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Item No: ___5A <br />Meeting Date: Jan 4, 2017 <br />Type of Business: Planning Case VR2016-006 <br /> <br /> <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Mounds View Planning Commission <br />From: Jon Sevald, Planner <br />Item Title/Subject: Resolution 1065-17, Consideration of a Variance to <br />exceed the 48”maximum fence height in a front yard, <br />at 2401 Mounds View Blvd (Mounds View Police <br />Dept.) <br /> <br />Introduction <br />The applicant, the City of Mounds View, is requesting a Variance to the front yard fence <br />height to allow a 72” chain link fence around the Police Department’s parking lot. Forty- <br />eight inches is the maximum height for a fence in the front yard of a non-corner lot. <br /> <br /> <br />Discussion <br />The purpose of fencing the parking lot is; (1) to secure the Sally Port entrance which <br />exits through the front yard; and, (2) to prevent children and the public from accessing <br />the Police parking lot from the City Hall Park and playground adjacent to this parking lot. <br /> <br />The Sally Port is the garage entrance, in which persons in custody are brought into the <br />Police Department. A fence will serve as additional security to deter unauthorized <br />persons from entering or exiting the Sally Port when the garage door is open. <br /> <br />The park’s playground is immediately adjacent to the Police Department’s back parking <br />lot where patrol vehicles are parked. The playground is fenced to deter children from <br />accessing the lot. However, there is nothing to prevent children and the public from <br />walking around this fence to access the parking lot. Additionally, the parking lot is <br />accessible from the adjacent trail and ball field, and serves as a shortcut between the <br />park and the Community Center. The City is concerned about the possibility of a <br />pedestrian in the parking lot, not being seen when a police vehicle is making a fast exit. <br />The fence will be gated, similar to the Public Works facility. Authorized personnel will <br />be given a code to open the gate. <br /> <br />To clarify, this Variance request is specific to that portion of the 72” fence within the <br />building’s front yard (Sally Port area, and Police Dept. employee parking lot). <br /> <br /> <br />Analysis <br />Mounds View Municipal Code, Section 1103.08, Subd 3, limits fence height to 48” within <br />a front yard, with two exceptions; (1) corner lots (i.e. lot with two front yards) may have a <br />