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y • City of Falcon Heights Planning Commission 25 April 1994 ITEM: Consideration for a request for a variance to Chapter 9-2.06 of five feet from the maximum fence height at 1703 St. Mary's Street. SUBMITTED BY: Bobby Ray Thomas, property owner REVIEWED BY: Susan Hoyt, City Administrator Carla Asleson, Administrative Assistant/Planner EXPLANATION/DESCRIPTION Mr. Bobby Ray Thomas is requesting a variance from maximum fence height requirements. Mr. Thomas would like to erect an eight foot high fence along the entire length of his southern property line. City Code allows a only three foot fence in the front of a principal structure and a six foot fence in the rear, making a variance of two and five feet necessary. • The property in question is located adjacent to a commercial property, Buck's Unpainted Furniture and near Ciatti's restaurant. Mr. Thomas has cited several problems with his property's proximity to such commercial uses. Two dumpsters from Buck's are located very near the house; Mr. Thomas states that although Buck's makes. a real effort to keep the property clean, there are still problems with flying debris and visual attractiveness. Mr. Thomas also claims that pedestrians continually use his property as a shortcut to Buck's and to Ciatti's, creating privacy difficulties. According to Mr. Thomas, the variance is needed because a three foot fence in the front yard and a six foot fence in the rear yard will not be high enough to visually screen his property from Buck's (particularly the dumpsters} and from the pedestrian traffic. The zoning code requires that a buffer exist between adjacent properties when one lot is zoned for residential use and the other for commercial use. Until last year, the property was landscaped to meet this requirement. However, the shrubs that were serving as the buffer have since died and have been removed. No neighbors have responded to the notice of variance as of this writing. Recommendation: • It is reasonable to grant this variance as the higher fence will decrease the impact of the adjacent commercial property, particularly the problems associated with the two garbage dumpsters.