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[Page 1 of 18] Planning Commission 8/28/07 ITEM: Variance requests for the 1423 California Avenue West SUBMITTED BY: Deborah Jones, Zoning and Planning Director REVIEWED BY: Justin Miller, City Administrator Soren Mattick, City Attorney EXPLANATION: Property Description: 1423 California Avenue West is located on the north side of California Avenue between Pascal and Albert Streets in Falcon Heights. The legal description is "Northome Lot 20 Block 2" The original plat was recorded in 1937, and the home was constructed in 1941. The parcel is 50 feet wide by 121 feet deep, with an area of 6098.4 square feet. There is a detached garage served by the alley that runs through the block. The property is zoned R-1 "Single Family Residential" and is surrounded by R-1 properties. The property is entirely typical of the residential lots in the Northome neighborhood. • Background The owner of the 1423 California, Sandra Roth, applied for a fence permit for 1423 California on July 11, 2007. The site plan submitted with the permit indicated a back yard privacy fence and a decorative front yard fence. On this occasion and previous conferences with staff, Ms. Roth asked for and received comprehensive information on Falcon Heights fence ordinances, including height restrictions and setback requirements. She was given a copy of the fence ordinance. Ms. Roth also engaged a private surveyor to mark the boundary lines of her property so as to locate her new fences accurately. Although front yard fences are unusual in Falcon Heights, they are permitted by code. The height of a front yard fence is restricted to 36 inches from grade. In all yards, fences may be placed at (immediately adjacent to) a common property line where the property abuts another private properly. Where the property abuts a public right of way, a one foot setback from the property line is required. The present application requests a waiver of that one foot setback. On July 26, on a site inspection, staff found that the front fence posts had been set into the ground closer to the property line than the required one foot distance. Ms. Roth said that she had made a mistake, telling the contractor the fence needed to be one foot from the sidewalk instead of one foot inside the property line, as the code requires. The property line was clearly marked by stakes set by the surveyor. Since the sidewalk is not parallel to the property line, the posts were approximately 2 inches to 8 inches from the property line, all closer than the code allows. • Staff Report: 1423 California fence variance August 28, 2007 Page 1 of 4