The City Council recently held two public hearings on land-use issues.
Big Foot…print—A hearing was held on August 30 to consider granting an allowable lot coverage variance for the vacant lot next to the fire station at 150 E. “C” Street. Through their agent, the lot owner/applicant requested a variance to construct a 2-story building covering 64% of the lot, in excess of the 50% coverage currently allowed by code. The council concluded that utilizing only 50% of the lot would pose a hardship and ultimately granted a variance, increasing the footprint by 280 square feet.
Don’t Fence Me In—A September 4 hearing was held for an appeal of a decision on July 25 by HARC, (Historical and Architectural Review Commission,) which had conditionally approved a front yard fence/landscaping/trellis structure at 640 North Oregon Street. Since HARC had determined that the improvements in the front yard constituted a fence, it required compliance with the city’s 3’ front yard fence height restriction. As a result, the homeowner chose to appeal the decision to the City Council. In the end, the Council upheld the HARC decision, ruling that the fence/trellises installed for purposes of safety, privacy, gardening and landscaping purposes must be modified and comply with the definition of a fence.