HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity/County Planning Board Minutes 02.06.2014 MINUTES
LAUREL CITY - COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
February 6, 2014 6:00 pm
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathy Siegrist, Chairman
Dan Koch, City Rep.
Dick Fritzler, County Rep.
Shirley McDermott, City Rep.
Hazel Klein, City Rep.
Greg Nelson, Member -at -Large
John VanAken, County Rep.
Lee Richardson, County Rep. (arrived at 6:15 pm)
OTHERS PRESENT: Monica Plecker, City Planner
Cheryll Lund, City Secretary
Richard Herr
CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Kathy Siegrist called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
ROLL CALL: A roll call was taken. Members present were Koch, Fritzler, McDermott, VanAken, Klein,
Nelson and Siegrist.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Citizens may address the Board regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for
an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome,
the Board will not take action on any item not on the agenda.
No one from the public spoke.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING: A motion was made by Dan Koch and seconded
by Hazel Klein to approve the minutes of the January 9, 2014 meeting. The motion was passed by a vote
of 6 — 0.
NEW BUSINESS: Public Hearing on proposed changes to L.M.C. 17.48.050 Fence Heights
Chairman Siegrist read the public hearing procedures and opened the public hearing at 6:05 pm.
City Planner Monica Plecker stated that L.M.C. 17.48.050 - Fence Heights was discussed at the
December 5, 2013 Planning Board meeting when Building Official Gary Colley brought his suggestions
for changes.
One of the suggestions was to change Item E — Setbacks for Clear Vision — to allow a 4 foot high fence
(instead of 3 feet high) that provides no more than ten (10) percent visibility obstruction on a corner.
The Planning Board agreed to that suggestion because they felt a 3 foot high fence cannot contain some
of the larger breed of dogs.
1
Monica stated that no written comments were submitted to the City regarding the public hearing
notice.
Chairman Siegrist asked 3 times if there were any proponents wishing to speak. No one spoke.
Chairman Siegrist asked 3 times if there were any opponents wishing to speak. No one spoke.
Chairman Siegrist closed the public hearing at 6:06 pm.
Discussion.
Hazel Klein suggested that the words chain -link need to be added to Item E "commonly used materials"
for the sake of clarification.
A motion was made by Hazel Klein to add "chain -link" to item F — Materials permitted and to
recommend approval of Deleting the entire Section L.M.C. 17.48.050 and inserting Section L.M.C.
17.48.050 as written by City staff. The motion was seconded by Dan Koch.
Discussion.
Shirley McDermott agreed with Hazel Klein's suggestion and Monica agreed that the wording "chain -
link" needs to be added to Item E for both clarity and consistency.
The motion was voted on and carried by a vote of 6 — 0.
Monica stated that the City Council will hold a public hearing on L.M.C. 17.48.050 — Fence Heights in
approximately 2 % weeks.
At this time Lee Richardson arrived (6:15)
Old Business:
Monica stated that there is no outstanding old business to report.
A comment was made from Dan Koch. He feels that the Zimmerman's were picked on by the City
because there are other residential homes within Laurel that have non - conforming fences.
Monica stated that the Council has not made a final decision on the Zimmerman variance. They are
going to review it in March. According to the City's legal counsel and even in light of the Planning
Boards recommendation to change the fence height requirements you cannot change the code to fit a
certain person's situation. The Zimmerman's situation was reviewed as the current situation stands
today. There will be careful review in March but you cannot say we have a new ordinance now they and
don't need a variance.
As far as the statement that there are other non - conforming fences that have been put up Monica
understands and knows that those fences are out there. How the fences got there is not known to
Monica. She went on to say that Gary Colley did his job by not issuing a fence permit to the
Zimmerman's because it did not meet the requirements of L.M.C. 17.48.050. When it came time to talk
2
with Mr. Zimmerman both her and Gary discussed it and determined a variance could be applied for. It
is also the Planning Boards job to follow the L.M.C. when they review each variance application. Each
variance is reviewed on its own merit and a discussion shall be made on that particular situation. The
Planning Board found just cause to recommend approval of the Zimmerman variance because of its
close proximity to a newer commercial business. Those are the hard facts to remember.
Dan stated that the Zimmerman's did make a mistake by building the fence after they were told by Gary
Colley that they couldn't. He went on to state that the virtue of it all is that there are proposed changes
to L.M.C. 17.48.050 thanks to the Zimmerman variance.
Monica stated that this has been a learning situation for everyone.
Hazel Klein asked what would happen if the City Council chooses not to grant the variance to the
Zimmerman's. Can they apply again in another year and will they have to take the fence down.
Monica stated that they would be able to apply again after 12 months. In light of the possibility of the
fence heights being changed Monica is not sure what will happen.
There will be a March 6, 2014 meeting.
A motion was made by Dan Koch to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Jon VanAken
and the motion passed by a vote of 6 — 0.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryll Lund, Secretary
3