Agenda - Council - 01/13/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE REQUEST FOR AN APPEAL OF CITY STAFF'S INTERPRETATION OF FENCING REGULATIONS IN THE R-1 RESDIDENTIAL DISTRICT By: Chris Anderson, Community Development Assistant Background: In May of 2003, an issue regarding the installation of an electric fence was brought to the attention of the City. The subject property is located at 16620 Zirconium St NW and is ten (10) acres in size. The subject property is unique due to the fact that it is "landlocked", 'there is no public road frontage and thus, is surrounded by fourteen residential lots, each approximately one (1) acre in size. Throughout the past year, Staff attempted to work with the neighborhood in an attempt to resolve this matter. Finally, Staff approved what was deemed an acceptable proposal for the electric fence and sent a letter to the surrounding property owners regarding Staff's decision. Staff has since received two appeals, one from an individual property owner and one from multiple property owners. Following is an outline of the events that have transpired thus far: On May 26, 2003, a resident came to City Hall to report that Bruce & Karen Konzak, at 16620 Zirconium St NW, were planning to install an electric fence around the perimeter of their property. Over the next several days, Staff received numerous calls regarding this matter. One of the callers stated that they received a flyer in their mailbox which said that the Konzaks were going to cut down every tree on their property and install a high voltage electric fence. A letter was drafted by City Staff and sent out to Bruce & Karen Konzak on May 29, 2003. This letter outlined Ramsey's regulations regarding fencing and requested that they contact the City to discuss their intentions. As of July 15, 2002, City Code states that fence material shall consist only of wood or chain link or other material as approved by the Zoning Administrator. Prior to July 15, 2002, there were no specific restrictions on fence materials. On June 5, 2003, Staff met with Karen Konzak at the subject property for a site inspection. Karen presented four reasons why they needed to relocate the existing electric fence on the property from inside the border of pine trees that encompasses the property to the property boundary: 1) Increase the acreage of the pasture area for their horses; 2) Ensure sufficient strength of the containment system to maintain large animals; 3) Implement a forest management plan that includes thinning the dense stand of pine trees. The trees, would need to be felled inward, toward the Konzak's house, to avoid any damage to the neighboring properties and thus, the fence needed to be relocated to the outside of the trees; and 4) There has been some encroachment, by the neighbors, onto the Konzak's property and they wanted to more clearly demark their property boundaries. During the site inspection, it was apparent that the stand of pines was overly dense and certainly some thinning would benefit the stand. Furthermore, encroachment onto their property was evident. This included concrete (possibly from an old patio), tires, yard waste, spoils, small forts, and a drain field (the inspection tube is roughly 5 feet into the Konzak's property). -191-