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Item No: 6 Meeting Date: June 15, 2005 Type of Business: Public Hearing City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Jim Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing and Consideration of a Variance to Allow a Six-Foot Tall Fence in the Front Yard of 5290 Pinewood Court; Planning Case VR2005-006 Introduction: The applicants, Shawn and Stephanie Young, are requesting a variance to replace an existing non-conforming fence in the front yard of their property located at 5290 Pinewood Court. The property is located at the northeast corner of County Road H2 and Pinewood Court. By virtue of bordering on two streets, the corner lot has two frontages. 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. The existing privacy fence has deteriorated to the point where it is beyond repair. The applicants would like to replace the existing six-foot tall privacy fence, which acts as a buffer and screen from County Road H2, and thus have applied for the variance. 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. The site plan attached to this report depicts the existing fence location and the location of where the fence would be if consistent with City Code. 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 this variance to be approved, as with any variance request, there needs to be demonstrated substantial hardship or practical difficulties 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. These criteria are set forth 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 are as follows: a. Exceptional or extraordinary circumstances apply to the property which do not apply generally to other properties in the same zone or vicinity and result from lot size or shape, topography or other circumstances over which the owners of the property since the effective date hereof have had no control. The property at 5290 Pinewood Court is a corner lot, which is not in itself unique, however the applicants seek permission to replace an existing fence for the purpose of continued privacy and screening.