PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Conduct the public hearing to consider variances from Section 6-2-12:1.2 and Section 6-2-12:1.1 in order to permit a 4’ 6” tall steel open fence with 5’ 6” tall brick piers within the required front yard setback at the subject property located at 1219 Olesen Drive, Naperville - PZC 19-1-107
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Gabrielle Mattingly
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
Official notice for the public hearing for PZC 19-1-107 was published in the Daily Herald on October 21, 2019.
BACKGROUND:
The subject property is zoned R1A (Low Density Single Family Residence District) and has a front yard setback of 30’. The 1.5 acre property is currently improved with a single-family residence and is located on the west side of Olesen Drive just north of Hobson Road.
DISCUSSION:
The owners and petitioners, Marvin Fagel and Shelley Fagel, request approval of two variances to allow for construction of a 4’ 6” tall steel open fence with 5 brick piers that are 5’ 6” tall located along the property line within the required front yard. Recently, a request for a variance of an identical fence with brick piers was submitted by the neighboring property owner at 1227 Olesen Drive (south of the subject property) and approved by the City Council on September 3, 2019. The owners and petitioners at 1219 Olesen intend to construct the proposed fence within the required front yard and connect to the neighbor’s fence at 1227 Olesen Drive.
Per Section 6-2-12:1.2 (General Zoning Provisions: Fences), an open, or picket style, fence 4’ tall or less is permitted in the required front yard. An open fence is defined in Section 6-1-6 (Zoning Title, Purpose, Definitions: Definitions) as a fence which has at least 30% of the surface area in open spaces which afford direct views through the fence (note: as proposed, the steel fence complies with the definition of an open fence). For fences which do not meet the open fence definition, the maximum permitted height when located within the required front yard is 3’.
Due to the proposed design and location of the fence, the following variances are required:
1. Variance to increase the permitted height of an open fence located in the required front yard from 4’ to 4’6”;
2. Variance to increase the height of the brick piers (which do not qualify as open-fencing) from 3’ to 5’ 6”.
As noted above, only 4’ tall open (picket style) fences are permitted in the required front yard. The purpose of this regulation is to preserve sight lines and the open nature of the front yard. Given that the 4’ 6” tall steel fence complies with the definition of an open fence and that there are a limited number of brick piers that are found to be decorative in nature, staff has no concerns with the requested variances.
The petitioner’s responses to the Standards for Granting a Variance are included in the Development Petition. Staff is in general agreement with the petitioner’s Findings and recommends adoption by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Key Takeaways
§ The petitioner requests a variance from Section 6-2-12:1.2 and a variance from Section 6-2-12:1.1 in order to install a 4’ 6” tall steel open fence with 5’ 6” tall brick piers located along the front property line. Staff recommends approval of the variance request.