CEDAR FALLS - A couple planning to buy a College Street house, contingent on building a large garage on the property, backed out after a city commission balked at their plans.

Matthew Evers of Evansdale and his fiancee, Rebecca Krengel, who now lives in Illinois, sought to buy the house at 1803 College St.

They had made an offer contingent on getting approval to build a two-story detached garage behind the house.

On March 22, the garage proposal went before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which had issues with the size and design plans for the garage.

At that meeting, commissioners tabled the request and told Evers that the plan might be workable if he would alter his plans and construct the building primarily of brick to more closely match the design of the house.

At the time, Evers said such a change might make the project too expensive to build.

In the meantime, the time limit on the purchase contingency ran out.

Grant Schultz's family currently owns the property.

"It scared them off. They no longer want to buy the house," Schultz said.

Evers said he believed what they submitted met the city's zoning codes. He said they will continue a search for a home but will rule out areas that have an overlay zoning district, as he felt the application of the College Hill overlay was subjective.

As part of the purchase, Evers would also have bought the adjoining vacant lot. That size of garage would only be allowed under city codes if the land area of the adjacent lot also was taken into consideration.

Evers had wanted to build a two-story garage with 1,024 square feet per floor. He had planned to use the top floor for personal vehicles and the bottom floor for classic cars he collects.

The project needed site plan approval because it lies in the College Hill Neighborhood Overlay Zoning District, a special zoning district enacted in 1994 and updated in 2004. The district requires more scrutiny for building plans than in other parts of the city.

Schultz, whose family owns several rental properties in the College Hill overlay, thinks the district has made it too difficult to improve properties and that it is keeping many properties from being renovated.

"The overlay has served to do exactly the opposite of what it was intended to do," Schultz said.

Several Planning and Zoning commissioners and a representative from the College Hill Neighborhood Association had expressed excitement at the possibility of a young professional couple looking to buy the home, which is now a rental property.

However, Mary Brammer, the neighborhood association representative, said the garage would not blend into the neighborhood.

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1402 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.