Agenda - Council - 11/07/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chairperson Bauer noted that the $25 does not cover the staff review time and certainly would not cover the time of inspections. Commissioner Walker stated that he supports the comments of Commissioner Anderson, as he would like to see inspections for fencing or shed to prevent those structures from being placed too close to the property line or on easements. He stated that he would want to see the City being proactive to correct those mistakes before they happen. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick stated that his concern would be verification of the easement and property line. He noted that the only way to do that would be to find the post or have a license surveyor mark the property line. He stated that it is great to have the lines marked, but that is a large expense to have a licensed surveyor involved and the inspector would not know that line without that service. He stated that property owners can still move pins or lines prior to staff's arrival. He noted that last month he had a complaint from a neighbor where someone put a pool in their townhome garage. He stated that just having an inspector onsite would have more cost than just showing up. Commissioner Walker agreed but asked what would be cheaper for a resident, to have the inspection or rip a fence out. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick agreed that it would be cheaper in that scenario to have the survey completed. Commissioner Walker stated that he would support requiring a survey to be completed for a fence. Senior Planner Anderson asked if there would be a threshold for distance to a property line. Commissioner Walker stated that if a fence is going to be within five feet of a property line, he would suggest the survey but recognized that without the survey it would also be difficult to know if a fence is within five feet. Senior Planner Anderson noted that there are some properties that just want to fence around a garden area but agreed that most fences go out to the property boundaries. Commissioner Walker stated that when he installed the fence for his horses, he used a surveyor because he did want to have to move the fence once installed. Commissioner Gengler asked how many zoning permits lead to code enforcement, recognizing that staff may not have that data tonight. Planning Manager Larson replied that the solution for the problem in the past was the zoning permit but that has not been the solution. He stated that the solution proposed now, instead of the zoning permits, would be education that staff is a resource to determine where things can be located on properties. He stated that most of the time, people do it right. He noted that there are also people that do right it but then have to be chased down to have a permit and then staff feels bad Planning Commission/ September 29, 2022 Page 9 of 14