HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Letter to Council from ZBA, consider fence height on through lots ra -o t
May 9, 2001
Mayor and Members of the City Council, and
Staff of the Department of Planning and Housing
PO Box 811
Ames, IA 50010
Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council, and Planning Staff:
Four appeals for Variances have been filed this week in the City Clerk's Office which the Zoning
Board of Adjustment would like to call to your attention. All four appeals came from citizens
who live on through lots—lots which have frontage on two streets located on opposite ends of
their properties—and they would like to install six-foot fences on the property line of their
functional rear yards.
Under the new zoning ordinance, through lots have two "front" yards, and all four of our
appellants have functional front yards, addresses and driveways on residential streets (Big Blue
Stem, Buchanan Court, Grant Avenue, and Honeysuckle Road), and second "front yards"which
function as rear yards and abut arterial streets (Mortensen Road, Bloomington Road, and G. W.
Carver Boulevard). These citizens are requesting variances because the existing code allows only
a four-foot fence unless a 25-yard setback is maintained.
Citizens argue that higher fences reduce noise and offer better protection for small children and
pets, and that adhering to the set-back requirement would unreasonably restrict the use of their
yard. In some cases, adjacent neighbors already have six-foot fences along the lot line—a
practice allowed under the previous zoning code— and appellants feel that installing a fence of
similar height would be most visually appealing.
As members of the Zoning Board, we are also concerned about the number of potential cases this
situation might generate, now that spring has arrived. Our agenda is normally limited to five
items per meeting. On May 23, however, seven items have been accepted and three of the fence
variance appeals had to be deferred to a later meeting. The next scheduled meeting of the board
is June 13, over a month away, and already five cases (including the three fences) are pending.
Please consider our request to examine the issue of fence height on through lots, particularly
those in which the functional rear yards abut newer arterial streets. It would be unfortunate if
problems with fences continued to create a backlog that forced other important construction
delays.
Sincerely,
Robin Habeger, Bob Hildebrand, Jackie Manatt, Robert Phillips and Roy Young
Members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment