06-22-09 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JUNE 22, 2009 The City Planner reviewed the applicant's reasons for requesting Variance approval. Those include that adjacent property owners support the request, the fence is replacing a line of evergreen trees that were recently cut down but had restricted view into the property, the height of the fence is necessary to deter unlawful activity on the property, a sense of security was lost when the evergreen trees were removed and the six-foot fence height is necessary to maintain that sense of security. "the Planner also noted that Mrs. Khan has indicated that security sensors have been mounted on the fence and that her security company has indicated that to operate effectively, these sensors must be mounted at a height of 5 feet or greater. The City Planner reviewed the criteria that the Council must find present to justify a hardship and warrant the granting of a Variance. The Planner indicated that the Council must determine if the personal security issue would meet the hardship test and whether or not this is a unique situation. The Planner stated that planning staff and the Planning Commission feels there is some justification to granting the hardship. The Planner did note that approval of the Variance would set a precedent for similar situations. 'the Planner reviewed his report dated June 3, 2009 outlining the findings of fact justifying the Variance as well as the conditions under which he recommends that the Variance be granted. Blesener noted City staff's recommendation against the Variance. The City Administrator acknowledged that this is a tough issue and recognized the concern for security. FIis concern was the precedent that would be set if the Variance is granted. The Administrator noted that the City has had other requests for fences higher than what is allowed by Code, and has enforced the ordinance. The Administrator also noted that in looking at the fence, it is not apparent how the fence increases privacy or prevents trespassing on the property. He also noted that it would be possible to mount the security sensors on a pole to achieve the optimum height recommended by the security company. The Administrator indicated that replanting trees is another option. IIe pointed out that the fence exceeds 6 i/2 feet pointing out that the spires on the fence are 7 feet in height. The Administrator noted that Mrs. Khan indicated at the Planning Commission meeting that the fence would be lowered, but questioned how that would be done given it is already mounted in concrete. Afroz Khan stated that the fence is not complete at this point. Once she became aware that a building permit was needed, she stopped construction on the fence. Khan reported that in addition to lowering the fence by placing the concrete into the ground, she was planning to add a section of fence that would run from north to south connecting the fence to her house.