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<br /> <br /> <br />Item No: 7C <br />Meeting Date: October 26, 2015 <br />Type of Business: Council Business <br />Administrator Review: _______ <br /> <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br /> To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate <br />Item Title/Subject: Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance 909, Amending City <br />Code Title 1103 of the Mounds View Zoning Code Pertaining to <br />Fences, Screening and Landscaping <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The Planning Commission discussed allowing 6-foot or 8-foot fences in the second front yard <br />of corner lots. The Zoning Code currently allows fences up to 4-feet tall in any part of a <br />property, but fences that are taller than 4-feet are only allowed behind the front line of the <br />house. Properties that are on corners have two front yards and therefore are limited in where <br />they can put a taller fence. Property owners want the taller fences for privacy and safety, and <br />the Planning Commission has been very understanding of this and approved every fence <br />height variance request. Commissioners have suggested that the zoning code should be <br />amended to allow for these taller fences since there have been several variance requests for <br />taller fences and they are always approved. <br /> <br />The Planning Commission agreed that it’s time to amend the zoning code to allow for over 4- <br />foot tall fences on corner lots. Staff researched several nearby cities’ codes pertaining to <br />fences, and all 12 of the cities allow at least 6-foot tall fences in a street abutting side yard of a <br />corner lot. The Commission suggested allowing up to a 6-foot fence in the second front yard <br />of a corner lot with at least a 1 foot setback on the street frontage side. A fence taller than six <br />feet on a corner lot would still need to go through the variance process. <br /> <br />Staff has made some additional amendment suggestions to this chapter based on issues that <br />have come up: <br /> <br />- Specified that no plantings, not just trees and shrubs, over 30-inches tall are allowed in the <br />30-foot sight triangle at intersections, <br />- No fence or wall may interfere with natural drainage, <br />- Public or semi-public properties may have fences up to 8-feet tall in any yard area. <br /> <br />The Planning Commission reviewed this code amendment on October 7, 2015, and passed <br />Resolution 1037-15, recommending approval of amending the zoning code pertaining to fences, <br />screening and landscaping.