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Item No: 5A Meeting Date: October 1, 2014 Type of Business: Public Hearing City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Consideration of a Variance to Allow a Six-Foot Tall Fence in both of the Front Yards of 2408 Hillview Road (Municipal Well No. 4); Planning Case VR2014-008 Introduction: The applicant, City of Mounds View, is requesting a variance to install a 6-foot tall chain-link fence around the entire property where the Municipal W ell No. 4 is located, which is on the southeast corner of Hillview Road and Edgewood Drive. Since two streets border corner lots, they have two front yards. As such, the City Code requirement for front yard applies to two sides of the property, which means that corner lots to have additional limitations. The Zoning Code indicates that no fence in front of the front line of a building in a residential district may exceed four feet in height. Discussion: According to the Municipal Code, Section 1103.08, Subdivision 3, fences of a height greater than 48 inches (4 feet) are not allowed in the front yard of a property without a variance. The Zoning Code also establishes a sight triangle that limits all obstructions within the area at the corner of intersections, measured thirty (30) feet from the point where the property lines meet at the intersection of two streets. The proposed fence would not be located within the sight triangle. Variance Considerations: For the City to approve this variance, as with any variance request, there needs to be demonstrated practical difficulty associated with the property that makes a literal interpretation of the Code overly burdensome or restrictive to a property owner. State statutes require that the governing body (the Planning Commission) review a set of specified criteria for each application and make its decision in accordance with these criteria. The City has set these criteria in Section 1125.02, Subdivision 2, of the City Code. The Code clearly states that a hardship exists when all of the criteria are met. The individual criteria and a staff comment about each are as follows: a. The variance is in harmony with the general purposes and intent of these regulations. The property at 2408 Hillview Road is a corner lot, which is not in itself unique; however, the property is the location of a municipal well and the City seeks permission to have a 6-foot tall fence for the purpose of security for the well and the building to help prevent further vandalism and protect the City’s infrastructure. The taller fence would provide the needed security for this property. b. The variance is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan supports improvements to properties and protection of the City’s infrastructure.