CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

 

TO:                             Mayor and City Commission

 

FROM:                       Ambreen Bhatty, City Manager

 

BY:                             Tammy L. Reed-Holguin, Community Development Director

 

DATE:                       December 8, 2009

 

SUBJECT:                VAR 09-01      Fence Height

                                    6271 SW 18 Court

 

Variance to permit a fence five feet (5 ft.) in height in front yard where only two and one half feet (2 ˝ ft.) are permitted by Section 106-184 (b) of the City of North Lauderdale Code of Ordinances.

 

APPLICANT:           Myriam Etienne

 

The applicant has replaced a front yard fence five (5) feet in height without a permit and is in violation of the City’s Code of Ordinances; therefore the applicant is requesting a variance from section 106-184 (b), which states “ no fence or wall shall exceed two and one half (2 ˝) feet in a front yard”, to keep and maintain this illegal 5 feet high aluminum rail front yard fence in a Residential Single Family (RS-5).  The specific extent of the anticipated use is explained in Attachment, and made a part of this report.

 

BACKGROUND:

 

The property in question was annexed into the City in 2003.  Prior to the annexation, the applicant was governed by the ordinances of Broward County.  After the annexation, any structures that did not meet City Code became non-conforming.  According to the City’s Code of Ordinances, at the time that a non-conforming structure is damaged or removed and the cost of replacement exceeds 50% of its replacement cost, the structure must meet the current City Code. There have been previous building permit applications submitted to the City with proposals to rebuild fences that exceed the height requirement of the City’s ordinance; however, once the applicants were provided with a copy of the ordinance explaining why front yard fences with heights exceeding 2 1/2 feet were not allowed, they withdrew their request, and conformed to the City ordinance.  

 

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:

 

Fences are permitted to be installed in the City subject to the provisions contained in Section 106-184(b) of the City’s Code of Ordinances, which reads as follows:

 

Fences.  Section 106-184 (b) states “no fence, wall or hedge shall be erected or maintained along a lot line, or within the lot defined by it, on residentially zoned property to a height exceeding six feet on a side yard or rear yard, or along side or rear yard boundaries, and to a height exceeding 2 1/2 feet in a front yard for fences and walls”.

 

In this case, the applicant installed a 5 foot high aluminum fence without the approval of the City.  The applicant’s justification for this request is that the contractor installed the fence without a permit, in violation of the City Code, and the contractor has failed to fix the problem.

 

Pursuant to the guidelines and criteria contained in Section 106-79 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, a variance shall not be granted unless the governing body determines that:

1.                  Special circumstances exist affecting the land involved preventing the reasonable use of such land.

2.                  The circumstances, which cause the hardship, are peculiar to the property, such that they clearly constitute marked exceptions to other properties in the district.

3.                  The hardship is not an economic hardship.

4.                  The hardship is not self-created.

5.                  The variance is the minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the property, and will not be injurious to the neighborhood, or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare. 

 

Staff has reviewed the application in light of the guidelines and criteria listed above and determined that the request does not reasonably meet the guidelines established for granting a variance.  This determination is based upon the following facts.

·         There is no special circumstance affecting the property that would prevent the reasonable use of the land. A fence that meets the height requirements of the Code or no fence in the front yard, does not deny usage of the property.

·         There are no circumstances creating any hardship to the property.  The lot size or shape is not unusual and therefore, there is no circumstance peculiar to the property that creates a hardship.

·         In this instance, the hardship that is created solely by the applicant is an economic hardship.  The applicant is claiming a financial hardship due to the fact that the expense to install a fence that does not meet Code has been incurred and if the variance is not granted, there will be an additional expense to alter or remove the fence.

·         The hardship has been self-created as the applicant installed a fence without a permit that does not meet the City Code.  

·         The requested variance is not considered minimal as the requested fence is two times as high as that permitted by Code, fully encloses the yard and could cause obstructions to view for pedestrians and vehicles. 

 

The burden to justify the requested variance falls on the applicant.  The justification for said variance provided by the applicant has been reviewed by City Administration and it has been determined that the request does not reasonably meet the guidelines established for granting a variance.  The applicant’s justification statement is attached as for your consideration. 

 

The Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z) meeting was held on November 4, 2009, and after presentations by the applicant, City staff, and a public hearing, the Board unanimously recommended denial of the requested variances. 

 

As explained earlier, this request does not meet the guidelines established in the City’s code of ordinances for granting of variances; therefore this variance request is being brought to the City Commission for review, discussion and action.  Please be advised that the burden falls upon the applicant to convince the governing body if the request meets the code guidelines.