendment provides vital relief for property owners whose historical decks have become structurally compromised over the last two decades. Under prior rules, complete replacement was effectively blocked if the deck encroached on modern primary-structure setbacks, leaving owners unable to rebuild rotting platforms legally.
Turning to garage regulations, Hanten outlined an expansion of maximum door allocations designed to match modern residential design trends:
“This ordinance amendment, the three main things are: it allows for three—or, sorry, four garage stalls instead of three. And then... it eliminates some of the requirements for garages that were up to 2,352 square feet, and then made consistent with the allowance to add additional square footage if someone is unable to construct an attached or detached garage. That language was already in ordinance for attached garages, and then we added that for detached garages as well. So, just a cleanup really, in staff’s mind.”
The update adjusts the cap from three to four attached garage doors per residential frontage and caps the maximum allowable footprint at 2,352 square feet. It also establishes a balancing mechanism: if a homeowner is physically blocked from building an attached garage due to lot dimensions, the equivalent allowable square footage can be transferred to a detached accessory structure, preventing the need to seek a formal variance.
The measure passed its final reading unanimously.
